All, first time poster and hoping to find some rationale advice! I have a 2015.5 Volvo XC60 T6 with the Drive-E engine with close to 65,000 miles. I received my first Low Oil Warning light around 55,000 miles, added a quart and it went away. It has happened twice since that time. The car seems to be using a quart of oil every 5,000 miles. I had the dealer look it over, they ran their tests (which I’m unsure of “what” they did, ran it up the chain with Volvo and they stated it needed a ring/piston job at the tune of $5,000, of which Volvo is kind enough to offer to pay $500.00 (geez, thanks).
I’ve called four independent Volvo mechanics in the area and they all had a few different opinions, including just add 5 to 6 quarts of oil at each oil change, use a higher viscosity, change the oil more frequently, make sure you monitor the oil levels; however, no one recommended a full on piston/ring job on a car that’s only 4 years old. This car does not have a dipstick but has the warning light that will let me know when it’s low.
We like the car, it drives well, we bought it for safety reasons and we will be passing to a child in a few months when they turn 16.
I realize folks will have very different opinions here but I want to make sure I don’t do any long term harm to the car, or, if I should just try to offload this thing ASAP. I’ll be diligent monitoring the oil light and don’t mind adding oil when needed. My history with cars is essentially all Toyota’s and I haven’t added oil to a car since I drove an 84 GMC pickup that had leaking seals. Some of my research says this is no big deal and perfectly normal. On other Volvo forums people are losing their minds.
I say trade or sell. Do you really expect a 16 year old to stop and add oil when that light comes on . If it were you to be the main driver I would say just keep the oil level where it should be .
If you have a Carmax near you they will give you a price that is good for 7 days .
Did you mean to type “5,000 miles”, or did you intend to type “500 miles”?
Even with a brand-new engine, the consumption of 1 qt of oil per 5,000 miles is not only considered to be good, it is actually a fairly low rate of consumption.
How would you feel if you bought a new Audi or Mercedes, both of whose manufacturers state that it is “normal” for their engines to consume 1 qt of oil every 600 miles?
VDCdriver, thanks. The 5,000 is correct and thanks for verifying. And I couldn’t imaging dropping big dollars on a new Audi or Mercedes with that kind of usage!
Just some random advice here but it sounds like you are not raising the hood ever to check the motor oil level. The practice of running the oil low actually contributes to the oil consumption problem as the remaining oil runs hotter which in turn leads to oil coking which in turn leads to stuck oil control rings.
A quart every 5k miles is not bad at all but you really need to keep the oil topped off or the problem is going to get much worse and it may come on suddenly also.
Thanks. I would love to raise the hood and check the oil, but this particular engine does not have a dipstick but rather an electronic oil sensor. I have to rely on that reading to determine level.
By your statement are you waiting for the low level warning to alert you ? It appears that you are not using the system to check the level on a regular basis . At least show this child how to do that each time of the first vehicle usage of the day . I would say once a week but young people will forget to do that . It only takes a few seconds .
I believe since the Volvo has no dipstick, the light comes on when it is time to add a quart of oil, not when the engine is so low on oil that it starts losing pressure. 5000 miles per quart is far above any manufacturers standard for needing repair. My Toyota manual claims that i quart per 600moles is not excessive. If it bothers you to add a quart of oil, just get it changed every 5000.
A quart in 5000 miles is very minimal oil consumption and you should be changing the oil at 5,000 miles or so anyway. If you’ve added two quarts at 5,000 mile intervals it sounds like you’ve gone 15,000 miles without changing your oil. That’s not a way to prevent oil consumption.
One quart every 5k miles is nothing to worry about in my book. It is unfortunate there is no dipstick, I would not loose too much sleep over it. My big question would be how low is it when the warning kicks in. If it comes on when you are at 2 quarts instead of 5 and you add one quart that is not good. Best idea I can think of is get an oil change when the light kicks on and see how much drains out.
Is this an early April Fool’s joke? I don’t think I have ever had a car that used such little oil as to be able to go 5000 miles and only needing to add one quart. In fact, even an oil consumption of one quart every 1000 miles would be considered acceptable by most manufacturers on a new engine!
+1
But, whether it is a prank or not, for somebody to say something along the lines of… I never before had a car that used a qt of oil every 5k miles… and to assume that this indicated a problem with their present car is just not being realistic.
That type of “reasoning” reminds me of parents who would say to me… How can my kid have failed Algebra? He never failed anything before, so there must be something wrong with the teacher!
Thanks. I had the full service done at 60,000 miles and have done oil changes at 5,000 to 7,500 intervals since I’ve had the car (about 18 months). I’ve put close to 19,000 miles on the car in a year with work and Ubering kids around. When given to the first child, I bet it won’t be driven 10,000 miles a year.
Which means it will be nearly 2 quarts low on oil and which may destroy the engine if you don’t teach your kids to check the oil level more often than you do.
While manufacturers do say that…I’ve NEVER EVER owned a vehicle that used more then 1/2 pint every 5k miles…Even when said vehicle had over 300k miles. My 14 Highlander only has 125k miles…and before I change the oil (every 5k miles)…the mark is right at the same level it was when I changed it.