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Subaru of America has agreed to settle a class action accusing it of knowingly selling cars that have a defect causing them to burn excessive amounts of oil. Subaru has agreed to extend warranties on affected vehicles, and reimburse vehicle owners for expenses related to the defect.
On Jan. 4, the lead plaintiffs asked the court to approve this preliminary settlement. “This proposed settlement will provide most class members with as much or more compensation as they may have obtained had this case proceeded through certification and trial,” the lead plaintiffs assert.
The original class action lawsuit filed by lead plaintiffs Keith Yeager and Michael Schuler alleged that Subaru knew that certain models of vehicles had defective piston rings that would cause extra oil to burn off the engine. According to the class action lawsuit, Subaru did not tell consumers about the oil burning defect, and that deception caused car owners to spend “considerable money on extra engine oil, but also on engine repairs trying to fix the underlying problem.”
In addition, the class action lawsuit claims that Subaru “improperly denied many warranty repairs, and then, more recently, secretly changed the scope of its warranty coverage without telling affected drivers.” Since the original filing, seven other named plaintiffs have been added to the Subaru class action lawsuit, alleging the same defect in different model vehicles and states.
To settle the oil burning defect class action lawsuit, Subaru has agreed to increase the warranty on vehicles with the defect from the original 5-year / 60,000-mile warranty, to an 8-year / 100,000-mile warranty.
In addition, Subaru has agreed to compensate vehicle owners for the following expenses: “(i) vehicle repairs (including parts and labor); (ii) rental cars; (iii) towing; and (iv) the purchase of up to six quarts of oil per vehicle.” Subaru has agreed to pay 100% of those costs, if claimants can provide reasonable proof of their expenses.
Finally, Subaru has agreed to provide a free “oil consumption test” as well as “TSB repairs” for any owners or leasers of defective vehicles.
The Subaru oil burning defect lawsuit is asking the court to certify a Class of all “current or former owners or lessors of [defective Subaru models] originally purchased or leased in the continental United States and Alaska.” Notice of the settlement will be mailed directly to Class Members, who will have to file claims to receive compensation.
The actual Subaru models that are part of the potential settlement and details on the claim filing process were not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.
The plaintiffs are represented by Matthew D. Schelkopf and Jospeh G. Sauder of Chimicles & Tikellis LLP, Eric H. Gibbs, Dylan Hughes, and David Stein of Girard Gibbs LLP, and Richard D. McCune, Jae K. Kim, and Michele M. Vercoski of McCune Wright, LLP.
The Subaru Oil Burning Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Yaeger, et al. v. Subaru of America Inc., et al., Case No. 1:14-cv-04490, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
UPDATE: On Apr. 12, 2016, the Subaru oil burning settlement is now open! Click here to file a Claim Form or visit www.OilConsumption.SettlementClass.com for details.
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69 thoughts onSubaru Settles Oil Burning Class Action Lawsuit
We recently purchased a pre-owned 2013 Subaru Outback and have noticed that about every 1,000 miles the oil light comes on. It appears that this has been a problem with Subarus that we wish we would have researched more prior to buying this car. We found that there was an extended warranty for the problem of and claims for reimbursement needed to be filed by 2016. Since we did not own this car in 2016 are we just out of luck or does the extended warranty apply?
Hi Angie,
Just wanted to extend condolences. I’m in the same position with a 2014 Forester that I purchased a year ago (Jan 2017). It was a Certified vehicle with less than 40k miles and had been serviced by the dealer offering it for sale. I went to a recommended salesman at a respected dealership and only considered Dealer Certified vehicles. I knew I’d probably pay more but wanted a car I could trust for 200k miles. The salesman called to tell me he had a car that met all my requirements. The Carfax report indicated a well-maintained car; no excess oil changes. In hindsight there was a pair of service visits that were probably the oil consumption test, but they weren’t marked as such. I didn’t even haggle over price! Please don’t beat yourself up about not doing enough research and I’ll try to do the same. Before setting out to find a used Subaru, I spent a lot of time on-line searching for general “problems” with 2014 Foresters and nothing showed up. None of our friends have heard of this problem and most of them drive Subarus. At this point I just want to go back to Toyota.
I am actually in the process of a repurchase of my 2014 Subaru Forrester XT. It’s been problem after problem, even with the engine replaced and $800 + at least 50 hours of my time trying to fix something that ends up causing something else to go wrong, and the original problem rarely resolved.
Similar situation, bought in early 2017, under 40k miles, warranty + upgraded warranty(thank god)… paying for a vehicle that sits in the driveway because we are afraid to drive it.
If anyone knows of a good attorney in San Bernardino area, please let me know. There too many inconsistencies between the purchase contracts that didn’t disclose any recalls, that the vehicle was leased, and the offer for repurchase is not clear, let alone the other offers which would leave us with a heap of junk or didn’t apply as it was a certified used Subaru, not new.
I have a 2009 Forester that seems to fall into this excessive oil burning category. I did not know about this defect or I would not have purchased the car. Now I have to check the oil every week. I took it to my mechanic because I had the check engine light on, as well as the VDC light. The topper was that my cruise light was flashing. I was told that I was extremely lucky not to have seized the engine. I am very responsible with my oil changes, and I wasn’t even close to needing it changed.
So this issue appears to be an old one. Thanks Subaru!!
I have a 2015 Subaru Outback.Our car burns two quarts of oil every 6000 miles.Dealership first said it’s normal oil consumption.Now we are on our second oil consumption test.But the test is only goes to 1200 miles,and the dealership said it passed the first test.I would love to sue Subaru!They knowingly have a oil consumption problem.Subaru needs to remedy this huge problem.
I have a 2015 Legacy, with 90K miles and have been on the Subaru treadmill for 30K miles with oil consumption issue. Local dealer and Subaru of America has not stepped up to correct the problem. I had to put 2 quarts in recently after driving 3000 miles. I also have a 100K warranty and they will take no action or responsibility. I keep hearing that 2015 Legacy is not an issue with oil consumption. Really?
Any help out there???
I just bought a 2018 Outback 3.6 Limited. I have less than 500 miles and have added a half quart of oil, so far. The service writer, at the Dealership, said they would top off the oil for free. So, I am suppose to drive 20 miles to the Dealership every two weeks? This is really bad.
I have a 2013 subaru wrx and my car was bone stock except for a cat back exhaust and my bearings and ringlands failed at 27,000 miles. I brought it to subaru and they told me that it was driver error on my part.
My husband bought me a 2012 Subaru Forrester. The oil problem started right after we bought it. We drove from Georgia to Upstate NY.
My husband checked oil and it was extremely low. Told the dealer. They said it was normal. This problem continued. Dealers from North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida all told us nothing to worry about.
After googling found out they lied to us and no one told us of the problem.
Three years later they finally did the consumption test and did the so called fix.
Well less than 5,500 miles later oil barely on dip stick. We only have $47,840 miles in the car. I know the lawsuit gave a longer warranty but consumer reports says the problem will get worse as time goes on.
Any other help out there?????
Now what?
I have a 14 outback with the same issue. I did not hold back my thoughts from the dealer or Subaru customer service about the issue. It is all Subaru bullshit and the dealer said they are kept in the dark about the issue and they think it is an attempt to protect their precious and stupid PZEV emissions rating. They plaster that PZEV garbage on these vehicles and nobody understands it anyway.
Generous Subaru did give me $100 voucher that I can use for an oil change or anything else I want from the dealer. My suggestion to everyone is call them up an make them give you all the 100 bucks.
I have an engine mechanic that recommended going from 0W20 to a 0W40 oil. I will try that when my vehicle is ready for it’s next change.
My vehicle did not qualify for the new shortblock and it burns a ridiculous amount of oil. It has 34,000 miles and it shouldn’t burn that much if it had 134,000 miles. Subaru stinks and they have lost a customer here!
You are correct it is bull crap. I have a 1999 Subaru Forrester that doesn’t burn oil and it has 240,000 miles on it.
How do they expect us to get rid of the cars or pay for the repairs when the warranty runs out?
I have a 2012 forester, mine started to burn oil after it reached 60000, they said it needed a timing chain gasket, after that i could smell oil burning when you put on the heater, brought it back and they replaced the pcv valve, still had the smell and still burn oil, since then they’ve changed the gasket 2 more times and i still smell oil burning and its burning oil quicker now, im now at 91000 and not sure what to do about it, i think ill go to the dealer and show him the info on the Internet and see what they say…
Well..I bought a 2009 Subaru Outback Xt on 09/03/2016 at Subaru of South Charlotte, North Carolina. I was in need of a vehicle that had better gas mileage since I was changing careers from law enforcement to sales. The day after I purchased the vehicle the check engine light came on and I brought the vehicle to the service department. The service department stated that the vehicle was traded in and bought so quickly that they must have missed the sensor that it needed. I was understanding and hoped that there were going to be no other issues with the vehicle. Nevertheless, on 12/27/16 the vehicle’s engine began knocking and losing power to the point to where it cut off just as I rolled into the parking lot at work. No lights emitted on the dash board and there were no signs of leaking fluids. I had purchased an oil change approximately two weeks prior to this incident and all work was completed correctly. I had to have the vehicle towed to a mechanic and they advised me that I would have to purchase a new engine. So, now I have a vehicle that is sitting in my yard and is a long way from being paid off and on top of that I have to buy an engine for it. Also, I have had to purchase another car for $2500 just to get around. I only had the vehicle four months when the engine blew. I did not purchase the extended warranty for this vehicle because I could not afford the extra expense so now I’m completely screwed…Just seems wrong.
I have the same exact problem! I just bought a used 2014 Subaru Impreza the check engine light went on.
I brought it to the dealership and they said the motor is blown!!!!! Now their blaming me for poor maintenance records.
I have no car and a loan for 15,000