NHTSA Complaint #10592679 — 2008 TOYOTA RAV4

I BEGAN TO NOTICE A BURNT OIL SMELL WHEN I WOULD RETURN HOME FROM SCHOOL IN THE EVENING, I CHECKED MY OIL, THE DIP STICK SHOWED NOT A TRACE OF OIL! THE VEHICLE WAS HALF WAY BETWEEN OIL CHANGES AT THE TIME, MY HUSBAND ADDED 4 QUARTS OF OIL (SO WE KNOW FOR CERTAIN IT WAS EMPTY) AND BROUGHT IT TO TOYOTA. THEY "CHECKED IT", CHANGED THE OIL, AND SENT US ON OUR WAY TELLING US TO MONITOR THE OIL LEVEL. THIS WAS AT 68K MILES. IT WAS NEXT DUE FOR AN OIL CHANGE AT 73,000MILES I CHECKED THE OIL LEVEL YESTERDAY AT 71,000 MILES AND IT WAS NEARLY EMPTY. CALLED THE DEALER AGAIN, WAS TOLD THEY COULDN'T GET ME IN FOR 10 DAYS!! I CALLED ANOTHER TOYOTA DEALER WHO TOLD ME TO BRING IT IN. THE SERVICE MGR ACKNOWLEDGED THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH "CERTAIN RAV 4 ENGINES" AND THAT A SERVICE BULLETIN HAD BEEN ISSUED TO REPAIR THE ISSUE (NOT A RECALL-HE MADE THAT CLEAR). HE EXPLAINED THAT I WOULD HAVE TO FOLLOW THEIR PROCEDURE BEFORE IT CAN BE REPAIRED THOUGH BY DOING TWO OIL CONSUMPTION TESTS (THAT I HAVE TO PAY $24.95 FOR, AND DRIVE 1200 MILES EACH) THEN I WOULD HAVE TO AUTHORIZE THEM TO DO AN ENGINE REMOVAL AND DISASSEMBLY FOR $575 TO DETERMINE IT IS NOT SOMETHING I HAD DONE TO THE CAR. I HAVE BABIED THIS VEHICLE FROM DAY ONE! I NEVER GO BEYOND 4000 MILES FOR AN OIL CHANGE, EVER. NOW I HAVE TO DRIVE MY FAMILY AROUND IN A POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS VEHICLE WHILE THEY DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO REPAIR THE ENGINE THAT THEY HAVE KNOWN THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH FOR YEARS!! UNACCEPTABLE! THIS IS TERRIFYING KNOWING THAT MY ENGINE COULD SEIZE AT ANY MOMENT WHILE I AM ON THE HIGHWAY DRIVING WITH MY CHILD. IT IS EQUALLY AS FRIGHTENING TO REALIZE THAT I MAY END UP HAVING TO PAY $6000+ FOR A NEW ENGINE FOR THIS PIECE OF DEFECTIVE MERCHANDISE I AM STILL PAYING FOR BECAUSE TOYOTA BELIEVES THEY ARE ABOVE THE LAW. PLEASE HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE. *TR