Subies, the engines again...

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: Clevy

It doesn't mean one shouldn't check. It's part of basic maintenance.

Even if the engine wasn't an oil burner a person still needs to check whether coolant is adequate,tranny fluid,oil level etc. What if a gasket weeps and no one noticed. Taking a look under the hood can help expose possible problems before your stranded.
It doesn't matter how far vehicles have come over the years. An owner still needs to be diligent and pro-active.
The co-op gas station locally has full service bays. If a person doesn't the,selves know where the dipstick is can they not go to a full serve and have someone else at least check.
What about washer fluid. Do these people just let it run dry until their next oil change then have it filled.

New or not a vehicle has many fallible systems and an owner should know at least how to check and add fluids.
Or suffer the consequences.


I agree 100%- but more and more vehicle operators-"driver" is far to generous a term- practically wet themselves at the thought of checking fluids or tire pressures. The hand-wringing bedwetters don't want to do anything- it's either the manufacturer or the government's responsibility to take care of their cars...

 

[crazyoildude]

I have been hearing a lot about the subaru engines having problems.. It seems that they are not the only trouble engines out there we see a lot of BMW's in my engine shop and now a lot of late model Toyotas it seems that todays engines are a lot worse then say 10 years ago.. My wifes BMW with 28,000 miles used to burn oil like crazy. When we returned that lease i was following her and watched it puffing more than the marlboro man. There are a lot of people that are complaining these days.I will say on my Santa fe i go 7000 miles on an oil change and it never needs oil.

 

[AITG]

Originally Posted By: CT8
Subarus are great cars other than head gaskets ,oil leaks, engines blowing up and burning oil. Yeah they are great cars.


You forgot about the AWD system that required all four tires to have the same circumference at all times or the internal diff ate itself. Also, the fabulous frameless door windows that turned out to be impossible to fix (flat rate: 6 HOURS!!!)

My family had 2 Foresters: a brand new 2006 and a used 2003. The 06 got replaced with a F150 and the 03 with a used Focus wagon. The only way a Subaru will re-appear in our family is if we win one as a door prize. Then it won't be around long enough to get a license plate.

 

[GiveMeAVowel]

The problem in the industry is cannibalizing cost cutting, these executives are cutting costs so much to make greedy shareholders and themselves so enriched that the integrity of the products are really suffering now, and it doesn't just affect low cost models, ALL price ranges with a few rare exceptions like RR are suffering.

The greed is completely out of hand, and if you think it is bad at the car makers you have no idea how it is even at tier one suppliers that provide many components to the car makers.

 

[Nate1979]

Great, looks like it is time for the monthly bash Subaru thread where the subject of oil burning is rehashed.

What's new here?

 

[GiveMeAVowel]

Originally Posted By: Nate1979
Great, looks like it is time for the monthly bash Subaru thread where the subject of oil burning is rehashed.

What's new here?


I agree, it is weird. Makes me wonder if someone is being paid to posts these things over and over again.

 

[AZjeff]

People who think a quart in 2K usage is OK for a low mileage car most likely don't own one. Unacceptable.

 

[gathermewool]

I've owned 4 Subarus. Only the '97 with nearly 200k miles would SOMETIMES burn a quart in an OCI.

This also isn't an issue with the turbo EJs and FA motors, juat the non-turbo motors.

I don't read about many head gaskets these days

I had issues with my frameless windows, but are there any new Subies with frameless windows?

Subaru is a niche vehicle. You get what you pay for. With that said Subaru needs to make sure their vehicles are safe AND reliable. Some people are a quart/3k miles consumption away from trading and most are a head gasket failure away from never buying another Subaru ever again.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: AZjeff
People who think a quart in 2K usage is OK for a low mileage car most likely don't own one. Unacceptable.



I'm not saying it's right however if the oem claims it's acceptable what can a person really do.

I do find it brutal that the op was barely in the acceptable range,and the dealer knows he's going to be a royal pain in the rear. It might just be smarter for the dealer to get Subaru to fix his engine just to shut him up

It's funny. When my old cutlass started consuming oil at quart every 3-5 days it would burn a blue hue out my exhaust. And that's a v-8.
Yet these little 4 cylinder engines consume a quart every 1000 miles yet no evidence out the exhaust.
Is the cat burning off the blue hue or how is it that there's no evidence other than the oil level being low.

 

[NHGUY]

I never believed Subaru to be a good car.From the horrid Subaru 360,to the DL/GLs that rusted away and developed crankshaft end play measured in inches,the BRATs that would literally rust in 2 pieces,the original Legacy that was pretty gutless (and almost dropped after 1 year due to slow sales),the oddball inline 4 Justy,outer space XT Coupe and SVX,exhaust systems that in the 1990s were worth more than their used cars,to the endless head gasket/cylinder head failures,ticking/knocking valvetrain (they kept mechanical lifters too long),rock hard seats,poor gas mileage to the excessive weight thanks to the AWD system being standard on all models....and even seeing a struggling stuck Subaru on an ABC News broadcast with the rear wheel spinning "backwards" when they were trying to drive forward from a snowpile all the while the front wheel wasn't turning...

 

[FL_Rob]

My 95 legacy wagon has had one cam seal go out,one clutch cable and one wheel bearing that got loud enough to warrant replacing.No HG problems or leaks and it doesn't burn oil between OC's.

20 years old ,plus!.. it was a northern vehicle.My VIN indicates built in Japan,maybe there is a correlation-import VS. domestic quality?

 

[exranger06]

I just changed the oil in my wife's 2014 XV Crosstrek last night. It went about 5500 miles on the oil and didn't consume a drop. It has 25k miles on it now and we never had any oil burning problems or any other problems for that matter. I think it's a great car and the wife loves it.

 

[Danh]

Originally Posted By: FL_Rob
My 95 legacy wagon has had one cam seal go out,one clutch cable and one wheel bearing that got loud enough to warrant replacing.No HG problems or leaks and it doesn't burn oil between OC's.

20 years old ,plus!.. it was a northern vehicle.My VIN indicates built in Japan,maybe there is a correlation-import VS. domestic quality?


Subaru has always manufactured its engines and other major drivetrain components in Japan.

 

[FutureDoc]

I want to ban gas-and-go owners (use the bus, that is what it is there for!), especially if they are new to Subaru. Subarus are not maintenance-free vehicles. They are more complex than the normal FWD commuter. I wonder how many of these new oil-use complaints are because Subaru added the low-oil level indicator and they have never opened the hood on any previous vehicle. I have only had one known true Subaru oil issue using oil. He has a 1,800ft mountain climb each morning on his way to work. Yes, 1 qt per 3K miles would be expected. I am not saying that there are not defects but that is why we have a warranty and SOA has always been fairly good about helping out (save for some of the HG issues).

About do hit 210K in my '99... the "worst" of the breed. (Phase I EJ). Still, in the last 3 years and 20K miles, I have only had to replace the knock-sensor and rear shocks (originals)... and I am about to do the timing belt. I get 23mpg around town too.

My 2014 uses about 1/2qt over the entire OCI which is about normal/good for a 0w20. My '99 uses the same with 5w30 over 3k miles.

Folks tend to forget that the most bullet-proof Toyota engines were known oil guzzlers.

 

[JTK]

I don't get how people run them low enough on oil to destroy the engine. They've made newer Subarus pretty idiot-proof.. or so I assumed. On my 2014 XV Crosstrek, the low oil level light comes on when it's about one quart low. It's a ~5qt system. My light has come on a few times. It's a pretty alarming big orange/yellow icon on the dash and hard to miss or ignore.

 

[Ramblejam]

Originally Posted By: FL_Rob
My 95 legacy wagon has had one cam seal go out,one clutch cable and one wheel bearing that got loud enough to warrant replacing.No HG problems or leaks and it doesn't burn oil between OC's.

20 years old ,plus!.. it was a northern vehicle.My VIN indicates built in Japan,maybe there is a correlation-import VS. domestic quality?


...or maybe your Legacy is equipped with the 2.2L engine, which doesn't suffer from the same HG issues as later 2.5L models.

 

[VNTS]

Co-worker has a Crosstek and Subbie replaced with short block due to excessive consumption, ie 1 qt every 800 miles, car only had 5K miles on it.

People in my area seem to love them. Relative had an 05 Outback, bragged about it until one day at a Holiday, shows up in a new Volvo.

Then he tells me at around 70K, engine started making noise, thought maybe rod or valve train so he dumped it and swore off Subaru? Note he does good maintenance regimen on his cars.

 

[lubricatosaurus]

Originally Posted By: JTK
I don't get how people run them low enough on oil to destroy the engine. They've made newer Subarus pretty idiot-proof.. or so I assumed. On my 2014 XV Crosstrek, the low oil level light comes on when it's about one quart low. It's a ~5qt system. My light has come on a few times. It's a pretty alarming big orange/yellow icon on the dash and hard to miss or ignore.

Was wondering about low oil level warning lights on these types. Nice to have that back-up warning. Not all makes/models have that of course. Should be mandatory.

 

[AZjeff]

Why is it when someone posts a legitimate problem with a car they own 10 other owners post up that theirs is perfect? Happens ALL the time. How does your car not having the problem help the guy with the problem?

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
So far so good on our German stuff. Dodged a bullet there.

Sad that some of my engines are over 100k miles or 1800 hours, and consume almost no oil. But these Subies and other cars drink it like margaritas at a bachelorette party.

My 15 years old E430 with 170+k miles doesn't consume measurable oil in 10-13k miles OCI. Even with 2 grade thinner PP 5W20 it didn't consume measurable oil for 10k miles.

I do check the oil level monthly, same level every time.

PS When 0W16 is available at reasonable price I may try it in this car.

In 15 years it had mostly M1 0W40, but it also had M1 20W50, Chevron Delo 14W40, M1 5W30, PP 5W20 and some mixes of xW40 with XW20.