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Thread: Is it Normal for a New Car to Burn Oil ?

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  1. #1
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    Is it Normal for a New Car to Burn Oil ?

    We have a 2019 car with 11,000 miles on it that's my wifes. We it bought new from a dealer. First oil change was at dealer at 5k as recommended. No idea if it was low as I trusted a new car not to burn oil. At 7k mi a low oil light came on. It was a quart low! I added proper spec oil. Now 1k mi after the 2nd oil change its a quart low. No drips or leaks. The local quick lube who did the 2nd change is a friend and he and I are both mystified.

    I googled it and found:
    https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...tion/index.htm
    Subaru considers a quart burned every 1,000 to 1,200 miles to be acceptable! Audi, BMW, and Subaru stick firmly to the statement that oil consumption is a normal.

    Consumer reports says Subaru is wrong. I'm ready to insist Subaru fix the problem.

    Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks
    Last edited by Jim Becker; 05-03-2019 at 10:54 PM. Reason: Defaulted text so it was readable on all devices
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  2. #2
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    Neither of my Subarus (2011 and 2019) did that.

    Cars have changed significantly in the last few years to tighter tolerances and thicker oils, but my 2016 Mazda never burned oil either.

    Just read your article... It is dated 2015 and says that Subaru has been fixing the problem. Do they still say it is normal?
    Last edited by Wade Lippman; 05-03-2019 at 12:21 PM.

  3. #3
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    Consumer Reports opinion means exactly nothing when it comes to determining what is and isn't normal. If the owner's manual says to expect to have to add oil then you don't have a legal leg to stand on. Having said that, I would be irritated too. I have owned a lot more new cars than most people because I worked for a car company and it was in my financial best interests. I never had a new car that used that much oil - even after 100,000 miles.

  4. #4
    There's no reason for a modern car to use (burn or leak) oil.

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  5. #5
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    My 03 8.1L GM has always burned a liter about every 4000 Km, which is what the documentation said it would do. My '13 Honda V6 has never burned a drop & it has about 230,000 Km on it now. The diesel Smart my wife had always used oil, but not our Mazda or Nissan. Seems like most don't but some do.

  6. #6
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    I would say that the amount of oil being consumed by your auto is abnormal. I have owned 11 cars and small trucks ( 1 Opel, 3 Toyotas, 5 Mazdas, and 2 Hondas) over the years and none ever consumed oil. At least 8 of them had over 100K miles and still didn't lose/use any appreciable amount of oil between oil changes.
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  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Art Mann View Post
    Consumer Reports opinion means exactly nothing when it comes to determining what is and isn't normal.
    I'd hate it if my car used oil like you describe. But I strongly agree with Art here. Read your owners' manual. Talk to tour dealer's service department. Then evaluate your options based on what you learn.
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  8. #8
    Couple of thoughts here- Immediately after your oil changes, which is to say after the drive home from the shop and the engine has cooled, did you check the oil? It's entirely likely half or so of your missing oil was never there in the first place. Most shops use metered oil dispensers, and even if they're reasonably accurate you may not be getting a full pan of oil. For an accurate dipstick reading the engine must run at least a few minutes then allowed to rest long enough for all the oil to drain back into the pan.

    The last 2 times I've had the oil changed in my beater '04 Chevy Venture, the next morning I've found the dipstick to say 1/2 quart low.

    --newer engines not burning oil, another reason old engines used to wear out quickly: higher engine speeds. In the old days a typical car came with a 3 to 3.5 to 1 ratio differential gear and no overdrive, this meant running roughly 3000 rpm at 70mph freeway speeds. These days most cars will run 70 mph at 1500 rpm or less. I read once that an engine running @ 3000 rpm is using 40% of it's power output just to maintain its no-load speed! To that, add the resistance of pushing a 3500# car 70 mph, now the engine is really working hard! And needs a lot of fuel to do so! And, that extra fuel washes oil off the cylinder walls-- all that adds to accelerated wear. Today's engines are built tighter in the first place, computer controlled fuel control allows for making much more power at lower speeds, which greatly reduces power needed just to keep the motor running leaving more power to push the car- it all adds up to much improved fuel economy and engines that don't wear out!

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  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Art Mann View Post
    Consumer Reports opinion means exactly nothing when it comes to determining what is and isn't normal. If the owner's manual says to expect to have to add oil then you don't have a legal leg to stand on. Having said that, I would be irritated too. I have owned a lot more new cars than most people because I worked for a car company and it was in my financial best interests. I never had a new car that used that much oil - even after 100,000 miles.
    Thanks Art.
    "oil consumption" in the owner's manual is like most new car manuals. It says "oil consumption" is normal under some driving conditions that we don't do. It doesn't specify any oil amounts or miles. So legally they may have an out.
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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wade Lippman View Post
    Neither of my Subarus (2011 and 2019) did that.

    Cars have changed significantly in the last few years to tighter tolerances and thicker oils, but my 2016 Mazda never burned oil either.

    Just read your article... It is dated 2015 and says that Subaru has been fixing the problem. Do they still say it is normal?
    I believe that is THINNER oils, not thicker.
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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Glenn View Post
    I believe that is THINNER oils, not thicker.
    Of course. Sorry.

  12. #12
    I have never heard of engines being designed to burn oil that's a new one on me. Even if this is true, what the poster is describing is way over the top

    I have 4 vehicles ranging from 80K to 224K. I never have to add oil to any of them between changes. This includes an '06 F150(200k), a '97 Powerstroke (225K which I only change q 10K miles). My '08 Honda Element (160K) uses synthetic oil is also changed at 10K intervals and I never have to add oil between.

    With that Subaru, I would be back to the dealership immediately and tell them you want them to explain why the engine is using oil. Quite simply, if its not leaking out, then the motor is consuming it, which means you need a new motor, IMO.

    But at the very least, get it in your service record and start a personal record of oil consumption.
    Last edited by Robert Engel; 05-06-2019 at 9:24 AM.

  13. #13
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    Excessive oil consumption is usually the result of improper engine break-in.
    "Anything seems possible when you don't know what you're doing."

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Engel View Post
    I have never heard of engines being designed to burn oil that's a new one on me. Even if this is true, what the poster is describing is way over the top .....
    You almost got it right. Yes, engines are designed to burn oil, all of them do it to some degree. But the question is how much is acceptable. (I promise you even your best and most favorite engine burned some amount of oil, it's the nature of gasoline power piston based internal combustion engines.)

    Here's the larger explaination; in the never-ending quest for better gas mileage, manufacturers have chosen newer design criteria for piston rings. These days engines have looser rings to increase gas mileage. The unfortunate result is that a certain percentage of these engines burn oil at a higher rate than consumers expect. All the manufacturers I am familiar with consider anything over 1qt per 1000 miles as acceptable and inside the specification. If your engine burns a quart per 1000 miles you're stuck. Use the Google if you don't believe me.

  15. #15
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    Here's a good link:
    https://www.bellperformance.com/blog...ered-excessive

    With the consumer demand for more fuel efficient vehicles, there have been a couple of engine changes that influence the answer to this issue. These changes have affected the amount of oil an engine will consume by burning it and still be considered acceptable.

    One change comes from changes in the piston ringers for the sake of fuel economy. The highest friction point in an engine is the point where the piston rings are in contact the cylinder walls. The higher the ring tension, the more efficient they will be at scraping oil off the cylinder walls on the downward stroke of the piston. In order to reduce friction and achieve additional fuel economy, the auto manufacturers have reduced the piston ring tension. This ring tension change has resulted in small amounts of oil getting past the piston rings into the combustion chamber where it is burned. This is the primary cause of normal oil consumption in most properly-serviced vehicles.

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