Originally Posted By: pbm
I contemplated buying a new Subaru Impreza a couple of years ago but decided against it because of reported oil burning issues.....has this been fixed?
Actually, the oil burning items was more of an internet rumor than a wide-reaching real issues. They did have issues (rings) in the early runs of the 2.0l engine and those were addressed and I have not heard about more item.
However the 90% "oil burning" issue is likely due to Subaru using 0w20, adding an oil-level icon to the dash, and mountain driving. Folks would freak-out that after 6,000-7,500 miles near the OCI the low oil light would click on. That "never" happened before that icon so it freaked folks out. Using 0w20 likely sped that consumption so that a 1qt over 5,000 miles was likely. We have multiple Subaru in my office (the personal vehicle of choice in a fleet office of domestics). I notice that of the 4 Subarus, the one with the oil consumption was the one with a long highway trip up over the Continental divide each day. He would have the most likely risk of the low-oil level light popping up before his oil change. Still, it was not always happening but it was the only common thread I saw. Considering that most Subarus are in the mountains, then it makes sense that it would appear to be more frequent. Going to a 5w30 will slow that consumption from long power-runs up the mountains in my opinion if that is a concern. Otherwise, the 0w20 is fine and consumption is minimal.
I think consumer reports did a survey of that exact issue and VW was more of an issue and only like 2% of subaru owners reported issues. That as about average for a manufacturer.