The next step. Consumption test. They changed the oil (was only 500 miles from needing to) and said to put it back at 1200 miles to check the level. The service rep said he thought Subaru’s specs allowed for 1/3 of a quart loss in that time period. I then asked if at 3600 miles, according to spec, if the acceptable range would be 1 quart. His answer was yes. I explained to him (as calmly as I could) that a quart of oil gone at 3600 miles was unacceptable if the change frequency is 6k miles. Anyway, I’ll take it back there in two weeks to check it out and go from there.
The rest of the puzzle…I called the place that did the last oil change to see if they had a record of how much oil was in it when I put it in. have put. It may have been low from the last oil change. I hope that’s the case and I’m not burning oil. If I have to add a quart of oil between oil changes, I’ll trade it.