My Forester Identifies as a Diesel!

[In2h2o]

Someone is crawling under my car and stealing the oil. Been this way for 115K + miles now, essentially the entire life of the car. No smell, no soot, no drips, undercarriage is clean every time I change the oil and filter, every 6 months. I don't see smoke when following it in another vehicle. Yet, I find myself adding about a quart per month when driving it regularly,, more when road tripping.
So, someone is stealing it hahahaha.. It's gotta be going somewhere..

As I have posted before, my MDX with the J7 motor and known consumption issue/ class action settlement has a distinct oil use pattern - after an oil change none the first 1K. Then 1/2 quart next 500 and 3/4 quart within the next thousand miles. I usually get an oil change by 3,500 -4K because it just looks dirty - at this point the oil minder is at 70%. Acura claims 1 quart per 1K is considered 'normal/acceptable' consumption, therefore I don't qualify under the settlement. I have a neighbor with a Subaru same issue, he has been using thicker oil.... as we both bought the cars second hand and they don't have any other issues we are both going on the keep the oil toped off and just drive.

Like you I can not see any oil leaking (my mechanics check regularly), the car does not blow any smoke, but I do smell a distinct smell when the oil is "slipping." This is usually the first big 'hill' on my commute - but the smell is not always uphill (not always on the Sherwin grade). But I have a really good sense of smell not everyone may be able to smell it. The thing that annoys me the most is that it's hard to find level ground to accurately check the oil.

This article sums up the issues best and explains why the issue exists -

https://www.consumerreports.org/car-maintenance/some-newer-cars-can-burn-lots-of-oil-a1065338868/

 

[johnnyvw]

Although I would not recommend any "snake oil" additives, you mighttry bumping up the viscosity a tick to see if that helps, from 5/30 to 10/40. With that much mileage on the engine, there shouldn;t be any downside, especially in hot weather

 

[Tom K.]

Perhaps South Park's infamous Underwear Gnomes have branched into the petro world?!

 

[crgildart]

Although I would not recommend any "snake oil" additives, you mighttry bumping up the viscosity a tick to see if that helps, from 5/30 to 10/40. With that much mileage on the engine, there shouldn;t be any downside, especially in hot weather

I was running 20W50 in the VW for that same reason..