NHTSA Complaint #10555262 — 2007 TOYOTA RAV4

OIL LIGHT FLASHED ON THEN WENT OFF. STOPPED AT A GAS STATION TO CHECK OIL, THERE WAS NONE IN THE TANK AND I HAD HAD AN OIL CHANGE LESS THAN 1,500 MILES PRIOR TO THIS INCIDENT. I ADDED 3 QUARTS OF OIL TO MY ENGINE AND NOT 3 WEEKS LATER, HAD TO ADD 2 MORE QUARTS BECAUSE IT WAS EMPTY AGAIN! UPON FURTHER RESEARCH AS TO WHY THIS KEEPS HAPPENING, I FOUND THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH RAV4'S MODEL YEARS 2006-2008, AND THAT TOYOTA IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. HOWEVER, EVEN THOUGH THEY KNOW THIS IS A PROBLEM, THEY ARE STATING THAT THE OIL CONSUMPTION IS WITHIN TOYOTA'S ACCEPTABLE LIMITS! HOW CAN THAT BE? A CAR SHOULD NOT GO THROUGH 3 QUARTS OF OIL IN 3 WEEKS! ALSO, TOYOTA IS STATING THAT THE ONLY FIX FOR THIS IS TO EITHER REPLACE THE ENGINE OR DO A COMPLETE ENGINE REBUILD TO THE TUNE OF $5,000-$7,000!! FOR A CAR THAT HAS LESS THAN 80,000 MILES ON IT! IF THEY ARE AWARE OF THE ISSUE, WHY DO THEY CONTINUE TO LET IT BE OK? THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN THAT SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING TO VEHICLES THIS YOUNG. LUCKILY IT HASN'T BEEN FOR ME YET, BUT FOR OTHERS IT HAS, AND TOYOTA SHOULD DO THEIR PART TO FIX A DEFECT IN THEIR ENGINE DESIGN. *TR