excessive oil consumption solved*

Avi ... I think you make good points. Since you quoted me I could use a little explanation here please. I don't understand what you are saying about changing the viscosity. And secondly ... clogged oil drains and stuck piston rings happen, I believe in my opinion, because people wait too long between oil changes. If you changed the oil every 1,000 miles you could use the cheapest low-grade oil made and be just fine.
The oil-change places by me get their oil in bulk from the major producers at a serious discount to public retail prices. The "house" filters they use are produced by major companies at a serious discount price from retail too. The higher profits come from services other than oil changes. The profit from oil changes comes from doing lots of them quickly.

 

I use bulk Toyota oil, purchased through my dealership, working well so far. It's pretty cheap, but I don't conflate price and quality. Mainly, I want an oil that's convenient to buy, meets the spec, doesn't break the bank, and buying bulk, bringing my own container, I'm not contributing oil contaminated bottles to the recycle stream.

I suspect I'm the only regular DIY'r in Greater Van doing this right now; hope it catches on, and I appreciate Open Road Toyo for being open to this.

 

As already stated here gen 3 started in 2009 in the UK, not sure what the fascination of having a 2020 car released in 2019 is, I'm guessing it's the impatient side of human nature nowadays.

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I may have understated the oil here, when I say cheapest I mean cheapest oil that meets the specifications required.
The garage's I use make very little profit on the oil they sell, but the oil they stock has to be suitable for more than 1 brand of cars, wheather it be vw, Ford, kia, Toyota, mazda ect. The oil is of a good quality and specification but not normally a main stream brand so much cheaper.
The reason I ask about rebuild shops oppion is if it was just an engineering problem wouldn't we all have problems with oil consumption.
Maybe there is someway of mitigating the chance of our cars becoming oil burners before it starts.
I too don't except that they should burn oil after all they don't when you first buy them, if it is just the rings clogging up what should we all be doing to prevent this from becoming a problem.
Rebuild shop will know whether piston soaks ect work or are wishful thinking.
I'm gona stick with engine flushes on my 2012 and hope it stays as problem free as my 2009

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I understand. However, I also now know why I do most of my own auto maintenance. Good for you though if you can get a customer base that will pay $93+ for an oil change.

 

Hi guys, I a girl with very little about cars and thought my 2008 Prius I've owned just over a year would be as low-maintenance as the Corolla I had before it, but the issues I've been having since purchasing it I don't feel are normal even though my local Toyota dealership servicemen can't determine the root of the issues without charging me thousands more for "deeper analysis". From what I read on forums like these last year, the issues I'm having are basically ones to accept and deal with or get a new engine/car. That was doable for the most part until just recently which brings me to why I'm here seeking advice/info from people who may have dealt with this before. I do apologize for asking for info that has been given already or in past posts but I really need responses specific to my exact issue because I'm not very good at understanding my issue well enough to know which advice previously posted already applies to me so thanks for bearing with me!

Summary of issues:
#1 EXTREME OIL CONSUMPTION
I read a little of the exchanges about what constitutes acceptable oil consumption and no matter what range that may be, I don't have to know anything about cars to know that going ALL THE WAY THROUGH (NO LEAKS) a 5qt jug of oil EVERY 1.5-2 tanks of gas is an UNACCEPTABLE rate for any car. This has been going on since I bought the car which had 167000 miles on it at purchase. The oil most definitely burns fastest during hwy miles or consistently high speed driving which I do frequently for my job. The consumption rate was high at first but has increased to this rate over the year. In the last 6 weeks, I discovered oil

 

Welcome to Prius Chat Tainbolt.

The first question you will be asked is are there any obvious external leaks? Is the car parked in the same place on a regular basis overnight? If you show signs of external leaks put a large piece of cardboard under the car overnight and the leakage will be obvious.
Using that about of oil I would expect a lot of blue smoke out the tailpipe, do you have blue smoke?

 

I reduced oil consumption in my 04 by adding Wynn's Engine Tuneup every oil change. It claims to free up stuck rings. I now add oil only once between changes.

 

So, you swapped the seals on your spark plug housing? I thought they came with the valve cover gasket?? Is there another gasket I'm not thinking about? I know when I removed spark plugs the entire housing was clean as a whistle. Currently burning 1qt every 1000ish miles and now a bad cat.

Any information would be helpful

 

Yeah ... you can buy a gasket combination set-up with a zillion gaskets included ... a bunch are for the spark-plugs.

 

2008 Prius oil consumption problem solved with PCV replacement!
My daughter's 2008 Prius with 178K miles was burning about a quart every 300-400 miles. I followed the DIY steps as outlined in this youtube video:

500 miles later: Oil dipstick still shows "FULL"!