NHTSA Complaint #10323882 — 2007 TOYOTA CAMRY

CAR HAD A BURNING OIL SMELL THAT GREW STRONGER DURING ONE DAY. FINALLY HEARD A SMALL TICKING NOISE AS I CAME CLOSE TO HOME, SMELL WAS WORSE AND I CONNECTED THE TWO... HURRIED HOME 5 BLOCKS AWAY. OIL TRAIL BEHIND MY CAR TO THE HOME. CHECKED OIL, REQUIRED 4.5 QUARTS OF OIL TO BRING IT BACK TO LEVEL. RESEARCHED ON LINE TOYOTA OWNERS FORUM, MENTION OF OIL PIPE FROM CRANKCASE TO UPPER HEAD AREA LEAKING. A RUBBER HOSE THAT CONNECTED TWO METAL HOSES FAILED ON OTHER TOYOTAS, RAVS AND SOMETHING ELSE. CALLED TOYOTA REGARDING OIL LEAKS.. GAVE THEM MY VIN # AND WAS INFORMED THAT MY CAR DIDN'T FALL INTO A SERVICE BULLETIN ABOUT THE PROBLEM, AND MILEAGE WAS OVER 60K... EVEN THOUGH IT WAS EXACTLY LIKE THE OTHER CARS THAT ARE COVERED. CALLED THE LOCAL DEALER, BROUGHT THE CAR IN, RELATED TO THE SERVICE WRITER MY EXPERIENCE AS A SERVICE WRITER AND MECHANIC, ASKED IF HE COULD MAKE EXCEPTION OR CHECK WITH AREA REP. HE DID, REPAIR AS WERE COVERED FOR ME, BUT ONLY BECAUSE I KNEW WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT AND A GOOD SERVICE WRITER. CONCERNED THAT MANY OTHERS THAT DON'T HAVE MECHANICAL EXPERIENCE OR GOOD EARS WON'T CATCH THIS, ENGINE DAMAGE WILL RESULT IF NOT CAUGHT IN TIME AND TOYOTA HAS NOT ISSUED A RECALL FOR A WIDER RANGE OF CARS THAT HAVE THE SAME ISSUE. THEY REPLACED THE RUBBER HOSE IN BETWEEN THE TWO LINES, APPARENTLY THERE IS A BETTER FIX, A COMPLETELY METAL OIL LINE THAT PREVENTS OIL BREAKING DOWN THE RUBBER HOSE. *TR