I've owned my R plate Scooby for almost a year now and have found
it is not too difficult a car to work on. What do other owners think? Also,what about the cost involved when putting a car into
a dealer and the satisfaction of doing the job yourself? I realise
that in order to keep a warranty valid many owners of newer cars
have to use a dealer and servicing their own car is not an option.

I have every intention of servicing my own car (I just bought it) - to a point. It's still going to be going for it's regular services with explicit instructions that anything 'extra' that needs doing is left alone, e.g., new pads etc.. Hopefully, that way I will maintain the service history, and therefore the secondhand value.

- Mark.

do most of out there take your scoob to the main subura workshops or general garages? I need a service but dont want to be ripped off its a 50k service on a 94 wrx, do you no what sort of price i would pay and what is done?

cheers
not to clued up on all this, so your advice would be great.

Scottscooby,

There is no reason why an independent garage cannot do as good
a job on a Subaru as a main dealer. However,when it comes to
selling a car,many people prefer to have the service book stamped
by a main dealer. Given the age of your car you may well decide to
source a good local independent garage. I have no idea what you can
expect to be charged for your next service but on U.K. cars this
would normally be done at 52.5k miles rather than 50k. The service
interval can also be calculated in months if the car does a low
annual mileage as in your case. At the very least you will need an
oil and filter change and possibly you could renew the plugs,fuel filter,air filter,coolant,transmission and diff oil and brake fluid. Visual checks can be done on the drive belts and a cambelt
change is worth considering. Hope this helps.

Hi,

You may see the thread on my 3 Year running costs!

I had it serviced by Subaru until about 95,00miles but after that it seemed to be silly becuase its more expensive than and idependant. Once a car gets over a certain age its value it less affected by "who" servies it and more based on "how well" it is serviced. I got Powerstation to look after mine and with thier good reputation thats no problem. Personally I wouldnt touch a scooby or other high performence car that was owner serviced, sorry.

Some people wouldn't touch a high mileage performance car
regardless of who had serviced it.
Mouser.

I only had one year warranty, my car being a Euro Import MY00. I never got to do one service with Subaru. I didn't get the mileage up, (still only 12500miles on the clock) and I changed my oil and filter 3 times on my own every 4000km. With only 1 year warranty I thought, not worth going to the dealer.

I do my own oil and filter changes every 4000km. I will also do my own brakes, spark plugs, clean my K&N filter, gearbox /diff oil changes, etc, as required and I will leave the hard bits for the dealer, such as cam belt replacement,

Cheers,

Wrexy.

Service?:confused: wozzat then!

Can't remember last changing my oil and I'm a mechanic!!!:rolleyes:

Bob

ps, it's ok, I only have a Fiesta;)

Phew!!! :D

[Edited by WREXY - 1/30/2002 12:09:23 AM]

My car needs service... had a major one done by a garage I trust (non Subaru) but they are not an option anymore..

Currently my hand keeps hovering over the phone... do I ring the dealer for a minor service or do it myself... ??

Car is a MY96 Wagon with 92k... it is spotless.. but an oil and filter change myself would be no hassle and save me lots of money...

Anyone recommend an oil to use? I know Subaru say a SEmi Synthetic I beleive.. surely synthetic would be better? been impressed with Castrol Magnetic on previous cars, any comments?

cheers for the advise people, just dont want to be ripped off as this beast eats money like anything. how much is a cambelt change on these things? does anyone know a good place in or around southend on sea (essex) to take it for a service 50k. also does anyone no the average mileage for a 94 car??

scottscooby

Cost me £450 for a full service and a cambelt change at an independent garage.

Average miles are about 15k a year so a 94 would be on about 120k but jap cars either do no miles or get wound back when imported (imho)...

Not in Japan it isn`t

Japan is a bit small really I think. My previous import car did no miles at all.. 92 and had 30k... but I checked that Japan auction details and checked they tied up.

Any with high mileage in Japan could be wound back without anyone suspecting or stolen.. but not getting into this again.

Perhaps I am being obver cautious.

These 3 threads talk about main bearing failures on scoobs and then go on to talk about which oils are best for scoobs. Some of the best techies on here have posted on these 3 threads. Loads of imporatant info, but you'll need an hour.

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/Forum9/HTML/002503.html

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/Forum9/HTML/002752.html

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/Forum9/HTML/002939.html

The shortcut is, either Castrol RS 10W/60 or Motul 300V 15W/50, with a genuine subaru oil filter every 4-5000 miles.

Cheers,

Wrexy.