[amamet]

my girlfriend was given a 2014 forester with 60k miles by a family member 6 months ago. she's been complaining that she's always low on oil with no apparent leaks. she parks in a garage and checks under frequently. she puts in a quart almost every week, she drives a lot but not sure of how many miles exactly. I read that there is some class-action lawsuit and that according to her vin number, her car is included. being its Saturday and can't call to check im asking you guys out in the interwebs. any idea whats we should do first? we live a few sates away from each other so she has to do it on her own (with my help)
thanks in advance
allen

 

[DragonSubie7]

@amamet -
Yes it is or no it isn't depending on whether the car fits into a defined category.

This link will tell you everything you need to know.
https://www.classlawgroup.com/subaru-oil-consumption-class-action-lawsuit/

Provided the car is included in the class settlement, you schedule an oil consumption test at a Subaru dealer.
They give you a free oil change and you come back in 1200 miles. If you use more than 1/3 qt of oil, the oil use is deemed excessive and they will schedule the car for a free short block replacement.

If your girlfriend is using a lot of oil, I would suggest that be mentioned and she return the car when it's down a significant amount.

You should get a free rental car during the service (~ week) and the service should be free unless non-covered repairs are also required.

 

[amamet]

thx, yes, her vin number falls within the parameters. ill have her call during the week. I've read that dealers were "overfilling" during oil changes. what can done about that? I guess tell them not to overfill and have her check it after she leaves?
thx again
allen

 

[Peja]

Check the oil level at the dealer at start of consumption test. Overfilled is not your friend. They only measure from full line for oil usage. If overfilled you will probably pass the test.. as in no help.

 

[DragonSubie7]

@amamet -
It can't hurt to check the oil level, but I didn't have that problem when I took the test. It was perfect.
She will need to have the car sit for a few minutes after it has run to check it.
It might save her some time if she mentions that she'd like to be shown the oil level before she leaves...
It sounds like your gf has pretty excessive usage, but one thing I've found that other have also noticed, is that the FB25 seems to drink more oil when it is driven at relatively high speeds for long distances, especially when under loads like going up hills.
My car didn't use any oil on relatively short trips or at low speeds, but consumed a lot on multi-hour drives at high speed.

 

[bigJ]

I feel that I am one of the fortunate ones! I have 2018 Subie Forester Premium 2.5 with just under 10,000 miles on it and it doesn't burn a drop! I just returned from an 18 hour trip to South Lake Tahoe two weeks ago. Drove it home hitting 75 MPH for most of the drive down HWY I5. Got home and checked the oil level and it was up at the top of the stick, just where it was when I stared the trip. It seems to me that the oil consumption issue does not effect the 2018 model year generally. I have heard of a very few 2018 2.5s that have reported this issue, but I wonder if they may have been made with engines that were from the older model year where the problem was prevalent.

 

[Yoda_One]

I feel that I am one of the fortunate ones! I have 2018 Subie Forester Premium 2.5 with just under 10,000 miles on it and it doesn't burn a drop! I just returned from an 18 hour trip to South Lake Tahoe two weeks ago. Drove it home hitting 75 MPH for most of the drive down HWY I5. Got home and checked the oil level and it was up at the top of the stick, just where it was when I stared the trip. It seems to me that the oil consumption issue does not effect the 2018 model year generally. I have heard of a very few 2018 2.5s that have reported this issue, but I wonder if they may have been made with engines that were from the older model year where the problem was prevalent.

My 2014 is in the VIN number, I never have added any oil between 6000mile/ 6 months intervals.

Laughing at oneself and with others is good for the Soul

 

[gaborkin]

I feel that I am one of the fortunate ones! I have 2018 Subie Forester Premium 2.5 with just under 10,000 miles on it and it doesn't burn a drop! I just returned from an 18 hour trip to South Lake Tahoe two weeks ago. Drove it home hitting 75 MPH for most of the drive down HWY I5. Got home and checked the oil level and it was up at the top of the stick, just where it was when I stared the trip. It seems to me that the oil consumption issue does not effect the 2018 model year generally. I have heard of a very few 2018 2.5s that have reported this issue, but I wonder if they may have been made with engines that were from the older model year where the problem was prevalent.

You are SO lucky!! I've got a 2018 2.5L 6MT base model that sucked down a quart in only 1600 miles.

I'm told the 6MT models are more susceptible, likely because (according to the dealer) engine braking and higher engine RPMs in top gear for any given speed than the CVT models.

Note, too, that the last TSB I found regarding this issue only included Foresters with a manual transmission (not CVT models).

Is yours a manual or CVT?

 

[adc]

I have difficulty believing manuals are the issue per se. Manuals insure that engine revs a 're constantly. Cvts keep the engine at constant low Tom's. I made sure I used paddles to get rpms up in the 5k area. At 8k miles there is no detectable oil use.

But then again I bought the FA2.0 soley to get the better engine.

 

[EvilDragon]

I think that your shifting habits matter. If you stick to 2000 RPMs for shift points, you likely won't see as much consumption. Still ******** that it happens though.

 

[rule292]

I have difficulty believing manuals are the issue per se. Manuals insure that engine revs a 're constantly. Cvts keep the engine at constant low Tom's. I made sure I used paddles to get rpms up in the 5k area. At 8k miles there is no detectable oil use.

But then again I bought the FA2.0 soley to get the better engine.

I think that your shifting habits matter. If you stick to 2000 RPMs for shift points, you likely won't see as much consumption. Still ******** that it happens though.

I drive all of my manuals like a hypermiler. I've got 5 manual transmission vehicles currently (2 are bikes :grin2: ) and none consumes oil like the Forester, though the LS motor in the C6 was at about a quart every 5k miles during break in.

As for the Forester, no highway = no oil consumption for me. YMMV.

 

[TofuTakahashi]

Worked for mine, a '11 w/ 66k on the clock in November 2018. The dealership at first claimed ignorance about it until I brought up the TSB with the service manager. Next they tried to charge me for the oil change and the test, which also required me to point out that it was provided for free according to the TSB. The only thing I needed to provide was documentation for oil changes and service intervals which I happy provided (which was largely receipts as I do my own service). This was only the service records that I had for the car since purchase, as I bought it used with about 50k on the clock from the original owner.

As expected, the car failed the test and it took them about two weeks to complete the short block change. During this time they provided a rental for me to use.

So I would expect there is no reason they wouldn't take your newer car so long as it meets the specifications in the TSB, but its worth trying out. I would just make sure you have a print out of it with you and be ready to talk to the service manager if needed.

 

[bigJ]

You are SO lucky!! I've got a 2018 2.5L 6MT base model that sucked down a quart in only 1600 miles.

I'm told the 6MT models are more susceptible, likely because (according to the dealer) engine braking and higher engine RPMs in top gear for any given speed than the CVT models.

Note, too, that the last TSB I found regarding this issue only included Foresters with a manual transmission (not CVT models).

Is yours a manual or CVT?

Mine is a CVT.

 

[Ray Bell]

Can anyone please tell me what this means?

Manuals insure that engine revs a 're constantly. Cvts keep the engine at constant low Tom's.

 

[subaholic]

I'm going to guess that the message was to read, "Manuals insure that engine rpm is constantly changing. Cvts keep the engine at constant low rpm."

 

[adc]

I'm going to guess that the message was to read, "Manuals insure that engine rpm is constantly changing. Cvts keep the engine at constant low rpm."

lol..yea. I should read what I write.

The point is that constantly changing rpms are good for the engine during break in. That's why they don't want you to use cruise during break in.

 

[soobcrazy]

The only thing I have to add to this is that if there is indeed a Federal recall on your vehicle it will NEVER expire. Until you've had the recall performed you can come into a dealership at any time in the future to have the correction made.

 

[Ray Bell]

So we put that down to using the phone instead of a computer?

Or intuitive spelling by the device?

 

[Vishnu]

BE SURE TO CHECK THE OIL LEVEL AT THE DEALERSHIP BEFORE DRIVING OFF. Also drive the ever-loving sheeit out of it during the test. Find all the long downhill roads and shift to the lower gear when going down those hills. It loads up the crappy rings and blows all that dealership oil right out of the tailpipe rapidly.

I got a new engine with over 200k miles on the clock! I'll give it to SOA, they back up their poor engineering by doing the right thing. Later they even rebuilt the CVT gratis.

 

[Labman]

Well translated! 😎