[wigglesxjr]

Hey All,
Just had a somewhat interaction with a dealership here in the SF Bay Area; came in for a routine oil change, dealer suggested an oil consumption test. Got the results of the test 1900mi later, and they sat my wife and I down and told us that they wanted to change out the shortblock to fix the issue.

I'm about 2500mi inside my 60k powertrain warranty on our 2016 Forester XT, so I'm assuming there's some bulletin/issue out there? I haven't found much than the oil consumption class action that looked like it mostly addressed NA motors from 2008-2015, and it wasn't clear if it applied to anything after that. The dealership said that they'd probably have the car for 3-4 weeks after their techs are freed up from other shortblock swaps they're doing, so it seems to be a fairly widespread practice.

I surmise that there is a combination of a known issue which they may be legally/de facto responsible for (oil consumption issue), and as such, I'm assuming that warranty work they do under this premise doesn't really come out of their pocket and are being compensated by corporate (netting some cash for the dealership? I totally do not know how warranty services are incentivized/funded between franchise and corporate, so I am probably totally off here).

Just wondering if anyhow else has had this experience? It's just really odd to be because the dealership was very apt to take on the costs/time for a shortblock swap and seemed to look for the problem since they were the ones who suggested the oil consumption test in the first place.

Thanks guys!

 

[Makingforestergreatagain]

Do pull your dipstick from time to time or ignore it and let tech at dealership worry about it when they ch ange the oil?

 

[wigglesxjr]

Do pull your dipstick from time to time or ignore it and let tech at dealership worry about it when they ch ange the oil?

Honestly, mostly the latter with this car -- after having done all of my own maintenance of my WRX esp. after a shortblock swap, I just don't have the bandwidth/will to keep track of it. I was more on checking the the dipstick regularly when we first got the car (didn't notice anything out of the ordinary), but the last 20-25k miles or so, I've just been happy dropping the car off for oil changes.

Dealership said it was burning 11.7floz/1900mi where their limit for "normal" consumption (tend to think that barring leaks, the engine probably shouldn't consume much oil, if any at all) was 10.8floz in the same mileage.

 

[ColoradoZ28]

I have a 2014 Forester manual transmission (issue more prevalent with a manual) where the block was changed out under this recall. That was at 75000 miles and now I am approaching 150000 miles. They had the car for about three weeks and provided me a rental car. The only thing I paid for at the end was a new set of spark plugs and an air filter. I've always done my own maintenance and was constantly adding oil when the vehicle was new. I had the "consumption test" in response to a recall letter.

 

[asphaltaddict33]

That is an unusual issue since the XT motor is not known for burning oil like the completely different 2.5 NA is. The dealer gets compensated by Subaru for warranty work, but usually at a lower labor rate than they charge the public. So it is not really in their interest to go looking for warranty work, unless things are REALLY slow at the dealership, which seems unlikely. So it sounds like a genuine issue, so far.

If it were me, I would contact SOA (Subaru of America) and ask them how long this new short block will be warrantied for. I would express my loss of confidence in the engine, and vehicle, and try to get an extended warranty added to the car by SOA as this issue is resolved.

The last thing you want is to have this short block replaced, and then be on the hook for issues potentially caused by that down the road.

 

[wigglesxjr]

I have a 2014 Forester manual transmission (issue more prevalent with a manual) where the block was changed out under this recall. That was at 75000 miles and now I am approaching 150000 miles. They had the car for about three weeks and provided me a rental car. The only thing I paid for at the end was a new set of spark plugs and an air filter. I've always done my own maintenance and was constantly adding oil when the vehicle was new. I had the "consumption test" in response to a recall letter.

Interesting, thanks for the insight. Yeah, I'd actually understand this more because it's the 2.5L vs. the 2.0T -- I know that the 2.5L from the era had some recalls/bulletins on them.

 

[wigglesxjr]

That is an unusual issue since the XT motor is not known for burning oil like the completely different 2.5 NA is. The dealer gets compensated by Subaru for warranty work, but usually at a lower labor rate than they charge the public. So it is not really in their interest to go looking for warranty work, unless things are REALLY slow at the dealership, which seems unlikely. So it sounds like a genuine issue, so far.

If it were me, I would contact SOA (Subaru of America) and ask them how long this new short block will be warrantied for. I would express my loss of confidence in the engine, and vehicle, and try to get an extended warranty added to the car by SOA as this issue is resolved.

The last thing you want is to have this short block replaced, and then be on the hook for issues potentially caused by that down the road.

Good points, and in my research, I've not run into a bulletin or anything regarding oil consumption on the 2.0T, so I'm a bit confused as to why they've been proactive -- moreso now that you're saying that the pay rate from corporate is probably not a great use of a tech's time vs. being able to charge full rate to a consumer. This seems to be a common practice at this dealership since we're asked to wait a month+ to get an appointment for the swap that might take 3-4 weeks. And like you said, I doubt it's slow at this dealership, it's a big one in a metropolitan area, and I see their plate frames running around everywhere.

Good tip on contacting SOA, I'll do that today. The thought did cross my mind, that if I were to hang onto this car, there really aren't assurances this won't just be a problem when it's out of warranty.