New car. Checked my oil before my first oil change and saw that it was pretty low. Went in for my freebie oil change and was told that the issue was normal during the break-in period. I figured OK, it's a new vehicle. It's under warranty, it's my first Subaru, they know more than me.....let it go. Fast forward a couple months later (I use my car for work time to time, driving to different cities). Oil light comes on. I've consumed more than half my oil in half the time before the next change. Take it to the dealer and they add more. They said it's a known issue and adding oil "fixes it". My car shouldn't burn oil. I've NEVER owned a car that I had to add oil in between changes.

Jumped on here, read all the complaints. Called Subaru and got the run around with them wanting to run all the tests...........I traded it in for another brand the same day. Long term is out of the question. First and last Subaru.

After being denied an oil consumption test for about a year, despite the fact that I had to get 5 top offs during this time for a brand new car, Subaru finally agreed that I had a defective engine. They replaced it under warranty. The next day after picking up the car with the new engine block, the check the engine light went on. Dark emission was being released with a burnt smell and a horribly rattling engine. Service claims that this was due to a loose coolant hose that was overlooked prior to returning the car to me. It's hard to say if any further damage was incurred after driving an overheated engine (service center was closed when I needed to bring it in).

My experience has been dreadful. Neither the product nor the service of this company should be trusted.

At 3,500 miles the oil light came on in my Forester. I took the vehicle into the dealership and it had burned 1QT of oil. Every 1,200 miles (roughly) I would have to make my trip to the dealership as it would burn 1QT or more. At about 9,000 miles Subaru decided to pull my engine and replace the piston rings. At this point I was really hoping this was going to solve all of my issues. Within 1,500 miles on the new piston rings my oil light comes on again...at this point I am pretty excited I get to deal with trips to the dealership once a month. Of course they would like to run the oil consumption tests again...you know, to see if it is really burning that much oil again. At 19k miles Subaru decides to pull my engine and replace it with a brand new short block. I was happy with their decision, hoping that the oil consumption would be a problem of the past. The new engine felt great, quite a bit peppier than the original, and better gas mileage. The original engine was getting roughly 24 miles to the gallon with the new engine getting closer to 28 mpg. At 1,500 miles on the new engine...the oil light comes on yayy! We are starting the oil consumption tests once I reach 3k on the new engine.

I purchased a 2011 Subaru Forester, it had severe oil consumption issues. After many visits to the dealership with, two oil consumption tests, and much aggravation the dealer put in a new short block. During this time I asked continually about the catalytic converter and was told not to worry about that! Two days after I got the car back I was driving on a mountain road and the catalytic converter exploded shooting metal through the engine and out of the exhaust. Of course this left the car inoperable so it was towed back to the dealership.

I told the manager and owner I did not want the car back, I wanted to be reimbursed what I had paid for it and I was going to purchase another car. The owner said he could not do that but would make me a great deal on the new and improved 2014 Forester. With that being the option I took it. My 2014 Forester started with the oil consumption immediately. Every time I go in for service I complain about this issue. Yesterday, 7/21/14 at 3,000 miles after the last service and oil change my car needed a quart of oil! I called the dealer and here I go again, I have to do an oil consumption test.

We bought our 2014 2.5 Forester CVT last year when they first hit dealer showrooms. My wife uses it to commute to work 120 miles everyday of stop and go traffic.We now have almost 40,000 miles on it. Our problem is oil consumption.

We have it serviced at Subaru dealer every 5000 miles and use only Subaru products. At time of service I buy extra oil this, will keep it full until next service. I check the oil in my garage twice a week. I always try to keep the oil level on full. It is using 1 to 2 quarts of oil every 5000 miles. Oil consumption is worse on trips. High speed cruising (80mph) and mountain driving (higher rpm's) increase consumption. Example, just drove 850 miles in one day and used 1/2 quart of oil. At services I complain to dealer, they always say this is normal oil consumption. They also say some 2.5 engines consume extra oil and some don't. How is this not a problem?

In other words consider yourself lucky to get one of the good engines. They say we don't qualify for the oil consumption test, even if we did we are to far from dealer to do it.

Update from Jul 25, 2014: An update on our 2014 Subaru Forester mileage is 45208. Oil consumption has not changed using 2 quarts between oil changes. I'm having that noted on work order at dealer each time I have car serviced,they continue to tell me it's normal consumption. I have noticed the oil consumption is worse on trips, minimal usage around town driving. The higher amount of oil consumption is definitely related to higher r.p.m.'s. This first time my oil level light came on was on a trip. The car had 20,000 miles on it, was 3/4 qt. low. That is when I starting checking oil level weekly under normal use and daily when on a trip. We recently did a 1 day emergency trip (800 miles) avg. speed 70-80 mph car used 3/4 qt. of oil. Another 1 day trip of 350 miles to my sons college car used 1/2 qt. oil.

we bought the 2014 forester March 2013. manual transmission and at 3000 miles oil light came on. oil was 1 quart low. dealership recommended early oil change. we had oil changed again in early sept. before long trip, oil was about a 1/3 quart low. left on trip and thank goodness I checked oil after 1800 miles. about 1/2 quart low. during the trip, 6600 miles, checked oil daily and added 2 quarts. back to dealership in October, no solution. November they suggested oil consumption test. we have done the test, been back to dealership 3 times and oil varies greatly on amount used. the last trip in it used 1 quart in 1400 miles. we are taking care of problem through owner and we not going to have piston rings replaced. I do agree that Subaru itself offers absolutely no help. after reading many complaints it appears that the manual in much more of a problem. i would be very careful buying a manual, even though the mileage is much better.

In the middle of an oil consumption test with Subaru. As background, this is my fourth Subaru, second Forester. I was never informed during the sale of this new car that Subaru expects their cars to consume oil. Never heard of that on a new car, and wouldn't buy the car if I had known.

What this means to you the prospective buyer, is that if you take a long trip, say from Texas to Seattle, and you run into heavy rain, you will have to find a covered place to replenish your oil twice or more each way. You may find yourself in a place that does not have a store open that carries the right oil for the car, thus you may be compelled to drive the car when it is low on oil. I have owned many cars, most of them used, and have never encountered oil use like this, on a brand new car!

I will post later as Subaru responds to my issue. I am not looking forward to it. I want them to take back the car (not interested in having their inexperienced mechanics work on it). If you are thinking about a Forester, do an internet search on Subaru new car oil consumption before you take a test drive.

Bought a brand new 2014 Forester. I put around 2000-3000 miles on it before my oil light came on. I was a quart of oil low. Took it into Subaru and they said I needed to do a consumption test. This required me to take my car into the dealer every 1200 miles or until the light comes on for a total of 4 times. Not only this, but it has to be the same dealer every time. As someone who travels for work (using the car) it is almost impossible to do this.

Subaru was no help. The first time I took the car in the service manager took me into his office telling me that this is normal and pressured me to not follow through with the test. I had to put my foot down to get the test started. They messed up on the first test and my oil light came on in 400 miles. I had to bring it in again to restart the test. Again being told that this is normal. My car is consuming a quart of oil every 1200 miles. I looked up online and it seems this is a common problem. When the light came on again the dealer said that I have to get my pistons or engine block replaced. I have had major engine work preformed by a Subaru dealership on a different car. It never felt the same again. It idled rougher, and the acceleration felt sluggish. When I first left the dealer with the new engine (previous car) a hose blew about 5 miles away and my car over heated. Their mechanics are incompetent. None the less, I have had bad experiences having engine work preformed.

Subaru Corporate has been extremely unhelpful. They make the process extremely difficult so that you will just let it go.

Don't buy a Subaru, this is coming from someone who has owned multiple Subaru's. While most cars have issues, Subaru seem to be the most extreme. I have had it with them and after this car will never own one again.