Photo: Subaru
Subaru has been one of the fastest-growing automakers since 2008, but some of the automaker’s most popular models are now involved in a potential class-action lawsuit that was filed recently in a federal court in Camden, NJ. The lawsuit asserts that a handful of late-model Subaru models are prone to premature oil consumption leading to costly repairs and decreased resale value.
According to USA Today, this suit was filed against Subaru of America and its parent company Fuji Heavy Industries on behalf of a California man who owns a 2014 Forester and a Florida man who previously owned a 2013 Outback. Both had experienced excessive oil consumption, and the suit alleges that Subaru knew about the problem but didn’t attempt to fix it.
While the suit acknowledges that service bulletins were issued to dealers to help remedy the problem, it sounds like there were some customers who were left with repair bills of up to $8,000, which we’d have to assume is for a complete engine replacement, although it’s not clear why a customer would have to pay for such repairs since Subaru has a six-year/60,000 powertrain warranty. The Florida man says his oil consumption problem ultimately resulted in him trading in his vehicle, which he lost money on.
In the article, Subaru spokesman Michael McHale: “while we believe the oil consumption of our vehicles to be within acceptable levels, we continually work to reduce the amount of consumable goods, such as oil, that our vehicles require to operate."
It’s not clear if any other consumers have joined the suit, but the number of affected vehicles (based on the lawsuit) could be in the hundreds of thousands with named models being the 2011-14 Forester, 2013 Outback and the 2013 Legacy equipped with the 2.5-liter Boxer four-cylinder engine and the 2012-13 Impreza and 2013 XV Crosstrek with 2.0-liter Boxer four-cylinder engine.
While the suit acknowledges that service bulletins were issued to dealers to help remedy the problem, it sounds like there were some customers who were left with repair bills of up to $8,000, which we’d have to assume is for a complete engine replacement, although it’s not clear why a customer would have to pay for such repairs since Subaru has a six-year/60,000 powertrain warranty. The Florida man says his oil consumption problem ultimately resulted in him trading in his vehicle, which he lost money on.
In the article, Subaru spokesman Michael McHale: “while we believe the oil consumption of our vehicles to be within acceptable levels, we continually work to reduce the amount of consumable goods, such as oil, that our vehicles require to operate."
It’s not clear if any other consumers have joined the suit, but the number of affected vehicles (based on the lawsuit) could be in the hundreds of thousands with named models being the 2011-14 Forester, 2013 Outback and the 2013 Legacy equipped with the 2.5-liter Boxer four-cylinder engine and the 2012-13 Impreza and 2013 XV Crosstrek with 2.0-liter Boxer four-cylinder engine.
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