I believe that year model 5.0 was known to burn oil and had a tsb out for it. I think you’ve got the ecoboost though, if I recall.
+1
My 2011 Outback consumes… at most… 1/4 qt of oil between its 6 month oil changes. If I am fairly close to the 6 month mark, I sometimes opt to not add any oil. The same was true of my '02 Outback, but my '97 Outback usually needed ~1/2 a qt between changes.
I know that, prior to those cars, all of my previous ones consumed a more significant amount of oil, but the only one where I can recall a specific amount was my '74 Volvo, which consumed a qt every 600 miles. 
The bottom line is that some cars consume oil, and others don’t, but where people really get themselves into trouble is when they assume that because their previous car didn’t consume oil, their current one shouldn’t either. Then, by not checking the dipstick periodically, they wind up with a trashed engine.
This is sort of like the parents who would tell me that it wasn’t possible for their kid to fail a class because “he never failed anything before”. My response was, “If nothing could happen unless it happened before, then nothing new would ever happen.” 
Things can change…
If you purchased a 2022 Subaru, you’d probably be a little annoyed if it burned significantly more oil than you’re accustomed to with your past Subaru’s. Maybe not annoyed enough to trade it in, but probably not totally happy with it.
That’s how I’d be, myself. I’d also be a little concerned about the life of the catalytic converters. Honestly, I’d prefer not to own a car that burned over a quart per 3k miles, unless it was already worn out when I bought it and I knew that going in.
Another thing, if he’s had this 2012 Subaru since new (or a pretty long time) and this oil consumption is new to the vehicle…I might consider trading it as well.
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Yeah, the 3rd gen coyote has had more issues that the previous versions. The excessive oil usage was due to the spray-on cylinder liners. The same method was used in the flat-plane 5.2L found in the GT-350, it had a voracious appetite for oil. My F-150 does have the D35 (Gen II) 3.5L Ecoboost.
My first car, a 1957 Chevy six with 80,000 miles on it, used a quart in about 30 miles.
I carried cases of oil in the trunk.
My current 2014 Toyota Avalon, with 88,000 miles on it uses no measurable oil in
about 5000 miles.
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My best friend owns a 2021 Subaru, and it consumes zero oil. What changes to their engines took place between 2021 & 2022?
My friend with the 2021 Subaru bought it to replace his oil-guzzling Rav4. Luckily for him, the Rav’s catalytic converters were still functioning when he got rid of it, but because it had been consuming 1 qt per 300 miles for a couple of years, he dumped it before he had to incur that expense. I think he was very lucky that the cats lasted as long as they did.
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No idea of the changes, if any. Just stating that you’d probably be unhappy if your theoretical new one burned more oil than past versions (as sometimes happens with some makes / engine revisions, etc). At least I would be, myself.
Agreed. I’m surprised that he didn’t have to change plugs often at that rate of oil consumption?
Like in an old 2 stroke chain saw. 
He was replacing them–out of necessity–more often than the mfr specified, but I don’t recall how often. Between low compression and the spark plug situation, its acceleration had gotten really anemic. It was definitely time to dump it, albeit at only ~150k miles.
Definitely not the norm for Toyota. But seemed to be pretty common on certain Toyota 4 cylinders during some year range (I want to say in and around 2007ish?). I’m assuming that Rav was a 4. Not sure what the issue was with those motors. The 99 Tacoma I owned with close to 300k miles didn’t really burn much oil even. At least I don’t think it did. I really didn’t check! Just changed every 3k.
His was a 2008 model
Yup!
Those were the problematic engines for a few years.
The piston rings were badly designed. You would think that this would be a “settled” bit of technology, but apparently not.
It seems car makers want rings that:
- Seal well
- Have long life
- Have low friction
Pick any two…
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I think it’s a combination of 2 things:
-
People have largely become conditioned to their products just working, with little or no maintenance or upkeep. As a result, we’ve become removed from any knowledge of how the various widgets work. As a result, when something does goes wrong, we’ve been largely conditioned to just throw them away and get a new one.
-
Money has gotten “cheaper” and easier to get. When a color TV used to cost $1000 back in the 1950s, you gave a lot of thought to when (or if) you’d ever get a TV. Nowadays, even if a TV costs $1000 or even $500, you can buy it today(!) using any number of EZ Payment plans. Same thing with a car. Bear in mind I’m aware that financing was available say 50-60 years ago. But it seems to me that paying in cash, or at least not financing, was the preferred route.
So if people already have little or no idea how their cars work…and they can just go get a new one with a “low monthly payment”…why bother with the icky maintenance?
It’s not just the availability of credit. It’s also the reality that the cost of technology has plummeted progressively over the years.
If you paid $1,000 for a color TV in 1955, that would equate to over $10,000 today. Color TVs represented a major purchase for people back in those days. Today, the price of a TV–with incredibly-improved picture quality and a screen many times larger than the TVs of yesteryear–is something that doesn’t bust the budget for most people.
I remember when our family got a color TV. And I was born in 74! So, probably around 1980 or so. I think Dad must’ve waited for the cost of technology to plummet 
I began working as a teacher in 1969, and after receiving a few of my paltry paychecks, I bought a (small) color TV for my parents. I have no recollection of what it cost me back in those days, but–somehow–I was able to pay cash for it, out of the pathetic pay of a first year teacher. Since I still lived with my parents, I thought it was appropriate for me to buy their first color TV.
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My wife’s '85 Toyota Corolla LE, 1.6L, with Auto, has over 200k miles on it and it does not use a drop of oil… I say that with “tongue in cheek.” I change the oil about every 3,000 miles and it just so happens that it is down almost a quart then. Since I never have to add oil between changes, I say, “The '85 doesn’t use a drop oil…”
Yeah, I know it’s all a matter of semantics, but it makes my wife feel good… and as they say, “happy wife, happy life…”
When I was young and stupider I burned 4 quarts of oil from 0 to 150 mph through the oil seal. Engine never needed oil after that.