Most vehicle owners know that their cars need regular maintenance to stay in working order. However, some cars require a disproportionate amount of care. Unfortunately, some Toyota Camry owners are dealing with excessive oil consumption in their personal vehicles. 

What year of Camry has oil consumption issues?

Toyota Camrys and others primarily from 2006 through 2011 exhibit excessive consumption of a quart of oil in 1,200 miles. Moreover, some owners reported an oil pressure light sooner than expected. However, Toyota dealers told people that burning oil is normal and not a problem.

Toyota’s response to the oil consumption instances

Toyota issued an internal technical service bulletin (TBS) on August 11, 2011. The bulletin read: “Some 2006–2011 model year vehicles equipped with the 2AZ-FE engine may exhibit engine oil consumption. The piston assembly has been changed to minimize oil consumption.” The TBS also stated, “P030# (cylinder # misfire detected) DTC may also be set as a result of oil consumption.”

The TBS was not a recall, and it stated repairs should be covered by the 60-month, 60,000-mile Toyota Powertrain Warranty. However, owners would have to submit their vehicles for testing before the repair. Specifically, the dealer would mark the oil level on the dipstick and have the owner drive 1,200 miles. After the drive, the dealer would recheck the oil level. If more than a quart of oil had been used, the repairs would be covered by the warranty. Vehicles no longer under warranty or ones that didn’t pass the test were out of luck, and owners would have to cover the cost of repairs.

Which Toyotas have oil consumption problems?

Car Complaints, where owners submit vehicle issues, shows figures for the problem. The biggest problems were for the Camry, Corolla (2009), the Matrix (2009), the RAV4 (2006–2008), the Solara (2007–2008), and some Scion vehicles (the 2007–2009 Scion tC and 2008–2009 Scion xB). For the Toyota Camry, both the HV Hybrid (2007–2011) and the standard Camry (2007–2009) are consumption culprits.

For the Camry HV, Car Complaints reveals that problems began right away in 2007, the first model year it was available. As a result, the 2007 model has the most overall complaints. However, it had more brake problem complaints than engine problems for the 2007 model year, but excessive oil consumption was the most reported engine issue. Furthermore, just as many owners reported excessive oil consumption issues for the 2009 Camry HV.

For the standard Toyota Camry, 284 people reported excessive oil consumption as the No. 1 problem on the 2007 Camry. Engine problems, and specifically excessive oil consumption, are the top issues for the 2008, 2009, and 2010 model years. For the 2009 Toyota Camry, people reported the issue appearing at around 95,700 miles and costing an average of $1,400 to repair.

Class action lawsuit

Since the oil consumption could lead to engine failure, owners filed a class action lawsuit against Toyota. In addition to the danger, owners experienced higher costs and decreased vehicle value. The lawsuit charged that Toyota had been aware of the issues since 2008 but didn’t notify owners.

Moreover, the lawsuit suggested that the engine had a defective design or manufacturing, and it pointed to the pistons and piston ring assemblies plus the oil control ring groove and patin drain holes as the source of the issues with oil consumption. Ultimately, the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed in 2015.

Keep up with MotorBiscuit for the latest Toyota content!