Subaru's excessive oil consumption?

[Anonymous]

I was just on the verge of buying a new Forester--picked out the options & trim & all. Then heard that Subaru's in general have had a problem with oil consumption. That Subaru says that adding a quart every 1200 miles is "normal," which to me sounds ridiculous. I currently drive a Toyota, and I never even bother to look at the dipstick between oil changes--it doesn't lose a drop, ever. Consumer Reports says that this is an issue not only with Subaru but with a lot of new cars, due to their use of low-viscosity oil.

Am I out of line worrying about this? I miss the 1970s, but not that much, when you had to check the oil every time you got a few bucks worth of gas. Some new cars don't even have a dipstick, but rather a "low oil" light. Yuck!!

[Anonymous]

Subaru's have a design defect that breaks the head gasket creating oil leaks. It kills the car if you are not careful. Do not just follow the oil light being low because those can be very off.

[Anonymous]

What is your plan b vehicle?

[Anonymous]

Not OP, but following. I also drive a Toyota (8 year old sienna) and am looking at the Ascent, but have heard similar stories about Subarus and oil consumption. Also looking at Highlander (didn’t love the interior) and RX350L (not sure I want to spend that much).

[Anonymous]

We've had a subaru for 5 years and this is the first I've heard of this. Our low oil light has never come on to my knowledge.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

We've had a subaru for 5 years and this is the first I've heard of this. Our low oil light has never come on to my knowledge.

I loved my Subaru until my head gasket blew. Low light never came on. The repair and possible engine damage was worth more than the car that was only 6 years old. I will never get another Subaru.

[Anonymous]

First I've heard of it. But I follow the manual and only add 100% synthetic oil.

[Anonymous]

We had a 2014 forester until this fall. We used synthetic oil and never had to add any. We got rid of it, though, because of the transmission issues common with CVT.

We have a Pilot and a CX-5.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Plan B would be a RAV-4 or a CR-V. I've never felt a need for AWD although I am sure it would be a nice thing to have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We've had a subaru for 5 years and this is the first I've heard of this. Our low oil light has never come on to my knowledge.

I loved my Subaru until my head gasket blew. Low light never came on. The repair and possible engine damage was worth more than the car that was only 6 years old. I will never get another Subaru.

My Subaru head gaskets blew too. Cost a lot of money to get it fixed. I also didn’t have a low oil light. The first sign I had was when I was pulling off of 495, looked down, and saw the engine temperature gauge approaching the red zone. Some rapid cursing ensued followed by me shutting the car engine off when at red lights until I got to a parking space.

[Anonymous]

have a brand new 2018 purchased in july. have almost 6k miles on it. have not had to add any oil... also heard about "excessive consumption" and have been checking once a month...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We've had a subaru for 5 years and this is the first I've heard of this. Our low oil light has never come on to my knowledge.

I loved my Subaru until my head gasket blew. Low light never came on. The repair and possible engine damage was worth more than the car that was only 6 years old. I will never get another Subaru.

My Subaru head gaskets blew too. Cost a lot of money to get it fixed. I also didn’t have a low oil light. The first sign I had was when I was pulling off of 495, looked down, and saw the engine temperature gauge approaching the red zone. Some rapid cursing ensued followed by me shutting the car engine off when at red lights until I got to a parking space.

Interesting. Everyone raves about Subarus! So should we be checking the head gaskets somehow? Or just monitoring the oil consumption? We have a 2015 Forestor.

(I'm the first quoted PP)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We've had a subaru for 5 years and this is the first I've heard of this. Our low oil light has never come on to my knowledge.

I loved my Subaru until my head gasket blew. Low light never came on. The repair and possible engine damage was worth more than the car that was only 6 years old. I will never get another Subaru.

My Subaru head gaskets blew too. Cost a lot of money to get it fixed. I also didn’t have a low oil light. The first sign I had was when I was pulling off of 495, looked down, and saw the engine temperature gauge approaching the red zone. Some rapid cursing ensued followed by me shutting the car engine off when at red lights until I got to a parking space.

Interesting. Everyone raves about Subarus! So should we be checking the head gaskets somehow? Or just monitoring the oil consumption? We have a 2015 Forestor.

(I'm the first quoted PP)

My car had about 70k miles on it before the head gasket went. I just assumed they knew the engine wouldn’t crap out until the warranty had expired. If you’re under 60k mikes you should be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Plan B would be a RAV-4 or a CR-V. I've never felt a need for AWD although I am sure it would be a nice thing to have.

DH just looked at the RAV4 and CRV. Both were ruled out. RAV4 was ruled out because the engine is slow to take off and then gets loud and leaps forward. It is the same engine in the Camry and people report the same issue. CRV was ruled out because there is still an issue with gas mixing with oil. Google both of these issues and you will find complaints.

I'm the poster who had a 2014 Forester and got rid of it due to the CVT transmission issues. DH liked the CX5 best and it has none of the issues the CRV and RAV4 are having. We have owned multiple Hondas but couldn't get a CRV after reading about the issue.