Subaru settles in oil consumption lawsuit

Shame on Consumer Reports for continuing to recommend Subarus in their top vehicle picks listings. They completely ignore the engine oil burn issue. My 2012 Impreza, bought new, burns 3 qts of oil every 3750 mile oil change. Subaru told me to take a hike when I complained since that amount of oil consumption is within their specs. I've never had a car burn this much oil and I've owned 20 or more vehicles over the years. I'll stick with Honda and Toyota from now on. Subaru should be ashamed for not helping out customers like me. They lost a customer for life and probably every person I told this story too also.

I have a 2012 Forester I bought in Oct. 2016. Had 99k miles on it. I noticed the oil was lower than it probably should have been so I was putting in probably about a quart every 2 to 3k miles. During the summer of 2017 I brought it in because of intense knocking in the engine. They said there was hardly any oil in it and it’s at that time I found out about these oil issues. They said that the previous owner brought the issue up to them and Subaru gave them an option of replacing the front/short block (don’t know what that is, I’m not a car guy) or extending the warranty to 100k miles. The owner at the time chose to extend the warranty.

Now I brought it in to the dealership and they said the cam carriers are leaking oil. Since they have to remove the engine anyway they recommended replacing all of the gaskets and resealing the whole thing. Quoted me $3,000.

I originally bought this car with a premium extended warranty for the purposes of making sure anything that did go wrong could be covered. The fact that this whole issue is not being covered really upsets me. Even though it was addressed with the previous owner, it doesn’t fix the problem! I feel the dealership should have stated this is a known issue and told me what the previous owners decided to do about it. Then even with the extended warranty I probably would not have bought the car.

Does anyone know if Subaru is covering the cost to actually fix this problem? Reseal the engine and/or cam carriers? Or have they decided not to deal with it? I’ll be calling them anyway but I’m looking for some guidance. Thank you!

I have a 2011 Forester. I have had 2 New short blocks put in and within 3000 miles I was down 2 qts of oil. This 2nd New block just failed another Oil consumption test. I am getting sick of my car being the shop for weeks getting a new lock put in. I have yet to be offered any deals or compensation. They do give me a loaner car.

I have a 2014 Outback with a 2.5 boxer engine. At 35,000 miles it was running through oil so Subaru replaced the block, at 76000 miles then head gasket failed as leaking so Subaru replaced it after weeks of in the shop. At 77,000 miles when accelerating to pass produced a extremely load noise, lost power and oil light came on. Oil level was fine had to be towed to dealership. Subaru has yet to find the problem after weeks in the shop as according to them "deep into engine and not a rod issue". The above lawsuit extended the powertrain to 100,000 miles for 2013 Outback engine. What about 2014 Outback models?

I’ve always used full synthetic oil in my 2011 Tribeca (3.6, 6-cyl) since I bought it brand-new with 11 miles on it. I have been following directions in the manual: full synthetic every 7,500 miles. Most oil changes have been done at the dealer, some at other shops, but always top brand full synthetic oil was used. I used to add about 1/2 qt about every 2,500 miles in between oil changes.

It had been smooth sailing until it hit around 50,000 miles, when it started consuming double amount of oil of what it used to be.

Just after latest full synthetic oil change at the dealer at 60,000 I found that 1-1/2qt was consumed in less than 2,700 miles.

And so the car has just ran out of the warranty, and here you go - the dealer is suspecting I might have defective short block in my 3.6 6-cyl engine and I’m facing a $5,000+ out of pocket repair.

Given amount of issues in Subaru engines shared in stories above and below, it would be wrong at very least and quite responsible at most to bring up another law suit against Subaru. But this time not only to make them fix and reimburse, but also to make them admit either the engines were defective or admit that this kind of oil consumption is normal for Subaru engines and make sure it is advertised as such, and is described as such in the technical documentation, including the owner’s manual. Modern Subaru engines - would not miss an opportunity to gulp a quart of fresh modern full synthetic oil.

Imagine new Subaru selling point in year 2020: Nothing can be better for a Subaru engine than a quart of fresh oil each 1,500 miles - let’s burn all the oil that is left on Earth together! Such a green and forward thinking company!

My engine is knocking now took it to the dealer has 77000iles they won't pay because I brought it to the dealer with a quarter of oil left in. They have been the only ones dealing with it haven't had it for a year yet 10 moths only. 2 oil changes only perform by them don't make it to the 3rd one extended warranty third party Subaru don't want to pay for repairs they're pointing fingers at me (owner)

we have a 2014 outback and have to add oil between changes. Our dealer would not do an oil consumption test, so we travel with a few qts of oil on long trips. This was our first and last Subaru.

bought a '17 impreza in CT. after 1500 mi and almost every 1500 mi after that the oil light came on and I'd take it in to the dealer to top it off with 1qt. they kept telling me that there were only 2 cameras to put in the engine to monitor where the oil was going in the whole NE states and I was just in line behind everyone else in the NE states to receive one. I've had the car since apr '17 and here we are on 8/18 and the dealer called today and told me that they were going to replace the engine. not sure if this had anything to do with the multiple surveys I filled out online and on paper detailing how they were stonewalling me in fixing my problem. hopefully this replacement will take care of the issue. this engine has 22k on it and had two separate consumption tests done up to now.

Short block was replaced but now I have low gas mileage it used to hover around 30 MPG and now is only 23 MPG - anything i can do about that?

This is a joke. They didn't settle nothing. I took my car in and the tech put in 6 quarts verses 5 quarts and when I returned the car for completion of the oil test it came back as no oil used. It used 1 quart of oil which brought it back down to the full level. What a bunch of BS. I will be putting out my comments out on every site I can find and will be returning their corporate survey with my remarks. I thought Subaru was a good corporation and would fix the problem, but I guess this shows their real motive--Corporate Greed!

I have a 2019 Crosstrek with 5974 miles
Dealership just removed motor and resealed cam carrier because of oil leak
It’s a 6 speed manual and also has clutch issues
I’m sorry I bought Subaru

I have a 2016 Forester, bought new, and have just learned that it has the same oil consumption problem which Subaru settled in a class action lawsuit. I am also learning that many 2016, 2017 & 2018 Foresters are still burning oil. The expected repair is between $3000 - $8000 to repair this so I am seeking out other owners that are dealing with this same issue The service manager is trying to build a case in order to speak to Subaru of America. If this does not pan out, I am taking this to SoA in New Jersey. I am trying to create a list of customers having the same problem so we have collective evidence that Subaru did NOT fix the piston ring problem and possibly launch a second class action lawsuit. I need at least 40 plaintiffs to even get a lawyer to take the case. You can email me at [email protected]. Please make the subject line, “Another Unhappy Customer” so I know it is not spam. Just describe the problem you are having. Subaru needs to be held accountable, apparently, again.

I have a 2014 Subaru Forester and I have the oil changed like clockwork every 6,000 miles as the dealer recommended. After about 1000 miles the oil light comes on and I have to put in a quart of oil. This happens more when I run the air conditioner in the car. I may be rethinking Subaru when I look for another car.

I've already made up my mind and I'm going back to Toyota. I've talked to a couple of people at work that has oil consumption problems with their Subaru. Not sure how long Subaru can keep this up, but everyone I talk too who is considering buying a Subaru, I steer them away and tell them to do the research themselves. It wouldn't be too bad I guess if it was just once model, but seems their engineering department has a bunch of flunkies.

Am I between a rock and a hard place not have my 2009 (part of the new model redesign) not a part of this lawsuit and issue?

Just under 100,000 miles we had issues. Oil consumption test supposedly states 1 quart per 1,000 mile burn rate is okay. I had 4.2 quarts, topped off another quart by dealer after 500 miles and I'm bone try before expected oil change.

Just been driving normal to and from work and haven't been doing any excessive speeding or anything else. Check my oil and it was low again. Added about 1/2 quart of oil. I've never had this type of problem with any other vehicle (Toyota) I've driven. My 2013 XV Crosstrek just went over 40K a few months ago so it's not a high mileage that's causing the problem. It's shoddy engineering on part of Subaru. Never, ever again will I buy from Subaru and I keep telling as many people as I can, DON'T BUY SUBARU. And when they ask why, I tell them just do a search on, "Subaru Consumption Issues" and they will see why.

Hi Guys,

I have owned a 2011 Subaru forester for a year now it came with full oil , I have driven 14000Kms since June 2019, last month the Oil dipstick was indicating no OIL and i took it to the service center they topped the oil and have asked me to drive 1000kms, Infact its the second time i took it to them the first time i was in last September last year i topped 1 quart/500ml but service said the oil level is fine though dip stick indicated low but they showed me that we have to start the engine and check the oil , So now they have filled it full on the dip stick and i'm driving it to see how it goes , There is no oil leaks or smoke in the engine

My 2011 Forester has Burnt the full 5.5 + 1 for 14000kms so far wit no oil , so it has been topped up again to full levels by Subaru dealer to measure the oil consumption and they said they arent aware of the oil consumption issue?! Is this enough to demand an Engine replacement?

DON'T BUY SUBARU! PERIOD.