g5873241

By the way.....
You guys know this is inexcusable, right? This is the crap you'd expect from a checy or maybe a harley.

I've owned toyota/lexus for 35 years. I've never had an oil problem until this car.One of the reasons for buying this brand is the quality that keeps you out of the shop and requires minimal maintenance.

msgs350

iTrader: (2)

I agree, this is the main reason I'm staying away from the 3.5 V6. I wanted the 4GS but not any more since its the same motor. Maybe if Lexus corporate gets enough calls about this issue, they might do something. Local dealers aren't going to help.

LexusLive

Lexus is following the other major luxury car makers lead, and building cars that are designed to be leased. No one buys a luxury car like really rich people did in the old days. Old money wouldn't have even considered time payments or leasing. They paid cash for that '78 Mercedes 450 SEL and drove it for 20 years. Those days are long gone. Everything is a disposable commodity now. Cars will just end up being used for 8 or 9 years at the most and sent to the crusher because the cost of repairing them outweighs the cost of just getting the latest shiny tin can with new and improved iPhone integration.

Also I believe that car makers have been forced into this kind of development cycle because mileage and emissions and safety standards continue get tighter each year. So they don't have as much vested interest in keeping platforms around for more than 6 years, because in order to meet the new regs, they are going to have to create a whole new platform anyway.

msgs350

iTrader: (2)

Have you noticed the current Lexus LS has been around since late 2006?
All jokes aside, I see where you're coming from and i somewhat agree. It seems that most customers didn't lease their Lexus and just purchased them because they planned to keep them longer, such as myself. Maybe brand loyalty isn't a big thing right now.

Anyways, back on topic. my 2007 GS350AWD with 140k burns oil at a considerably higher rate than expected.

LexusLive

Well, as a hapless GS 300 owner, I feel somewhat vindicated that the GS 350 ALSO has this problem (hint hint Gotcha350) because now I feel slightly less stupid for having purchased the first year GS.
Yes, it's slower, and the gas mileage isn't any better, (apparently there are GS 460 owners out there claiming to get 27 MPG in town ) and the nav screen is crap compared to the 2007 + models but at least they ALL burn oil. Lots of proof starting to stack up here...

chuckGS350

My 07GS350AWD started consuming oil at 60K miles (after valve spring recall done).
50K miles later, the rate of consumption still hasn't changed much. About 1QT every 2500 miles.
In winter the car consumes less. Not pushing the panic button yet.

hvargas

Is there anyway to get Lexus to take a look at it, free-of-charge, in Canada? My mechanic (who used to be a master mechanic at Lexus) said it seems to be a known issue... but I'm wondering if they would actually take steps to rectify it or not.

Purchased the car back in June and switched from conventional to synthetic and had to top it with 2L about 2000KM before oil change. Previous owner never noticed this but he was running conventional (quicker oil changes).

NickTee

Just curious, do GS460 owners also have this oil consumption problem? Small amounts of oil consumption is to be expected in an ICE, after all the oil that coats the cylinder walls doesn't just stay there, but it also shouldn't be bad enough that you consume enough to be noticeable. Even in my previous highly modified cars I didn't have this issue.

LexusLive

Who knows, there are so few GS 460s that you'd probably be better off looking at the historical data for the LS 460, as it's the same motor. I haven't heard anything, but I fear that all direct injection engines are going to suffer from this problem sooner or later.

ButterBean

Just started having this issue in my 09 GS 350 and it just hit 93K miles. Its drinking oil like crazy. Was about 1K miles out from needing an oil change and my oil light came on. I added two quarts......drove 1000 miles and just added another quart.

Heading in to talk to the Lexus dealership about it on Monday. My family mechanic told me its a known issue and that if I press Lexus they will likely fix it. I have been a Toyota/Lexus guy since my first car 30 years ago...... WIll see if any of that helps.

703

2az-fe 2.4l engine used in 2007+ Camry, RAV4 etc also has excessive fuel consumption issue. The same engine prior to 2007 didn't have the problem.

The problem is much bigger than Toyota likes to admit.

Essentially they made the engine loser to have better MPG figures and lower emissions. Now the owners are suffering

msgs350

iTrader: (2)

**my update

I'm at 142k with my 07 GS350 AWD and as of my most recent oil change at 138k, I just added 3.5 quarts of oil today to get back into normal range on the dipstick. It looks like I'm burning about 1qt per 1k miles at this time. In case you guys are wondering, i park at the same spots at home and work and there isn't any evidence of any leaks.

ButterBean

Do you guys know if the V8s in the larger lexus sedans have this same issue?

703

Not seeing this issue on my GS460. The V8 also holds quite a bit more oil. It goes through CT and X-rays at manufacturing to ensure exact tolerances, more QA than the other engines.

11Es350Lex

My 11Gs350 has just 100k now and the past 2 changes I have received about 4.5 quarts back instead of 6.6.. I’m just gonna start topping off, I do my own changes so it’s fine I guess.