Seeking any and all help/advice as to why my Camry is burning oil (1 qt every two, three weeks). Also engine rattle at low speed. May be done for. Thanks.

Year and mileage?
Are you sure it's burning and not leaking? That is a lot of oil

There's none on my garage floor! Old thing is a 2011 and has l56,000 mi.

Not sure what years this applied to, but there was a TSB on my 07 4 cylinder Camry for excessive oil consumption.

Toyota dealership measured exact amount of oil, sealed it so no oil could be added or removed and had me drive something like 1,500 miles. Came back for them to measure oil level and it had burned over whatever limit Was set for Toyota to cover the repairs. They replaced oil and compression rings, so essentially a rebuild.

That was around 155K and no cost. I added another 1,700 of parts just because. Parts only and labor was free since it was parts that were already being removed as part of the TSB. Now at 250K and still runs like a top.

Like I said, no clue what years this applies to but might be something to check out.

Piston rings are dry and brittle. Oil dripping on to manifold and not in the ground?

Also the smell of oil burning has become noticeable. And the hood seems very hot to the touch.

May be obvious but I'd say stop driving it for now unless you want it to go up in flames. Maybe that's the goal but just saying.

sunflower said:

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Also the smell of oil burning has become noticeable. And the hood seems very hot to the touch.

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Smell from the exhaust or engine compartment?

sunflower said:

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And the hood seems very hot to the touch.

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This comment makes me say you should just take it to the dealer

Maybe this video might explain. Granted, you stated it has nearly half the mileage but apparently the Camry engines had this problem. Engine in the video was also burning oil excessively. 2009 Camry video.
How Does a Toyota Engine with 300,000 Miles Look Like On The Inside? - Bing video