Is this 2009 2.4 manual base Vibe a good deal? How bad is the oil consumption problem on the 2.4s really?

[ghiggz]

I need a union made car for work and I was looking at the Vibe in particular since it's Toyota parts for the reliability but union made in the UAW NUMMI plant before it was turned over to Tesla. I found this listing here: https://www.truecar.com/used-cars-for-s ... utotempest and was tempted because it's such low miles (41k) and near where I live AND it has the larger 2.4 engine that I thought would be preferrable. But after doing some reading on this website and others, I'm a little alarmed about what I've heard about the engine in the 2.4s (the 2az-fe engine) being the same engine that went into the Camry and having common and chronic oil burning issues that were never addressed in a recall or warranty because of Pontiac being a defunct brand.

Is this truly an issue that's common on every 2.4 engine? Is the 1.8 really more desirable because of that and do all the manual 2.4 vibes have the same issue? Is there way to tell if this Vibe in particular is going to have the same problem?

[VibeNation2024]

Welcome to Gen Vibe and I thought the 2008 Vibe with 67,000 miles that I bought in the spring was low miles!

As you mentioned, the 2.4L engine has the possibility to burn oil but not all of them have this problem. Both of my Vibes have the 1.8 engine but from what I read, as long as you monitor it and maintain the vehicle, you either will not have the problem or can keep it at bay. I have also read that some people have had success with using Amsoil or other high end oil.

The problem is like you mentioned, is being able to tell if this car has or will have the problem. It might not be as obvious as oil dripping from the exhaust or a plume of white smoke while you are driving! And I doubt the dealership would disclose it and you have to drive it for a few weeks or longer to be able to notice any small drop.

You might have to take a chance for the low miles or keep searching for a 1.8 if you didn't want to worry about it.

[tpollauf]

Welcome to Gen Vibe. At 41k miles, take the plunge and get it. Of the two in my fleet, one burns oil (1 quart every 1500 miles) and the other burns nothing! One had 45k miles and the other close to 200k miles. One is an auto, and the other a manual. The "higher mileage" vibe is clearly the one that burns oil. We bought that one "used and abused" back in 2010 right at 36k miles and it burned the oil right off the bat. My guess was that it had ZERO maintenance done to it which is why we got it at a good price back then. Anyways the first thing I'd do is put in a good synthetic oil which will help prevent oil burning. Surprisingly ours with the oil burning issue has never thrown any codes, no damage to catalytic convertor, or any other signs that it's slowly burning the oil. Just make a note to check on the oil level every other fill up or so. Let us know what you end up doing.

[ghiggz]

Thanks for the feedback! Is there anyway to tell if the 2.4 I'm looking at might have the problem? Any difference between model years or when the car was produced or is it just a roll of the dice? I think I'll go for it regardless but was curious.

[tpollauf]

I don't think there is a pattern or definite cause of when the bad piston rings were installed. Although in my case with two identical vibes, one was early production (April 2008) which burns the oil, and the other was January 2009 (burns ZERO oil). It may be a roll of the dice! Also, more importantly, how well was the vehicle maintained by it's prior owner(s).

[Dickerin]

My 2009 automatic with 41K miles burns no oil. It sat for almost three years before I bought it but it appeared to have been well maintained before that.