Lawsuit?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/07/18/subaru-oil-burner-lawsuit/12859865/

 

Sooooo... whaaaaat?????

 

 

My Goldwing burns some oil, too.

 

http://www.v6power.net/vb/images/smilies/ne_nau00.gif

 

I add more and check it frequently. What's the big deal?

Well that's a stupid lawsuit. Anyone who's familiar with Subarus know that most of them burn at least some oil. Doesn't mean Subaru should get sued over it. The real problem is stupid people who don't check/ add any oil, then their low oil light comes on after their engine's been knocking for 20 miles, then they blame it on Subaru.

My old 246,000 mile impreza EJ22 burned exactly ZERO oil. I want another one for a winter beater. I loved that car.

My fiancés 2013 Forester burns a lot of oil. More than my GT, or my old 250,000 mile accord, or any other car I have owned and I have never purchased a new car. Her Forester was purchased new. She is a strong type A personality who checks oil on a regular basis, car is always clean, and she never misses a service interval, so it's not neglect. I am all for checking/adding oil on a regular basis, and I think that checking oil should be required to get your drivers license, but this is a little excessive. One of Subaru's selling points for their vehicles is reliability. Having to keep a couple quarts of oil in your new car for between oil change top-offs doesn't really mesh with the whole reliability thing.... Would I file a lawsuit though? Probably not.

Well that's a stupid lawsuit. Anyone who's familiar with Subarus know that most of them burn at least some oil. Doesn't mean Subaru should get sued over it. The real problem is stupid people who don't check/ add any oil, then their low oil light comes on after their engine's been knocking for 20 miles, then they blame it on Subaru.

 

I agree that the lawsuit is stupid, but I disagree that the problem has anything to do with not checking the oil regularly. There is a point where too much is too much, and Subaru is addressing the problem with a TSB.

On one hand, Subaru is willing to try things to that may result in improvements. Subaru publicly said they were going to looser rings to reduce friction and recommended a lighter oil at the same time. Sounded like a recipe for disaster to me and I posted that here.

 

Subaru backs up their products and has claimed it was due to the piston ring grooves being aligned. That may be true too. It's good that they are fixing the problem. You hate to have your engine pulled apart when the car is new. I don't understand why some engineer didn't foresee this problem.

heh, some 'muricans.. think they've been wronged somehow and the only way to fix is to sue.

My fiancés 2013 Forester burns a lot of oil. More than my GT, or my old 250,000 mile accord, or any other car I have owned and I have never purchased a new car. Her Forester was purchased new. She is a strong type A personality who checks oil on a regular basis, car is always clean, and she never misses a service interval, so it's not neglect. I am all for checking/adding oil on a regular basis, and I think that checking oil should be required to get your drivers license, but this is a little excessive. One of Subaru's selling points for their vehicles is reliability. Having to keep a couple quarts of oil in your new car for between oil change top-offs doesn't really mesh with the whole reliability thing.... Would I file a lawsuit though? Probably not.

 

They are reliable though. Keeping your fluids topped off is part of car ownership. If the oil is kept topped up it should last indefinitely.

 

The one they should have remedied long ago is the oil pump pickup tube debacle. That's just plain idiotic. No matter how fanatical you are about maintenance, your pickup tube can break at any time and scatter the bottom end.

First of all, no new vehicle should burn oil at all. That's just ridiculous. Second, the most important thing is HOW MUCH oil it burns when new. Third, if it's doing it new, it will get worse over time and probably substantially so compared to a car model that burns zero oil when new.

 

I like my 4th gen LGT, but I'm no fan of Subarus in general. The Legacies before and after my generation car have zero appeal to me. Nor do I think even my car was made particularly well. It's average build quality at best.

Canucks have complained of the problem too. A car just shouldn't use oil when new. What's this do to emissions system and pollution output? I don't know that the engine will wear faster due to the lower friction rings or just continue to use oil. Seems logical that lower tension rings and light grade oil would result in oil consumption. Who came up with that brain fart?

First of all, no new vehicle should burn oil at all. That's just ridiculous. Second, the most important thing is HOW MUCH oil it burns when new. Third, if it's doing it new, it will get worse over time and probably substantially so compared to a car model that burns zero oil when new.

 

I like my 4th gen LGT, but I'm no fan of Subarus in general. The Legacies before and after my generation car have zero appeal to me. Nor do I think even my car was made particularly well. It's average build quality at best.

 

 

I completely agree! There's no doubt this is a problem that subaru can fix and should fix. I can't believe a manufacturer would even release a engine so prone to oil issues. I've never in my life worried about checking oil in any of the other 10+ vehicles I've ever owned and this included my weekend drag car. But the last two 2.5's ive owned definitely lost oil and was the reason I sold my impreza 2.5i with only 30k on it.

Bimmers and MBs burns oil even when new. My manager's MB needed a quart every week since new. Was told by a dealer this is within specs.

 

The lawsuit is just people using an opportunity to make some money. Lawyers will exaggerate the problem and cry 'holy murder' in the court to get some settlement from SOA/FHI. Everyone gets a cut at the end.

 

SOA/FHI should have expected this, USA is litigation paradise.

Subaru was trying to improve fuel mileage by reduce ring tension on the piston walls. They felt lighter viscosity oil could be used with the smaller passages in the new engine and reducing energy loss. Problem with lighter viscosity oil is sheer strength. The oil passes the rings and burns off in the chamber...blowing out the exhaust. That will eventually cause a problem in the chamber or exhaust/emissions if you ask me. Adding a quart every 2-3k miles is going to end up being 33-50 quarts of oil over 100K.

 

That's 12 GALLONS of oil...or close to 9-10 oil changes. I even used a higher number of miles per quart burnt than Subaru is allowing before a problem is recognized. They are saying you need to use a quart every 1200-1300 miles. That would be ridiculous.

 

I can see this little engineering snafu hurting Subaru big time before it's all done. I would never want a car that burns that much oil and would also expect better from Subaru. Someone in engineering should get fired.

Subaru was trying to improve fuel mileage by reduce ring tension on the piston walls. They felt lighter viscosity oil could be used with the smaller passages in the new engine and reducing energy loss. Problem with lighter viscosity oil is sheer strength. The oil passes the rings and burns off in the chamber...blowing out the exhaust. That will eventually cause a problem in the chamber or exhaust/emissions if you ask me. Adding a quart every 2-3k miles is going to end up being 33-50 quarts of oil over 100K.

 

That's 12 GALLONS of oil...or close to 9-10 oil changes. I even used a higher number of miles per quart burnt than Subaru is allowing before a problem is recognized. They are saying you need to use a quart every 1200-1300 miles. That would be ridiculous.

 

I can see this little engineering snafu hurting Subaru big time before it's all done. I would never want a car that burns that much oil and would also expect better from Subaru. Someone in engineering should get fired.

 

Starting this spring I have been keeping track of the oil our Forester has used. In the 3k miles since the last oil change it has burned almost 2.5 quarts. Super annoying. I can see why people are selling their newer Subaru or trading it in at a loss.

I've had cars that never used any measurable oil. Our Subaru used some during break in and stopped. Sons 12 year old Jeep Liberty with 130k uses a quart every 3k. That is acceptable. We had a Saab 9-3 with 110 that used 1/2 quart every 5k.

Bimmers and MBs burns oil even when new. My manager's MB needed a quart every week since new. Was told by a dealer this is within specs.

 

The lawsuit is just people using an opportunity to make some money. Lawyers will exaggerate the problem and cry 'holy murder' in the court to get some settlement from SOA/FHI. Everyone gets a cut at the end.

 

SOA/FHI should have expected this, USA is litigation paradise.

 

They are reliable though. Keeping your fluids topped off is part of car ownership. If the oil is kept topped up it should last indefinitely.

 

The one they should have remedied long ago is the oil pump pickup tube debacle. That's just plain idiotic. No matter how fanatical you are about maintenance, your pickup tube can break at any time and scatter the bottom end.

 

Subaru has released a TSB for oil consumption issues for some of these newer models, which I'm assuming is/was a big factor in bringing this lawsuit:

 

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/subaru-tsb-for-excessive-oil-consumption-1600566355

my 137K mile 08 2.5i burned a 1/4 over the 5K oil change cycle from mile 2 to mile 137K I think there are examples of great and bad. LAwsuit is a lame tactic but at the same time you dont spend several thousands of dollars on a new car to gain problems.

It looks like Subaru is claiming oil ring wear. Seems like a sidestep. Subaru came out with the new chain driven 2.5 and were looking for efficiency and power. I remember Subaru talking about the low friction rings and light oil. Looser rings and lighter oil seem like oil consumption to me. Sounds like the engines used oil right after rolling off production line too. That doesn't make sense with oil ring "wear".

First of all, no new vehicle should burn oil at all. That's just ridiculous. Second, the most important thing is HOW MUCH oil it burns when new. Third, if it's doing it new, it will get worse over time and probably substantially so compared to a car model that burns zero oil when new.

 

I like my 4th gen LGT, but I'm no fan of Subarus in general. The Legacies before and after my generation car have zero appeal to me. Nor do I think even my car was made particularly well. It's average build quality at best.

 

You sir took the words out of my month. My old 4th gen burned about 3/4 of a quart new...while the 98 Accord I traded burned nothing between oil changes. Only got worse over time, granted it was Stage 3. Then I sold it at 180K at a lost because by then it was burning 3 quarts every 3K....They should cut a check for some of us 4th gen owners too.

I'm pretty sure Subaru would have no liability for anyone who mods the engine (and I'm sure lawyers could push that to other systems as well). At that point, the car is no longer operating as designed.

 

If you disagree, then you might as well try to blame Subaru when you burn a hole in your piston too.

First of all, no new vehicle should burn oil at all. That's just ridiculous. Second, the most important thing is HOW MUCH oil it burns when new. Third, if it's doing it new, it will get worse over time and probably substantially so compared to a car model that burns zero oil when new.

 

I like my 4th gen LGT, but I'm no fan of Subarus in general. The Legacies before and after my generation car have zero appeal to me. Nor do I think even my car was made particularly well. It's average build quality at best.

 

I'm pretty sure Subaru would have no liability for anyone who mods the engine (and I'm sure lawyers could push that to other systems as well). At that point, the car is no longer operating as designed.

 

If you disagree, then you might as well try to blame Subaru when you burn a hole in your piston too.

 

But it wasn't modded from day one. Only after 60K miles...burned more oil than the Accord new. And a little coolant too. When modded the tune was safe....no knock and I didn't beat on it all the time. I'm basing my comments more on the 0-60K miles when stock.

Someone else touched on the class action law suit issue. Attorney's make millions on these cases and the public doesn't fair quite as well. Lines the coffers of the law firm and trickles down pennies on the dollar to plaintiff/victims. Attorneys can be a scurrilous group.

 

I don't agree with a new car burning oil though. It also sounds like Subaru is spinning this.

I miss my EJ22. It had never heard of consumption, just leaks... and those were easily fixed.

First of all, no new vehicle should burn oil at all.

All engines burn some oil. It may be negligible, but you can't design a gas engine that doesn't. I'd agree that a new car shouldn't go from topped off to low in one oil change (except rotaries).

Gotta love government fuel economy regulations. Everything to squeeze an extra half mile from a gallon of gas.

 

My 05 XT barely burns a drop of oil.