My S60 - 2011 has 48,000 miles on it. In shop Nov. 7 and all fluids were checked (supposedly.) Dec. 8 oil light goes on… dip stick showed oil only covering nipple so I did oil change with new filter. 20 days later and 150 miles oil is down a quart. Dealership told me it is “oil consumption.”?? Between Nov. 7 and Dec. 28 I only put 300 miles on this car and it is down 8 quarts!!! It is under warranty until Feb. 20th. How can ‘they’ find out where this oil is going.? With the under carriage shield I see no oil leaking nor is engine smoking at all. What should I do? Credibility lost. help!
how is it that you have a warranty on a 9yr old car? i would not tell them i was 8qts low. sounds like a great way to deny warranty coverage. but i would say i have observed 1 qt oil loss in 150miles and they are certainly able to do an oil monitoring test on it. have them verify it is using that much oil and have them figure it out. you have a warranty
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They are correct. If it isn’t leaking the oil, then the engine is consuming it. That means it is getting past the piston rings or the valve seals or is being ingested by the crankcase evap system and is burning inside each cylinder and going out the exhaust.
In any event get this car in under the warranty NOW. It won’t get better and adding oil every 150 miles is unacceptable and will destroy the catalytic convertor in very short order.
As @Cavell suggested, tell them it is using a quart every 150 miles and that is unacceptable and should be covered under warranty.
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Our 2010 Volvo warranty was 5 years or 50000 miles . And if this person has some kind of extended warranty I doubt if it will be much use for this problem .
@jewp1405_161577 How did you determine that you were 8 quarts low on oil ? If you were really that low the engine would have seized because you would not had any oil in the engine.
I think he means it lost 8 quarts. He did an oil change mid cycle so it is over 2 changes
Now that others have responded to your question, I have some advice: Get in the habit of checking your oil more often. Once a month, or even once every 20 days, isn’t often enough, and your story is an example of why you should get into the habit of checking it more often.
In most cases, I recommend checking all the fluids once a week, but in your case, I think you should check it every time you fuel up, or once a week, whichever comes first.
It’s time to start driving around with 1-5 quarts of oil in the trunk. Buying it at a big box store or an auto parts store can save you money compared to the prices they charge at the gas station.
What concerns me most about your issue is that you appear to be leaving it to someone else to check your fluids. That doesn’t bode well for the longevity of your vehicle. In between service appointments, someone else should be checking the fluids and tire pressure. That might be how the engine began consuming so much oil in the first place.
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I SO appreciate all of the input. I bought the car with 28,000 miles on it in Feb. 2014 and got the warranty for 72 months or 75,000 miles- bumper to bumper. I put 21,000 + miles on this car in 6 years. So warranty is expiring Feb. 28. I had the Serpintine belt replaced Nov 7th which is when the dealership ‘said’ they checked all the fluids.?? Maybe they didn’t check the oil and maybe I lost that much since my last oil change > Jan 2019. At this past service they resealed a leaking vacuum pump that was in warranty but the Serpentine belt wasn’t. If it was up on the rack would the technician not have seen such a severe leak? Can an independent diagnostic find out WHERE this oil is going or is engine trouble too hard to detect without taking the engine apart? I am 83 year old woman and am cautious about being taken advantage of but I try to do research and stay ahead of issues.- I would like to keep the car…but know from an old Cadillac experience that the bottomless pit of money can occur. If ‘they’ failed to check the oil and I only lost 1 quart since Dec. 8th – with 150 miles- that is still a lot of oil…
I doubt if a leak would have been noticed during this repair by anyone. You are only driving 4000 miles a year so that in it self will cause oil consumption just because the engine rarely gets to full operating temperature . Just check the oil every week , pick a certain day and once a month take at least a 30 minute drive on the highway. That way you might be able to drive this for a long time.
Such good advice Whitey… I am going to check the fluids regularly. With the synthetic oil and 10,000 miles between changes I did do the ‘yearly oil change’ even in the 4,000 yearly miles. ((You can tell I grew up with ‘service’ at the pumps where everything was checked… My husband is 86 and used to do all this for our cars… Now he doesn’t and I need to start. ) I do check the tire pressure at Discount Tire regularly…( maybe… just maybe – the oil was NOT checked Nov. 7 and it was down due to my long term neglect …( when I saw them pour that much in - it was ridiculous that I would not know- or see -or smell something amiss to that volume .). I thought when it was up on the rack in Nov. the dealership would WANT to find everything wrong?? More money for them… As it was- it was over $1000.
If your car is “consuming” as in burning a quart in 150 miles it ought to be belching blue smoke. If it isn’t I suspect the oil is leaking. Is there anything else going on you haven’t mentioned?
Runs like a dream… Nothing going on… The HEAD of service department telling me just to keep adding oil doesn’t add up. I am going to put about 60 miles on my car tomorrow on the interstate and then check oil - and observe more closely if I see any smoke and keep total track of mileage for the next 10 days and see what happens. Like I said… If they really didn’t check that oil in Nov. it could have been my negligence in the oil being so low. However – until ‘that’ day I had no warning lights or anything go on and within 2 miles of the dash notice I had the oil changed ( what was left ) and filled… I am suspecting a leak too…Would a dealership NOT want me to get this fixed under warranty for any reason? ( this is the first time I have ever bought an extended warranty so I don’t know the psychology behind it. Do they LIKE to do warranty service? or not? thanks Dave…
Extended warranties usually have a boatload of disclaimers, provisos, exceptions, etc. to the point that they’re worthless. It’s possible the shop has dealt with this particular warranty company before and they’re reluctant because they’d be on the hook for the cost of the repair. Plus, it’s on you to prove you didn’t cause the problem, for example by neglecting your engine. In any case the oil is going somewhere and figuring out where and how probably won’t be cheap. Good luck.
I bought the warranty through the dealership… Really the only one ( company) I was offered… We sat with the financial man after we purchased the car… Paid cash for the car and he suggested the warranty because we were not familiar with Volvo’s… always bought Mercedes and never did buy a warranty with them… ‘All the electrical’ was promoted and at $500 a year – bumper to bumper with a $100 co -pay we ‘bit’. The warranty company recently told me everything oil touches is paid for in a repair. Meaning anything in the engine. ( I did not mention any oil problems as they were contacting me for an extension in Feb.) Does this make my issue safer and something I should ‘go’ for at the dealership?
I don’t think you’re particularly “safe” in any case. Volvos are very good cars. The finance guy sold you a bill of goods. Check underneath the car for an oil puddle. Have a friend follow you while you’re driving the car and watch for smoke. The oil is going somewhere. If it’s leaking it might be worth fixing. If it’s burning excessive oil (and a quart in 150 miles is beyond excessive) you can start buying oil in bulk, have a rebuilt engine installed, or replace the car. If you can’t figure it out take the car back to the dealership and tell them you’re not happy with their “explanation.”
Oil consumption is a known problem with this vehicle, there are service bulletins to address the oil consumption issue for this engine.
Return to the dealer and ask to have this repaired, the service adviser will guide you though the procedure of verifying the problem.
THANK you… Good check points… I will follow them all… one by one… ( and my relative now works for a warranty company and he told me I was sold a bill of goods too…) Live and learn… **New updated warranty proposal by them will cost $4,000 for 3 years and a $250 deductible… Car is worth $9,000 now… Not that big a dummy this time around.
No matter what the others say, I agree with your decision to buy the extended warranty on the car. Volvos can be exceptionally troublesome and expensive to fix. Every Volvo aficionado I know is on a first name basis with his Volvo mechanic, and they’re willing to put their mechanic’s children through college for what they think is a significant advantage in safety.
Personally, I’d rather buy a car that doesn’t need an extended warranty than buy an extended warranty, but who am I to say that you should do what I do? The cars I like are probably not cars that you like, because the features you like probably aren’t the same ones I like.
If you feel safer driving a Volvo than another brand, then it’s worth the extra cost, if for no other reason than it makes you feel safe. Peace of mind has value.
…and if buying an extended warranty gives you peace of mind, go forth, live long, and prosper. You can obviously afford it.
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So disappointed in Dealership. Doubtful they ever topped off the oil. The plug , being 9 years old was leaking… New plug. NOT oil consumption… ( 1 quart in the next month and 56 miles.) They should have noticed that up on the rack… End of them when they failed to notify the warranty company of a part covered by warranty that I ended up me paying $355 for…
If 8 quarts of oil leaked from the drain plug you would have an oil puddle 10 feet in diameter in your parking space, even half a quart will make a terrible mess.
If the part was covered by your warranty you shouldn’t agree to pay for it, you should remind them that your vehicle has an extended warranty.
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I’m glad to hear that you got the problem solved. Yes, $335 isn’t cheap but it’s better than a new engine–or a new car. Now that your car is fixed, get in the habit of checking things under the hood. With luck, your Volvo will give you many more miles of service.
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