Totally agree. I’ve owned cars since I was 16, and NONE of them used hardly any oil, ever. The only time a minimum amount of oil was needed (most was 1/3 qt.) was because of oil leaks, or going too many miles. Cars from the 1970’s (and prior) used heavy oils and their oil change intervals were at the MOST 3,000 miles.
My 2017 Camry uses 0-20w. I’ve changed oil from 4,500 miles to a very occasional 7,500 miles, & there has either been NO oil usage, or the most less than 1/4 qt. And regardless of summer or winter weather. Newer cars don’t use oil. If they do, it is a lemon of a built engine, or it is being abused by driving it at way too way speeds, or neglecting to change the oil for 15,000 miles.
If the oil consumption gets worse it could eventually lead to a failed catalytic converter. Then it won’t pas inspection and it will cost a lot to fix. But 140,000 miles is too soon!
To add to this discussion, why do people get rid of perfectly good cars at 100k to 150k miles when there are no issues?
Some just don’t want to press their luck, or have gotten tired of the car by then. But someone who just needs a car to get to work could be very happy. Either need to be able to work on the car yourself or have a trusted mechanic to check the car over a couple times a year. We had a full used car inspection done on the '90 Protoge when it had at least 160,000mi and the results came back so favorable that Mom kept it till 194,000mi when a back injury made it impossible to be comfortable in the driving positon.She figured she’d gotten her money out of the car by that point.
Well here’s an expensive example of not checking the oil and adding once in a while.
2019 Hyundai Tucson with 61,000 miles. Engine damaged beyond repair from driving 3 qts low on oil. Car needs engine replacement. A good used engine costs the shop $6200, with my 15% markup that’s $7300 to the customer. $1700 labor to replace, $350 to discharge/service air conditioning, $250 for misc parts, $100 for alignment, you’re looking at a $10,000 repair that could have been avoided by adding $30 worth of oil!
I’m curious, @asemaster…
Did that customer loudly announce that he/she “will never buy another Hyundai”?
Because–as you undoubtedly know–most people try to deny their own negligence.
My question is, how did a car that new and with such low mileage even get 3 quarts low in the first place? I agree that the oil level should have been checked at some point between oil changes. But, I also think burning 3 quarts of oil between oil changes on a 2019 with 61k miles is excessive. So the owner is at fault (and will bear the responsibility), but the manufacturer may be to blame too. It shouldn’t use that much oil…
What’s the backstory on oil changes? Done per an oil life monitor, or at a certain mileage, or…never?
Not sure. They may follow a 10k mile oil change interval. 3 quarts low would be less than a quart per 3k miles. Which would be “acceptable” per most manufacturers.
There was no window sticker and first time for us servicing this car.
Dad bought the car, daughter and son in law drive it. Daughter said the car stalled while driving, son in law came and added 3 qts. Now car runs with horrible noises. There is a TSB for excessive oil consumption but the VIN for this car does not apply. The car was put into service as a rental for 2 years then purchased by Dad. I told Dad the engine was done for, mentioned to him it had been run low on oil, and it was north of $10K to get the car running. I also told Dad the engine has a 5yr/60K warranty, and with 61,400 on it the dealer or someone higher up would certainly have the ability to “goodwill” some warranty assistance. He declined saying he knew “out of warranty was out of warranty” and said they still owed a ton of money on the car, so he will pay to fix it.
We have seen enough posts about new car oil usage, The majority of manufacturers consider one quart of oil in the range of 1,500 miles to be acceptable. It should also be pointed out there are some performance vehicles that will consume a quart of oil in less than 1,000 miles and is also considered acceptable.
Bell Performance thinks his words are gospel, and I don’t. I have a perfect example of the type of car (tight fit piston rings w/low viscosity oil), and it doesn’t use oil. That’s proof enough for me.
My point is if 1500 miles per quart there is a reason, that being some new cars can use a quart in 1500 miles and that is acceptable. Glad your car, and none of mine are one of them.
