Reading the long term test of the Auto Express Subaru Legacy, I was amazed to see that it needs a service after only 1000 miles and this cost £150!
Is this a misprint or is this really the case? I thought these early services were now done away with? If the garage do need to see it after 1000 miles, surely the service should be free?
Must be annoying buying a car knowing that in a couple of weeks time you are going to need to arrange to book it back in!
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Just checked the service book for my 2000 model and yes, there is a service at 1000 miles then every 7500. This is now 10k or 12k I believe. But why worry? They currently come with 3 years or 60k free servicing.
Maybe relatively frequent oil changes are the reason why Subarus last for galactic mileages? Apart from first class engineering of course.
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Had mine done a while ago - bought direct so not on the free servicing deal.
1000 mile service cost £35 (parts) - supplying dealer picks up the labour tab. Only an oil change and check over and done while I waited.
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My subaru had no 1000 mile service but required a minor (oil change) service every 12500km or 6 months, major annual service in between.
It is now fairly unusual for a manufacturer to require 6 monthly oil changes even if HJ recommends them for all cars. But the wisdom in Oz was that the all alloy engine and particularly the narrow oilways in the two cylinder heads were susceptible to sludge if not kept clean with fresh oil. I stuck with this regime as subarus do seem to keep running and running in outback NSW.
StarGazer
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My Legacy had the 1000 mile service free, and supposedly the 12000 mile service free too. But, I also had the oils in the automatic transmission and the transfer boxes and their filters changed too. The four wheel alignment was also adjusted at the same time. That cost me just a bit more than £200.00.
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Customers buying direct from the factory may be able to order a two-year supply pack of spare parts to be placed in the car. For an Outback that costs US$ 2000 (against US$ 750 for a Nissan X-Trail 2.2 diesel) so Subaru's free servicing offer looks good when labour is added in. I don't know what the spares pack includes but I suspect Subaru are a manufacturer that doesn't stint on its servicing requirements. Frankly, I'd rather pay for more frequent oils, filters etc than suffer a major and very expensive failure because parts were not replaced until their theoretical service life was reached. Twenty thousand miles on the same oil - no thanks!
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Subarus used to, and probably still do, come with 'running in' oil when new, hence the need for the change for proper oil after 1000 miles.
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I bought my Outback in February so am eligible for the current three years free sevicing offer but even if I were not the 1000 mile service would have been worthwhile for £50 or so. Even with modern machining and build methods brand new engines probably throw off a bit of swarf and muck in the first few hundred miles and for blokes like me who intend to run the car for ten years or so clean oil is the most important single item in the servicing regime. If you change your car every couple of years I suppose it does'nt matter though.
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