The car has consumed oil at greater than 1qt per 1000 miles since day 1.
My first trip to the dealer was with less than 5000 miles and the car was FOUR QUARTS low. Dealer said that it probably had not been topped off at the factory (Lie No. 1).
My second trip to the dealer was at 10,000 miles complaining about 1 quart of oil every other gas fill up. Dealer said that was normal until the rings seat themselves, usually by 20,000 miles. (Lie No. 2).
My third trip to the dealer was around 40,000 miles and dealer said that my problem was caused by not having dealer oil changes - they could not be responsible for high oil consumption if they did not do the oil changes, regardless of whether I had valid receipts for oil changes every 5000 miles. (Lie No. 3).
At 55,000 miles I opened up a complaint with Subaru North America and the forced the dealer to initiate an oil consumption test which went as follows A) dealer way overfilled oil to start the test (1 inch above the full line on the dipstick). B) At 1000 miles, oil is at the very tip of the dipstick and dealer says this is 3/4 quart low/1000 mi - not enough for warranty repair. Dealer refills but won't let me witness the "3/4" quart that they added. C) At 2000 miles, no oil showing on the stick, dealer tops off. D) At 3000 miles, dealer "forgot" to record how much oil was added at 2000 miles so he "assumes" it was zero (HUGE LIE). Oil is below stick, which in my experience is around 2 quarts - dealer says that the test is inconclusive and we have to start at the beginning now. Dealer ties up the car for most of the day with me sitting in their waiting room while they add new oil. E) at next 1000 mi, level is only showing on the tip of the dipstick and dealer says, "sorry, this is only 3/4 quart in 1000 miles and you do not qualify for warranty repair (BTW, engine is now at 60,200 mi).
I argue that it is at least 1 qt low, based on my experience - dealer disagrees. Only after I offered to purchase 1 quart of oil and add it to the engine with the service manager as a witness, did they agree to measure the amount of oil added. 1 quart brought is to 3/4 full meaning that it burned 1.25 QUARTS in 1000 miles during their consumption test. Dealer agreed to contact Subaru North America to see if the vehicle is eligible for repair. I live in the snowy northeast and this is my fifth and final Subaru!
Update from Dec 31, 2014: Three weeks ago the dealer agreed to repair or replace the engine and gave me an appointment in early Jan. Tonight they sent me an email saying they do not have a record of excessive oil consumption and they cancelled my service appointment. The vehicle is not eligible for repair. 1.25 qts per 900 miles is "normal"
Update from Feb 21, 2015: In january the dealer agreed to an engine repair even though 1 quart of oil per 900 miles was "marginal" and "in a gray area" (between pass and fail of the consumption test). They scheduled an appointment 4 weeks out because the shop was busy. At the appointment a month later, i dropped the car off and they called later in the day telling me to pick the car because the parts are backordered and they will call me in 2 to 4 weeks to set up a new appointment. Meanwhile, car is difficult to start, has no power on highway and is and belching white smoke.
I HEARD MY ENGINE KNOCKING ABOUT A MONTH AND A HALF AGO AND WHEN I CHECKED THERE WAS MINIMAL OIL IN MY VEHICLE AND DID AN OIL CHANGE. I CHECKED MY OIL LAST THURSDAY AND DISCOVERED THAT MY OIL WAS HALFWAY DOWN AGAIN. THERE IS NO SIGNS OF MY VEHICLE LEAKING THE OIL EITHER.
Update from Nov 6, 2014: Contacted Subaru dealer and have to wait until December for an appointment to look at it, but didn't say what and if they would fix the problem, buy they would have keep the car.
2011 forester .Went thru 3/4 -1 qt. every 1k. miles. since new. Dealer no help . contacted subaru .no help to resolve issue. Did consumption test for 25 k miles.{ every 1k back to the dealer to check } No resolution . Traded car in to subaru for 2013 outback at a loss. . So far no issues with outback at 15 k miles. I am very upset after hearing about the tsb regarding the piston ring replacement that was causing the consumption issue. So I guess I was right the car was a lemon and subaru finally admitted it.I do not trust subaru and am contemplating on dumping the outback and going back to toyota.The same problem is happening on 13 outbacks and I do not want to deal with the same ass ache again. Investigating the class action lawsuit to recoup my trade-in loss...
This is the third but last Subaru we will purchase. It's a 2011 Forester which I baby and provide oil changes every 3,500 miles in order to keep up with the very expensive oil consumption is an unreliable vehicle. Now the car is unreliable starting up and the engine knocks.
I brought the car to a trusted mechanic and who strongly suggested I bring it to the dealer while still at 48,000 miles. Dealer stated that their tech could not replicate the starting problem and blamed it on the poor gas available in the northeast USA. After getting no answers from Mastria Subaru in MA, I tried to start my car with the same poor results. Walked back into the dealer and they stated this is normal and just keep cracking over the engine. After 30 seconds of cracking over the engine, the car finally started. I guess this is what is considered normal for an unreliable vehicle.
Very disappointed that CR highly recommended this vehicle.
My 2011 Forester started using oil on my 6000 mile trip to Oregon, used about a quart every 100 miles and still does, sometimes more. Called Subaru and they said it could use a quart every 1200 miles and the dealer said the same thing. I was never warned about this when I bought my 2011. I had a 2005 and It never used any oil. If I had been told about the 2011 before I bought it, I probably wouldn't have bought it.
- Thomas M.,
Kettering, OH, US
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Upon arriving at my destination I could smell oil. I had driven nearly 350 miles right after getting an oil change at the Boardman Sabaru dealership in Boardman, OH. Upon opening the hood I saw that there wasn't an oil fill cap. Oil was everywhere under the hold and dripping on the ground. While driving through Philadephia, PA I thought to myself why doesn't that guy put oil in his car? It was me!!!! I had the car towed to a local dealership in NJ and they SOLD me a new oil fill cap and said that there was no engine damage!
Well, from that time on I use engine oil to the point of 1 quart of oil on every gas fill up. The good news is that I have not lost gas mileage when there's oil in the engine, but it's costly to have to add on average $9.00 to the cost of filling the tank. The dealership has tried to work with me with a few free oil changes but the Regional Manager has not complied to my request to fix the problem.
What really irritates me is that now I'm being told that highway driven will increase the need to add oil every 1200 miles. Why wasn't I told this when I bought the car? The salesperson was aware that I do a lot of highway miles per year (60,000 to 70,000)????
This is unfortunate because I really like the car. Subaru needs to put in a new short block.
Tried to get a routine oil change at Sears and they wouldn't change it cause there was no oil on the dipstick. I had just got a new job in Frederick, MD and was traveling back and forth toJohnstown, PA on the weekends. So my Forester was geting more of a workout that ever.
Took it to local Frederick Subaru dealer who said it was normal to loose a quart of oil every 2K miles. I looked it up on some other complaint sites and everyone who owns a 2011 had the same issue. It is a common issue know to Subaru but since it is not fatal it does not warrent a recall. But to have to remember to check it every 2k miles is a "pain in the a$$"!! Especially this winter!! I love my subaru except for this oil issue. Since a new engine is not covered under insurance, I will be playing mechanic and checking it out every 2K miles.
After burning 6 quarts of oil every 2k miles and my dealership telling me its completely normal for a newer Subaru to burn oil, my POS '11 Forester has finally bit the dust after 88k miles. Even worse, the "Check Engine" nor the oil light have ever come on.
After filing an official complaint over a month ago, I've gotten zero help from the dealership and even less from Subaru corporate. Keep in mind, I have brought this up with the dealership every time I've brought my car in for service.
How can a company with such an insanely loyal customer base produce such an insanely finicky/needy automobile?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
The car has consumed oil at greater than 1qt per 1000 miles since day 1.
My first trip to the dealer was with less than 5000 miles and the car was FOUR QUARTS low. Dealer said that it probably had not been topped off at the factory (Lie No. 1).
My second trip to the dealer was at 10,000 miles complaining about 1 quart of oil every other gas fill up. Dealer said that was normal until the rings seat themselves, usually by 20,000 miles. (Lie No. 2).
My third trip to the dealer was around 40,000 miles and dealer said that my problem was caused by not having dealer oil changes - they could not be responsible for high oil consumption if they did not do the oil changes, regardless of whether I had valid receipts for oil changes every 5000 miles. (Lie No. 3).
At 55,000 miles I opened up a complaint with Subaru North America and the forced the dealer to initiate an oil consumption test which went as follows A) dealer way overfilled oil to start the test (1 inch above the full line on the dipstick). B) At 1000 miles, oil is at the very tip of the dipstick and dealer says this is 3/4 quart low/1000 mi - not enough for warranty repair. Dealer refills but won't let me witness the "3/4" quart that they added. C) At 2000 miles, no oil showing on the stick, dealer tops off. D) At 3000 miles, dealer "forgot" to record how much oil was added at 2000 miles so he "assumes" it was zero (HUGE LIE). Oil is below stick, which in my experience is around 2 quarts - dealer says that the test is inconclusive and we have to start at the beginning now. Dealer ties up the car for most of the day with me sitting in their waiting room while they add new oil. E) at next 1000 mi, level is only showing on the tip of the dipstick and dealer says, "sorry, this is only 3/4 quart in 1000 miles and you do not qualify for warranty repair (BTW, engine is now at 60,200 mi).
I argue that it is at least 1 qt low, based on my experience - dealer disagrees. Only after I offered to purchase 1 quart of oil and add it to the engine with the service manager as a witness, did they agree to measure the amount of oil added. 1 quart brought is to 3/4 full meaning that it burned 1.25 QUARTS in 1000 miles during their consumption test. Dealer agreed to contact Subaru North America to see if the vehicle is eligible for repair. I live in the snowy northeast and this is my fifth and final Subaru!
Update from Dec 31, 2014: Three weeks ago the dealer agreed to repair or replace the engine and gave me an appointment in early Jan. Tonight they sent me an email saying they do not have a record of excessive oil consumption and they cancelled my service appointment. The vehicle is not eligible for repair. 1.25 qts per 900 miles is "normal"
Update from Feb 21, 2015: In january the dealer agreed to an engine repair even though 1 quart of oil per 900 miles was "marginal" and "in a gray area" (between pass and fail of the consumption test). They scheduled an appointment 4 weeks out because the shop was busy. At the appointment a month later, i dropped the car off and they called later in the day telling me to pick the car because the parts are backordered and they will call me in 2 to 4 weeks to set up a new appointment. Meanwhile, car is difficult to start, has no power on highway and is and belching white smoke.
- P K., Milford, NH, US