Subaru's excessive oil consumption?

[Anonymous]

Is this a known problem in Imprezas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious read about it. Subaru has had a head gasket oil issue for over 20 years. Google it and read the Subaru forum. If you can deal with the issues buy one. If not don’t.

I have heard of this but it doesn't seem to have an impact on Subaru resale value. I wonder why that is?

[Anonymous]

Safety. They are a solid build. A DWI driver blew a red light and hit my husband doing 80 while he was turning left. The car hit the engine and it sheared it off the block. It landed into the steel wall that protects the main cabin. It pushed the wall and engine into my husbands lap. It shattered his hand and knee. The car flipped 3 tome and landed in the middle embankment. My husband although he had a concussion was able to get out of the car and give CPRto the DWI driver. It saved his life and he later sued us. Our car was totaled as was his Toyota. Other driver was Medivacked away. It was the Subaru Outback 2010 and the car was 3 months old. My husband WILL NEVER own anything but Subaru. The 2010 outback we bought to replace it blew the head gasket and warped the engine in 2015. No warning at all. My husband left it on the floor of our dealership taken apart and bought a Forester 2016. It has 72,000 miles on it and I will be replacing that gasket for 3k before it burns up the engine.

[Anonymous]

Subaru has amazing reliability safety and resale.

I’ve never had one leak oil- I’ve read about it happening to others, but I’ve not seen it.

Search Toyota lemon and you’ll find people. Even the best cars will have a certain number of duds, Subaru included.

I will happily buy another Subaru.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Safety. They are a solid build. A DWI driver blew a red light and hit my husband doing 80 while he was turning left. The car hit the engine and it sheared it off the block. It landed into the steel wall that protects the main cabin. It pushed the wall and engine into my husbands lap. It shattered his hand and knee. The car flipped 3 tome and landed in the middle embankment. My husband although he had a concussion was able to get out of the car and give CPRto the DWI driver. It saved his life and he later sued us. Our car was totaled as was his Toyota. Other driver was Medivacked away. It was the Subaru Outback 2010 and the car was 3 months old. My husband WILL NEVER own anything but Subaru. The 2010 outback we bought to replace it blew the head gasket and warped the engine in 2015. No warning at all. My husband left it on the floor of our dealership taken apart and bought a Forester 2016. It has 72,000 miles on it and I will be replacing that gasket for 3k before it burns up the engine.

This. I'll take a possible issue with a solid build that will protect my family. I grew up in a family of Subaru owners (northern NY) and have owned 2 in my adult life (Legacy 2006 and 2015) and have never had the issue mentioned in any of the vehicles. We are currently in the process of buying the Ascent!

[Anonymous]

We've bought 5 Subarus in over 12 years and I have never had major problems.

[Anonymous]

We have a Subaru Outback and have never had this problem. One issue we did have is that there is no maintenance required light like on our Toyota so you have to keep track of when to change the oil but we have never had excessive oil consumption. What I want to know is how would you know if you had this problem? Would there be spots of oil on your driveway? Or would you just need to check and monitor the amount of oil with the dipstick? My mother had a vw many years ago that drank a lot of oil and there were lots of oil spots in the driveway.

[Anonymous]

Subaru driver here, and everything you’ve heard is true (good and bad).

[Anonymous]

We have a Subaru Outback and have never had this problem. One issue we did have is that there is no maintenance required light like on our Toyota so you have to keep track of when to change the oil but we have never had excessive oil consumption. What I want to know is how would you know if you had this problem? Would there be spots of oil on your driveway? Or would you just need to check and monitor the amount of oil with the dipstick? My mother had a vw many years ago that drank a lot of oil and there were lots of oil spots in the driveway.

No and this is also why it sucks so much. The oil leak goes throughout the inside of the engine and there is a catch tray so you don't see it dripping on the ground. It doesn't trigger the oil light or the oil light isn't reliable. We had ours maintained at a dealership and at the 5 year mark the gasket blew. Oil all over everything and the engine was warped. The cost of replacing the engine and other damaged components was not worth it. Got rid of it and will never get another one.

[Anonymous]

I have a 2013 Subaru and yes, it drinks oil. I regularly have to add oil between oil changes (Subaru recommends every 7500 miles, I get them every 5000 or 6 months).

[Anonymous]

I have heard of it and Have an old Odyssey that drinks oil due to the ECO switch arm rocker that allows the engine to switch between 3 and 6 cylinders is stuck. This allows oil to bypass the proper channel and fill the cylinders and burn out the pipe intermittently. I don't drive it as I got stuck once and never will again. DH tolerates the van and continuously monitors the oil. Acura's tend to burn oil as well. It is hard to find an excellent car.

[Anonymous]

I have a 2015 Subaru Legacy. This winter was the first time I got low oil level warnings. It’s not leaking anywhere I can see.

Can someone explain the relationship between this and blowing a head gasket? I have just hit 70,000 miles on the car. Is the low oil level a cause or a symptom?

[Anonymous]

I think this problem is fixed now on newer subarus. The problem seemed from the flat cylinders ( as opposed to the usual v-4 or 6) that caused oil to pool. I think Subaru reinforced these parts to prevent future issues