TheGoodShepherd

Thank you, one and all. The Subaru was at a smaller used car dealer, and my gut told me not to get the car. Additionally, we almost bought a 2002 RAV4 before learning the 01-03 models were notorious for having the ECU and transmission go out around 90K. We instead went to a larger dealer and found a 2013 CR-V EX-L, which we felt safe buying. Personally, I hope 2019 brings changes to Subaru that will drive me back.

The seller purports to not knowing much. The original owner had been so punctual with oil change maintenance that neglecting other, very important maintenance creates something of a double bind. And there is a bit of confusion online regarding belts and chains, when it was this or that. I looked it up, but the "expert" I read must have been incorrect.

I drove one, looking to replace a 2005 Forester. The maintenance history was strange: they replaced engine oil like clockwork, but I didn't see any other maintenance. I had to ask about that timing chain, but they just shrugged their shoulders. I can't believe anyone would pay nearly a grand to get that done and there not be a record of it, or any way to easily inspect if the work had been done. Isn't 2012 also when they started having the engine oil consumption issues? We got lucky with our '14, as the engine replacement (because of excess oil consumption) was a warranty repair, but a '12 would not be covered. Don't want to buy the car and then pay $5K for a new motor. That said, the car ran well, for what that's worth.

2014. And the maintenance schedule is a bit off, as the fuel filter is inside the gas tank and cannot be replaced. I had everything else done, saving me hours of travel and waiting. New air filter, brake fluid, spark plugs, and other systems inspected. Thanks, again

I'm not going to do my own; those days are over. However, what do you think about having maintenance done outside the Subaru dealership? I need my 60K maintenance, but it's a two-hour drive if I go to Subaru to do it. Am I OK getting the fuel and air filters from someone other than Subaru? Thank you!

Ultimately, the engine was replaced under warranty. After 3,000 miles, the engine had consumed nearly a quart and a half of oil. I had one of the bad engines. The work was done very quickly. I dropped the car off in the morning and was given a free rental. The car was ready in the evening. When you are accustomed to getting screwed over by dealerships, you tend to be distrustful and defensive. At one point, these guys assured me that it was virtually impossible anything was wrong with my car, and that excessive oil consumption was mere hysteria, which is not truthful. I'm grateful that they did not manipulate or misrepresent test results once that ball was rolling, but I'd rather they had been more up front initially, as that lead me to believe they could not be trusted. And I have noticed that the car runs differently after every oil change—there is a slight change in throttle response, which normalizes in a day or two.

Honestly, I'm not hoping for an engine replacement. I'd rather not have to bother. But, when you are more than a quart low after just 3,000 miles, it's worrisome. It's not even that I have to drive an hour for an oil change. That oil doesn't just disappear. Like you describe, it ends up fouling the entire engine. Four or five years from now, I don't want to have to put in a new engine on my own dime because some engineer miscalculated a tolerance or recommended an ineffective method of galvanization. Fingers crossed. Would still like to know: If the car's been running, shouldn't the oil level be between the low and full notches? It's OK to be as high as I described after sitting over night?

No, there was no wax seal. I even asked if they sealed everything when done, and they said they did not. They told me not to add oil. First and foremost, these aren't just "complaints" to readily dismiss. Subaru has agreed to a settlement in a class-action lawsuit (without admitting that there is a problem). I had my warranty extended as part of that settlement. If I start putting a heavier oil in the car, do I not void the manufacturer's warranty? If Subaru calls for 0W-20 synthetic, and only 0W-20 synthetic, how else can we interpret that? I know that using a heavier oil reduces gas mileage, which was the reason light oil was engineered in the first place—to improve gas mileage. I checked the oil first thing in the morning. The car had sat in the drive for a dozen hours. The oil was at least half an inch above the top fill mark. A shop in town looked at it as well, and said it was over filled by roughly half a quart. I drove to the dealership, which is an hour away, They had the car sit for about fifteen minutes. They told me that the proper method to check the oil was to bring the car to operating temperature and then allow it to sit for five to ten minutes. When they checked it, it was only slightly high—according to their method. I understand this method may leave a considerable amount of oil in the engine where it cannot be measured. And there seems to be no consensus on the subject of when to check the oil: morning or while hot, and what you should read at BOTH times. Equal amounts of "I've always checked it in the morning" and "Check it with each stop for gas." When I was told that this dealer no longer attempts to rebuild defective engines related to this consumption issue, but instead replaces them entirely, because doing so was faster, more successful, and cheaper overall, I assumed the financial disincentive to do the work had been resolved. But there are a lot of accounts out there of people still having a hell of a time getting a dealer to agree to do the work. These accounts breed distrust. But perhaps the over consumption solution is not universal? Perhaps Subaru settled the lawsuit but intends to minimize losses on the back end, or continues to pass those losses onto dealers who have more to lose, relatively speaking? Hell, I just want to know how to check the oil. Can't even get a consistent answer on that.

If they were willing to add something to cheat the test, I'm supposed to believe they'd be honest about it? I know about the class action lawsuit. I received the same letter everyone else did. I just checked the oil after letting the car sit over night. It was more than half an inch, maybe an inch above the full line. And it seemed thick. I had a funny feeling when I left, because the serviceman was being overly nice. Now I have to take it back and have them start over, hoping all the while it doesn't just happen again. I'll post the name of the dealership if I continue having problems.

2014 Forester, not turbo. Had the oil changed a while back. Three thousand miles later, I get the warning that the car is low on oil. It turned out to be over a quart low. Dealer topped it off and recommended consumption test when I returned for the regular scheduled oil change. I did return, and there was a slight reservation about doing the test. But they didn't argue beyond telling me a little consumption was normal with 4-5,000 miles, with certain driving conditions, and so on. I explained the car how low the oil had been after 3K. I noticed the car drove more smoothly as I left the lot. The next day, just driving around town, I noticed it wasn't "jumping" the way it normally did from a stop. This "jumping" is normal for the Forester—it seems to have quite a bit of power for a four cylinder. Other owners have shared my observation. In fact, you have to learn to touch the gas lightly from a stop. The car doesn't seem to do that since taking it in for the consumption test yesterday. In fact, acceleration throughout the low end just seems reduced. I've read dealerships are overfilling to avoid replacing engines. Are there other tricks as well? De-tuning? Using a heavier oil?

For the record we have an '05 Forester and a '14 Forester. Simply wondering if there's ever reason or advice to use gasoline rated higher than "Regular" 87 octane. This would be for either or both cars.

Now this all hppened a couple months ago, in August, and I can't remember how to check the oil in my Subaru. I do think the tech told be the oil level should be above BOTH marks, not between.

Yeah. Since I learned of the problem, my concern has been that I got one of the cars that will burn through oil. The stories you can find online will scare your pants right off. The inconvenience of adding oil every thousand miles seems inconsequential when you imply that's the worst that can happen. Truth is, that oil doesn't vanish: It gets combusted, and that can lead to all sorts of problems. Moreover, the problem could worsen over time with engine wear. If you were to use something like Lucas Engine Oil Stop Leak, that could be grounds for a dealership to deny service.

Turns out that the light warning of low oil is something entirely different. This was a user-programmed reminder. The coincidence just happen to feed into my Internet hysteria, and I thought the car was burning through its oil. Now, it certainly could be. But it hasn't so far. I have fresh oil and a better understanding of the car's electronics. Hopefully, the other light indicating low oil doesn't appear any time soon.

What I'm gathering is that it is difficult to check the engine oil on a Subaru. Since I was a kid, I was told to let the engine cool down, clean the stick off, put it back in, pull it out. I do that with the Forester, and it always reads as over-full. That is, past the upper marker. When I started the post, I had let the engine cool for an hour (some say to let it cool overnight). The oil was well past the full mark. Then an actual mechanic checked it, said it had been overfilled, and drained some. I was afraid it had been intentionally overfilled to hide a consumption problem. That was ten days ago. Today, the warning to replace engine oil came on. I doubt the car has been driven more than a couple hundred miles. Tomorrow, I'm taking it to a licensed Subaru dealer to begin the consumption test. My understanding is that they fill it, seal it, and have me drive 1,200 miles or something. Then they check the oil again. Do I need to watch them check it before sealing, because they could overfill it? Again, 2014 Forester, bought used, just under 30K miles.

"Never look up your symptoms on the Internet." Reading up on Subaru oil consumption, I get the impression that every Subaru made between 2012 and 2014 lose a quart of oil every couple thousand miles and are prone to burn their engines up regularly. Having just bought one (2014 Forester), a great black pit of despair is growing in my soul. I know every vehicle has problems, with the possible exception of the old Voltswagon Beetle. You will find horror stories about most everything made. But there are at least two class action lawsuits addressing this issue, and Subaru hasn't gotten in front of this problem as they should have. Bad solutions have included customer runarounds; overfilling the engine oil; manipulating when sensors warn of a low oil condition; redefining the specifications to make the problem look normal; and simply replacing piston rings. My understanding is that replacement of the small block may be a more appropriate action, but is avoided due to the cost to Subaru and dealers alike. Today, I visited a local mechanic I trust, who has made a business around rebuilding Subaru engines. He told me that the problem mainly affects turbo-charged engines. So, what's the 411? Is every Subaru made for the past couple of years a lemon? Are Subarus the automotive equivalent of oil-burning Harley-Davidsons? Or is the power of the Internet making a mountain out of a mole hill?

2014 Forester It would seem this is Type B audio set. In a PDF manual, I've read I'm supposed to switch between FM1, FM2, and FM3 by pressing the "FM" button. This does not happen. What does happen is that I switch from FM2 to FM-AS to "ACQUIRING" as the radio attempts to connect to the HD channel, which it eventually reports as unavailable. Is my radio broken, or is there something else I should be looking at? In my physical manual, I've also read that I'm supposed to switch between FM1, FM2, and FM-AS. Again, not what actually happens. I'm more than a little confused. I don't know if the radio has been set up for services we don't have, was set up improperly, or is simply broken. We can't seem to figure the PTY selection mode. We're finding the manual of little help: "Press the 'PTY' button to change the PTY slection mode," but never an explanation of what the PTY mode is, or how it relates to radio programming. It seems the audio section features a bit of mystery. [A couple hours later] I have no idea why, but I did manage to get it to cycle properly: FM1 to FM2 to FM-AS. I had started pressing buttons just to find out what would happen, when I noticed "FM1" where it hadn't been since we bought the car. I was able to program 12 stations, six under FM1 and six under FM2, plus whatever you get when you let SCAN run for a while on FM-AS. I cycled the PTY modes a bit, and saw they relate to various genres. If I understand correctly, stations must be broadcasting some form of format identifier, with which properly configured radios can locate stations by format, not frequency. Using the Seek switches finds the appropriate stations for each format type. So I could still use a bit of guidance. At least I have enough sense to play with it in the driveway!

Always a problem when working with files from myriad sources: the track volume is wildly inconsistent. Someone out there must make use of the car's USB port, and may be familiar with the problem and a solution. I've used MP3Gain with other applications. Anyone using it to success, or something even better?

Well, my friend, the warranty I was offered was certainly longer: 84 months and 100,000 miles. It was NOT a factory warranty. I believe it was a dealer-backed warranty. There again, would I end up like the young lady whose Subaru repairs were being denied? Our driving habits dictate that time is the final arbiter, not mileage. Ultimately, it's a matter of trust. I hadn't had previous experience with the dealership. Because of the hard sell technique, the finance manager didn't come across as trustworthy. My instincts told me, "No!" Again, it wasn't that we couldn't afford it, but that I don't believe in throwing money out the window, or working with people I can't trust.

We have a couple Subarus. The 2014 has HUGE posts (Is that what they're called?). I've read the lace-up types don't fit anything with large posts, that they're intended for the more sporty steering wheel styles. I've not found a slip-on model that doesn't require gorilla hands. So, if any of you lovely people know of something that works especially well, I would love to hear from you! Take care!

I've got to get better floor mats before winter hits. I'm looking for something that ► Covers everywhere you put your feet ► Has deep channels to contain melted ice and snow ► Won't let dirt just run to other parts of the floor. ► Won't slide around ► Is easy to clean Can you help?

LOL. I did, before I wrote my post. They take your money, then get to refuse to provide the services they promised. Bet no one mentioned that at the dealership!

Warranty. With a Y. I'm so green, I don't even know how to spell the word properly. I don't buy vehicles often. I drive them until they become too costly to maintain. So I don't know much about buying cars. But I'm familiar with the Subaru reputation for longevity. I hope it's well-deserved. A finance manager at a local dealership tried to sell me an extended warranty for my Subaru. Tried really hard. Really. Hard. He spoke fast, put papers in front of me with more fine print than I could read in a day, and reminded me of the financial ruin that would likely occur if I didn't have an extended warranty. It was frightening stuff. Then again, if anyone is trying really, really, really hard to sell you something—that something might not be so good for you. One doesn't need to work hard to sell things people really need. Right? I recoiled from the hard sell. Thankfully, I had an idea of what an extended car warranty was. I didn't understand why I needed one so badly, because I was buying a Subaru. (I hope no one is laughing at me now.) Of note: The loan payment without the warranty was written very small and was glossed over. The "low" payment with the warranty was highlighted. I'm not so bright that I can resolve a lot of math under great duress, so I broke out the calculator application on my phone and figured the warranty was adding $2,400 over the life of the loan. Reeling from that, I Googled "do i need extended warranty car" or something, and came upon a short article from Edmunds.com with one basic rule: generally, it doesn't make financial sense. I had to refuse the extended warranty at least three times, because the hard sale returned if I displayed the slightest doubt. My question wasn't so much if we could have afforded the extra payment (we could), but whether or not we needed the extended warranty. The finance manager was clearly perturbed. So, when I finally got home, I rushed to the computer to research these extended warranty things and learn if I had just made a terrible mistake I'd regret for the rest of my life. That's when I came upon a Consumer Reports article that listed the average price of an extended warranty on a Mercedes-Benz as $2,200, a BMW as $2,007, and a Chrysler as $1,525. So I was being sold an extended warranty that would have been considered more expensive than average for a new Mercedes. If I have the money to buy a Mercedes, then perhaps I have a couple grand to throw at an extended warranty without a second thought. But I wasn't buying a Mercedes. I didn't have a large loan making the cost of a warranty small in comparison. The cost seems staggering in relation to what I bought. While the interaction may be relatively short, finance managers would do well to foster some relationship with customers, much the way salesmen do, rather than relying on a single canned approach. Not everyone is going to be pressured or frightened into throwing money away. I won't buy from a pushy salesman; that revulsion doesn't vanish when I step into the finance manager's office. I'm not going to be frightened with my credit score, or APR, or much of anything else these guys are taught to use to close a sale. I can always go somewhere else. And there's this new thing the kids call the Internet: I can find a dozen identical vehiles at other local dealerships in seconds. It's key to remember that the customer is doing the dealer a great courtesy by bringing business to the door. The dealer who does respond in kind can count belly lint, instead of dollars. With this latest experience under my belt, I can say that If this were to happen again, I would walk out. "Tear up the contract, lose my contact information, and don't forget to thank your finace manager." If dealerships hear that enough, they may effect a sales experience based upon teamwork, where a salesman with an established relationship with the customer relates what works and does not work to the finance manager, before the wrong approach costs another sale. I know that in some cases, with certain vehicles, an extended warranty is a damn good idea. And I can appreciate that car dealerships are in the business of making money. I may have bought one had the finance manager been more relaxed and patiently explained the coverage, deductibles, and caveats. In a way, I'm glad he was pushy, because I would have ended up paying far too much for the warranty. Anyway, I'm off to study, because I have other cars to buy. I'm interested in hearing of other experiences similar or dissimilar to mine. One Year With A Carmax Warranty And An Unreliable Used Car Secrets of Negotiating a Car Extended Warranty Extended car warranties: An expensive gamble

From what I've read, it's more like 100%. It is often just pure profit for the dealer. The best extended warranties are backed by the manufacturer—not the dealer, not a third party.. This is a topic everyone must study BEFORE buying a car. I did not, myself, but only managed to catch an article about a car nut who intentionally bought an expensive extended warranty because he KNEW the vehicle he was buying would be problematic. One Year With A Carmax Warranty And An Unreliable Used Car So I knew that extended warranties were a thing, and would help when you buy a troublesome vehicle. Thankfully, when the finance manager tried to sell me one for my purchase, I had some inkling what it was, though I hadn't expected him to try to sell me one. I feel for those who don't have a clue as to what's going on and feel obligated to take whatever is being offered. Again, everyone who is buying a car needs to research extended warranties before purchase. Bear in mind, this is just my opinion, but I suspect the dealer's finance manager was selling the customer a bill of goods. The bank had no interest in your extended warranty. I doubt the customer talked to the bank's loan officer—the customer was relying on what the finance officer said the bank wanted. The interest rate on the loan is based on the loan size and credit rating of the borrower, not warranties. The warranty doesn't change the fact that the customer must repay the loan, so it's not of interest to the bank. In this situation, the customer should have walked off the dealer's lot. Fast. Coincidentally, I was on my way to write a post on much the same thing when I stumbled across this. Glad to see I'm not the only one with questions about these extended warranties.

Right. That's exactly what I was thinking. Amazon sells short extensions of 6 inches, 1 foot, and so on. Since I'm not the first person to buy one of these cars, I assumed others may have also found the placement troublesome and tried an extension. I would imagine such a cable would resolve the issue well enough. Hey, is this USB 1.0, 2.0, or maybe even 3.0? Any chance the radio can randomize the playback (the radio on the Limited version of the vehicle)?