Excessive oil consumption. Issue resolved by Toyota.

Glad Toyota stepped up for you. A lot of these engines start to consume oil around 100k miles (mine does). You don't mention it, but I'm guessing you never checked your oil between services. I make it a habit to check mine and other fluids every weekend. $1,600 buys a lot of oil.

 

@ctt the car was "serviced" every 5000 miles, but how often were oil changes, the US specd 10,000 miles? Also how often was dipstick checked?

 

I just went to 0w-40. Now I don't burn any oil.

 

Did you mpg go down any?

 

Nope

 

My wife's car is having the same problem. I'm putting a quart or so of oil in there every week or so - It's now a Sunday ritual to check the oil level. It's not leaking anywhere, and the Toyota technicians seem confused by the problem. But it is a 2010 Prius with about 120,000 miles on it.

They did suggest going to a thicker oil, which I've done, which has slowed the rate I need to add oil.

It also seems her mileage has gone down. She's only getting about 35 mpg now.

 

Or, maybe the mechanic who did the oil change used a new oil drain gasket and correctly installed the oil filter.

 

how many miles to a quart?

 

That won't solve the problem unless there was a leak bad enough to be extremely obvious.

 

Thanking you for posting your experience... I have a Prius III 2010 with 68,000 miles... it has always been serviced by our dealership -- and I purchased their extended service agreement; although that ended at 60,000 miles. My symptom was also the yellow warning light. Our dealer did not find the low oil on the first visit; eventually we were able to see "low oil pressure" flash and we took it back in where they diagnosed the burning of oil. They changed the oil and asked me to come back in 2500 miles to confirm the burning of oil. They confirmed that last weekend. I am supposed to be receiving a call back. I will keep your post as a refreence!

There is also an engine sound that can occur on start up. That has occurred since the first winter of ownership (and during subsequent winters)-- I am in the middle of North Carolina so it really doesn't get cold here. Just learned that they there was a Technical Service Bulletin back in 2012 (T-SB-0010-12) for the issue that would apply... so I may have two issues to deal with. I will need to go back through visits to prove I reported it prior to the 60K warranty being up. Sigh. I love my Prius ... but not when I have to deal with this!

 

I wonder if they even checked the dipstick on that first visit. Doesn't sound like it, and that's not very good.

If you aren't already, I would start regular DIY oil level checks.

 

Not a good solution imo. These engines shouldnt be failing so soon..

 

What years are subject to oil burning? 2010-2011 only?

 

Same with my 2010 Prius - inconsistent with the dealership. Got the car at 60k then oil change at 70k then followed by 75 then 80k then 90k and now burning oil at 900 miles.

 

Yes the rings are probably loose and switching to 10w-40 will cut down on oil consumption at the cost of poorer fuel economy.

 

Any engine on any car can burn oil after enough use. It most often happens when the piston rings or valves wear out. A lot depends on your driving habits.

But here is a thread of many 300,000+ mile Prius:
299,999+ Mile Club | PriusChat

 

I just had the same yellow warning light on the turns. I took it to the dealer and said my hatch back had a latch issue. Then I took it to Midas. They claimed my oil was low. I changed and topped off the oil. The dealership lied about having checked the oil several days before. I will monitor the situation every 500 miles. I think there is an oil consumption problem. They are seeing this at Midas. I do have an extended warranty through 2018. I have a 2011 Prius with 87,200 miles


iPhone ?

 

you have a year to take advantage of the warranty. Ask for oil consumption test per tyota service bulletin

 

Mine would use over a qt per 1k miles pulling a trailer at wtfo. Want it warrantied? Get the oil test and go pull something heavy til it blows!

 

I am using about 3 quarts for every 10,000 miles. The dealer ripped me off for a pan gasket replacement which did nothing was not leaking.
Had previous problem with Toyota and it took too many hours to get a resolution was a slight discount on a repair on my wife's Camry.
I am happy to continue to ad oil does anyone think this is a bad thing.
I got less than $2000. in real value on a trade in from a dealer on my 2005 Prius with 100000 miles. So I doubt my present prius has any value 130,000 miles.
it runs perfectly am thinking of not even changing the spark plugs as dealer will find a way to charge me $1000. even for that. Why spend $1000. on a care worth less than $1000.
If anyone has another opinion would like to here it.
It is a shame that my great driving car is worthless and uses oil.