Subaru Oil Consumption Class Action Settlement

Brown016 · Apr 27, 2016

Has anyone with a Subaru identified in the class action settlement had their engine repaired? I am trying to find out how much of a hassle the process of getting the oil issue corrected will likely be. I read that, essentially, the engine has to be removed and disassembled to fix some piston seals...I am fairly sure that Subaru dealers do not want to do this and will throw up road blocks to dissuade a correction. I want the issue fixed since I'm not trying to do an oil change every 5k when it should be 7.5k.

F-Stop · Apr 27, 2016

I just got the papers in mail but have not looked at it.

I always thought dealerships welcomed warranty work as they get reimbursed right from Subaru for parts and labor. Thoughts?

Augie · Apr 27, 2016

F-Stop said:
I just got the papers in mail but have not looked at it.

I always thought dealerships welcomed warranty work as they get reimbursed right from Subaru for parts and labor. Thoughts?

No, warranty work sucks, the manufacturers rip off the techs making them work for roughly half of what the job is worth, for instance we are putting pistons and rings in a 4 cylinder engine, Mitchell time is around 26 hours, Toyota is paying us 15. It basically is coming out of the techs pocket.

mikemike328 · Apr 27, 2016

sounds like we have another toyota tech as a member on here.

mikemike328 · Apr 27, 2016

while Augie is correct the dealership it self is more then willing to make the warranty repairs your vehicle needs they will be reimbursed by the manufacturers

iCoder80 · Apr 27, 2016

Brown016 said:
Has anyone with a Subaru identified in the class action settlement had their engine repaired? I am trying to find out how much of a hassle the process of getting the oil issue corrected will likely be. I read that, essentially, the engine has to be removed and disassembled to fix some piston seals...I am fairly sure that Subaru dealers do not want to do this and will throw up road blocks to dissuade a correction. I want the issue fixed since I'm not trying to do an oil change every 5k when it should be 7.5k.

Are you saying you are using a quart every 5k miles? Subaru will tell you that is perfectly acceptable and probably will not even start an oil consumption test.

Why aren't you just topping off your oil until the next change is due?

My understanding is the actual repair is now to replace the short block.

Brown016 · Apr 27, 2016

iCoder80 said:
Are you saying you are using a quart every 5k miles? Subaru will tell you that is perfectly acceptable and probably will not even start an oil consumption test.

Why aren't you just topping off your oil until the next change is due?

My understanding is the actual repair is now to replace the short block.

If something is supposed to work a certain way, then it should work that way. I should not have to top off around 5k when it's supposed to go to 7500. I could have purchased a car that runs on conventional oil for 5k oil changes. Getting an engine alert about low oil is unacceptable when operating within the framework provided.

My biggest concern, outside of the work being completed, is the length of time to complete the job. It is not within my luck to get a courtesy car.

Brown016 · Apr 27, 2016

F-Stop said:
I just got the papers in mail but have not looked at it.

I always thought dealerships welcomed warranty work as they get reimbursed right from Subaru for parts and labor. Thoughts?

I tried finding reviews by people that got the work done so I could figure out what would happen and how long it takes in terms of effort and completion by the shop. The one bit I could find was that the dealership changed the oil and told the guy to return after 1200 miles...he checked the oil level after leaving to discover it was overfilled. Fairly sure he invalidated the test since he said there was a sticker on the dipstick (to prevent tampering). However, the spectre of shenanigans was raised and I am paranoid when it comes to these things.

iCoder80 · Apr 27, 2016

Brown016 said:
If something is supposed to work a certain way, then it should work that way. I should not have to top off around 5k when it's supposed to go to 7500. I could have purchased a car that runs on conventional oil for 5k oil changes. Getting an engine alert about low oil is unacceptable when operating within the framework provided.

My biggest concern, outside of the work being completed, is the length of time to complete the job. It is not within my luck to get a courtesy car.

Then you are probably going to be disappointed in the outcome of the process.

Your car has to fail an oil consumption test before Subaru will consider it an issue. A quart every 5k miles is not going to fail.

My wife's car uses a quart every 3500 or so miles and that is within spec.

There is a reason part of the settlement is to reimburse owners for up to 6 quarts of oil.

No where is it written that your car is not supposed to use any oil between oil changes. ALL engines use a certain amount of oil as part of the internal combustion process.

protegeV · Apr 27, 2016

OP, what year is your car?

I still think any interval over 5k is ridiculous, regardless of what claims the manufacturers make. I've seen countless GM 3.6l engines burnt up because the oil change light wouldn't come on til 15k or more miles and owners have no common sense.

J.T · Apr 27, 2016

protegeV said:
I still think any interval over 5k is ridiculous, regardless of what claims the manufacturers make. I've seen countless GM 3.6l engines burnt up because the oil change light wouldn't come on til 15k or more miles and owners have no common sense.

+1
Make and model are irrelevant. Oil is cheap... Change it

hkuspcomp · Apr 27, 2016

I've owned 4 subarus. 3 new and 1 used. The one used turned out to be highly abused previously and by the time I sold it, it would take 1 quart every 1000 miles!

MigraineMan · Apr 27, 2016

My 2009 eats oil at an alarming rate, but alas, I'm not within the class boundaries. No extended warranty for me (which wouldn't matter anyways, as I've got 165k+ miles on it already.) I'm the original owner, and it was broken-in properly. Been having this issue since it was new.

I'm convinced the problem is thermal, not rings. Consumption goes down in the winter.

F-Stop · Apr 28, 2016

Augie said:
No warranty work sucks, the manufacturers rip off the techs making them work for roughly half of what the job is worth, for instance we are putting pistons and rings in a 4 cylinder engine, Mitchell time is around 26 hours, Toyota is paying us 15. It basically is coming out of the techs pocket.

Interesting to hear a technicians view as well. Thanks for sharing.

Brown016 · Apr 28, 2016

J.T said:
+1
Make and model are irrelevant. Oil is cheap... Change it

Synthetic oil is not cheap. Oil changes for synthetic are not cheap. I think a lot of people are missing the point of the original post...Subaru has admitted fault and have agreed to a settlement for repair because the vehicles that are identified are not operating as intended. If your car is designed to have oil changes at 5,000 miles and is running low at 3,000 miles, you have a problem. Likewise, if a car is designed to have oil changes at 7500 miles but, is running low at 5,000, there is a problem.

protegeV · Apr 28, 2016

Brown016 said:
Synthetic oil is not cheap. Oil changes for synthetic are not cheap. I think a lot of people are missing the point of the original post...Subaru has admitted fault and have agreed to a settlement for repair because the vehicles that are identified are not operating as intended. If your car is designed to have oil changes at 5,000 miles and is running low at 3,000 miles, you have a problem. Likewise, if a car is designed to have oil changes at 7500 miles but, is running low at 5,000, there is a problem.

What kind of Subaru do you have? Not many of them require full synthetic oil.

protegeV · Apr 28, 2016

F-Stop said:
Interesting to hear a technicians view as well. Thanks for sharing.

I can echo Augie's sentiments. We have a similar problem with the equinox burning oil. Book time for the repair is around 20hrs. GM warranty pays 10.6

OnTarget · Apr 28, 2016

protegeV said:
What kind of Subaru do you have? Not many of them require full synthetic oil.

Yes, I, too, would like to know what year and model you are talking about.

Brown016 · Apr 28, 2016

OnTarget said:
Yes, I, too, would like to know what year and model you are talking about.

2013 Outback

DutchV · Apr 28, 2016

I think I'd buy a case of oil and get on with my life.

Subaru Oil Consumption Class Action Settlement

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