Using Oil

[Maydup]

My 2011 Toyota Yaris has always had an annual service which includes an oil change. 6 months after its latest service it ran out of oil completely and I filled it up. 3 months later its ran out of oil again so I topped up and booked it into the garage. They cant find a leak nor any problem with, and just tell me to check the oil more regularly.

Surely thats not right is it? How often is normal for topping up oil in a car of it age? Average 10k miles pa.

[shoota]

How many miles has it done?
Is the exhaust smoky?

[Maydup]

Mr M followed me home from the garage and checked that the exhaust which he says isnt smoky.

95k miles.

[tonyav]

If it's not leaking then it's burning it. Usual suspects are worn piston rings or worn valve seals.

[shoota]

When you say it ran out of oil, did the oil warning light come on or are you going by the dipstick measurements?

[Maydup]

The warning light came on and then I checked the dip stick which was showing empty.

The garage say they checked the rings and all was fine. Nothing wrong, just check the levels more often. Really?

[tonyav]

Do you know if the garage did a compression test, Maydup ?

[douglas9401]

Weekly.

[shoota]

A quick google shows that it is not an unusual problem Maydup - you are not alone:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4276077

[Buenchico]

As Douglas says, you're meant to check the oil weekly, topping up when necessary. (You're also meant to check other things, such as your tyre pressures, at the same time).

I admit to not being perfect though. I probably check the oil level for my elderly, high-mileage Saab once every few weeks, plus before starting out on any long journeys.

I wouldn't regard using a few litres of oil every three months as being particularly unusual with most cars, particularly with a fairly high mileage on them.

[tonyav]

Mmmm looks like it's a Toyota thing then. Keep on topping up with oil or get rid then, Maydup.

[shoota]

Toyota say on another webpage that it is important to use the right grade of oil so check your handbook, buy a 5 litre can of what they say and sling in a cupful when required.
People were saying a litre per 1,000 miles is not unusual. (Tom Jones agrees apparently...)

[Maydup]

Thanks all, I'll check for the correct grade of oil and top up more often now, see how we go.

[Hopkirk]

The garage say they checked the rings? Impressive, as you have to strip the engine to do that.

[TonyV]

OK Hopkirk, agreed if you want to do a physical check, but compression test will be indicative of any wear, be it bore, piston rings, valve guides.

[bhg481]

Have you had the car from new? If not one of the previous owners might have abused it. My 2008 Volvo with 196,000 miles on the clock burns less than a litre of oil between annual services (15,000 miles). The time to check for oil burning is when the engine is on the overrun ie, when you have been driving at a steady speed for a while and then take your foot off the accelerator. At that time there is a high vacuum in the engine and, if there is any wear in the valve guides/oil seals, oil will be sucked into the cylinders and burnt resulting in smoky exhaust.

[Maydup]

I havent had the car from new, but I have had it for 6 of its 8 year life and and never needed to top the oil up between services.

My conclusion is that it feels like a fairly normal situation for a Toyota to need oil as the car gets older but not necessarily normal for other makes? And no serious issue with my car?

[bhg481]

Reading Shoota's link it looks like it's what Toyotas do; check the oil regularly, listen for strange noises and don't panic.

[Hopkirk]

Not just Toyotas. I had an Astra 1.6, and in later life it started drinking oil.
A search on the net showed that that particular engine was notorious for it.

[Ryzen]

This engine loves to swig oil...dont worry ..you need to check every 500 miles and top up.

[davebro]

My Toyota (RAV4) doesn't use any oil at all between annual services, so I doubt it's a "Toyota thing" per se.