NHTSA Complaint #11170211 — 2017 SUBARU FORESTER

I DID MY FIRST OIL CHANGE AT 1500 MILES, THEN THE NEXT TWO CHANGES AT ABOUT 3000 MILE INTERVALS. THEN I DECIDED TO STRETCH THEM TO THE 5K MILES RECOMMENDED BY SUBARU. I WAS ABOUT 4K MILES INTO THIS CHANGE INTERVAL WHEN MY OIL LEVEL LIGHT CAME ON. I CHECKED THE DIP STICK AND IT WAS BONE DRY. I WOULDN'T HAVE NOTICED OIL CONSUMPTION ON THE FIRST FEW CHANGES BECAUSE I WAS DOING THEM MORE FREQUENTLY THAN NEEDED AND THEREFORE THE ENGINE DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO CONSUME ENOUGH OIL TO TRIP THE LOW OIL LIGHT. I WENT TO SUBARU FOR AN OIL CONSUMPTION TEST, WHICH IT "PASSED". I DOCUMENTED EVERYTHING AND TOOK PHOTOS OF THE DIP STICK BEFORE AND AFTER THE TEST. SUBARU FILLS YOUR OIL TO THE TOP LINE OF THE DIP STICK. THE MECHANIC INFORMED ME THIS IS STANDARD PROCEDURE. I WAS TOLD THAT THE AMOUNT OF OIL BETWEEN THE 2 LINES IS A QUART. AFTER THE 1200 MILES OF THE OIL CONSUMPTION TEST, THE OIL LEVEL WAS DOWN ABOUT 20% BETWEEN THE TWO LINES. TAKING THAT OUT TO A FULL 5-6K MILE INTERVAL, THAT MEANS IT BURNS ABOUT A QUART OR MORE IN BETWEEN CHANGES. I SPOKE WITH THE MECHANIC WHO SAID THAT THIS IS COMPLETELY WITHIN SPEC OF SUBARU'S STANDARDS. I TOLD HIM I THOUGHT THIS WAS A LOT, BUT HE SAID THIS IS NORMAL FOR SUBARUS IN HIS EXPERIENCE. A CAR WITH ONLY 16K MILES SHOULD NOT REQUIRE OVER A QUART OF OIL TO BE ADDED BETWEEN OIL CHANGES. WHEN MY OIL LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN, WITHIN THE SAME OIL CHANGE INTERVAL AS THE OIL CONSUMPTION TEST (ABOUT 4K MILES INTO THE INTERVAL), I TOOK THE CAR BACK TO SUBARU FOR A SECOND OIL CONSUMPTION TEST. INSTEAD OF PERFORMING THIS, THEY OPTED TO REPLACE MY SHORT BLOCK, A VERY EXTENSIVE REPAIR. I AM STILL WAITING FOR THIS REPAIR TO OCCUR UNDER FACTORY WARRANTY.