Some newer cars still under their powertrain warranties are suffering excessive oil consumption between oil changes, according to the recently released findings from Consumer Reports 2014 Annual Auto Survey.
The survey, which compiled answers from owners of roughly 1 million vehicles from the past decade, showed that owners of some popular models have to add as much as one quart of oil per month.
Although it is common for some older vehicles to burn oil, this type of oil consumption is “unacceptable” by Consumer Reports standards.
Consumer Reports narrowed its analysis of the survey data to highlight 498,900 vehicles from model years 2010 to 2014. The engines in this subset that reportedly burned the most oil belonged mostly to imported vehicles. The biggest offenders in this category were Audi’s 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder and 3.0L V6; BMW’s 4.8L V8 and twin turbocharged 4.4L V8; and Subaru’s 3.6L six-cylinder and 2.0L and 2.5L four-cylinder engines.
These engines are found in Audi’s A3, A4, A5, A6 and Q5 lines; the BMW 5, 6, and 7 Series lines, as well as the X5; and Subaru’s Forester, Impreza, Legacy and Outback lines.
Consumer Reports singled out the BMW 5 Series equipped with the V8 engine as the vehicle most likely to burn oil. These cars are 27 times more likely to suffer excessive oil consumption than the average vehicle on the road.
Although these vehicles are outliers (98 percent of 2010-14 cars on the road do not need to add oil between changes), they still make up roughly 1.5 million vehicles in the U.S.
BMW and Subaru claim that this oil consumption is normal for their vehicles; however, Consumer Reports noted that this issue only tends to exacerbate itself as the vehicle ages. The cumulative effect is added expense, maintenance and headaches for the owner.