How is this acceptable?

"MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s" (mastermario)
03/11/2015 at 10:54 • Filed to: Toyota, rant

So my wife's 2009 matrix had a warranty update recently stating that some vehicles have been experiencing excessive oil consumption. This is after i had to put more than a quart of oil in over the 5000 miles between oil changes. So i take it to the dealer to get a test done. They fill it, seal the cap, and we drive it 1100miles and bring it back. I just got a call back from the dealer and it consumed 3/4 a quart over 1100 miles, but Toyota doesn't consider it excessive unless it's more than a quart. Are you kidding me? Not even my 23year old truck with 212k on the clock that leaks oil consumes that much. Kind of frustrated, no modern car should consume anything close to a quart of oil in 1100miles. Fortunately the dealer said we can have it tested again in 6months...hopefully nothing catastrophic happens in the mean time. Jeez...

DISCUSSION (16)

505Turbeaux > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
03/11/2015 at 10:56

easy, next time you do it let some oil out of the drain plug before bringing it back in

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
03/11/2015 at 11:02

That is way excessive, I'd kick up a fuss until something gets done. Our Laguna had a fault that we've since fixed that caused it to burn oil so badly it made blue smoke and it burned less than that.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
03/11/2015 at 11:06

I'll do you one better - my diesel Benz with nearly 400k miles doesn't lose that much oil, even with some leaking.

CalzoneGolem > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
03/11/2015 at 11:19

Talk to my boss about his 2014 XV that burns a quart between oil changes.

deekster_caddy > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
03/11/2015 at 11:20

Unfortunately every manufacturer has a number that is "acceptable" oil consumption, however they measure it. You'll need to dig a little to find the number for your vehicle/engine/mileage but it's worth doing the research. Their limit could be 1 qt over 1,000 miles... (I don't know) Go digging!!!

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
03/11/2015 at 11:38

that's the weird thing...you would think there would be some smoke with that much oil...but there's nothing as far as i can tell

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > deekster_caddy
03/11/2015 at 11:42

A quart per 1100 miles seems crazy...that means it would be acceptable to consume all the oil between the recommended 5000mile changes...i bet some people have done it too since a lot of non gear heads never even check their oil level between changes

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > CalzoneGolem
03/11/2015 at 11:50

And I'm guessing he was told that it's "normal"

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
03/11/2015 at 11:53

I've been thinking about getting an older diesel benz...how expensive are parts? Any thing a newbie to them should know before buying?

CaptDale - is secretly British > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
03/11/2015 at 11:59

Check out Subaru, using oil is written into their owners manual. I believe its acceptable to use a quart every 1300 miles. This includes that new '15 Forester you just bought.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
03/11/2015 at 12:08

The plastic on the interior of one is likely to be brittle, and A/C systems are likely to be at least partly on the fritz. Not impossible to fix, but *those* parts can be expensive - CC controller, vacuum servos, and the like. Basic parts - timing chains, seals, suspension parts, and others - can be more expensive than domestic, but most are available and some are available used. Filters - quite cheap. A lot past that depends on what generation of diesel Benz you're buying, and how hold within that generation. A W210 Benz (late 90s-early 2ks) is complicated enough that it'll make you buggy, but is going to be fresher than most W124s. W124s (late 80s-mid 90s) are very robust in most senses, but in some ways harder to work on (!) than the W210 - and some diesel versions are schizoid. Purportedly, one should avoid a 3.5 diesel like the plague, and the early 3.0s ('87-'88, '86 in the S-class) are very well known for cracky heads - a problem mostly caused by a soot trap.

The generation before that (W123, mid 70s- mid-80s) are very solid, but drive like wallowing pigs, particularly the five-cyl turbodiesel. Some A/C gremlins, some weird issues, and the need to manually adjust your valves, but it's not a bad option. Brake jobs are also more of a bitch than the W124 for some reason. The 240d of this generation (most common) is among the most underpowered cars ever, though. Some rust issues, but there's a company from Denmark (Klokkerholm) that sells replacement panels for $notmu.ch, so if you're adventuresome with a welder (or know someone who is), that's not insurmountable.

Oh yeah, and everything on most older Benzes is vacuum powered, so leaks... leaks everywhere. Generally not that irritating except when it prevents you from being able to turn off the engine.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > CaptDale - is secretly British
03/11/2015 at 12:23

wow...I guess I never realized what is considered "acceptable" for oil consumption by the manufacturers. It's a bit too much for my liking

CalzoneGolem > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
03/11/2015 at 13:00

It falls within acceptable limits.

deekster_caddy > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
03/11/2015 at 13:13

I agree it's crazy, it seems very high to me. But look to Toyota for their official number before you expect them to do anything about it - that's all I'm saying!

deekster_caddy > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
03/11/2015 at 13:15

My first car was a '72 MGB that burned a quart of oil for every 5 gal of gas and didn't smoke! It should have been smoking like crazy, I don't know why it wasn't. But it wasn't leaking anywhere (that's weird too)... Towards it's end I would go to the gas station and literally put in 10 gal of gas and 2 quarts of oil.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
03/11/2015 at 13:19

GM considers 2.5 quarts per 1000 miles acceptable for their 5.3's with AFM, so 3/4 isn't a lot at all.