In January I purchased a 2013 Suburban with 32k miles. I changed the oil with 6 qts synthetic and noticed the dipstick was at the third circle from the top full line. I know it was full though. After 4k miles it was low and I added a quart. The dipstick was back to about where it was when I did the oil change. Now with 5500 miles it is slightly lower again. It's minimal consumption but it's noticeable. Are other people's seeing this? I'll probably do another oil change before needing to add a second quart.

My 2005 Suburban used to take a qt sometimes between oil changes sometimes but as it got older, it actually used less oil. I sold it with 100k miles

 

Well, if you Google 5.3 oil consumption, you get 1.3 million results.

If you Google 5.3 AFM, you get 6.6 million hits.

More locally, you can read THIS. It's only 17 pages.

Note that none of the trucks in my sig have AFM engines.

 

I'm familiar with the AFM problem on 2007s. I'm curious as to what people are experiencing on later versions. Mine is a 2013 and the oil consumption I'm experiencing is consistent with what I got on my 2005, or maybe slightly worse.

There are a ton of these vehicles on the road with AFM and with very high mileage. I can't step out off a curb in NYC without almost getting run over by one. I took over a lease on my truck with a very favorable purchase price. I have until March 2016 to decide to buy it, or simply give it back. I plan on buying it but right now it's just a long test drive.

 

most manufactures consider oil burn to be normal...
Porsche LOVES to burn oil in their cars.
Sadly there's no in cabin 'add oil' light, other than the oil pressure gauge.
I now change the oil at 40% oil life left, as at 20% life left, it was down almost 2 quarts.
Also, my other car uses zero oil and zero oil changes... but.. ya know

I'm not sure this issue arises to the level of doing much other than adding a quart here and there...
It's not like you'd sell it just because you're wasting $5/month in oil... right? that's like a whopping 2 gallons of gas...

 

Consumer Reports did a story on oil consumption citing models from BMW and Subaru with excessive oil consumption. They don't consider any need for adding oil between oil changes to be normal although it's getting more common. No domestic brands were mentioned in that article.

 

That would be the same one I read:

Excessive Oil Consumption Isn't Normal - Consumer Reports

I found a really good one about BMW and oil changes... they reduced the oil change interval because they were secretly replacing batteries once a year...

they (like GM) turn off the alternator when it's 'not needed', and it's destroying batteries, making the cars unable to start once the batteries wear out.

It's CHEAPER, from BMW's side to replace a battery every year, vs. fix the software the controls the alternator... know why?

The additional drag on the engine would mean they'd have to retest and republish the EPA MPG rating, and then pay owners thousands because they would now have a lower MPG...

seems like a shame and wasteful... If it were my car, I'd just ask they fix the software to stop killing batteries...

I think it's also worth noting that most oil burners are the higher performance engines... or engines under load. My Tahoe burns more oil when towing the boat than when it's... not.

 

Funny how my 2006 Dodge Magnum Hemi that I bought new and sold recently with around 65k miles never burned oil and it used to come out almost as clean as it went in. That and it had cylinder deactivation too.