I have a 99 Camry that uses a lot of oil. There is no blue smoke and no oil puddles. (oil changes every 5K miles) My husband says this has been discussed on Car Talk before but there was no resolution. I’m wondering if anything new has been discovered??
How much oil does it use? Most auto manufacturers consider 1qt/1000 miles as normal oil consumption. To some this not an acceptable level of consumption. But they didn’t manufacture the vehicle nor did they write the specs for the vehicle. So what else can you do but accept it?
Tester
How much? And how many miles does it have on it?
As Tester said, even on new cars 1 quart per 1000 miles is usually considered acceptable, and on a 1999 I’d definitely consider it acceptable.
There are lots of possible causes. A mechanic has to check for them in person. There won’t be a resolution by just discussing it here.
If there are no leaks, the oil must be being burned by the engine (there are no other possibilities unless you suspect vandalism). The catalytic converter can handle a certain amount of oil in the exhaust so that you won’t always see blue smoke, but you run the risk of clogging and ruining the cat if the problem persists or gets worse (as it probably will).
I repeat the request for info on exactly how much it is using.