I have posted here from time to time about my lowly Kia Soul from 2015. We’re currently at 91,450 or so in mileage. I just found out thanks to a helpful Valvoline tech that we’re burning oil at an accelerated rate. Apparently, my stupid behind doesn’t know how to properly check oil, because when I checked it 2 weeks ago it appeared to be full. However, yesterday the guy said the oil was barely registering on the dipstick. There’s absolutely no sign of leaks, so this mother freaking GDI engine has to be burning what’s missing.
This is all backed up by the fact that towards the end of an oil change interval, I’m getting a periodic knock on acceleration. It appears that this was my poor 2.0L engine starving for oil. After the oil change, there’s magically no noise at all. In the back of my mind I kept thinking that the noise sounded like sucking too little fluid through a straw, and it seems like that’s very close to what was happening.
I have an offer in hand from CarMax from an appointment yesterday, and they’ll give me $5,500 for my current car.
This leads me to go looking for alternatives. I’m trying not to have a huge payment, so I’m trying to stay under $10,000. That prevents me from considering any Toyotas or Hondas unless they are very old or very high mileage.
Looking around, I found a 2015 Ford Fusion hybrid ( titanium edition) with 115,000 miles for $11,000 from a local Honda dealership that I trust. I also found a 2017 Ford Fusion hybrid at a Ford dealership that I do not know about 40 miles away at $9,880 with 109,000 miles.
I know Fords are not generally well regarded these days, but all my research points to Fusion hybrids being reliable, lasting up to 250,000 miles or more. Given that I’ve put less than 92,000 miles on my Kia in 10 years, it seems like either of these might be a good buy for me that would be well within my budget.
With all that said, I invite you guys to play: Is it better than my 2015 Kia Soul?
The oil change interval is the interval between oil changes where the manufacturer will cover damage/failure of the powertrain under warranty. If it’s 10,000 miles, you should be doing it at half that mileage or less. Some engines (especially high mileage engines) will burn oil, or consume oil.
If you haven’t had a coolant change, and aren’t doing proper oil changes at a reasonable interval your lack of proper maintenance is probably causing this premature failure.
It is likely that you will get a car with similar problems or problems that will cost the same amount to fix. So unless you’re planning to buy a car that’s cheap to fix and has some form of warranty, you’re just borrowing trouble.
Change the oil at a more frequent interval and save your money. Do maintenance the car needs (tire rotations, oil changes, coolant flushes, brake fluid flushes, tune up, filters etc) and check your fluids between changes.
I have been doing the oil changes significantly sooner than recommended, so I’ve got that under control. I’ll just have to be checking the oil in the proper fashion going forward in between changes and adding when I need it. Am I just going to add a little bit at a time, checking readings in between additions until it reads full?
I change my own air filters regularly. The coolant has been flushed really recently. The only thing that I have left to do right now is have a transmission fluid exchange. It is overdue for that. I haven’t had any problems with misfires that I’m aware of, so I don’t think I’m quite ready to change the plugs and coil packs, but I do know that that’s on the horizon. I’ll look at my maintenance schedule and see if there’s anything that I’m missing.
I think the reason I’ve been so clueless about the oil burning is that I didn’t see any leaks anywhere, and I’m not trailing black smoke, so I assumed there would be no issues with oil loss without those signs.
Usually you’d see oil in the exhaust if you’ve got a bad catalytic converter or the like bad valve stem seals. Most of the time that won’t happen just because the engine is burning oil unless you constantly run it hot/low on oil.
You mention that you don’t have a misfire/engine’s not running rough and that the car drives fine with exception of when the oil is low and you get knock.
If you had lack of power on acceleration, blue smoke from the engine compartment while the engine is running at op temp, or oil in the coolant system (you’d notice that since the coolant was recently changed) I’d say it’s time to get out from under this car and walk away with whatever you can get for it.
But based on what you’ve said in the thread it doesn’t sound like you have those kinds of problems.
Burning oil usually happens because of worn piston rings or the like. Maybe bad seals. Maybe a bad oil pump. Water pumps that go bad and cause a lot of buildup because of in efficient heat dissipation. It seems most likely given what you’ve said that it’s worn rings.
Topping off the oil is probably a better bet than buying a used car in the current market. The used car prices still haven’t fully recovered from the pandemic price surge.
Car max will buy your car, sell it at or just slightly below market value, and some poor SOB will buy it and be stuck with it. You’re likely to end up in the same boat as the person who buys your vehicle with only the amount of money you’ll get from the sale.
Ford’s Fusion has had various recalls and problems. If you’re buying from a dealership they’re required by law to have those recalls completed before you buy the vehicle. Make absolutely sure they have all been done. You can check this via the NTSB website by inputting the VIN of the vehicle.
They had freezing latches, bad shifter cable bushings, degraded brake pedal bumpers various electrical module recalls that may just require software updates but that depends by year, seatbelt recalls, ABS/HCU recalls, and front brake flexible hoses that could rupture and were recalled.
If it’s Ford’s fault make sure they fix it. I cannot stress this enough.
I wouldn’t buy another used car unless I was absolutely sure it was mint.
Get a different mechanic/tech you trust to have a look at any car you’re considering.
Dave’s Auto Center on YouTube has a used car buyer list of things to check that I recommend.
https://shop.davesautorepairutah.com/products/used-car-inspection-guide?srsltid=AfmBOor7XwTIRywdZ2q9ANkFqvsJOdinU2DPmHC6ZzMY3Wkr0bMIDj4F
I think you’re right. What’s not super comforting is that Kia expects the damned things to burn oil, apparently. They’ll do a replacement if you burn an amount they consider beyond spec. The fact that there’s a consideration for how much oil it’s okay to burn tells me I’m likely never to be a customer again. I’ll be damned before I get anything that doesn’t have multi-port injection or dual injection going forward. From what I’ve learned, GDI can be okay, but city stop and go driving allows more chance for deposits. Someone here (a former Hyundai/Kia mechanic) advised me to take it on the road and put my foot down on it occasionally. I don’t know how much it helps, but I do have some visible exhaust when I do, so I feel like there’s some benefit, given that I’m usually way below highway speeds in my daily use.
I did read up on the Fusions and saw the issues. As long as you stick to the hybrids beyond the 2010-12 range and avoid the Ecoboost engines on the non-hybrids, they can go over 250,000 miles, apparently. Some people swear by them. Of course, Ford no longer makes them 🤡
As I’ve said elsewhere, I really wish I could get another Honda or Toyota. I’ve got a CR-V hybrid for my wife, and I love that thing.
When I do eventually get another one, I do plan to research everything and get a prepurchase inspection, for sure.
I wish I could say Kia are the only automotive company that expect their cars to consume some oil. Ford has a problem with it in the 5.0 lt engines. So much so that last I checked they were replacing whole engines on certain model year F series trucks and their Expedition.
My damn Mini has the same problem. I gotta check the oil every other week and top off. mini says it’s normal. I’ll probably end up having the engine rebuilt at some point over it.
I can’t believe how expensive used cars still are and I wish I had better news. But yeah. With a GDI you gotta drive it hard occasionally in order to burn off that buildup. I’d follow that advice.