Excessive oil consumption on the 2013 Subaru Legacy
When excessive oil consumption gets reported
Owners of the 2013 Subaru Legacy report excessive oil consumption at a median of 45,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles, from 10 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 10,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 120,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 108,850 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
30% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12,450 miles | 20,871 miles | 44,750 miles | 75,750 miles | 121,300 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $900–$6,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure, every year of the Subaru Legacy
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Low oil warning light came on. Took vehicle to dealer. They told me it was normal. At 10,500 miles, same thing happened. Like clockwork, every 3,000 miles the light goes on and I'm down at least a quart of oil. This has happened every 3,000 miles since then. I've been driving for 50+ years and have never had any vehicle, foreign or domestic, use a quart of oil every 3,000 miles no matter how old or new the car was. Being told this is "normal" is ridiculous. There must be flaw in the 2.5l boxer engine produced by subaru. *tr
The issue is with the oil consumption. I purchase a 2013 subaru legacy limited in january 2014 with just over 12,100 miles on it . I would do a full synthetic oil change regardless but this make/model/year requires full synthetic. The 0w full synthetic is wicked expensive to begin with. I have brought the car in 3 times in the 10 months I have owned it for an oil consumption test and of course I am told there is nothing wrong. I have had issues with it sucking up oil on other occasions, I just didn't have time to bring it in because I travel for work so I dumped a quart in myself on those occasions. I even leap frogged the dealership and went straight to subaru of america and again was told there is nothing wrong with the new vehicles oil consumption and they just eat more oil (btw, I did save that email). I disagree, I drive roughly 3000-6000 miles per month and I have an issue with the oil light coming on after 3000 miles. Maybe if it were running regular oil; but it requires full synthetic. So either the dealership is putting regular oil in a car that requires a synthetic oil or subaru is hiding something. Either way I will get…
In 2012 december, I purchased a subaru legacy,2013, from rye ford & subaru. The car has been burning oil in the engine. I have brought my car to the subaru legacy dealership many times in an effort to prevent the car from burning oil. At the dealership they changed the block and piston rings, and at the last oil change they reported that every 1000 miles 3 ounces of oil burns. They advised me to carry couple of quarts of oil in the car each time I drive. This problem continues to persist, each time I drive my car. I called the main office in new jersey and demanded a new car or re-fund for the car I purchased. The main office stated that they would not be able to provide a refund for my car. Within the past two years the dealership has repaired my car several times, but the problem still continues. I have been carrying the additional quarts of oil with me while I drive, but it is not the experience I was looking for when I purchased my subaru vehicle. I expect to be comfortable and secure when driving my car and my experience with this car has been anything but that. It is very dangerous and I feel unsafe driving this vehicle…
Also reported on the 2013 Subaru Legacy
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
CVT failure
Airbag inflator rupture
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 11 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does excessive oil consumption happen on the 2013 Subaru Legacy?
Across 10 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 45,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is excessive oil consumption on the 2013 Subaru Legacy?
11 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed