Subaru owners

[lisaross]

I know many on here have subaru's - myself included I have a 2012 forester - my question is the maintenance schedule they recommend do you get it? I have about 21,000 miles on. Y car and just did the 15,000 mile maintenance - cost just under 400 bucks at the dealer - this included oil change - tire rotation new filters - and a bunch of other stuff. I probably didn't need all of it and perhaps over priced -

What have you done with your cars - how many miles on them etc

Thanks

 

[scrapquitler]

I know many on here have subaru's - myself included I have a 2012 forester - my question is the maintenance schedule they recommend do you get it? I have about 21,000 miles on. Y car and just did the 15,000 mile maintenance - cost just under 400 bucks at the dealer - this included oil change - tire rotation new filters - and a bunch of other stuff. I probably didn't need all of it and perhaps over priced -

What have you done with your cars - how many miles on them etc

Thanks

We have a 2008 Outback with 148K on it and a 2014 Forester with 34K on it. We do all the suggested maintenance as per the dealers schedule and have never had a single problem with either car other than headlights/running lights out on the outback. DH changes the cabin air filter himself because it only takes a few minutes and a $10 part and they charge $70 to do it. We buy new and drive until they die, so for us, spending the money on maintenance is a no brainer because it saves us $$$ on new car payments. I fully expect to get 250K out of each of these vehicles.

We buy the tires for the Outback at a local tire place that I like better than the dealership. The Forester we are getting the tires from the dealership because when be bought it they were running a 'free tires for life' promo (I know the price of those tires was built into the price of the car) as long as you get them rotated every 5K miles and aligned every 15K miles.

 

[Ranger111]

If you can't or won't do the work yourself, you CAN get it done at an independent garage. You really don't save much on labor (usually), but you do save on parts, since a Subaru cabin filter from Subaru will probably be $40 while an aftermarket bought through your independent garage may be only $20 (and $10 if you bought it yourself).

Regardless, get the work done -- yes -- some of it is probably not needed, but if you don't know much about cars, better to be safe.

 

[LJSquishy]

We have a 2005 Subaru Legacy and follow the recommended service/maintenance schedule, however we have everything done at a local shop rather than at the dealership. You're paying an unnecessary premium by having work done at the dealership.

 

[tvguy]

Hats off to all you who keep your Subarus up. Seems the circle of folks at my work that have Subarus think they don't need oil changes or other upkeep. You all stand a much better chance of hitting 250,000 miles.

 

[Swimalie]

We have a 2011 Forester. We have had most of the maintenance done by the dealer as directed but my husband can do quite a bit of it as well and has. So far the only issue we've had was a plastic part that was wearing down over time and had to be replaced. It gave off a burning rubber smell and only cost $50 to replace by the dealer. We had to get new tires when a screw got in to one of them. We had a "free tire" deal with our dealer, too but when we called to ask about it, they said "Oh, you wouldn't qualify anyway. Most people don't since we make the terms very hard". We went with a local tire shop and got much better tires over those on the car when we bought it and started going to a new dealer after that comment.

 

[a742246]

Our 2004 Outback had 247,000 miles on it before we gave it away to our DD and SIL who put on another 5,000 before running it into the ground. Could have lasted another 50,000 miles but.... Had a 2011 impreza but traded it in for a 2014 cross-track. Love the cross-track. Impreza was too low down to the ground. Yes, keep up with the maintenance we always go to the dealer and any recalls they are on top of it.

 

[Judique]

Do the maintenance on any car. Change your oil, oil filter, air filters. Check your fluids. Rotate your tires, check your belt tension and wear.

To Swimalie - just had a screw in my tire and Goodyear where I bought it repaired it for free because the screw was in an area that could be repaired. I have a tire warranty where if the tire had to be replaced Goodyear would replace it based on wear and mileage at a prorated price. This warranty saved me quite a bit on my previous tire accident (on a previous set) where the tire had to be replaced. I know nothing about dealers tires for life program, but I would definitely check out the tire quality before I paid for it. Usually the tires that come with a vehicle are of adequate quality for this area.

 

[whatname]

I just bought my second outback. My other one was a 2005 with 171,000 miles. I had regular maintenance done, usually by the dealer. I had terrible luck with after factory parts - axles, cv joints, wheel-bearings. They all wore out after being replaced. The dealership told me after factory parts do not last long on subaru. I also had a local garage tell me the same thing when I checked them for prices. Maybe I just had bad luck. I don't know. I will only get the dealership parts from now on though.

 

[MickeyManiac]

I'm on my third Subaru. I had my 1993 Impreza for 13 years and it was still going strong when I decided I wanted something new. We did the 30,60 & 90,000 maintenance on it. I now have a 2008 Legacy with 111,000 miles on it. We have always done the regularly scheduled maintenance and have not had any trouble with any of the cars. I just replaced the timing belt in the Legacy (scheduled at 105,000 or 110,000-can't remember) and while it was pricey, I still felt like it was an investment in my car. I plan to drive it for at least another 4 years and will keep up with all big maintenance from the dealer. We do brakes and oil changes at a mechanics shop closer to home. We bought tires from Sams club that were they were much better than the ones the dealer sold us.

 

[debster812]

DS is currently driving my old 2004 Forrester with 187K miles on it and still going strong. I have a 2014 Impreza Sport, that we got last May. So far, DH has done all of the minor scheduled maintenance himself (with the endorsement of a good friend of ours who is the parts manager at our dealership).

 

[Swimalie]

Do the maintenance on any car. Change your oil, oil filter, air filters. Check your fluids. Rotate your tires, check your belt tension and wear.

To Swimalie - just had a screw in my tire and Goodyear where I bought it repaired it for free because the screw was in an area that could be repaired. I have a tire warranty where if the tire had to be replaced Goodyear would replace it based on wear and mileage at a prorated price. This warranty saved me quite a bit on my previous tire accident (on a previous set) where the tire had to be replaced. I know nothing about dealers tires for life program, but I would definitely check out the tire quality before I paid for it. Usually the tires that come with a vehicle are of adequate quality for this area.

The new ones ended up being Michelins, I believe. My husband puts 58 miles a day on his car and his tires lasted 8 years so we went with the same brand, which I believe is Michelin. The screw went in to Yokohama tires from the dealer and they were horrible. The 2nd winter we had them I slid on snow. Could have been a horrible accident as I slid in to the intersection but traffic was stopped at a light. They were bad in rain, too. My sister got her Forester a year later and made them take the Yokohamas off since she knew how bad they were Glad you have had good experiences with Goodyear. That's good to know for the future.

 

[yoopermom]

I have a 2003 Forester with 245,000 miles on it (planning on having a party for it when it turns a quarter million!), drive almost 100 miles roundtrip daily to work. It's never been to a dealer since the day it rolled off the lot, but we have a trusted local mechanic who checks it regularly. I do go through tires regularly, but otherwise it's the hardest working car I've ever seen.

My mom has a minivan that the local dealership tried to get her to spend over 1K on for "regular maintenance" issues, she went to a trusted independent shop, they said the need wasn't immediate, and the eventual cost will be closer to $400....

Terri