Cost of 30K mile maintenace of Outback

[Adam Helberg]

Just got back from the dealer from a 30K mile maintenance work on a 2002 Outback
Legacy, which had basically no problems. The cost came out to over $900 with taxes.
It seems very expensive. I'd be interested to hear what others have paid for this
service.

Adam

 

[Blair Baucom]

I paid a little over $500 in St. Louis. I was not happy with the work. What
did they do for $900?

Blair

 

[Todd H.]

Just got back from the dealer from a 30K mile maintenance work on a 2002 Outback
Legacy, which had basically no problems. The cost came out to over $900 with taxes.
It seems very expensive. I'd be interested to hear what others have paid for this
service.

What all did it include? It's not uncommon for dealers to tack on
goodies that aren't in the factory service schedule... $900 does
sound pretty stiff for a 30k service.

$510.55 is what a 30k service (service level C) goes for in suburban
Chicago. Includes: Oil, filter, plugs, air/fuel filters, cooling
system service top off fluids, lube susp and seering clean throttle
body, service brakes, replace brake fluid adjust parking brake,
automatic transaxle service, rotate tires, check tire pressure,
inspect clutch lines, hoses, adjust clutch pedal free play, lube
throttle linkage, inspect power steering hoses, adj drive belts,
inspect cuirse control, front/rear bearings, manual tranny service,
rear diff service.

For $860 you get service level D, called for at 60k miles, which adds
replacement of timing belt and cam belt tensioner.

So for $900, if you got a new timing belt and timing belt tensioner,
you got a decent reasonable price. But, those services were done
unnecessarily early.



Bes tRegards,

 

[Adam Helberg]

I paid a little over $500 in St. Louis. I was not happy with the work. What did they
do for $900?
Blair

Besides washing my car and giving me a rental:

wheel alignment
service and clean throttle body
auto trans flush and change
fuel filter
spark plugs
cooling system flush
rotate tires and rebalance
change air filter


This was done in Orange County CA
Adam

 

[Porgy Tirebiter]

Just got back from the dealer from a 30K mile maintenance work on a 2002
Outback Legacy, which had basically no problems. The cost came out to over
$900 with taxes. It seems very expensive. I'd be interested to hear what
others have paid for this service.

Adam

Congratulations!!!
You now know WHY Subaru owners HATE the dealers. Considering the $900 costs,
this should have included 2 hours with a world-class prostitute in a high
class hotel.
If your going to get fucked for $900, you at least should get to enjoy it,
and be a fine memory for a lifetime.
This sounds like a regular "Subaru" fucking indeed. Wait till the car is out
of warranty! Time to squeal like a pig....

 

[Adam Helberg]

Congratulations!!!
You now know WHY Subaru owners HATE the dealers. Considering the $900 costs, this
should have included 2 hours with a world-class prostitute in a high class hotel.
If your going to get fucked for $900, you at least should get to enjoy it, and be a
fine memory for a lifetime.
This sounds like a regular "Subaru" fucking indeed. Wait till the car is out of
warranty! Time to squeal like a pig....

I didn't get a call girl but I did get my tires cleaned and the use of a Saturn Vue
for a few hours.

Adam

 

[John Rethorst]

For $860 you get service level D, called for at 60k miles, which adds
replacement of timing belt and cam belt tensioner.

Where can I get the list for service level D? I'm almost due for the 60K, and
don't want the dealer to do more than the mfr recommends.

I thought the timing belt wasn't changed until 105K.

 

[Todd H.]

Where can I get the list for service level D? I'm almost due for the 60K, and
don't want the dealer to do more than the mfr recommends.

I thought the timing belt wasn't changed until 105K.

Service level D is everything I listed caringly for service level C
plus
replace timing belt
inspect cam belt tensioner
adjust engine idle speed (which is a joke, the ECU does this)
adjust ignition timing (another worthless service)
inspect spark plug wires (whoopee)


Yeah, the timing belt is spec'd at 105k but in Chicago at least, they
start looking pretty ratty around 60k anyway and are generally
accepted to be changed at that interval. My prior vehicles all had
60k intervalson the timing belt, and the 2.5 H4 is an interference
engine...

 

[Todd H.]

Congratulations!!!
You now know WHY Subaru owners HATE the dealers. Considering the $900 costs,
this should have included 2 hours with a world-class prostitute in a high
class hotel.
If your going to get fucked for $900, you at least should get to enjoy it,
and be a fine memory for a lifetime.
This sounds like a regular "Subaru" fucking indeed. Wait till the car is out
of warranty! Time to squeal like a pig....

You're a little ray of sunshine.

I'll share a bit of truth at my own expense. I actually ended up
paying more (I believe due to parts markup) getting a 90k service done
independently than I would have at the dealer. Same with a full brake
job including premium rotors and pads. The dealer on these Subes is
not always the worst possible deal. Now I do know that the mechanic
I went to actually knew his ass from a hole in the ground unlike some
of hte inexperienced folks at my closest dealer, but the truth of the
matter is that Subarus are simply not cheap to maintain no matter how
ya slice it. The parts cost will get ya, and the dealer is sometimes
the only place to get some of the parts. THe independents will have
to get it from them, then will add some overhead for the honor...

Best REgards,

 

[nobody >]

Besides washing my car and giving me a rental:

wheel alignment
service and clean throttle body
auto trans flush and change
fuel filter
spark plugs
cooling system flush
rotate tires and rebalance
change air filter


This was done in Orange County CA
Adam

Was the air filter platinum?

I've had most of those done as separate jobs over the last year, I had
no history of what had been done in the previous 100K miles on my '00 OB.

$70 Wheel alignment.
$130 Auto trans flush/service
$230 Fuel/air filters, cooling sys flush, plugs
____
$430



I can't see LA being much different from Seattle on prices.

 

[Ed]

I can't see LA being much different from Seattle on prices.

When I left California 12 years ago shop rates were already approaching
$65/hour!!!!

 

[Tcassette]

Most of the items on your list are not required by the factory maintenance
schedule at 30,000 miles (check your book). You need to specify that only
the services required by the book are to be done. When you don't, they feel
free to add in all sorts of high profit items. And Porgy as usual is too
full of groat cakes: most dealers for any brand, plus the independents,
will try to pad the service work order.

 

[nobody >]

When I left California 12 years ago shop rates were already approaching
$65/hour!!!!

Seattle runs from ~$55 to ~$105/hr. Price doesn't necessarily imply
performance.

 

[Kurt]

Where can I get the list for service level D? I'm almost due for the 60K, and
don't want the dealer to do more than the mfr recommends.

I thought the timing belt wasn't changed until 105K.

Anyone with any experience? I asked my local dealer about the 105K
time frame (for an Imprezza WRX) and they said they haven't had any
problems waiting that long.

Most timing belts have a 60K replacement interval, even though on my
older Toyotas there is NO recommended service interval.

Also, time can be a big factor in timing belt life. My mother in law
had a low mileage Corolla, 17 years before it hit 60K. I inspected the
belt at about 15 years, looked fine. When it hit 60K two years later,
the belt was all checked and cracked on the back side.

As far as dealer charges, almost all dealers do far more than needed.
And charge accordingly. Check your manual for what is recommended.
Most folks will follow the 'severe' schedule. Check for things you can
do yourself. No sense paying someone $100 an hour to open a few clips
and replace the air filter. Besides, you might find that the
replacement interval is longer than 30K on many of the parts.

Probably the same with spark plugs (haven't changed them yet on the WRX,
but they can't be any worse than a Porsche).