How are Subaru cars for reliability?
But Consumer Reports Annual Auto Survey 2014 revealed that several car manufacturers build engines available in a number of widely sold models that require frequent head out of the oil reservoir between recommended oil changes s sake and cost a new car owner shouldn t have.
The oil change industry has long required an oil change every 3,000 miles In recent years, most automakers have extended than 7,500 or even 10,000 miles due to improvements in the manufacture of engines and oil technology supposedly allow engine oil to last longer.
For some manufacturers, however, this seems to be an optimistic claim In our survey of owners of about 1 million vehicles that go back 10 years, we found that, for some models, a significant number of consumers have to add one liter oil in their engines as often as every month.
It is normal for cars to burn some oil as they age to 100,000 miles and beyond But Consumer Reports estimates that for a nearly new car to burn this excessive amount of oil is unacceptable.
Audi, BMW and Subaru firmly hold to the statement that the oil consumption is a normal part of the Subaru of running a car considered one liter burned every 1000 to 1200 miles acceptable standards Some cars Audi and BMW say that quarter burned every 600 to 700 miles is reasonable.
If a driver needs to add a quart of oil every month, it may mean add up to 7 to 9 liters of oil between oil changes These costs due to excessive oil consumption may add because automakers often require more synthetic oils that can cost more than 9 per liter, in addition to the burden of routine oil changes.
Consumer Reports data shows no direct link between the increase in consumption of oil and other engine problems, but our survey data for the 10 years of the model shows that if a car is burning oil in early his life, it will burn even more as it ages in monitoring oil consumption by model year, the engine families show an increase in consumption each year in a row on the road.
Having to add oil isn t an issue that you necessarily strand by the side of the road if you are vigilant about monitoring your oil levels but we think it is a serious problem that automakers must reply.
All engines suffer from this problem In fact, our data show that the owners of 98 percent from 2010 to 2014 cars were not to add oil between changes, but the cars that burn oil does so furiously Even if only 2 percent of the vehicles sold since 2010 have this problem, which still accounts for about 1 5 million vehicles on the road.
Consumer Reports believes that any engine that burns oil changes must be repaired under the powertrain warranty But automakers often protect themselves in the fine print of their owners manuals.
Which automakers are excessive oil consumption.
In some cases, when faced with a complaint from a customer, the manufacturer has authorized a dealer to repair, rebuild or replace warranty Engine In other cases, however, some manufacturers defend oil consumption as entering the technical specifications of the car or they blame the owner of the car to his driving habits.
Shelly Shugars, a training manager of Tivoli, NY purchased a new 2012 Subaru Impreza Sport Sedan and had its first oil change done on time when he hit his first 3,000 miles, but since the change of oil, she said, she was adding a quart of oil every 1,000 miles Shugars to 800 said his Subaru dealer told him that his car consumption of oil is normal, although the manufacturer automotive offered him 500 for his trouble Rebuilding the engine to solve the problem would cost far more.
Shugars is far from alone Subaru and Audi are the middle class actions on the issue.
Director of Subaru commu- nications company Michael McHale said in a statement sent by e-mail, the rate of consumption may be affected by factors such as the type of transmission, the driving style, terrain and temperature.
For consumers who complain of excessive oil consumption, Subaru dealers authorized to perform oil consumption tests to determine if the vehicle is outside the manufacturer's specifications Subaru began to modify its engines on some models starting in 2010, but had to wait until 2014 to change the other.
Meanwhile, a settlement in a class action against Audi extend the powertrain warranty on its 2009 to 2011 CAEB model year 2 0 liter eight turbo engines or 80,000 miles Audi declined to comment on the dispute or oil consumption problems general Our data show that the new Audi turbo 2 0 liter V6 engines are also burn oil.
In a recent technical service bulletin, Audi has recommended that the customer always has a quarter of engine oil replacement if the needs of the engine oil topping off the road.
BMW presents the consumer as part of its manufacturer's specifications You can even buy a case of displacement for oil, to fix in the trunk of the car.
The oil consumption is normal on all engines, BMW spokesman Hector Arellano-Belloc in a statement sent by email BMW vehicles have long intervals between oil changes 10,000 miles BMW engines except BMW M can consume up to a liter of engine oil by 750 miles in certain driving conditions He added that the BMW M performance models can consume more oil than that.
Other manufacturers that have shown if oil consumption take corrective action.
Honda recently published an extended warranty for eight years or 125,000 miles for 2008 and 2011 Accord 2010 to 2011 CR-V engines with four cylinders Honda said it had found that sticking piston rings could lead to consumption higher oil when the engine is revved hard when cold, when combined with the prolonged use of gasoline low quality.
And after the filing of a class action lawsuit in California regarding its four-cylinder 2AZ-FE engines sold in some 2007 to 2011 models, Toyota amended its powertrain warranty on engines for 10 years or 150,000 miles a Toyota representative said, this program provides a complete relief to homeowners who are currently affected and those who have already paid for repairs.
Automakers face a dilemma They want to reduce the cost of ownership and environmental impact of their engine oil used car can be dangerous if not properly disposed of, and internal combustion engines rely on changes routine But wait too long to change your oil and it can turn to fetid mud and damage your engine.
Some consumers we followed with told us they would not have bought their cars consume oil were they known they will check their oil so often a recent national survey of CR 542 American owners of a 2000- 2016 vehicle model year showed that 39 percent either never check their oil or checking only when taken into service.
If consumers are denied repairs and reconstructions on engines that consume too much oil, these cars could end up dumped on a lot of used cars by sick to add oil people just pass the problem next owner.
If a car consumes oil under warranty, Consumer Reports estimates that the automaker should cover the repair costs for the current owners and pay for top oil between changes, not only to improve the engine design for future buyers.
The graph shows the surveyed vehicles percentages who needed at least one liter of oil added between oil changes, sorted by model year The table does not include vehicles that fled the oil.
Excessive oil consumption normal Isn t Consumer Reports, excessive consumption, normal.