There are 17 owner-reported engine complaints for the 2013 Subaru Legacyin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The contact's son owns a 2013 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed and approaching a traffic light, the vehicle stalled. The contact's son was able to restart the vehicle and continued driving. However, the failure reoccurred on two different occasions. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing excessive oil consumption. The contact stated that her son had added 10 quarts of oil in the vehicle within 2 weeks. The contact referenced Subaru Technical Service Bulletin Number: 02-157-14R. The contact also stated that the exhaust pipe was emitting black smoke. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who informed the contact that the vehicle needed an engine compression test. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 169,000. The consumer stated that they no longer have the vehicle.
Oil is consumed excessively. I had an oil change done at around 120K miles and my oil light is popping on to let me know that I need another oil change. I have only driven it 2,000 miles since my last oil change and my oil level is low. Looking back at the Carfax, the previous owner had oil changed every 2,000-3,000 miles, but the owner's manual states that oil should be changed every 5,000 miles. It seems this is a safety hazard and possible EPA violation.
Transmission failed. Began to make bad noises then failed to accelerate in an intersection. Was almost hit by another car. Dealer indicated that the Subaru transmissions were only lasting 90, 000 to 100,000 miles before requiring replacement. Contracted Subaru who said they had a voluntary fix, but we were not notified and were outside of the short time frame for the fix. We replaced transmission at cost of $10,000. Subaru offered 1000 off a new car but was not concerned about the safety issue and would not fix/replace the transmission for this known issue.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 SUBARU LEGACY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 55 MPH, WHEN THE OIL WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT DROVE THE VEHICLE HOME AND ADDED A QUART OF OIL. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE OIL CONSUMPTION ON THE VEHICLE HAD BEEN AN ISSUE FOR APPROXIMATELY A YEAR, A QUART OF OIL HAD TO BE ADDED EVERY 3,000 MILES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER OR AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR DIAGNOSIS OR REPAIRS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 116,000. *TT
I AM ON MY THIRD ENGINE DUE TO THE OIL CONSUMPTION ISSUES. I JUST HAD A THE THIRD ENGINE PUT IN AND THE LIGHT CAME ON AT 2300 MILES. I ALSO HAD TO REPLACE THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER AND THE CLUTCH. I AM STILL HAVING ISSUES WITH THE CLUTCH AS WELL. IT'S A 2013 SUBARU LEGACY 2.5L MANUAL TRANSMISSION AND SUBARU WON'T MAKE THINGS RIGHT. I SPENT 80% OF MY TIME THAT I OWNED IT PERFORMING OIL CONSUMPTION CHECKS.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 SUBARU LEGACY. WHILE DRIVING 40 MPH, THE OIL INDICATOR ILLUMINATED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT STATED THAT 30 OUNCES OF OIL WERE ADDED TO THE VEHICLE AND THE VEHICLE CONSUMED 11 OUNCES OF OIL EVERY 1,000 MILES. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED, BUT WAS TESTED FOR AN OIL CONSUMPTION FAILURE AT THE RUGE DEALER. THE RESULTS HAVE NOT YET BEEN DETERMINED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 81,000.
OIL CONSUMPTION. I CONTINUE TO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS CAR. CONSUMES A QUART OF FULL SYNTHETIC OIL EVERY 3000 MILES. I RECEIVED PAPERWORK ABOUT A CLAS ACTION LAWSUIT WHICH OUTLINES THE PROBLEM. IT'S RIDICULOUS; THEY EXPECT ME TO PRODUCE EVERY RECEIPT FOR THE OIL I'VE PURCHASED OVER THE LAST 3 YEARS IF I WANT TO BE REIMBURSED! DEALER STILL SAYS IT'S "NORMAL"; I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY CAR BURN A QUART OF OIL EVERY 3000 MILES REGARDLESS OF MAKE, AGE OR CONDITION. NATURALLY, EVERY TIME THIS HAPPENS I'M ON THE ROAD ANY FROM HOME SO I HAVE TO ADD OIL TO ENSURE THAT I GET HOME OK. REALLY GETTING PERTURBED WITH THE LACK OF ACTION FROM THE DEALER. NOTICED YOU HAVE INFO ABOUT THE PROBLEM ON YOUR SITE BUT I HAVE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT A RECALL FROM MY DEALER.
VEHICLE BURNS A QUART OF SYNTHETIC OIL EVERY 2800'MILES. DEALERSHIP SAYS THAT'S NORMAL. I SAY THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE OIL CONSUMPTION.
ISSUE: SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION. 2013 SUBARU LEGACY. FIRST OCCURRENCE WHEN SLOWLY PULLING INTO DRIVEWAY. CAR SURGED FORWARD WITH HIGH ENGINE REVS. DEALER APPLIED SOFTWARE UPDATE, BUT PROBLEM OCCURRED AGAIN ONE MONTH LATER WHEN SLOWLY DRIVING UP TO A MAIL BOX AT THE POST OFFICE. THIS LATEST TIME, CAR WAS SLOWLY MOVING FORWARD - AND THEN 3 HIGH ENGINE REVS AND SURGED FORWARD BEFORE I TURNED OFF THE IGNITION. WHEN I RESTARTED THE CAR, THE SAME THING HAPPENED - WITH THE HIGH ENGINE REVS AND SURGING FORWARD. AFTER LETTING THE CAR SIT FOR A FEW MINUTES, I WAS ABLE TO START THE CAR AND DRIVE THE CAR NORMALLY. IF THERE HAD BEEN ANOTHER CAR IN FRONT OF ME, I WOULD HAVE PLOWED INTO THAT CAR. THIS IS A VERY UNSAFE CONDITION. DEALER NOW HAS THE CAR AND IS ATTEMPTING TO RE-CREATE THE PROBLEM.
I received a recall letter about problem with the Engine, They did to Tess at 1200 miles each but the car runs out of oil between 25 and 3000 mile every time but they did nothing about it
THE VEHICLE HAS A CVT TRANSMISSION. WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE WHEN THE SPEED HAS STABILIZED ABOVE 40 MPH THE ENGINE RPM RUNS AT 1750 -1800. MILEAGE WAS IN THE AREA OF 37-40 MPG. I NOTICED MILEAGE DROPPING AND THE ENGINE RPM WAS SETTLING ABOUT 2000-2100. AFTER SOME RESEARCH I FOUND OUT THE THE ONLY WAY I COULD GET THE RPM TO DROP INTO THE NORMAL RANGE WAS TO TURN OFF THE HEATER FAN OR TURN THE TEMP TO THE COLDEST SETTING AND THE RPM WOULD DROP FROM THE 2000 RANGE TO NORMAL ABOUT 1750. THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY TO MAKE THE RPM DROP TO THIS RANGE. CONTACT SUBARU AND THEY ADVISED THIS WAS NORMAL. I ASKED THE CONTACT PERSON IF THIS WAS YOUR VEHICLE WOULD YOU CONSIDER THIS NORMAL. SHE SAID NO. SO I HAVE BEEN PURSING THIS THROUGH SUBARU WITH NO RESULTS. ITS DANGEROUS TO HAVE TO SHIFT THE VEHICLE WITH THE HEATER CONTROLS. I NEED HELP IN THIS MATTER. *JS
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 TO THE BOTTOM OF IT AND IF I FIND OUT THEY ARE HIDING SOMETHING, THEN THEY CAN TALK TO MY ATTORNEY AND THE NEWS MEDIA. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2014 I DROVE 799 MILES FOR WORK AND WAS HALFWAY HOME OF A 4 HOUR COMMUTE AND THAT STUPID LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN AND BEGAN BLINKING EVERY TEN MILES OR SO. THE CAR IS GOING IN TOMORROW BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO BRING IT IN BEFOREHAND; AND IT'S BEEN ROUGHLY 3000 MILES SINCE THE LAST OIL CHANGE. *TR
SINCE THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED I HAD TO ADD AT LEAST ONE QUART OF OIL TO THE ENGINE BETWEEN EACH RECOMMENDED OIL CHANGE. I INFORMED THE DEALER WHO HAD ME RETURN APPROX 1300 MILES AFTER MY LAST OIL CHANGE, WHICH I DID. THE DEALER INDICATED TO ME THAT THE OIL LEVEL WAS FINE. BY 3,700 MILES THE OIL WARNING LIGHT CAME ON AND I HAD TO ADD A QUART OF OIL. THE SUBARU HAS APPROX 24,550 MILES. I HAVE NEVER OWNED A VEHICLE WHERE I HAD TO ADD OIL PRIOR TO SCHEDULED OIL CHANGE. *TR
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 BECAUSE IT BURNS OIL. MY QUESTION HERE IS, WHAT GOOD IS IT TO CONTINUE TO REPAIR A CAR, WHEN THE CAR HAS SOME BASIC ENGINE TROUBLE, WHICH THE DEALERSHIP CANNOT DIAGNOSE? THE PROBLEM STILL REMAINS AND MY SAFETY IS AT RISK. I AM ALSO NOT COMFORTABLE OPENING THE HOOD, POURING THE OIL, AND WATCHING THE ODOMETER ALL THE TIME TO SEE THE MILEAGE ON THE CAR. THAT IS NOT THE PURPOSE OF BUYING A NEW CAR. THE CUSTOMER SHOULD NOT BE PUT IN A POSITION OF CONSTANTLY GOING BACK AND FORTH TO A CAR DEALERSHIP ESPECIALLY WHEN THE DEALERSHIP HAS ALREADY TRIED TO SOLVE THIS ISSUE AND FAILED TO DO SO. PLEASE UNDERSTAND MY SITUATION AND PLEASE ADVISE THE SUBARU COMPANY TO GIVE ME A NEW CAR WITH THEIR GOLD WARRANTY, OR REFUND THE PURCHASE PRICE. UPDATED 4/7/2016*JS
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
2013 SUBARU LEGACY. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO VEHICLE ACCELERATION PROBLEMS. *SMD THE CONSUMER STATED THE ENGINE STALLED QUITE FREQUENTLY ON ACCELERATION, USUALLY AT SPEEDS OF 35 MPH. IT WOULD OCCUR WHEN GOING UP SLIGHT HILLS, DOWN HILL AND LEVEL ROADS. THE ENGINE WOULD RE-START ITSELF AFTER LOOSING 5-10 MPH. APPLYING THE ACCELERATOR MADE NO DIFFERENCE. THE DEALER REPROGRAMMED THE COMPUTER, BUT THE PROBLEM RETURNED, SHORTLY THEREAFTER. THE DEALER WAS UNABLE TO FIND ANYTHING WRONG.
I want to add my report of oil loss in the hope a recall is made. I found out after purchase that 2012-2014 or 2015 has a known problem with piston rings. With normal local driving I need to top off the oil every couple of weeks. With longer trips, say a couple hours of driving one way, the oil gets a quarter to half way down on the dipstick. I carry oil for all roadtrips and can't forget to keep checking the level. My understanding from many sources online is that Subaru is aware they put in bad piston rings and just call it good enough or within spec, but dumping so much oil isn't right. This isn't a wear and tear problem, although it can get worse over time and lead to other problems. The problem goes away when the rings and the engine block is replaced. Scotty Kilmer on Youtube tells a story of a customer that complained enough and after being persistent had it fixed for free (piston rings and block), and still has no oil loss issues after 60k miles. He also recommended reporting it here. This engine is used in various Subaru's, not just the Legacy.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026