My 2012 Impreza has only been using only the 0-20W recommended in the owner's manual, and oil consumption has been erratic since the day I drove it off the lot. It's getting worse at 45K on the odometer. A call to Subaru yielded the opinion that using a quart of oil every 1200 miles is "normal". Funny, I've never owned a car that even used a quart between changes before. After expressing my displeasure to Corporate, their response seems to be a flurry of emails letting me know my guaranteed trade-in value!
The local dealer, of course, agrees with Subaru on the oil consumption. The dealer solution: have me drop by their inconveniently located shop every 1200 miles to have them check the oil. My usage in around-town driving is within these "normal" parameters, so this won't help me. Any time the car runs at high speed for 4 hours or more, it pretty much sucks a quart, but it's usually when I'm nowhere near an open Subaru dealership.
I'm concerned that this constant use of oil will cause some sort of disastrous repair bill after the car passes the drive train warranty. Sooo. . . . .I'm ready to dump this turkey, my second Impreza. My previous 2009 must have been dropped too hard onto the dock when it was off-loaded from the ship from Japan. All sorts of things were never right with that car, from sun visors that wouldn't stay where you put them, to the rattling exhaust system that could never be quieted, to, the last straw, the fan eating a hole in the radiator at 44K miles. The antifreeze is a pretty blue, but not sprayed all over the engine.
Am I just unlucky or is Subaru's sterling reputation undeserved?
