Good bye Prius 2010-2017

tl;DR

Year: 2010
Mileage: 107,000

Issue: Leaking oil and burning oil in engine.

Read OP's 1st post in this thread: Excessive oil consumption. Issue resolved by Toyota. | PriusChat


Same issue here.

 

Not paying to have it replaced, but just going to trade it in and get something else (non-Toyota). I can smell a noticeable burning of oil after the car is being driven 25+ miles. Also just topping off the oil in the cap produces leaking oil (albeit it slow). Sure, I could take it to another dealer and pay a $100+ diagnostic fee.....the dealers here in Southern California charge just to look at it.

Even if I opted not to believe my dealer's diagnosis, I can still see leaking oil and still smell also burning oil so I am inclined to believe what they are saying as I cannot think off the top of my head what would result in those 2 visible issues.

Sure I can just keep topping off the oil loss every few hundred miles, but I'm just not inclined to do that. My family has currently several Toyotas in excess of 100,000 miles (not hybrids) and have had Toyota in the past with similar mileage. None of them required a "topping off" of oil. If it were just a slight leak that's one thing, but the burning concerns me and there is residue in the tail pipe.


Do you think at 107,000 there should be leaking oil, burning oil, and routine adding of oil ?

I don't expect these issues to manifest as this mileage...........

 

There's a guy with the same issue that ultimately ended up only paying $1,600 in labor and they replaced his engine with a used one with 50,000 miles. Tbh I haven't asked, but I'm just leery about the car at this point. I'd rather just get ahead of the curve and get rid of the car before anything else happens. Unrelated there is something bent or whatever, I'm not sure what but the car cannot be re-aligned anymore because I also asked to have the car re-aligned and they didn't do it.

They could have just not done it and charged me anyways, but they didn't.


This link below is basically what happened to me 100% identical as the OP:

Excessive oil consumption. Issue resolved by Toyota. | PriusChat


It could have just been bad luck, but googling "2010 Prius oil consumption" returns a lot of negative search results.

 

I'm not sure if the 2011 will work, it's certainly possibly that it may. If I sell it, someone who is more proficient in vehicles may be able to fix it for less than what the dealership was quoting, but I don't have the tools or knowledge to rebuild an engine on my own, not to mention professionally/work wise I don't have the time, I work 55-60+ hrs/week. Just taking it to the dealer yesterday I missed a day of work which I didn't have time for.

Just easiest to get rid of it and move on which is a shame.

 

It was something related to the suspension, not engine.

 

I have to look at paper, I don't recall off the top of my head. The car has not been in a wreck or sustained any damaged if that's what you are asking. I do all highway driving, it's California....that's how it has the mileage that it does at 7 years. You have to drive and sit in the car to get anywhere.


The low engine light would flash for a split second and I couldn't see what it was saying until finally I caught it. I checked the dipstick and it was low.


The alignment was done back in Oct. I just decided to have it re-done as I generally do when I get the oil changed. I don't recall what was bent, but I was surprised to hear it myself. Even still, I still don't understand why the engine issue occurred. That's what is making me very upset is that it is engine related, other things I would expect but not the engine.


Also you mentioned your car is consuming oil. Do you smell burnt oil ? Are your rings fine ? Have you replaced your spark plugs recently ? Adding oil isn't an issue, however; I'm curious as to what is causing increased consumption at 100,000+ miles.

If adding quarts of oil between oil changes (or every 600 miles) is considered routine maintenance for the Prius, then the car isn't for me. I understand changing oil, tires, air filter, and other things, but having to check the oil level every week and adding to replace lost oil isn't basic maintenance for me. It comes across as an underlying issue at first glance.

I'm not saying that in a condescending manner at all, so I don't want you to take it that way, but myself (and likely others), buy a Toyota for its reputation for reliability.

Believe me, I'm the last person that would want this to occur, and like everyone else here I work hard to buy what I would like, but I'm not buying another Toyota Prius, or Toyota again. Not to say that another car brand won't have the issue, but I prefer to try something else anyways

 

Read this thread, the 1st post:

Excessive oil consumption. Issue resolved by Toyota. | PriusChat

This is mine situation verbatim.

 

Re: engine issue. The link in post #14 is the same issue that I was experiencing. Light flashing when turning, etc.


Re: alignment. It was the toe I believe that gets adjusted. Again, I don't have the information in front of me. I have had the dealer align this in the past, but they were not able to recently this most recent time due to something being bent, I don't know what. I've had my car serviced by the dealer since I bought it, with the exception of the most recent tires I had replaced.

 

I had them done at different dealers. I used to live in the Midwest and I bought the car there and had the service there. I also had the service here in California. Unfortunately, I don't have all the paperwork since 2010 which I probably should have kept.

I don't disagree with you that it would be worth pursuing the issue with Toyota corporate. I did see that the other poster did get a resolution. Unfortunately, I likely don't have time to do it. As I am typing right now, I'm actually trying to catch up on work I missed while waiting at the dealer all day. I'd like to really pursue the issue, but I also have an opportunity cost as well. I have clients I work for, and there's a large amount of work to be done (and be paid for).

Too much work is a good problem to have I suppose as it's better than being without a job, but I just have very little free time right now.

 

Good idea and moving forward, I agree I'll do that. I'd consider my car higher mileage since it crossed 100k miles in less than 10 years, but I'd caution anyone who has a 2010 Prius to be aware of this potential issue. Not sure if it is a rare situation or just too early to manifest itself.

My relatives have a Highlander and Corolla that are 10 years old with no large issues other than changing tires, etc, etc....It's just my Prius that had a problem.