Is the oil consumption problem just on manual models or all models of the Forrester: I am considering buying a used 2.18 with under 10,000 miles on it.

Asked by Jean1118 Jul 29, 2018 at 05:10 PM about the 2018 Subaru Forester 2.0XT Premium

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I am considering purchasing a lightly used (8000 miles) 2018 Forrester. The first I heard about the oil consumption problem was by accidently finding this thread. Now I am concerned and wonder if I should stick with Toyota. I currently have a 2005 Rav 4 with 251,000 miles on it. The Forrester is an automatic and it seems like most people with complaints have manuals??

16 Answers

CVT cars also use oil. Subaru tries to blame everything but the engine including You for oil consumption. If you buy it be sure and get the Subaru extended warranty.

3 people found this helpful.
120

Stick with a RAV 4! I bought a very gently used 2013 Subaru Forester with under 25,000 mi in 2015. I have been plagued with issues and I am currently getting rid of the headache. My oil changes don’t last 3000 with full synthetic and I have to add quarts of oil between changes. Looking in to a rav 4! I didn’t even have this headache with my Jeep Liberty!

4 people found this helpful.
990

Stick with Toyota. Subaru engines burn obscene amounts of oil -- by design!

3 people found this helpful.
40

Dont do it. I have a 14 2.5i limited. I have to put in a quart of oil or more in between every oil change. Iv had 3 consumption test and they say I'm fine. BS. I only have 75k. I'll never buy another Subaru...ever

4 people found this helpful.
70

My friend JUST bought a 2018 forester and burnig over a quart of oil between changes and it is brand new. Stay away

7 people found this helpful.

One quart is not that bad. 2 or more would trigger warranty replacement.

60

My 2014 Forester with the CVT tranny has the same oil use issue, so no, it is not limited to manuals.

2 people found this helpful.
120

Why oh why didn’t I see this before I bought my 2018 manual forester. Oil light came on at 3700 miles... when book says change oil at 6000, took to closest mechanic he checked, oil doesn’t even register. Called road side assistance and had it towed to Carson city Subaru. Waiting to hear what they have to say. Love the car, but having to add oil every 1200 miles seems like a major design issue. Looking up lemon laws in the state of Nevada.

6 people found this helpful.

Change oil every 5,000 miles which will reduce the problem. One quart low in 3,700 miles may not qualify you for a new short block but you can try.

3 people found this helpful.
120

Well the good news is the Carson City Subaru dealership agreed it shouldn’t be that low, but thinks they just didn’t fill it at factory before shipping, however did agree to do oil change and bring back in 1200 miles to measure. The good news from reading this thread is I know to check the level at the dealership before I accept the car to make sure not over full, although I know it wasn’t this dealership where that was reported.

3 people found this helpful.
120

And they did.... by a lot! So had them adjust it. Sad.

3 people found this helpful.
30

I have the same problem in my 18' forester manual. Adding about a quart of oil every 2000 miles seems ridiculous to me. Going to be contacting subaru of america so fight for a new engine. Thank goodness this things a lease

3 people found this helpful.
50

I have a 2017 Forester 2.5i premium. It has 30,000 miles on it. I drive 30 to 40 miles a day with mixed city and highway driving. The computer states I am getting 31.2 miles per gallon. I have never checked the oil between changes. I have never had the oil light come on. Maybe I am lucky or maybe it’s burning oil and I don’t know it. I will start checking. It seems like you never hear of a good running automobile if you search for information on the internet. It seems to me no matter what car I try to get some quality history on all I hear a problems. Do they make good vehicles anymore.

5 people found this helpful.
90

Don't buy it. The oil consumption problem occurs in only a very small percentage of the vehicles. (Many of my friends and acquaintances have Foresters or Outbacks and love them so much they repeatedly trade in for another one). But if you get one of those few lemons, you have entered into a nightmare realm of hassle and, from others' comments on this blog, no satisfactory resolution. Maybe you can get the dealership to let you bring it back if it eats oil. But if not, you're playing Russian roulette and stand a chance of not just losing your money, but also paying more for tests and oil changes.

5 people found this helpful.
40

I bought a 2014 2.5i forester limited new with 6 miles on it and my oil light came on in between every oil change I ever had. The last straw was right before the 75000 mile mark. Had a oil change (always done at the dealership) at 70k. At 71500 my oil light came on. I checked and was a quat low. I took it to the dealer and they topped it off. At 73000 the light came back on. This time I took it back they had to add just shi of 2 quarts. Now during the time I had on the car I had had 3 oil consumption tests at the dealer done every time they told me that I was with in acceptable levels of oil consumption as per Subaru. So this time at 73000 miles they told me I would have to pay for an oil consumption test but they did agree with me that I have a consumption issue. The service manager said that I said hold off on paying for the test because we already knew what the results would be because we've had to add the oil and that he was going to contact Subaru and try to get my car fixed. Subaru denied the claim saying that my Vin number did not fit within the affected vehicles And that my oil consumption was within reason. I have owned old crummy cars that consumed less oil and they had black smoke coming out of the tailpipe clearly burning oil. The service department went to Bhatt for me and tried to get it fixed but Subaru continued to deny the claim. At 75000 miles I traded the Subaru in 4 Chevy Silverado and refuse to ever own another Subaru.

4 people found this helpful.

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