BUY WITH CARE

The one specific flag on the early port-injected 2GR-FE V6 is the VVT-i oil supply hose. Its rubber section hardens and cracks with age and can weep or, worse, rupture -- dumping engine oil in minutes. Owners describe the oil-pressure light and abnormal engine noise, an oil trail "for miles" behind the car, and a dipstick gone bone dry. 279 federal ENGINE complaints across the 2007-2011 Camry V6, 2008-2013 Highlander, 2007-2012 Sienna, 2007-2012 Avalon and 2007-2012 Lexus RX350 name an oil line or hose or the VVT actuator, and 85 explicitly call out the rubber hose. Many go on to engine damage after the oil loss (rod knock, seizure, a replaced engine), and roughly seventy report smoke or fire as hot oil hit the exhaust. Caught at the warning light it is a cheap hose; missed, it can cost the engine.

Check — On any early 2GR-FE car, inspect the VVT-i oil hose for a weeping or hardened rubber section and confirm the oil-pressure warning light works. Treat a sudden oil-pressure light, a knock, or a large oil puddle as stop-driving-now. Ask whether the updated hose has been fitted (see the service-campaign fact).