2012 Subaru Impreza Oil Usage - Is it a generic design flaw

Maintenance/Repairs
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41

LOL… Hilarious that you are totally skeptical of everything I have said even though Subaru has already admitted to me that it is an issue that should not be happening & also we have already gone the route suggest by others in this thread & added heavier weight oil, 5w30 as opposed to the 0w20… So, yeah I’m not an idiot… I was the one who shared the quote & I did read it several times… You might want to slow down & read my posts as well there buddy… I’m getting more than a quart of consumption every 1500 miles or so… I can’t be certain because I don’t have the equipment to test the exact amount… pretty damn close to their threshold & possibly exceeding it… Either way, I’m in a mild climate with pretty conservative driving the manual states this would be the case for EXTREME conditions… & yes I did quote verbatim… here is the link if you’d like to look at it yourself… I’m not the only one who has had this issue & have spoken to others who have no issue with this, I’m not driving in extreme conditions, they have admitted it is an issue, even their threshold is set by “extreme conditions” I also have one of the 1st 3,000 production models… All logic points to there being a problem with the vehicle…

7-11 of the service manual:

“when the vehicle is used under severe driving
conditions such as those mentioned
in the Warranty and Maintenance
Booklet, engine oil is consumed
or deteriorated more quickly”

I love it… “Subaru has admitted to me there is a problem they can’t figure out”, we’ve tried the heavier weight oil, I’m running at least a quart of oil ever 1,500 miles & it’s been getting worse over time… yet somehow your forum posters think I’m the one in the wrong here… WOW!

42

When y’all settle this dispute about what is excessive oil consumption for a Subaru, then decide on what is excessive oil consumption for a lawnmower. I see Triedaq pouring oil into the lawnmower just before he starts mowing and disappearing into a cloud of blue smoke after he gets more than 20 feet away. I don’t think adding a quart of oil every 2000 miles is nearly as bad as adding a half pint of oil for an hour of lawn mowing. Triedaq always thought the car was healthy if he had to add no more than a quart every thousand miles. The manual for our 2011 Toyota Sienna says that oil consumption is not excessive if it goes 600 miles before adding a quart. I’m almost certain that he doesn’t add any oil between changes and I know we never add oil between changes on the 2003 4Runner that I drive. I don’t know how any of this miles per quart for a car translates into oil consumption per hours of mowing for a lawnmower.

Mrs. Triedaq

43

Anyone else notice the Irony? Tim Nice not quite so pleasant. Most of the learned minds here seem to share the opinion that 1qt every 2000 miles isn’t excessive. Ifyou
don’t share that opinion not much we can do

44

I agree that cars today should use very little oil, even with the lighter grades. However nearly all manufacturers say now that 1 quart per 1000 miles is “acceptable”. Toyota (Matrix) even says 1 quart per 750 miles is not unusual, and is considered “acceptable”. These are CYA statements mostly; vigorous and fast driving will have most new cars consume more oil. This gets them off the hook with complaining clients.

Neither our Toyota or Mazda consume oil between changes; we never have to add any. However our driving is very sedate.

45

Just my 2 cents as usual, but I fail to see how smoking a quart of oil per 1000 miles X millions of oil consuming vehicles is helpful in any way; and that’s omitting the costs and damage related to the hood never coming up to check anything.

Every that rolls off the assembly line is budgeted a certain amount for warranty repairs by the car maker. It’s not given carte blanche although sometimes it works out that way.
If a car manufacturer admitted to a problem and had to cover say 10% of their vehicles for engine repair or replacement due to oil consumption the cost would seriously dent or wipe out the budget on the remaining 90% of the cars that had no oil useage problem.

46

@Tim_Nice "Also ironic to note that half the people here are saying driving it harder will increase oil consumption but the other half are saying if you don’t break it in hard enough that will increase oil consumption"
This isn’t a contradiction. Driving a car hard may increase oil consumption. When one has the engine running at higher rpms, releasing the accelerator causes a vacuum which will pull oil past the rings and the oil will be burned. However, breaking a car in at slow speeds does not allow the rings to flex as the rings would if the car is accelerated and then the accelerator released. Flexing the rings during break-in helps the rings seat which helps control oil consumption.
I wouldn’t go drag racing in a new car, but I do take a new car out, accelerate it up to highway speed or slightly higher, then release the accelerator and coast down to about 50 mph (assuming there is nobody behind me) and then back up to normal speed. After I have accumulated several hundred miles, I may floor the accelerator to bring up the engine rpms as the transmission downshifts, but then slow down. None of my new cars have ever used any oil between changes.

47

Tim, what brand of oil are you using? Try some Amsoil in it at the next oil change. (And I wouldn’t go 7,500 miles despite what the manual says)

48

@TimNice

I understand that you don’t like oil burning and think it is unacceptable.

Fine. You don’t have to like it

I don’t know what you do, but I’m a professional mechanic and have been doing this for awhile.

I regularly see vehicles which straight out use oil

I’m NOT talking about tired engines leaking oil past worn seals, rings, and guides

I’m NOT talking about engines which have so many leaks that you constantly have to top up.

I’m talking vehicles with low or moderate mileage which simply use oil

Cars and trucks . . . cheap and expensive

There’s nothing wrong with them

There’s no “hidden” repair that only the manufacturer knows about

It’s just life . . . vehicles need to be regularly maintained, whether you like it or not

49

Mrs. Triedaq, Fathers Day is coming up. Time to buy Mr. Triedaq a new mower that doesn’t use so much oil. He’ll never buy one himself. I rarely add oil to my mower during the season. He deserves no less.

50

Tim, YOU are the one with the problem, not Subaru…They don’t think it’s a problem at all and in fact, warn you to expect it in the owners manual…A design defect? HAHA, that’s funny…Reciprocating piston internal combustion engines have been burning a little oil since the first one chugged to life…Some engines burn more oil than others…That does not mean the ones that burn a little more are defective, they just burn a little more oil…

51

“So, yeah I’m not an idiot… I was the one who shared the quote & I did read it several times… You might want to slow down & read my posts as well there buddy”

I read all the posts. Your oil consumption rate has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact you can’t get the basic facts right. In the line leading up to the manual quote you directly contradict what it says!

If you can’t even acknowledge that error, then there is no point in discussing anything further. You are simply argumentative and cannot stop to listen and think. Done.

52

LOL WOW… now I have a problem? I’m not being argumentative for the sake of being argumentative… I’m just going by what my dealer has told me… so I guess if I have a problem, then so does SUBARU because I’m going by what they have told me… I’m not making this up. For the record, I do regularly maintain my vehicle, which is why I am aware of my oil consumption on this vehicle vs all of my previous vehicles & if i didn’t regularly maintain my vehicle, I would never have looked for or seen this forum thread… that is not what this is about… & I have been listening… If I seem argumentative it’s because all of you “learned” people have been completely dismissive, made assumptions about my level of understanding & maintenance on my vehicle, ignored facts that I have stated & just generally acted like I know nothing & EVERYTHING I am saying is wrong…

Funny enough, speaking of maintenance, there was even an instance where I brought the car in to have it checked prior to a 800 mile round trip, because I had already had concerns about the cars rate of oil consumption & I wanted everything to be in top shape for my trip. They told me everything was in perfect shape & that I still wasn’t due for my oil change for another 3500 miles… I got the car back, went on my trip & the oil light came on again, immediately after the trip was over… I brought it in because they offered me free “top offs” since they were concerned about my rate of oil consumption & I paid for their service plan so I could get all my maintenance done through them… So I guess that is on me right, just another instance where I’m the one who has a problem?

Subaru has already told me there is a problem & they were also taken aback by my rate of oil consumption, so I guess they are wrong & now thanks to this forum, even though I am their customer & they are supposed to be the experts, I should now go educate them because every time I bring it to them with this issue, they have always told me it is odd… even when I asked them if they see this often with this vehicle, they said no… They also put the heavier weight oil in the car to help prevent it from happening. I can definitely acknowledge that I said “no oil should burn” but I also feel that is a minor error in terms spectrum of this conversation… I would be willing to bet, though, that you can’t you acknowledge that 1500 miles is pretty damn close to the threshold of 1200 miles (I also have to wonder what the standard deviation on their number is) & that I could possibly be burning more because I don’t have equipment necessary to test the exact amount oil that the car is down. Is it impossible to acknowledge what the dealer has told me? because all of that information has been stated as well… & why should I take the opinion of forum users who I’ve never met or validated their credentials vs what my dealer has told me?

I get it now, though, I suck & have unrealistic expectations but more importantly, the dealer I bought my car from must suck even worse for not informing me incorrectly because I have been in in out of there every 2 months since I bought the car in Jan of 2012… but don’t get it twisted… I work directly with several electrical engineers & mechanics including two who have tons of hardcore experience customizing STI’s WRX’s Supras & more… their reaction was also to say something isn’t right about my rate of oil consumption. I wasn’t band wagoning, I was looking fo honest feedback… I have been getting conflicting information from many legitimate sources & it’s hard for me to simply take the word of people, on an internet forum who ignore my facts & make such big assumptions about how I maintain my vehicle without knowing the truth. So, if my expectation needs to change, I guess that is what it is & I can adapt… & I do apologize if I seem argumentative but you are all sooooooo completely 100% sure of yourselves but you didn’t seem to take one moment to consider that there may ACTUALLY be an issue with my vehicle… DONE :slight_smile:

53

PS Oblivion, thanks for actually inquiring & giving advice… To be honest I’m using whatever the dealer puts into it… I believe it is Subaru branded Valvoline but I’m not positive… it is a dealer that sells & services Subaru’s only… Supposedly with the highest sales volume in IL

54

If I bought a new car and discovered that the engine was going to blow through every drop in it before the first oil change was due and that I would have to get used to buying oil by the case as a stockpile to keep it topped off I would not be happy; at all.

I’ve never seen any car buyer warned by a manufacturer, car dealer, or owners manual that using a quart per 1000 miles is the norm. It’s always AFTER the problem develops.
If a quart per is normal then any discussion about conservation, being green, and saving the Earth is pointless because waste and pollution is the allegedly acceptable new norm.

If that kind of consumption is the norm then all cars should be eating oil at that rate. None of my cars or family members cars use any noticeable amount of oil at all between changes. Five new quarts in; five old quarts out into what is now a full 5 quart jug ready to recycle.

55

Tim Nice:

You have one of two choices at this point in time:

Either live with the oil consumption you currently have;
or
Get a mechanic to figure out where the problem is with the engine.

Chances are, aliens are not stealing your engine oil.
So if you start thinking about the engine in a logical manner, you can start to make some progress in determining exactly where you engine oil is vanishing off to during your 1500 miles of usage.

The easiest thing to do is to look over the entire engine for leaks.
Start with the outside of the engine block, and look to see if the oil is leaking out of it.
Start with engine seams (cylinder heads, valve cover gaskets, oil pan gasket, oil filter seal, front main seal, rear main seal, etc).

Once you have determined that the oil isn’t leaking OUT of the engine onto the ground, now you need to look at other parts of the car the engine oil light wind up. The transmission bell housing, and the coolant system are typically the two places oil can leak to.

Once you have determined that the engine oil isn’t leaking into other systems, not you need to look at the engine’s vacuum system. Pull off the intake manifold, and look to see if the inside of it is very oily.

If it is, then that means that the oil is being sucked out of the crank case, into the intake valves, and burned. That means you might have a defective PCV valve, or a missing part that would limit the amount of oil to get sucked into the PCV system. A lot of high end cars have oil/air separators to do this very job.

After that point, you need to have the engine tested. Compression test, leak down test, pull out the spark plugs and look for oily deposits, etc. You can usually find the source of the problem.

BC.

56

“If that kind of consumption is the norm then all cars should be eating oil at that rate.”

You’re confusing normal with acceptable. They’re not saying all cars built will do it. What they are acknowledging is that some population of the total will do it and it’s within their normal and expected tolerance.

Everyone would prefer the cherry. I certainly wouldn’t want the outlier that swills down oil. But they exist and someone is going to get them. Luck of the draw. Can they make changes to tighten up the distribution? Absolutely. But they’ve determined this is acceptable to them all things considered. And the fact most have these disclaimers seems to indicate they’re all satisfied with the result.

Every industry does these kind of assessments and determines the risk/reward ratio. Even safety areas where you could be killed. Outrage over oil consumption rate should be low on the list :wink:

57

Tim, there is no doubt an issue with your vehicle. You were unlucky enough to get stuck with one that is on the extreme end of the tolerance for oil consumption. If someone takes the time to dig into it, they will likely findsome parts on the extreme side of their tolerance and causing the excessive consumption. It may also be some part that is actually defective. But since you fall into this established tolerance level, they may refuse to do it. They have already factored your displeasure into it. Some people are going to be ticked off. Now you can continue the battle or take your lumps and move on. Your choice.

I was addressing your assertion they say no oil consumption after break in is normal. It is not. Perhaps you were blinded by passion or even rage but if you go back you will see this was my only point.

58

Did I hear you say you don’t bother checking the oil until the oil pressure warning light comes on??

I have a feeling your problems with this engine will resolve themselves shortly…And if you think Subaru or its dealer will pick up the tab for a new engine after you run it out of oil, well that’s not how it works…

59

I am amazed by all the people that don’t check their oil level until the oil pressure light come on which means their engine is effectively out of oil. If you let this happen twice it is no wonder the engine is damaged and noe it is burning even more oil.

60

2012 Impreza owner here- My car is has had this problem since I got it in January 2012. Consistently uses around a quart per 1000 miles.

First few times I asked about it at the dealer they told me, as many have in this forum, that it’s normal. I find this unbelievable. I spent 20,000 dollars on a new car and now I have to pour a $10 quart of oil into it every 2-3 weeks??? So I wrote a letter to Subaru and after that the dealer started doing compression tests, and I just got those results back and since it does fall under the allowable loss rate they aren’t going to do anything.

I can say it's terribly frustrating having this happen to a new car and I am very dissapointed in Subaru's treatment of it as being within operating standards.  I have lost faith in Subaru. Shame on them for not taking care of their customers.