NHTSA Complaint #10485310 — 2008 TOYOTA RAV4

FOR A WHILE I RECALL A LIGHT FLASHING ON MY DASH BUT IT WOULD DISPPEAR BEFORE I COULD ACTUALLY SEE WHAT IT WAS. ON MAY 31, '12, I WAS ABLE TO SEE IT WAS THE OIL LIGHT. APPARENTLY MY RAV4 WAS RUNNING "LOW" ON OIL AND I DIDN'T KNOW. SO ON JUNE 1 (61,469MILES) I TOOK IT IN AND THE SERVICE ADVISOR COULDN'T "ELABORATE" WHAT HAPPENED, SO THEY TOPPED OFF THE OIL UNTIL I WAS DUE FOR ANOTHER MAINTENANCE. (I DID HAVE ANOTHER SCHEDULED OIL CHANGE BEFORE MY NEXT INCIDENT) WELL, DURING THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OF NOV '12 I NOTICED THE FLASHING AGAIN AND I COULDN'T CONFIRM WHAT WAS FLASHING UNTIL NOV 17 WHEN I HAD TO HIT MY BRAKES AND BAM, THE OIL LIGHT AGAIN! WHEN WE GOT HOME & RAV WAS COOLED OFF WE CHECKED THE OIL.....AND GUESS WHAT, I HAD NO OIL AGAIN! I TOOK IT BACK TO THE SERVICE DEP'T (AFTER DOING RESEARCH AS TO THIS HAPPENING AROUND THE COUNTRY) AND SINCE A TSB DOESN'T MEAN CRAP TO THEM, I HAVE TO DO THIS OIL CONSUMPTION TEST BECAUSE I AM OVER THE 60,000MILE POWERTRAIN WARRANTY AND THEY WILL NOT HONOR THE "LIFE TIME POWERTRAIN WARRANTY" THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME BY THE PREVIOUS OWNER OF THE LOT. I HAVE CONTACTED TOYOTA AND OPENED A CASE, BUT THEY WILL NOT EVEN BEGAN TO REVIEW IT UNTIL THE OIL CONSUMPTION TEST COMES BACK "ABNORMAL". SO IN THE MEAN TIME I HAVE TO WORRY IS MY "ENGINE" GOING TO BLOW UP DUE TO LACK OF OIL. THIS IS MY ONLY MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION. WHEN WILL TOYOTA ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM AND MAKE THIS A RECALL RATHER THAN A TSB....IS IT BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO FRONT THE BILL? DOES THE CONSUMERS SAFETY NOT MATTER TO THEM? AND DON'T FORGET THE TSB CAME OUT IN 2011 AND YET THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT DIDN'T EVEN THINK TO TELL ME THAT THIS COULD "POSSIBLY" BE THE ISSUE! *TR