This thread has gone viral, 15,000 + hits so far…There may be A LOT of disgruntled Subaru owners fishing in this pond…
I am also a disgruntled Subaru owner. No, not for the engine burning oil, (even though my 08 forester does burn half a quart to 3/4 in 3500 miles)
but for the horrible interior rattles that the car has. Everything rattles, it never stops. I had to put plastic tubing behind the weather seals in the doors because the wind noise was so bad it would drive you crazy. The A/C is THE ABSOLUTE WORST I HAVE EVER SEEN IN A CAR Is it over 85 out? Well, hope you like sweating.
Car also has over sensitive gas pedal, meaning jerks from stop lights if you don’t press it just right, the car also idles so low that you can see the lights dim and the fan slow down (especially when you have the fan set to high, which is 99% of the time because of the *(&^# air conditioning).
Oh and not to mention, the car is now clunking when stopping/stopping and turning right. oh! and the radio is also terrible, the sound is awful.
SUBARU, YOU NEED TO GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER AND START MAKING CARS THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY DRIVE WITHOUT GOING CRAZY BY YOUR HORRIBLE INTERIORS.
Good points? The car is good in snow. And that is about it.
If anybody viewing this thread is looking to buy a subaru? Don’t. It will save you from headaches, especially now that subaru is having engine problems.
I have to agree that new cars these days SHOULD not use that amount of oil, except where they operate under high load or very high ambient temperatures.
However, manufacturers went to the 750 miles per quart as “normal” when mileage standards forced them to specify 5W20 mineral oil and most cars were not ready for that. Nor were the oils good enough.
My son’s 2004 Mazda3 specified such oil and I recommended he use 0W30 synthetic as an all round oil. So far after 130,000 hard miles, including 3 trips through the SW desert in summer, the car does not use oil in any amount.
My wife’s 2012 Mazda3 “requires” 0W20 oil, but it is synthetic and it has no need for any between changes, not even half a quart. In other parts of the world without CAFE standards this car uses 5W30 or even 10W30 in tropical countries. In many countries synthetic oil, 0W20 or otherwise in simply not available.
So I sympathize with those who have an oil consumption problem, but until manufacturers are forced to step up quality control to ensure very low oil consumption, we just have to live with it.
I consider oil usage of 1/2 qt in 3500 miles VERY acceptable
That’s not even close to being considered a problem by any manufacturer
Or most professional mechanics, for that matter
I am not OP with the high consumption problem. Even I stated in my post I don’t consider that amount of usage a problem.
@db4690 - Why yes, I think it was from the batch of Camry’s mentioned in the link you gave. Nice catch!
@dagosa I suggest you go back & read the posts. The owners manual states 1qt per 1200 miles or below is a defect. I have not been “waiting” until the oil light comes on. I’m not “waiting” until the oil light comes on. It’s a brand new car & Subaru within their service plan advised me to come to see them & have the oil changed every 7,500 miles. They never mentioned that I need to check the oil obsessively & add oil with literally every tank of gas. Even if they had mentioned that, it is completely ridiculous & not how a brand new car should be operating. The light has been coming on extremely prematurely since day 1 & has only gotten worse… at this point after 340 miles of travel. There is no sign of leaks at all, I have been on the lookout, I park in the same spot daily & we have checked that already with the dealer as well… it has to be a problem with the valve seals, piston rings or the piston gaps… The car is advertised as getting 365 miles on a full tank of gas. At this rate I would have to add oil literally with every gas refill to keep the light from coming on. Just look at the text, even within their test, they advised NOT putting oil in it & coming back in 1,000 miles but the light came on before that at 800 miles… Well below their advertised threshold to consider the vehicle to be defective.
They never mentioned that I need to check the oil obsessively & add oil with literally every tank of gas.
But if you would read the manual that came with the car, it is very explicit in this regard.
Section 11-7 of your Users Manual (bolding is mine):
Engine oil
. The engine oil consumption rate is
not stabilized, and therefore cannot be
determined until the vehicle has traveled
at least several thousand miles
(kilometers). Even after break-in, when
the vehicle is used under severe driv-
ing conditions such as those mentionedintheWarrantyandMainte-
nance Booklet, engine oil is consumed
or deteriorated more quickly than un-
der normal driving conditions. If you
drive your vehicle under these severe
conditions, you should check the oil
level at least at every second fuel fill-up
time, and change the oil more frequently.
Please refer to the Warranty
and Maintenance Booklet for more details.
. If the oil consumption rate seems
abnormally high after the break-in
period, for example more than 1 quart
per 1,200 miles or 1 liter per 2,000
kilometers, contact your SUBARU dealer.
Checking the oil level
Check the engine oil level at each fuel
stop.
I’m pretty sure almost nobody ever checks the oil level of their NEW car after each fuel-up.
First, let’s address the point of my post. He said no one told him to do it. But it’s right in the manual along with other important information. No doubt he never even bothered to read it. The dealer probably didn’t tell him to put gas in it either. Some things are common sense and if you’re ignorant, then not reading the manual is inexcusable.
The most important time to religiously check your oil consumption is when you have a new to you car. At that point it’s an unknown. The first thing I do on a new car BEFORE driving it off the lot is to make sure the oil is full. It’s checked frequently until I have confidence and then the schedule is relaxed somewhat.
I agree, most people probably don’t do it. Are you attempting to defend that??
Unless there is a conclusion from the OP, let this thread die. There is no point in any arguments.
16,000 hits on this thread…It must be linked to many other sites…
@twinturbo The reason I said, “no one ever told me to do it” is because I paid for their service plan & asked questions constantly about the care of the vehicle, including bringing the vehicle in well before the 7,500 mile mark before a trip, in which they told me the car was fine & I didn’t need to take any action but the light came on again after that 400 mile round trip directly after I brought it to them. I’m at over 15,000 miles on the vehicle & have had it for 18 months. My consumption has never “stabilized” & has proven to be well less than the 1,200 limit listed in the owners manual. No doubt I have read the manual several times at this point… yet another assumption made by you. What a joke, you’re constantly making assumptions yourself but go around pointing fingers at others, LOL. I no longer take anything you have to say with any seriousness. I have been obsessively checking the oil since day 1. My car is in testing & last checked went through an entire quart in 680 miles… Well below the listed threshold… They have had my car for a week now & weren’t even able to conclude the test fully due to the car burning through oil so quickly. I have done exactly what they recommended which is contact Subaru, even after you & several users of this forum attempted to act like it was my fault. It took 6 months of me bringing it to their attention before they even agreed to do the oil consumption test. Further beyond that, checking & filling the oil every gas fill up is insane, like another user posted, just because they work it into the legal jargon of their manual, it doesn’t mean its right or acceptable but I am well below the threshold of oil consumption stated anyhow, I HAVE ALREADY CONFIRMED WITH THE COMPANY THAT THERE IS INDEED AN ISSUE WITH THE VEHICLE & AM PROBABLY NOT THE ONLY ONE EXPERIENCING THIS ISSUE… Are you attempting to defend that & still trying to put this on me somehow? LOL you are the ignorant one my friend, stop making assumptions… Yet another case in this forum where someone acts like a know it all, makes assumptions & ignores the stated facts.
PS @twinturbo rather than talking about me in the thread like I’m a child and making assumptions, feel free to address me directly lol
My my, children . . .
I think we need to go to the principal’s office . . .
Detention for all involved
LOL
Why would I address you when BillyC made the comment I was responding to? You have an overinflated view of yourself. I wrote you off back in the beginning…
I have been lucky my 25 years of owning cars(Subarux2, Jeep, Toyota, GM, Honda, Acura). I have yet to own a “bad car”. None have ever burned oil much before the next change and typically run to the 200k/10yr point. Even my first car a weird $1100 1986 Subaru XT Coupe was flawless albiet rotted.
This includes my current 2005 Legacy turbo wagon manual with 160k miles. It does not burn a drop even with a “pressure cooker” high strung motor that has been flawless. The truth is the EJ block I have traces its roots back to 1989 in Legacy.
My Acura MDX (07/108k) at 6.5k miles did burn 1/2 qt if it were filled to proper level originally (no idea). It threw a check oil level for that with a message on the Nav screen and a HAL type voice telling me to check it.
Hope my luck continues, hit or miss IMHO and not brand specific.
So big update here for those who are actually interested… It is officially in the books as defective… After having to stop the testing early due to unusually high oil consumption, they finally brought Subaru Engineers to my local dealer for inspection & testing… A new short block engine is on order under warranty & they are going to replace the entire short block at no cost to me. Thanks to all with positive feedback… another thumb up the nose & big boo hoo to all of those who assumed many things, ignored facts & insisted I was incompetent & the one with a problem rather than my vehicle…
Just to chip in my two cents, my 2012 Impreza drinks a quart every 900 miles (give or take a few miles) and the dealership and Subaru is still insisting the vehicle is operating “normally.”
@drkbert that is below their threshold of 1200 miles for a defective vehicle… I recommend contacting subaru corporate & request that they do an oil consumption test. It took me months of complaining & pushing the issue but they have indeed finally agreed to replace my engine.