Hi -- My first post on this site. Just purchased (last week) a 2004 OB with 21,000 miles. Our first subaru - we have always wanted one!!! It handles nice, soild on the road and neat to drive. After picking it up in St. Louis we drove from Missouri to eastern Tennessee - about 1,800 miles - round trip, ave. mpg 31.4 - so not bad mileage either for AM. Oil was changed before leaving dealership - "assumed" he filled it up. After trip oil is down about 3/4 of a quart. Is this typical for the 2.5l? Will probably get to the "L" mark by the time I get to my first oil change. My "old car" - which I still have - is a '91 buick with 215 k - has never used any oil between changes (5 K) so not use to this. Also noticed dealer put in 10W40 and not the normal 5W40. Have always used 5W40 in buick except when in southern AZ for a while. Not sure "how" the first 21,000 miles were put on. Dealer said it was a "program" car. The dealer would probably say this is not excessive and just "normal" so I thought I would throw it out to you all.

 

thanks, zoeyoutlaw

My 2004 Outback doesn't use any oil (yet.) I would top it off and watch it. My 1996 Outback had no significant usage until it passed 100k miles and was using a quart about every 1000 miles or so at 125K. I use 5W30 in my cars.

my impreza never has changes in oil.... i use 10w-30. you might want to check your oil pump, when i first got my subi there would be a burning oil smell, and it turned out that there was a very slow oil leak onto my exhaust, hense the burning smell. so we cranked out the oil pump and a few of the screws in on the pump were VERY loose, fixed that and it stopped. you might want to check that out.

someone here in my neck of the woods bought a brand new pt cruiser. i mean had like 2 miles on it. the car is using 2 quarts of oil between changes, and dodge will not warranty it because its not excessive. they say its not excessive unless it uses 3 quarts or more between changes..

 

lol knew there was a reason why i didn't like chrysler products..

 

i bet the guy just didn't get it topped off all the way.. sounds like he may have filled it up, and let it go, without starting it to fill the oil filter, then top it off..

I wouldn't worry about oil use until you have done a couple of oil changes. My personal philosophy is one quart between oil change intervals (my OCI is 5K mi) is pretty normal. It is entirely possible that your last oil change did not include the full amount of oil that it should have.

 

Read your owner's manual. It is pretty clear in our 2003's owner's manual that Subaru suggests 5W30 as the preferred motor oil weight. I know of no reason why a franchise dealer would vary from that recommendation. I suspect the recommendation is still true for 2004 models. While not a major cause of concern, I don't think 10W40 is the optimum oil for normal use.