For the record @caddyman & @docnick the vehicle specifications call for synthetic 0w20. If you read the owners manual, It explicitly states you can use 5w30 (like in the wrx’s) but ONLY TEMPORARILY in the case of an emergency. Subaru corporate was basically freaking out when they found out that the dealer put heavier weight oil into the car as a solution. They were not happy to hear that they did that.
I’d like to also add that after several times going back & forth Subaru that they FINALLY started an “Oil Consumption Test.” I had been instructed to go in every 1,000 miles for testing & to NOT put oil in the car in between. The outcome has been quite interesting so far as my problem as been degrading quickly. 1st, the low oil light came on once again before the 1st 1,000 after around 800 miles. It couldn’t have been at a worse time as I had to literally put off leaving for a vacation by several hours to get the vehicle in They then topped the oil off, took some measurements & sent me on my way. I then went on my trip, 340 miles drive round trip & guess what? The low oil light came on once again. According to my calculations from reading the dip stick, that is 340 miles on a half quart of oil meaning 680 for a full quart. The test is not fully completed yet but I’d like to give a BIG OLD thumb up the nose & a “naa naa naa boo boo” to all the supposed “experts” in this thread who so confidently assured me that I was the one with the problem, not the car! This is proof that many of you were jumping to conclusions about the problem with my vehicle, my ability to care for it & my expectations.
Speaking of expectations, I would like to further note, that I personally think this trend is completely ridiculous… Call me old school but I’ve never had a car eat oil at that rate, especially a new one. Even if it was a qt every 1000 or even 1500 miles. It comes off to me as “bait & switch.” As in they advertise great gas mileage but hide high oil consumption behind a curtain when in fact, they go hand in hand in terms of efficiency & overall cost of ownership. It’s ironic to me, at 1,000 miles a quart, to do a road trip from my home in Chicago to southern California which is about a 4,000 mile round trip, at that rate I would need to pack a case of oil & would be expecting to go through 4 quarts in my travels… WOW, that is not my idea of an efficient vehicle & NOT what I would expect from a vehicle that is known as a “drivers” vehicle. Further more, I have spoken with a certified Nissan technician who says he sees this same PROBLEM with their 350’z quite regularly. It is too funny that several techs within this thread are belittling others… Sorry @redrex but “sorry for the tragedy that has befallen you” but you are missing the point (not to mention you are just coming off as a HUGE jerk lol). When you pay good money for a product that is known for reliability & you have to worry about oil consumption every time you go for a trip & then in turn have to have extra worry about the long term effects this has on a $25,000 investment, it’s not a tragedy it’s bad business & a terrible value & for me the problem has gotten worse & worse & it’s only been 18 months. What can I expect 5 years from now? A quart ever 100 miles??? LOL… Not to mention it wastes time & time is money to me. So it’s costing me far more than the $100 you are estimating. I have been completely properly maintaining my engine, as a matter of fact I paid for the Subaru service plan & have been following all of their guidelines exactly. So once again, I’d like to say, if you are so convinced that the users have unrealistic expectations about how to maintain their vehicle, then it is most certainly the responsibility of Subaru as a company to educate their customers on the differences between their cars & every other normal car out there but even beyond that, the testing has shown that my vehicle certainly has a problem & that this problem is real & does in fact exist.
In any case, we shall see what the solution of this situation is. At this point, they have to finish the testing but it appears as if they are getting ready to replace the entire engine or the entire vehicle. Due to a plethora of other small problems with this vehicle, I’m demanding a vehicle replacement. This is not what I paid $25,000 for when purchasing a brand new vehicle that I planned on driving for at least 10 years.
