NHTSA Complaint #10638347 — 2013 SUBARU OUTBACK

EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION: THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED NEW IN DECEMBER 2012. AT MILEAGE 4,682, THE ENGINE OIL LEVEL WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. I TOOK IT TO THE ORIGINAL DEALER AND THEY OBSERVED THAT THE OIL LEVEL WAS LOW AND THEY TOPPED IT OFF. THE NEXT TIME THE LIGHT ILLUMINATED, THE DEALER INITIATED AN OIL CONSUMPTION TEST. ACCORDING TO THE TEST PARAMETERS, THE VEHICLE DID NOT CONSUME OIL EXCESSIVELY DURING THE TEST PERIOD. FOLLOWING THE FIRST TEST, THE ENGINE OIL LEVEL WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON 2 OTHER OCCASIONS AND THE DEALER PERFORMED 2 MODIFIED OIL CONSUMPTION TESTS (SEE FB ENGINE OIL CONTROL RING TSB OIL CONSUMPTION TEST). AGAIN BOTH TESTS SHOWED NO OIL CONSUMPTION DURING THE TEST INTERVAL. THE SECOND TEST WAS PERFORMED AT 16,976 MILES AND THE THIRD TEST PERFORMED AT 20,896 MILES. THE LIGHT WOULD ILLUMINATE PRIOR TO THE NEXT SCHEDULE OIL CHANGE (DEALER RECOMMENDS 5,550 MILES) AT APPROXIMATELY 3,500 MILES. I SUBMITTED A WARRANTY CLAIM WITH SUBARU NORTH AMERICA AND THEY AUTHORIZED A SHORT BLOCK REPLACEMENT AT 22,270 MILES. *TR