Hi, this forum isn’t very big! I tried searching for my questions but came up with nothing. Please excuse me if there are recent posts with this question I guess I’m not as tech savvy as I thought.

I’m interested in the HS250h - I like their look and many of the examples I’ve seen have the safety tech I’m looking for. I’m not so concerned with the hybrid system as I’ve owned hybrids in the past. However, I have never owned a vehicle with an engine that is known for high oil consumption.

Here are my questions:
Would you recommend a high mileage example?
Does a 3,000 mile oil change interval mitigate the potential problems that come with an engine that runs through oil?
Is there anyway I can have the “oil consumption” checked during a ppi? Is there a method to know the oil consumption other than long term analysis?

Thank-you for your time.

 

Mine is still low miles, I actually get one annual oil change, and don't have any oil consumption problem.
I think what's important in this car oil-wise is to use the very light oil recommended by Toyota: 0W20, because thicker oils will mess with the VVTI valve.

I think the avenue you should chase up is whether the car was ever subjected to the official Lexus test for oil consumption, which has the identifier L-SB-0109-14. I attached the document with the procedure. If this test was carried out, there may be evidence of a mark on the oil dipstick. Notice the instructions say to use a paint pen, tamper tape, including the TydenBrooks Partial Residue Security Seal. The document I uploaded has several photographs showing examples of such marks.

The reason I think this is important is, if oil consumption was a problem based on Lexus's test, they would have replaced the piston rings on that engine. And if the car passed the test, you have a better chance than not to have a problem-free car in that respect.

 

Oh, and it appears if your VIN is greater than JTHBB1BA#C2051654, then Toyota would have presumably used an updated piston assembly with larger oil holes, and the problem is less likely to occur in that car.

I think the # means any character can be in that space.

 

They only imported about 20,000 of these to the US.
It has the same engine & hybrid drive train as the Toyota Camry from the same model years. The oil consumption was usually not that bad, especially if one is old enough to recall cars from years ago that regularly drank as much as oil as this engine and it was considered normal.
Just check the engine oil level every after filling up the gas tank or every other fill up, and keep a quart in the car to top it up. It does run rougher when low on oil as I found out once and it was only about a pint low.
Note that due to its rarity and lack of body repair parts that it will be declared a total loss by an insurance company sooner than many other similarly old vehicles.