NHTSA Complaint #10484944 — 2008 TOYOTA RAV4

MY 2008 RAV 4 IS BURNING OIL AT AN UNUSUALLY HIGH RATE. THIS BEGAN LAST DECEMBER WHEN MY OIL LIGHT FLICKED ON WHEN I WAS BRAKING. WHEN I BROUGHT IT INTO A SERVICE STATION THEY SAID I HAD NO OIL. I HAVE SINCE BROUGHT IT BACK TO MY DEALER A FEW TIMES FOR THE LIGHT COMING ON AND BEING OUT OF OIL. I HAVE ALREADY DONE THE OIL CONSUMPTION TEST BACK IN MAY BUT TOYOTA FELT THAT IT WAS NORMAL FOR MY CAR TO HAVE LOST OIL IN 1569 MILES (PER THE OWNERS MANUAL). I JUST HAD IT BACK AT THE DEALER BECAUSE AFTER DRIVING ONLY 3,200 MILES SINCE MY LAST OIL CHANGE, MY OIL LIGHT FLICKED ON AGAIN. WHEN I CHECKED IT THERE WAS NO OIL IN THE VEHICLE. I KNOW THERE IS A TSB OUT FOR THIS ISSUE WITH MY CAR, AND SEVERAL OTHER MODELS OF TOYOTA, BUT SINCE I DON'T HAVE AN EXTENDED WARRANTY ON MY VEHICLE THE DEALER/SERVICE DEPT TOLD ME TO CONTACT TOYOTA DIRECTLY. TOYOTA DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I HAVE AN ISSUE AND CONTINUED TO QUOTE ME PAGE 314 OF THE OWNERS MANUAL AND THE OIL CONSUMPTION CRITERIA ON THE PAGE. FOR SOME REASON THEY COULD NOT SEE THE NOTES FROM MY DEALER FROM EARLIER IN THE DAY THAT I HAD RUN OUT OF OIL AFTER 3,200 MILES. THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REP ACTUALLY SAID TO ME "WHAT IS IT YOU WANT US TO DO?" I TOLD HIM I WANT YOU TO FIX MY CAR THAT YOU KNOW HAS A PROBLEM AS DESCRIBED IN THE TSB. I WAS TOLD TO ONCE AGAIN DO THE OIL CONSUMPTION TEST WITH MY DEALER. I AGREE WITH OTHERS, IF MY CAR IS SET TO GO 5000 MILES WITHOUT AN OIL CHANGE, BUT I ONLY WENT 3200 AND HAD NO OIL, HOW CAN THEY NOT RECALL THE VEHICLE OR BE FORCED TO FIX THIS KNOWN ISSUE?!! TOYOTA, I FEEL, IS JEOPARDIZING MINE AND MY FAMILY'S SAFETY BY NOT CORRECTING THIS ISSUE. WHAT DISTURBS ME GREATLY IS THAT THE LIGHT DOESN'T COME ON AND STAY ON, IT FLICKS ON WHEN YOU ARE BREAKING SO IF YOU MISS IT, YOU WILL NOT KNOW YOU ARE OUT OF OIL. A RECALL IS IN ORDER AND I HOPE IT OCCURS BEFORE MY ENGINE IS BLOWN!! *TR