I want to get at least 200,000 mile on this car. Any advice on Subaru
would be most welcome. Thanks
Hi,
In another thread we were talking about a fellow who got a million miles
on his Saab. You'll see this quote in several of the reports on this car
if you Google it: "Gilbert attributes his vehicle's longevity, other
than being a Saab, to 'maintenance and rigorous fluid
replacement.'" In addition, at least one site reports he used "premium,
synthetic oil" though no brand was listed. (There's a fellow in the
Guinness book w/ 1.2 mil on a Honda who used Castrol Syntec--but I'd
suggest the "rigorous fluid replacement" part of the regimen was more
important than actual brand before someone jumps on that broken down
bandwagon.) Another site reports strict adherence to the book's
maintenance schedule.
Ok, what points am I trying to make? For longevity, CLEAN fluids are a
must. 200k miles is no longer "that far" for many cars today, assuming
decent maintenance.
Over and above that, look carefully at what the book says, NOT what the
dealer says. As mentioned, dealers will upsell when possible to make an
extra buck. Then, if time and/or money are tight (aren't they always?),
and you CAN'T do everything at once, prioritize the maintenance schedule
according to "this could kill me, this could kill the engine, this won't
hurt if I wait until next paycheck" kinds of things.
Tires, brakes and the braking system would be "this could kill me"
items. Timing belts, oil and filters would be "this could kill the
engine" items. Changing the spark plugs and gearbox oil could "wait
until next paycheck." You see where I'm going?
Figure out what maintenance items you can do yourself to save a buck or
two, or get "better" products for the same money. Example: my local
Jiffy Lube advertises a Pennzoil oil change for $39.95. You'll get up to
five qts of regular dino oil and a Pennzoil house-branded version of
Fram's bottom line filter. For the same $40, you can put five qts of
Mobil 1 and an OEM or "premium" aftermarket filter in there like Mobil 1
or Wix. Or you can go dino and "standard" filter for around $20. The
choice is yours! Then you can leave only the items you CAN'T do to the
dealer...
"Extra" maintenance, such as 3000 mile oil changes when the book says
5000 miles would fall under the definition of "rigorous" in my book, but
will NOT hurt the car! They MIGHT help, and will take a few extra
pennies from your pocket, but how many oil changes can you do for just
ONE extra car payment that you might be able to avoid by extending the
useful miles from your car? To err on the side of caution will probably
save you money in the long run.
Finally, when it comes to items like filters... you won't go wrong using
OEM filters throughout. They usually won't cost any more than "premium"
aftermarket items, and you know for sure they meet factory performance
specs (as opposed to simply meeting warranty requirements.) Items that
advertise "enhanced performance" are suspect, be they blue pills or
"million mile air filters." Use them at your own risk. "Cheap"
aftermarket filters may or may not serve well, depending on the overall
maintenance schedule. For example, a $2.50 house branded oil filter w/
"no name" $1.50/qt dino oil that meets the appropriate API or other
specs, changed every 2500 miles, will probably serve as well as (if not
better than) stretching a $10 filter w/ $6/qt synthetic oil out to 10k
mile change intervals. As with many things, only controlled testing
(which most of us aren't equipped to do) will tell, so let's NOT start
THAT war again, it's just a suggestion.
Good luck!
Rick
