2012 Subaru Impreza Review

I'm posting this in hopes of preventing people from making the same mistake I did, buying a new Impreza. I bought a 5 door back in February when in looked like we were going to be dealing with $5 / gallon gas this summer. My first impressions of the car were positive, it has good power, handles well, the rear seats fold flat and make a roomy area for gear or the dog.

However at 2850 miles my oil light came on. Sure enough the oil was a quart low. I put a quart of the best synthetic I could find and when I got home I emailed Subaru of America. They emailed me back and told me to take the car to the dealer and get an oil consumption test. They did a $79 oil change and put dye in the oil. After 800 miles dye showed no leaks, but the oil was about 1/5 of a quart low on the dipstick. They topped up the oil and told me to come back after another 800 miles. I went back after another 1000 miles and the oil was 1/2 quart low. I assumed they were going to contact Subaru and get permission for a ring job or valve job, whatever. Instead they told me that burning 1/2 quart in 1000 miles was within spec.

I called Subaru and they told me to look at section 11.7 of my owners manual which states if the car burns over 1 quart of oil in 1200 miles that is excessive. So what I'm left with is a car that can't make it to the suggested oil change interval of 3750 miles without me adding a couple of quarts of oil. Its a bummer that my 34 year old British car uses oil, it's a HUGE bummer that my brand new Subaru uses oil!

I recently found the North American Subaru Impreza Owner's Club forum and discovered others are having the same issue and all Subaru will do is try to talk them into not worrying about it. It seems some Imprezas don't use any oil and some consume it at about the rate mine does, I don't know if one in ten is an oil burner, or half of them, Subaru isn't saying. I would recommend not buying one unless you're prepared to carry a jug of oil and a funnel.

So I'm going to have to wait for my oil light to come on, which is close, and take it to the dealer and request they fix it, and I guess after 4 attempts sue them under the Lemon Law to get my money back. What really makes me angry is that instead of acknowledging the problem and taking care of their customer, they're going to force me to have a long drawn out fight to make the situation right. I plan to get my lender involved since they own a lot more of the car then I do, and expect at some point to be driving an AWD Toyota Sienna.

John

do a search for burnt pistons, it sounds like a very common issue

Searching forums I found a post from a former Subaru mechanic that said Subaru America didn't approve any warranty work on cars that burned less than a quart in 1200 miles. I actually realized that they didn't top up my oil between consumption checks, so it looks like it burned 1/2 a quart in 1800 miles rather than 1000, which would be fairly consistent with the oil light coming on at 2850. So I should be able to just top up once between oil changes, assuming it doesn't get worse as the engine wears. It's still disappointing as a person that normally keeps a car forever until it finally dies, I feel like this one will get traded in when the warranty is gone.

That sucks, I have a 2009 and it is awesome. Part of this problem could be that Subaru is using a new engine. Mine has the EJ 2.5L Engine, the 2011- newer has the FB 20 2.0L engine. Personally I am not a fan of a smaller engine, especially with boats on top. Sure you get better gas mileage, but without boats I can get 27-29mph and I can fell the engine when i put my foot done. Another aspect to consider is that Toyota bought a large about of Subaru in 2011 and has been using there technology/ engineering on there cars. I don't know if Toyota is making parts for them, but that could be why the engine now sucks too. either way I would be piss at the dealer and causing all types of hell for them. Good luck with yours looks like I'll be doing a lot of research before I buy another Subaru

I have owned 6 Toyota trucks in a row, all have well over 250,000 miles at trade off. That is about 1,350,000 miles and I have never burnt a .5 quart of oil in any of them.... ever !! Don't even try and compare that Subaru junk to a Toyota, or blame Toyota parts for the ever problematic Subaru's !! You do truly get what you pay for !! Buy what you want, buttt blaming Toyota for Subaru problems is a reach indeed !! Freddie

Yeah--if my 4 runner doesn't at least turn another 100 thou to make an even 400, Im gonna be pissed!

I bought my Toyota Tacoma because of experiences like Freddie's. I asked all of the Tacoma drivers I knew and/or saw. The reports were all like Freddie's.

Not trying to start a big disscusion, I think the video speaks for its self.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OzK-oRPCbs

Not all all-wheel drive systems are the same

Well, I have no complaints about the performance of my Impreza. It does have decent power for an econobox, it handles great, I can haul my Remix 69 inside the car if I lay the passenger seat down which is kind of cool, and it looks like the AWD works well for the rare occasion it's needed. That's all good stuff, but I'm still left with the chore of topping up the engine oil every 1000 miles. I guess that is just an effect of the flat four engine design and maybe the car will run fine for 250,000 miles, I don't know.

My gut feeling is the car is built too light and fragile in order to gain maximum efficiency at the cost of durability. It's cheap to drive but I don't have confidence that somewhere down the road I will pay for it in costly repairs. I don't have any empirical evidence that will happen, but because I feel that way I will end up loosing any savings by trading off the car instead of driving it forever. Maybe it would be worth it to lease it and drive the heck out of it for 36,000 miles and then give it back, just be prepared to carry around $9 quarts of 0W20 synthetic!

Get your 0W-20 from Amsoil. Its better and cheaper in bulk.

Think about the fact that you are talking little to no viscosity with your oil, the high end where the low end used to be 40 years ago. There are seal tolerances that cannot handle that tremendously well. It does not mean that your engine will seize after the long haul, only that it will cause a little more blowby than normal, and that you will need to be as vigilant as you have. The oil usage you have seems to be associated with about half of the new Boxers out there. The more I maintain Julie's Forester (Impreza blown up), the more I appreciate the engineering.
Bill

I have a 2000 Impreza with a 2.2L and 180K on it. According to the manual the preferred oil is 5W30 for optimum fuel economy, but I put 10W30 in it because I prefer lubrication over fuel economy. You might check your manual and see if you can try the next higher oil viscosity.

DO NOT change oil viscosity in a 2.5L boxer built since 2010 for the US market, period. The fluidics have been designed for a certain number of volume changes per minute to keep up with lubrication and temperature management, and thicker viscosity has been known to cause burdens on pumps and the inability to lubricate extreme areas of the opposed cylinders. This is not purely a workaround for mileage.

If you want the most qualified advice on Subies you shouldn't be on a whitewater board.
Bill

truth

I know some car manufacturers have been using looser fitting pistons rings in order to reduce friction and increase gas mileage.
It is normal for these to burn more oil than tighter fitting piston rings.
Perhaps this is the case with the Subbie.

Vince