I bought my first Scooby bout a month ago now, ( my98, uk, v.nice!), generally made up with it! Next I registered with Scoobynet to get sound advice & help. After reading quite a few threads I'm now beginning to wonder if I've made the right decision? I would class myself as a reasonable DIYer but having read such things as an oil change involving removing spark plugs, ( which sounds like another major job ), and disconnecting sensors, then engines going 'pop' afterwards I'm starting to be put off doing what was always the simplest of tasks! Dont get me wrong, I knew when I bought the car that it was 'different' to your run of the mill Vectra but surely at the end end of the day its just a 2.0 litre turbo charged engine? They're not that fragile are they?? The first thing I generally do when buying a car is change the oil,filters,plugs etc so I know they've been done but for the first time ever I'm actually thinking of paying a garage to do it all for me for fear of me getting something wrong and it blowing up!?!? Can I just treat it like a normal car or have I missed the plot and bought something I'm out of my depth with?? I hope not cause so far I love the car but cant help feeling paranoid every time I hear a new noise and start thinking it must be serious or expensive, or both!!?

 

hi phil
welcome to scooby ownership.personally mate i think if your used to doing your own servicing etc just do it,my dads done mine for me for past 3 years and hes a teacher lol never had any problems,he usually does a major service once a year but changes the oil every 3000 miles.some people will probably tell u not to touch the car,but personally i dont have the money to keep taking it to a specialist whenever i need a service.
on the other hand if uve bought the car with full service history(mine hasnt)then u might want to keep that up.
not sure where ure from mate but subaru service centre in sheffield and scooby clinic in chesterfield are spot on with all your scooby needs or questions.

 

Phil, a lot of the stories on here about chocolate engines and blaming certain things are basically b@ll@cks. For an oil change just do it as you would a "normal" car. Ie drain warm oil, remove old filter. The only thing I have done differently is prefill the filter (some people leave it over night, don't know why). Also you can change the sump plug and washer as they only cost a few quid. There is no need to remove spark plugs imo, some people say this so that the engine doesn't fire when you first turn it over so that there is less load on the bearings, and you can get the pressure built up etc. However think about it, there is still load on the bearings doing this.
Maybe if you didnt refill the oil straight away after draining then there could be logic in this, however with modern oils there will still be a coating of oil on the bearings etc, so if your filling immediately then don't worry about it.

At the end of the day its what you feel comfortable with, some people do it normally, some go to extremes.
Of course I cannot be held liable if your engine goes pop!!

 

They can take plenty of abuse - it's badly modified or jap imports running on the wrong fuel that generally go bang.

You can change the oil yourself but it isn't simply of case of draining out and filling up again... better to follow the correct procedure, including turning over with the crank sensor unplugged, but I certainly wouldn't bother taking the spark plugs out. The car does need that extra little bit of care to minimise the likely hood of problems.

 

Thanks guys!!
I think i'll do the 'simpler' jobs myself but will have to take it to a dealer for some servicing as it has got full service history and i'd like to keep that up for when i come to sell it.
I think if i'd have read some of these threads 1st i might well have been put off buying one but at the moment i'm glad i did!
Thanks again and heres to many trouble free miles!!!

 

I'd rather take it to the scrap dealer than a Subaru dealer.
If you have to take it anywhere, a specialist is probably better suited..
Im not saying that because i work for one either.

Andy

 

I am one of the unfortunates whos engine has gone bang, not sure exactly how yet until API take a look hopefully next week.

You will find on scoobynet that some people go over the top when talking about how to do certain things on the impreza,

I would bet £100 that if you started a thread asking, "whats the best way to open your door and sit in your car" you would get a hundred and one different ways to get in your car,

"dont put your left foot in first and open the door with your middle finger of your left hand as the inbalence will upset the ECU, in turn causing a BS sensor to use too much petrol, putting the timing out and melting a piston", just to give an example.

You get a lot of nonsence mixed in with truth so its up to you to make decisions based on commonsense,

Look after your car and hopefully it should last for years,

On reflection though if i knew what i now know about the impreza i would of got an evo 6, clio 187 or honda type R because if something does go wrong their are lots of companies out their waiting to take a lot of money off your hands, *******s

 

Hello Mate. Standard oil change will do it just fine. There's lots of scaremongers on here.

 

Hi

Do it your self if you can .I had a belt change and service at subaru dealer cost £500.That included a brake clean and check.I noticed a few weeks later that one of the front wheels had more brake dust on it than the other.I took the wheel off to find that the slider on the caliper had seized.Sorted myself.

Ant

 

lo phil, guess wot, im in the same boat as u lolz, but got my baby in november.. i dont have to do the things myself, heheh my best m8s a mechanic, and he just bought a scooby lolz so im well sorted

hope u have many happy trouble free motoring

 

Thanks again for the replies!
Especially Dave M ..... how I laughed! ( not at your engine going bang of course! ), at your reply because thats exactly what I was thinking! One minute I'm thinking its ok and I'll do all the servicing myself then I'll read someones reply and be too scared to even look at my car in the wrong way for fear of it melting on the driveway!!
But again, thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply, its always reassuring to hear from others to put my mind at rest and stop me from hyperventilating into a paper bag!!

 

They are pretty tough cars, I've done all services myself with no problem. Started off with bog standard oil changes, after 2 years of ownership and hours on this board I now prefill the oil filter (no hassle) and disconnect cam pos sensor and let it crank over for a while before firing her up (it is very easy to do so can do no harm).

The mechasnic I talked to at APi doesnt even disconnect the cam sensor, he just turns the engine over by giving it a couple of brief flicks of the key, and then starts normally - and he should know what these cars need!!