CR Reveals the "Thirsty Thirty" Oil Burners

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"…………...Cars under warranty shouldn’t burn oil. And most don’t.

But Consumer Reports’ 2014 Annual Auto Survey found that several auto manufacturers are building engines—available in a number of widely sold models—that require frequently topping off the oil reservoir between recommended oil changes. That’s a worry and cost that a new-car owner shouldn’t have…………"

"….We focused on 498,900 vehicles from the 2010 to 2014 model years, many of which are still under their powertrain warranty. Several engines emerged as the main offenders: Audi’s 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and 3.0-liter V6, BMW’s 4.8-liter V8 and twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8, and to a lesser extent Subaru’s 3.6-liter six-cylinder and 2.0- and 2.5-liter four-cylinders……….."

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/06/excessive-oil-consumption/index.htm
 
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Surprising, except for a few subarus and a chevy spark , these were all upper end cars. I'd be upset if i paid what some paid for a bmw or volvo or and audi and it burned oil like a saturn.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
Surprising, except for a few subarus and a chevy spark , these were all upper end cars. I'd be upset if i paid what some paid for a bmw or volvo or and audi and it burned oil like a saturn.


Haha and they tout their environmental responsibility for this or that but fail to mention emissions from their cars include burnt oil. Nice!
 
Neither the ram, ranger, or accent burn any oil.

All stay pretty close to the top mark on the dip stick.

While I agree burning some oil is normal. Even upwards of a whole quart during an entire 7500 to 10k oci.

But 1 quart every 1200 miles? Subaru needs to offer free top offs then.
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Low friction rings, the envrowhackjobs and another unintended consequence.


Low tension rings have been around since the 80s. There are millions of engines using them that don't burn oil so that isn't the problem.
Why can some engines be fine and others not. Heck sometimes it's the same engine and one burns while the other doesn't.

I'm thinking break in is the problem. A soft break in doesn't properly seat the rings.

And this is the third thread on this topic
 
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Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Low friction rings, the envrowhackjobs and another unintended consequence.


Low tension rings have been around since the 80s. There are millions of engines using them that don't burn oil so that isn't the problem.
Why can some engines be fine and others not. Heck sometimes it's the same engine and one burns while the other doesn't.

I'm thinking break in is the problem. A soft break in doesn't properly seat the rings.

And this is the third thread on this topic
Yup, low friction rings don't break in well. LOW friction.
 
To satisfy ecomorons, they are using low weight 20 oils in engines that are not supposed to. Any turbo for example...
 
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As the article states, manufacturers say it's "normal" to add a quart every 750 to 1000 miles...bull [censored]. Let's say it is normal, do you want to do that? At prices of synthetic?! And I like how BMW says their engines are extended oil change interval types, out to 10k miles. Well that's just great! That means you'll spend $80 bucks on oil top offs, before you spend $60-$80 on the actual oil change.

And the real problem is this...there's a lot of people that will read "ten thousand mile oil change", and never check the oil once between that oil change. Doesn't matter what lights, do or don't light up the dash. They won't check it. And then that timing chain will be destroyed.

Just buy a Lexus and you won't have these problems
 
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Originally Posted By: doublebase
As the article states, manufacturers say it's "normal" to add a quart every 750 to 1000 miles...bull [censored]. Let's say it is normal, do you want to do that? At prices of synthetic?! And I like how BMW says their engines are extended oil change interval types, out to 10k miles. Well that's just great! That means you'll spend $80 bucks on oil top offs, before you spend $60-$80 on the actual oil change.

And the real problem is this...there's a lot of people that will read "ten thousand mile oil change", and never check the oil once between that oil change. Doesn't matter what lights, do or don't light up the dash. They won't check it. And then that timing chain will be destroyed.

Just buy a Lexus and you won't have these problems


http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls460-ls460l-and-ls600h/660840-ls460-oil-consumption-issue.html
http://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-third...from-lexus.html
http://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-second-generation/624151-2008-is250-burning-oil-part-3-a.html

Weird, looks like Lexus vehicles aren't immune to consumption either
smirk.gif
 
Originally Posted By: doublebase
Just buy a Lexus and you won't have these problems

That's another myth. Toyota fame relies on the experience with their older ('80's, early 90's) engines.
The new ones are not the same...
 
Originally Posted By: SoNic67
Originally Posted By: doublebase
Just buy a Lexus and you won't have these problems

That's another myth. Toyota fame relies on the experience with their older ('80's, early 90's) engines.
The new ones are not the same...


The truth is somewhere in between.
 
Or you could just use the statistics provided by CR (seeing they have a sample size of ~500,000), and talk in terms of probabilities instead of absolutes.

CRM_Page_63_Thirsty_30_08-15.png
 
On a car with a 10,000 mile change interval, a quart between changes is insignificant.

Also, CR posits:

Quote:
Consumer Reports believes that any engine that burns oil between changes should be repaired under the powertrain warranty. But automakers often shield themselves in the fine print of their owners’ manuals.


Which means they clearly lack any idea as to how an internal combustion engine operates. ALL engines burn oil. HOW MUCH is the issue.

Example from the article:

Quote:
Shelly Shugars, a training director from Tivoli, N.Y., bought a new 2012 Subaru Impreza Sport hatchback and had her first oil change done on schedule when it hit its first 3,000 miles. But since that oil change, she says she has been adding a quart of oil every 800 to 1,000 miles.


On a 3,000 mile interval, a quart between changes is significant. On a 7,500 or 10,000 mile interval, it isn't. I doubt it is a coincidence that the cars with the longest OCI length happen to also dominate the chart indicating % of vehicles needing at least a quart of oil added between changes.

And this statement from the article is also telling:

Quote:
Some consumers we followed up with told us they would not have bought their oil-burning cars had they known they would be checking their oil so often. A recent CR national survey of 542 American owners of a 2000 to 2016 model-year vehicle showed that 39 percent either never check their oil or only have it checked when taken in for service.


Given this statistic, if the car doesn't have a low oil level indicator, these people would never know their car was low on oil. Living in ignorant bliss that their car is not burning anything. Which begs the question how many of the cars not shown in the chart are simply absent because they lack an oil level sensor?
 
My understanding is that Toyota has a few now and they are not on the list.

I do not think GM makes a V8 or V6 that does not drink oil. My wife has owned nothing but GM vehicles and all of them have had high oil usage. Gentle on oil sure but always consume more then they should.I think she has owned every V6 GM makes at some point except the latest high content V6 not sure if that is the right term.

So with Toyota's rather recent I4 oil consumption issues and GM's V6 and V8 consumption issues seems odd to me that neither of them are on the list???

So these other players on the list must either have out of sight issues or their is sever bias in CR's self reporting.
 
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