I checked the oil not long after we bought the car and noticed it was low. Checked again and again and continued to use oil. I check with the dealer and was told I was probably not waiting long enough to let the oil settle before checking. Long story short, this car has used excessive oil from the time of purchase. When I got the notice of a class action suit for this problem, the options were 6 quarts of oil or an additional 30,000 miles warranty on the engine. I took the warranty and now with 119,000 miles I add a quart about every 900 miles. It's gotten progressively worse over time.

I was shocked to hear tapping in my engine on Dec. 9, 2016. We checked the oil level and it was below the bottom mark and tarry. Immediately contacted our Dealer...Island Motors in Hilo Hawaii. At first the service manager (Sherri G) accused me of never checking my oil but the oil light never came on . She accused me going too long without a change but I went 6000 out of recommended 7500. Before this, I always had it changed at 4000 miles. The oil test was only 1200 miles. The last test showed the oil a quarter of an inch below the top mark. The tech accused me of misreading the dip stick. On Feb. 18th, two weeks after their supposed oil test, we checked the oil and again found the level below the bottom line. We added a quart immediately. The milage at on 2/17/17 was 52744 miles. The beginning of the test was 51071 on January 29th. So, from the time the test started until Friday, Feb. 17, 2017, I had driven 1673 miles and lost at least one quart of oil. I plan to notify the dealership of my new loss of oil.

I bought my car new at a local dealership and had a horrible buying experience so never went back to them for servicing, etc. Went to other companies like Minute Lube and Canadian Tire for oil changes. All said they factory approved. Started noticing oil consumption quite high and advised by oil change places that oil didn't even register on dip stick when brought in. I went to Subaru and they put me on Oil Consumption Watch and I had to go back every 2,000 kms. Each time I went back I was down .5 liters of oil. At first they tried to say this was normal as it says in the book it can use as much as 1 liter per 1,000 kms. I objected and they finally agreed that 1.5 liters over 6,000 kms is high and then said they'd fix it but would have to see my detailed service records. As I didn't get the service done there, they basically left me high and dry. I know read on line that this is a very common problem with this particular year of Forester (when they switched to 0w20 full synthetic oil) and Boxster motor. Subaru recently lost a class action suit in the USA and had to extend the warranty of this year and model to 100,000 Miles (from 60k). There are lawsuits also pending in Canada which I have signed up for but extending the warranty won't help me as they refuse to honor my warranty anyway. Overall, I do like the car and we have no intention of selling it but feel Subaru is a horrible company for customer service and I would NEVER buy a car from them again, EVER! I so wished the wife would have let me get the RAV4 by Toyota... Buyer Beware!

Subaru dealership has admitted that they have a problem with the rings and Subaru used material that was too soft ..maybe the wrong heat treat for hardness etc..

Oil consumption is massive and there should be no reason for them to do a oil consumption test. The problem is there and they have to give you a brand new short block to fix this mess.

Update from Jan 4, 2015: So I took the forester to my local Subaru Dealer and they did the oil consumption test and here's what happened.

They no.1 overfilled the oil by 1/2 quart and I documented it. At 1300 miles I checked the oil before bringing it in and it was down just below the fill line. So with the overfill the oil was near where it should be but still not right. I told the service manager what I did and that I know they are full of it. Bottom line is I got a new short block.

Don't let them give you the runaround. Document what your car is doing as it is false as to what they say. Another thing is the gas mileage was wrong on what they advertise and I'm going to ask for additional items as they are in the wrong. Maybe keep the Outback they gave me as a free loaner for the past three weeks?

ON 10-25-13 HAD MY 15K , OD #14935 CHECKUP DONE BY MY MECHANIC, ALL WAS FINE...ON 2=13-14 GETTING READY FOR A ROAD TRIP HAD MY MECHANIC CK THE CAR,, OD# 18760, OIL READING WAS DOWN 3 QUARTS!!! THIS IS WHEN MY MECHANIC FOUND THE ALERT #02-144-13R. THIS ALERT WAS ON OIL CONSUMPTION AND PISTON RING FAILURE....MY MECHANIC SAID FOR ME TO TRACK MY OIL CONSUMPTION ON MY TRIP...FOR A 700 MILE TRIP I USED 1 QUART OF OIL... I HAD BEEN TRACKING THE CONSUMPTION PER MY MECHANICS SUGGESTION, AND ALSO ADDING OIL TO KEEP THE ENGINE OK.

3-10-14 I CALLED SUBARU IN PALM SPRINGS REGARDING THE OIL CONSUMPTION, THEY STATED THAT A SUBARU DEALERSHIP WOULD NEED TO OFFICIALLY DOCUMENT MY MILEAGE AND THEN LOOK AT THE CONSUMPTION USAGE....3-11-14 , MILEAGE # 19733, TOOK THE CAR TO DEALERSHIP IN PALM SPRINGS ...DOCUMENTED MY OFFICIAL MILEAGE. THEY CHECKED THE OIL LEVEL, THEY STATED IT WAS FINE, THIS DUE TO ME ADDING OIL..3-13-14 MILEAGE # 20422 ,ONCE I RETURNED TO MY HOME TOOK THE CAR TO LOCAL DEALERSHIP IN UKIAH...THEY STATED THAT THE OIL LEVEL WAS OVER FULL, THEY DID A OIL CHANGE. TOLD ME TO CONTINUE TO CK MY OIL, BRING BACK IF THERE WERE OIL CONSUMPTION.. CONTINUE TO CK OIL, NO USEAGE...THIS I BELIEVE TO BE BECAUSE I DRIVE MINIMAL MILES NORMALLY, NO LONG ROAD TRIPS...

ON 6-12-14 HAD MY MECHANIC CK OIL, DOWN A QUART , MILEAGE #22341. MILEAGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE OIL CHANGE DONE BY SUBARU ON 3-13-14 WAS 1919 MILES, MY MECHANIC ADDED 1 QUART....FRUSTRATING!!!

I change oil about 3000 miles using 0-20 synthetic oil. At 9892 miles oil change, 5th oil change, car 13 months old (I check oil before changes), I started seeing oil usage. From 17000 miles oil change, traveled about 1000 miles round trip and used 1 quart of oil. Got an e-mail from a law firm stating 2011-2014 Subaru Foresters, among other models, have a piston ring problem. I replied that I was starting to notice oil usage even at 3000 mile changes.

Called up my Subaru dealer and was told 1 quart every 1000 miles was factory acceptable. But my oil consumption must be getting worse for me to see it at 3000 oil changes. Was told bring car in, pay for oil change, then come in every 1000 miles for oil level check. I will do this and keep you posted. Thank you for being there to help everyone in situations like this.

Noticed engine oil level low, nothing reads on dipstick . I take care of my cars and always check all fluids regularly. Reported to dealer on 9/13/13, mileage around 10k . Oil & filter was changed (paid by me) and told to report back after an additional 1500 miles of driving. I returned on 1/2/14 and 2200 miles of driving with low oil level again, nothing reads on dipstick.

Current mileage now around 12,200. This time dealer changed oil & filter again (under warranty) and having an oil consumption test done. They are having me return after 1200 miles as per service bulletin 02-144-13R. The engine has an oil consumption problem and not acceptable with such low mileage. I do understand all cars have some type of oil consumption but I personally never experienced an issue like this having owned many cars. This car is too new with very low mileage to have oil consumption like this. This is the second time I have gone to the dealer for this concern. I will return after 1200 miles of driving and see what the outcome is.

Subaru needs to admit fault to this issue as there are many more owners of this car with similar concerns.