2015 Legacy 2.5 oil burning

Posted this in the Poll, maybe be better here:

I have a 2015 2.5i Premium. It has 22k miles and next oil change is coming due. I just checked and I'm 1/2 quart low. I've read numerous posts on this forum regarding this issue. However, I haven't seen any thoughts on what is considered "acceptable" oil consumption.

 

I purchased the car new. The dealer offers free oil changes for life. So they've done all of them. I did the first "break-in" change at 1k. The second was done just under 6k on the ODM. I've always had the oil changed before 6k miles. Back on the 3rd (12k approx) oil change, I checked and the dealership had overfilled it which I had them remove the excess. Wife took it in for the last change (18k), so I didn't check the level when it was done.

 

Now that I'm over 20k, I thought I'd monitor it more closely. So is 1/2 quart every 5.5k normal? I see some post that 0 loss is normal. I'm also not getting near the advertise 36mpg rating. I'm getting 30 mpg, drive 38mi, freeway, each way to work. I do drive between 70-75mph most of the time.

It is well within acceptable specs. Nothing to worry about. Just enjoy the Subaru, they makes a very dependable motor. MPG had more to do with who and how you drive. 36mpg is not the average but is the high-end of the highway mileage range when driving modestly around 60mph. But with that said I average over 26mpgs on a 3.6R and at highway speed Under 2000 rpm easly surpass 32mpg. Then again I drive it as a Cruiser than a Sport Car.

 

Laughter is the key to happiness

Edited October 24, 2016 by Yoda_One

I know it is old fashioned but even new cars you should be periodically checking the dipstick (if one is provided, wife's X3 doesn't have one), this should be on your radar even if the dealer changes the oil for you.

 

There is no way I would drive home from the dealer (or any oil change venue you go to) without checking the oil level first (though this does not apply to me or those who do their own oil changes). If you have never met someone who had an issue with a missing oil filler cap, drain plug, overfilled or underfilled oil, you probably don't do any work on your own car and don't discuss car maintenance with others. I can think of two situations, one a co-worker who's boyfriend had a 70's vintage muscle car rebuild that drove out of the oil bay without the drain plug, and siezed the engine, the other my parents who had a new (first year of ownership) Toyota Sienna minivan that left the dealer service dept without the oil fill cap in place, and had a huge mess under the hood very quickly.

 

Seeing an oil warning light means either catastrophic failure somewhere or lack of owner attention, because the change in oil level via consumption/burning would be obvious to anyone who is regularly checking it, imho.

 

I am at about 2k, 2 months of ownership, no noticeable oil consumption. I did clean the tailpipe with a papertowel/windex, and the carbonish buildup came right off, so even the tailpipe is easy to maintain = clean burning engine.

 

Rowlette is correct about mpg's, if you want EPA numbers you have to operate the car in a way similar to how it is tested, and that means 55-65mph with gradual increases/decreases in speed, warm engine, not 65mph+, fuel consumption radically increases as speed increases.

 

For the WRX, that meant keeping the turbo mostly quiet. If fuel economy is the highest priority, accelerate slow and anticipate braking, stay at 65mph or below, don't use Adaptive Cruise Control, or wait for the next generation which will probably offer Direct Injection, and a future of gummy valves (unless they do something to mitigate this), cause that redesign will definitely bump up the MPG's initially (WRX with DI is returning surprising mpg increase over the previous gen motor, much more efficient with just about the same power).

Edited October 25, 2016 by upstater

You can get over 40 if you stay under 55 ...

 

My overall average at 46000 miles is 30

 

... I'm also not getting near the advertise 36mpg rating. I'm getting 30 mpg, drive 38mi, freeway, each way to work. I do drive between 70-75mph most of the time.

I'm getting 30 mpg, drive 38mi, freeway, each way to work. I do drive between 70-75mph most of the time.

 

Expect to be 23% less efficient at 75 mph than at 55 mph. In good conditions (steady speed, moderate temperatures), you should expect maybe 28 mpg tops. If you're doing 30, throw a party!

^^^thought it was 24%???

Nope, actually about 23.49563% ish.

Got it...in the US we always round up:p

I have a 2015 Legacy 2.5 with 29k mi. and a 2015 Impreza 2.0. with 20k mi.

Neither uses any measurable amount of oil between 6k oil changes.

These cars are not babied yet not beat on either. Both broken in according to the owners manual recommendations. Guess we just got lucky!

Every time I brought my car to the dealer for an oil change (the first year, and 2 different dealers) they overfilled the oil, substantially. Like 3/4 of a qt over. No specific issues.

Even when I brought my car in for the oil consumption test, the tech overfilled it substantially. Fortunately I checked it in the parking lot before leaving and I brought it to the attn. of the Service Manager. He agreed with me and they drained some down to get it back to normal.

My "hunch" is that dealers are overfilling intentionally to preemptively avoid upset customers with low oil lights and complaints about oil consumption, etc. A couple extra dollars of oil to keep customers quiet and happy (if they don't check their oil or monitor consumption, or even pop the hood ever) is probably the goal.

But I couldn't believe that they were doing this for the "official accurate oil consumption test". I was really pissed and said I guess your dealership really doesn't want any of the warranty work for the short block replacement if you are overfilling!

He agreed that the tech was wrong. I'll bet the tech was told just to change the oil so he didn't know how "critical" the accuracy of the oil level was.

 

I got a new short block a few months ago. I have about 3500 miles on the new engine and basically 0% oil consumption, even with the break in. I just changed the oil last week and all was good on the oil analysis.

I just wanted to follow up on my original post for anyone who may have been following this thead. A full year later and after 4 oil consumption tests with 3 different dealers, Subaru finally realized the oil consumption was a problem. They did replace my short block and so far no oil consumption yet (although mine didn't happen for 14k miles so I'll have to wait and see.

 

When I reached back out to the dealer (after Subaru fully inspected the faulty short block), they did concede and say that it was the piston rings. They told me the new block has different rings and this occurrence should not happen again.

 

I'll follow back up if anything changes.

^^That's good to hear.

 

At my last change I burned exactly a quart over 6k. So long as it stays consistent I'm ok with it.

 

Easiest way to track at home is mark a line on the jug when full and keep it until the next change. Drain the dirty oil back into it and compare. With the Fumoto valve I just shove a hose on the end and run it straight to the jug.

Be ready for it guys

90 000 miles and my 2.5L 2015 Subaru Legacy is burning a quart ever 1000miles

Subaru Canada doesn’t seem to want to cover it, even though it falls under the 10 years 160 000km enhanced warranty for 2009-2014 models

 

Sell it while you can

Edited January 10, 2021 by denokarter
Mistake

Any luck replacing pcv valve and trying thicker oil?

Be ready for it guys

90 000 miles and my 2.5L 2015 Subaru Legacy is burning a quart ever 1000miles

Subaru Canada doesn’t seem to want to cover it, even though it falls under the 10 years 160 000km enhanced warranty for 2009-2014 models Sell it while you can

 

I fully realise that my mileage/kms can't compare with the poster above, and that maybe at a similar mileage to him I will be singing a different tune, but for what it's worth, I have just had my 54 month service on my 3.6R (with only 50,000 kms) but I have never added a drop of oil in between services.

I have a 15 and 75k miles. I'm not burning any oil.

 

 

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Any luck replacing pcv valve and trying thicker oil?

 

The PCV going bad is mostly on the 2.5L turbo motors. The real fix for this is replacing the block or piston rings.

 

Thicker oil might help, problem is Subaru is really really against using different oil than what they want you to use.

 

The solution is for someone to start a complaint with the NTSB and have Subaru extend the warranty like they did previously.

 

If people don’t report it, nothing will be done. I remember on the 2009-2014 models same thing happened, the enhancement oil warranty wasnt extended until much later because people finally complained.

96,000 and I do not burn even 1/2 qt between changes. I change my oil at 5200-5500 miles. And I did replace the PCV a short time ago.

My 2019 starting burning oil around 35,000 miles, about a quart between changes at 6000mile intervals. It stopped using oil at around 75,000 miles. It is currently at 105,000 miles and still doesn't need top ups between changes. I wish I knew why it stopped, I expected it to use more as the miles add up. (?)

Just my experiences, my 2010 Outback did not burn oil, my parents 2013 Outback did but at less than a liter between 5k changes, both my sister's have Imprezas, a 2015 and a 2018. Neither burn oil.

 

My 2015 GMC Sierra with the 5.3l V8 burned 1.5-2l of oil between 3k mi intervals. I think Subaru definitely has an issue, but so do many other manufacturers.