NHTSA Complaint #10903377 — 2007 TOYOTA RAV4

PURCHASED MY RAV4 USED FROM TOYOTA/SCION OF GRAND RAPIDS AROUND JANUARY/FEBRUARY OF 2016. IT HAD JUST A SMIDGE OVER 77,000 MILES ON IT. MY FIRST OIL CHANGE WAS EARLY DUE TO LOW OIL LIGHT COMING ON. I TOOK IT INTO A PRIVATE OWNED SHOP WHERE IT WAS DISCOVERED THERE WAS HARDLY ANY OIL IN IT AT ALL. CONTACT THE DEALERSHIP, THEY HAD ME BRING IT IN TO CHECK, AND START MY OIL CONSUMPTION TEST. TEST COMPLETED AT 81,711 MILES. THE TECHS "CHECKED IT" AND THAT IT PASSED THE TEST AND THEREFORE, WOULD NOT PERFORM THE REBUILD. ADDITIONALLY, TOLD ME THAT IT'S NORMAL FOR VEHICLES TO CONSUME OIL. I THOUGHT IT WAS A BIT EXCESSIVE, GETTING A LOW OIL LIGHT HALFWAY IN BETWEEN OIL CHANGES. I ACCEPTED THE NEWS THINKING MAYBE IT WAS JUST A FLUKE. AFTER 2,000 MILES, I DECIDED TO RE-CHECK MY OIL. AGAIN, THERE WAS PRACTICALLY NOTHING ON THE DIPSTICK, MY LIGHT HAD NOT TURNED ON. I CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP AGAIN AND I ASKED ABOUT HAVING ANOTHER TEST DONE. TO WHICH THEY REPLIED, "TOYOTA ONLY ALLOWS 2 FREE TESTS (PER YEAR?)" . SO INSTEAD OF STARTING ANOTHER TEST, I WAS TOLD TO CHECK MY OIL EVERY THOUSAND MILES. AND IF MY LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN, CONTACT THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THEIR GOAL WAS TO "MAKE IT FAIL" SO THAT THEY WOULD PERFORM THE REBUILD FOR ME. AT THE 1,000 MILE MARK, I CHECKED THE DIPSTICK. ALREADY DOWN TO ABOUT 3/4. I THOUGHT THIS ALONE WAS PRETTY EXCESSIVE. AT THE 2,000 MILE MARK I CHECKED AGAIN. HARDLY ANYTHING ON THE DIPSTICK THIS TIME. COULD NOT READ THE LEVEL PROPERLY. I CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP AND THE TECH ASKED SOME QUESTIONS. STILL WASN'T "GOOD ENOUGH." I QUESTIONED HIM ABOUT THE NEWEST READING, HE SAID IT WAS "NORMAL" AND GAVE ME SOME GARBAGE ABOUT OIL USE AND THINNING OUT, ETC. HE INSTRUCTED ME TO PUT IN 2 MORE QUARTS OF OIL AND TO KEEP CHECKING EVERY 1,000 MILES. SEEMS TO ME THAT THERE IS DEFINITELY AN ISSUE, AND THE DEALERSHIP IS NOT ACKNOWLEDGING IT.