BUY WITH CARE

Toyota and Lexus ran a service campaign to replace the VVT-i oil hose on early 2GR-FE V6 cars. In the manufacturer's own campaign text, "the rubber portion of the oil supply hose for the VVT-i actuator may degrade over time," causing oil to leak, the oil-pressure light to illuminate and abnormal engine noise; the remedy replaces the hose with an updated part. The campaign letters in this corpus cover 2005-2009 Avalon, 2007-2010 Camry (V6), 2008 Highlander, 2006-2009 RAV4 (V6), 2007-2010 Sienna, 2007-2009 Lexus RX350 and 2007-2008 ES350 -- early build years only; later cars in the same lines were outside it. This was a manufacturer campaign, NOT a formal NHTSA recall (no matching recall appears in this corpus), so it is confirmed through dealer service records or a VIN/dealer lookup rather than the NHTSA recall database.

Check — Ask for proof the VVT-i oil-hose campaign was performed (dealer service records), or have a Toyota/Lexus dealer check the VIN. An early-build car with no record of the updated hose should have the hose replaced at or before purchase -- it is an inexpensive part relative to the engine it protects.

Three of the four 2AZ-FE windows here are engine-mixed, so confirm a car actually has the 2.4L four before applying these facts. The 2007-2011 Camry and 2006-2008 RAV4 were also sold with a 3.5L V6 (2GR-FE), and the 2004-2007 Highlander with a 3.3L V6 (3MZ-FE) plus hybrids -- different engines that do not share the 2AZ-FE's oil-consumption or head-bolt-thread problems. The 2005-2010 Scion tC is the clean case: it is 2AZ-FE only. Note too that the RAV4's own #1 complaint in this window is STEERING (electric power steering), not the engine, so the 2AZ-FE story is only part of that car's picture.

Check — Verify the engine from the VIN or under the hood before trusting the oil-consumption and head-bolt facts -- they apply to the 2.4L four, not the V6s or hybrids. On a RAV4, also weight the electric-power-steering complaint history heavily rather than judging the car on the engine alone.

The 4.0L 1GR-FE V6 and its automatic are nearly invisible in 19 years of federal complaints on the 2007 Tacoma (8 engine, 11 transmission records of 676 total): the drivetrain is this generation's strength, chassis is its weakness.

Check — At high mileage judge service history, not the engine's reputation: fluids, chain quiet at idle, 4WD engagement.