Lawsuit?

[hmmrdwn]

Sounds like consumer reports has noticed oil consumption when testing cars. Even a 105K porsche.

 

https://autos.yahoo.com/news/consumer-reports-sees-oil-vanish-test-cars-140000066.html

[Yeti 08]

I like this quote from the yahoo consumer reports comments:

 

"So if you basically completely change the oil between oil changes, why bother with the oil change?"

 

Maybe they could spin this and market these cars as being equipped with the "continual oil change" option? Keep the oil topped up and just change the filter every so often.

[MJ in PA]

Haha, that was basically the deal with my Saturn SL2 when I took it past 200,000 miles! (Still miss my dent resistant plastic body panels...so much more durable than Subaru's ultra-thin sheetmetal!)

[BoozeRS05]

This isn't Subaru's first hiccup with oil issues.

 

I believe when the 4th gen LGT was first released, they were recommending 7,500 mile oil changes, which was written in the owners manual. That was formally amended by Subaru a couple years after, down to 3,750 mile oil changes as issues mounted. They cut it in half.

[Noscoobyhere]

It's a real lawsuit. Subaru announced it on our foundations website. We have had oil consumption tests coming in like crazy since it was brought to public eyes. Supposedly on the 2.0 impresario and xv. All of them have been 2.5I obk and legacy.

[hmmrdwn]

Subaru could do what Chevy did in 50s to the small v8 that burned oil. They poured boraxo down carburetor. Lol. That formed seal on rings.

[thefultonhow]

You sir took the words out of my month. My old 4th gen burned about 3/4 of a quart new...while the 98 Accord I traded burned nothing between oil changes. Only got worse over time, granted it was Stage 3. Then I sold it at 180K at a lost because by then it was burning 3 quarts every 3K....They should cut a check for some of us 4th gen owners too.

Wait, you are complaining about burning a quart every 1000 miles when the car had 180,000 miles on it?

[Jeff T]

My 15' Legacy 2.5 is in the dealer and I'm on vaca so it will be next week before I pick it up. I only hope this oil issue is fixed. I'm replacing an 04 4Runner with 263k on it, daughter getting it. Oil changed every 5k since new and never had to add a drop in between changes.

 

New cars shouldn't burn noticeable amounts of oil, period.

 

I don't like lawsuits as it means attorneys, but if this is what it takes to get Subaru to "fix" the problem, I'm all for it.

[ehsnils]

Combustion engines of the Otto type have been made for 100 years now, so it should be easy to make engines that don't consume oil.

 

If a Volvo B18 engine (a late 50's construction) can be driven for more than 150k miles and still not consume oil in any noticeable quantities then it should be easy today to make an engine that don't.

[Captain Ned]

Combustion engines of the Otto type have been made for 100 years now, so it should be easy to make engines that don't consume oil.

 

If a Volvo B18 engine (a late 50's construction) can be driven for more than 150k miles and still not consume oil in any noticeable quantities then it should be easy today to make an engine that don't.

It's easy to build engines that do not consume oil, but much more difficult to build such engines and comply with ever-increasing CAFE requirements.

[dga]

Simply put, if you read your owner's manual, for 4th generation Legacy anyway, it states that you should check your oil every time you fill up gas. Nearly 7 years later I still check my oil level at nearly every gas stop and my car burns virtually no oil in 3,000 miles.

 

It's such a silly notion to me to even think that some don't check the oil nearly at all between oil changes. Oil is only the lifeblood of the engine and taking 2-3 minutes to check, while your car is fueling up, which can save you sooooo much money, time, and headache down the road it's not even funny. I digress.

 

Every manufacturer has limits on how much oil the engine can burn, usually from what I've seen it's been in the range of one quart per 1,000 miles. If this is the case with yours and you are under warranty take it to your dealership and let them start a consumption test.

[06lgtspecb]

Simply put, if you read your owner's manual, for 4th generation Legacy anyway, it states that you should check your oil every time you fill up gas. Nearly 7 years later I still check my oil level at nearly every gas stop and my car burns virtually no oil in 3,000 miles.

 

It's such a silly notion to me to even think that some don't check the oil nearly at all between oil changes. Oil is only the lifeblood of the engine and taking 2-3 minutes to check, while your car is fueling up, which can save you sooooo much money, time, and headache down the road it's not even funny. I digress.

 

Every manufacturer has limits on how much oil the engine can burn, usually from what I've seen it's been in the range of one quart per 1,000 miles. If this is the case with yours and you are under warranty take it to your dealership and let them start a consumption test.

 

I've owned lots of different vehicles and never worried to check oil the whole life of the oil let alone every gas fill. Now I do and check it religiously cause I worry about it and usually add a bit every 1k or so.

 

I also doubt your getting anything near accurate oil levels when filling gas, the oil doesn't have enough time to get to the pan for a accurate reading.

 

I'll have to look at my other vehicles about what they say about checking the oil between changes, but I have my doubts they mention it or anything about acceptable loss rates. I know some might but most don't need to.

[dahoseman]

After break in, new cars should not have any noticeable oil loss between service intervals. There's no rational or legitimate argument to the contrary.

 

I tend to rotate through cars and have had over 15 street vehicles. I've owned two with over 300k and one with over 400k miles. The only vehicles that required any oil at all were a 1988 VW Jetta with >200K miles that was horribly abused (1/2 quart ever 3k or so) and a 1992 Ford (Fix-Or-Repair-Daily) Crown Victoria with just over 100K miles that was clearly designed by the engineering D-team (1qt every 3000miles). My two vehicles with over 300k and the one over 400K miles had no appreciable drop in oil levels between changes of organic oil.

 

You can justify that people should check their oil frequently, of course. However, it's a bit difficult to explain why essentially every other manufacturer has no problem engineering engines without this problem (excluding high end sports cars). I'm not sayin.... I'm just sayin.

 

Having said that, my modified OBXT with 189,000 doesn't have any appreciable drop between 3500 mile changes. Nor did my 99 Forester.

[dga]

I've owned lots of different vehicles and never worried to check oil the whole life of the oil let alone every gas fill. Now I do and check it religiously cause I worry about it and usually add a bit every 1k or so.

 

I also doubt your getting anything near accurate oil levels when filling gas, the oil doesn't have enough time to get to the pan for a accurate reading.

 

I'll have to look at my other vehicles about what they say about checking the oil between changes, but I have my doubts they mention it or anything about acceptable loss rates. I know some might but most don't need to.

 

I stop the car, tell the guy what I want in my tank, pop the hood, and check the oil. Plenty of time for most of it to make it's way down to the pan. After all the car is warm and the oil flows readily. If it did not return to the pan that quickly, your pickup would be sucking air pretty quickly. There are only about 4.5 quarts in these cars. Checking your oil more frequently let's you (for me anyway) remember where that level sat three hundred or so miles ago. To each their own. I tend to be more proactive about certain things that I depend on, like the car. If all of a sudden the car started eating oil, I'd know that something went awry and be able to prepare for it.

[thefultonhow]

I stop the car, tell the guy what I want in my tank, pop the hood, and check the oil. Plenty of time for most of it to make it's way down to the pan. After all the car is warm and the oil flows readily. If it did not return to the pan that quickly, your pickup would be sucking air pretty quickly. There are only about 4.5 quarts in these cars. Checking your oil more frequently let's you (for me anyway) remember where that level sat three hundred or so miles ago. To each their own. I tend to be more proactive about certain things that I depend on, like the car. If all of a sudden the car started eating oil, I'd know that something went awry and be able to prepare for it.

 

Only problem is, in most states, people pump their own gas. I used to check every fillup. Problem is, sometimes it distracted me enough that I forgot that the gas pump was still in the filler neck. After about the third or fourth time I drove off with the pump still in the filler neck (and the first time it actually broke off instead of just falling out onto the ground), I decided that keeping my injured pride was worth a potential new engine.

[BoozeRS05]

Never done that ^, but I did check my oil once at fill-up and forgot to put the oil cap back on. I was 40 miles from home too, but nothing happened on my drive home, no oil loss.

 

Called a local member and he gave me a used oil cap that night..

[stanjk3]

Anyone know if these engines use 0W-20 elsewhere in the world, and if they are having the same problem?

Maybe switching back to 5W-30 like most cars have been using for the last 20-30 years might help.

[FLlegacy]

You sir took the words out of my month. My old 4th gen burned about 3/4 of a quart new...while the 98 Accord I traded burned nothing between oil changes. Only got worse over time, granted it was Stage 3. Then I sold it at 180K at a lost because by then it was burning 3 quarts every 3K....They should cut a check for some of us 4th gen owners too.

 

 

Let me help you put your foot in your mouth...

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=oil%20consumption%20issues%20toyota

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=oil+consumption+problem+honda

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=oil+consumption+problem+nissan

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=oil+consumption+problem+lexus

 

I should go on...but I won't

[FLlegacy]

Anyone know if these engines use 0W-20 elsewhere in the world, and if they are having the same problem?

Maybe switching back to 5W-30 like most cars have been using for the last 20-30 years might help.

A few people on subaruforester.org have done that with less oil usage but also less mpg. Small trade off. The issue is deeper than just oil viscosity though. But that could be a band aid for a little while.

[hmmrdwn]

The engines were supposedly designed for 0w-20 with smaller oil passages. Using a 5W during winter could slow getting oil to vital engine parts. Of course these same engineers came up with the bright idea to make the piston rings looser to reduce friction.

[rayu]

My Dad taught me to check the oil at every fill-up and I've taught the same to my two sons (02 Volvo XC with 180K; 09 Outback XT with 75K). My 05 LGT wagon uses about a quart every 3500 miles and has done so since I bought it at 18k. I run Mobil 1 extended performance 5-30 with 10K intervals. Currently 130K. Had oil analysis at 120K (also had banjo fitting screen removed); all good; said I could go even longer than the 10K interval.

[fredrik94087]

...

[ehsnils]

The engines were supposedly designed for 0w-20 with smaller oil passages. Using a 5W during winter could slow getting oil to vital engine parts. Of course these same engineers came up with the bright idea to make the piston rings looser to reduce friction.

 

I don't think that they narrow down the passages that much since it will be very sensitive to deposits then.

 

Also as I see it just changing from 0W20 to 0W30 may be enough and don't impact the fuel consumption that bad.

[dga]

Only problem is, in most states, people pump their own gas. I used to check every fillup. Problem is, sometimes it distracted me enough that I forgot that the gas pump was still in the filler neck. After about the third or fourth time I drove off with the pump still in the filler neck (and the first time it actually broke off instead of just falling out onto the ground), I decided that keeping my injured pride was worth a potential new engine.

 

Ha ha ha...that sucks, but it is funny. Those are quick disconnect right? No harm no foul, or did you have to pay for the little oops?

 

I wish I could pump my own gas on a regular basis. I can't tell you how many times I've had the pump monkey put regular in there regardless of telling him at least couple of times that I'd like premium.

[ehsnils]

Ha ha ha...that sucks, but it is funny. Those are quick disconnect right? No harm no foul, or did you have to pay for the little oops?

 

I wish I could pump my own gas on a regular basis. I can't tell you how many times I've had the pump monkey put regular in there regardless of telling him at least couple of times that I'd like premium.

 

Then the method is that before you open the tank lid you step out of the car and see that he selects premium before you open the lid. A locked tank cap that needs a key may even increase the need for you to get out and make sure.