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Old 05-18-2010, 03:05 PM   #1
awns729
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Default Dealer performed this service, was it necessary? Also, where to get service manual?

Hey everyone,

Took my 2.5i Legacy to the dealership yesterday. Reading off the invoice, here's what it says... Clean fuel lines -throttle body and injectors. Clean intake and exhaust values for a fuel effective engine. $50 for a fuel inj kid and $77 labor

Then I had an oil change and

R&R Drive belts because it was cracked and worn. Upon inspection the accessory drive belts cracked and worn. 2 belts around $20 each, and $106 for labor

This is a non GT legacy at ~40k miles, driven through rough conditions sometimes, so do you think these were reasonable issues? I know none of you have seen the car, so I'm just wondering if it's plausible that these should have been done at 40k? Still trying to learn a bunch so thanks for everyones help

The whole thing took a bit over an hour for all three things, so I'm sure I could have done this myself and saved all those labor costs, which brings me to my next question.

I found a service manual on ebay. Is this a good choice?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OEM-2...ht_9685wt_1165

Or should I pick it up from a dealership or somewhere else? How much do the printed copies usually go for?


Also, does doing routine maintenance myself affect my warranty? What's the deal with that? Do I just save my receipts to show that I've purchased the proper parts and say I installed them myself, so services have been done as required by the maintenance manual? My dealership can be a little difficult about things.

Thanks. I know there's a lot of questions here.
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Old 05-18-2010, 03:14 PM   #2
09rexwagon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by awns729 View Post
Hey everyone,

Took my 2.5i Legacy to the dealership yesterday. Reading off the invoice, here's what it says... Clean fuel lines -throttle body and injectors. Clean intake and exhaust values for a fuel effective engine. $50 for a fuel inj kid and $77 labor

Then I had an oil change and

R&R Drive belts because it was cracked and worn. Upon inspection the accessory drive belts cracked and worn. 2 belts around $20 each, and $106 for labor

This is a non GT legacy at ~40k miles, driven through rough conditions sometimes, so do you think these were reasonable issues? I know none of you have seen the car, so I'm just wondering if it's plausible that these should have been done at 40k? Still trying to learn a bunch so thanks for everyones help

The whole thing took a bit over an hour for all three things, so I'm sure I could have done this myself and saved all those labor costs, which brings me to my next question.

I found a service manual on ebay. Is this a good choice?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OEM-2...ht_9685wt_1165

Or should I pick it up from a dealership or somewhere else? How much do the printed copies usually go for?


Also, does doing routine maintenance myself affect my warranty? What's the deal with that? Do I just save my receipts to show that I've purchased the proper parts and say I installed them myself, so services have been done as required by the maintenance manual? My dealership can be a little difficult about things.

Thanks. I know there's a lot of questions here.
They basically seafoamed your car (they call this induction cleaning and generally don't use seafoam per se but something similar that is aspirated through the intake system) and changed your p/s, a/c, alternator belts (you could have done this in 15 minutes for $20).

It likely was not necessary and furthermore both things were doable by you IF they were necessary.

If you do your own maintenance, keep record of date, mileage, notes on torque values you use, products you used, oil weights you used, Subaru PNs if you use OEM parts etc as well as receipts/invoices. My records are generally so thorough that dealers or private party buyers are overwhelmed .

Last edited by 09rexwagon; 05-18-2010 at 03:44 PM.
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Old 05-18-2010, 03:18 PM   #3
awns729
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And where can I learn how to do all this stuff? I don't really know anyyybody who does their own work on their car unfortunately, but I'm willing to do as much reading and wahtever as it takes to pick it up. Would the service manual and some youtube be enough to guide me with this?

Thanks for your help also. Figured the belts were definitely more necessary than the cleaning, but I always just get the work done because we have an extended 7 year warranty, and I'd rather not have them give me a hassle if I ever need to use it
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Old 05-18-2010, 03:21 PM   #4
09rexwagon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by awns729 View Post
And where can I learn how to do all this stuff? I don't really know anyyybody who does their own work on their car unfortunately, but I'm willing to do as much reading and wahtever as it takes to pick it up. Would the service manual and some youtube be enough to guide me with this?

Thanks for your help also. Figured the belts were definitely more necessary than the cleaning, but I always just get the work done because we have an extended 7 year warranty, and I'd rather not have them give me a hassle if I ever need to use it
PMed you
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Old 05-19-2010, 07:21 AM   #5
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Read the Maintenance FAQ at the top of this forum....that's all you really need. That eBay link is an illegal copy of a Subaru document. It's likely not accurate and since it's illegal, you have no redress and are supporting douchebags.
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Old 05-19-2010, 04:54 PM   #6
awns729
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unabomber View Post
Read the Maintenance FAQ at the top of this forum....that's all you really need. That eBay link is an illegal copy of a Subaru document. It's likely not accurate and since it's illegal, you have no redress and are supporting douchebags.
How can I tell in the future that they're illegal? The quote below makes me think that since they're copy protected they might not be? Are they just too cheap to be legal ones?

"Please note that our manuals are copy-protected and copying or tampering with the contents of the disk will void the return policy." From ebay listing
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Old 05-19-2010, 10:16 PM   #7
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Wake up. Smell the roses. If it is a real, genuine Subaru manual, do you think Subaru would register on eBay with the username of eri5studios? Would Subaru use a picture in their eBay ad that looks like a 7 year old fired up Photoshop to create the graphics? STAY AWAY from eBay as you obvious don't know legit from fraud.
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Old 05-19-2010, 10:23 PM   #8
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lemme guess....... Bill Kolb??????????????????
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Old 05-19-2010, 10:44 PM   #9
Uncle Scotty
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Quote:
Originally Posted by awns729 View Post
Hey everyone,

Took my 2.5i Legacy to the dealership yesterday. Reading off the invoice, here's what it says... Clean fuel lines -throttle body and injectors. Clean intake and exhaust values for a fuel effective engine. $50 for a fuel inj kid and $77 labor

Then I had an oil change and

R&R Drive belts because it was cracked and worn. Upon inspection the accessory drive belts cracked and worn. 2 belts around $20 each, and $106 for labor

This is a non GT legacy at ~40k miles, driven through rough conditions sometimes, so do you think these were reasonable issues? I know none of you have seen the car, so I'm just wondering if it's plausible that these should have been done at 40k? Still trying to learn a bunch so thanks for everyones help

The whole thing took a bit over an hour for all three things, so I'm sure I could have done this myself and saved all those labor costs, which brings me to my next question.

I found a service manual on ebay. Is this a good choice?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OEM-2...ht_9685wt_1165

Or should I pick it up from a dealership or somewhere else? How much do the printed copies usually go for?


Also, does doing routine maintenance myself affect my warranty? What's the deal with that? Do I just save my receipts to show that I've purchased the proper parts and say I installed them myself, so services have been done as required by the maintenance manual? My dealership can be a little difficult about things.

Thanks. I know there's a lot of questions here.


lessehere

$50
$77
$20
$20
$106
_______________________

$273

so yew paid $273 for ~$40 worth of parts and service you could have EASILY done in under an hour, yourself, for free

conclusion
___________

yew got assraped
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Old 05-19-2010, 10:49 PM   #10
awns729
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Location: ROCKLAND county, NY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jetfan2207 View Post
lemme guess....... Bill Kolb??????????????????
LOL yep. theres a pretty ridiculous thread somewhere here about everybody hating on them. the service managers are usually respectful and decently nice, but they have ridiculous prices, and as we can all see suggest work that probably isn't necessary and overcharge for it as well

BTW thank you all for your help

I think what I'm going to do from now on is get a second opinion before getting anything except for an oil change or service that's explicity in the service chart on mysubaru.com done from these guys. And soon I'll try and do the basic stuff myself.

Last edited by awns729; 05-19-2010 at 11:20 PM.
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Old 05-19-2010, 11:17 PM   #11
awns729
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Location: ROCKLAND county, NY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unabomber View Post
Wake up. Smell the roses. If it is a real, genuine Subaru manual, do you think Subaru would register on eBay with the username of eri5studios? Would Subaru use a picture in their eBay ad that looks like a 7 year old fired up Photoshop to create the graphics? STAY AWAY from eBay as you obvious don't know legit from fraud.
Well when you said its an illegal copy of a subaru document, you're implying that it's a copy of a legitimate manual fraudulently being sold on ebay, so that's why I asked if it was too cheap to be legal. Obviously Subaru doesn't have an ebay account, but I think what you're really trying to say is that third-party vendors would not be legally selling service manuals written by Subaru (which is what I first thought was happening)?

What I'm unclear on is if that means the content on the manual is created by a third party (similar to a Haynes manual?) or if someone broke the DRM on a legit copy of the manual and burned a CD of it.
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Old 06-18-2010, 01:38 PM   #12
nolant
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As far as learning how to work on your car, the forums and youtube are the best places to self-learn. I've spent hours doing research and learning how to fix things on my wagon. There are abundant opinions and various sources of research for any given topic. You'll also learn what NOT to do, which can save you a lot of money and embarrassment. So read, search, read, and search some more.
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Old 06-20-2010, 03:27 PM   #13
Mike Wevrick
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Quote:
Originally Posted by awns729 View Post
I think what I'm going to do from now on is get a second opinion before getting anything except for an oil change or service that's explicity in the service chart on mysubaru.com done from these guys. And soon I'll try and do the basic stuff myself.
That's a good way to go. Never tell a mechanic "just do whatever you think it needs" Always insist on being told what work they recommend and having it explained to you. If its not on the mysubaru.com chart, they better have a very good reason for wanting to do it (aside from lining their pockets of course)
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Old 06-21-2010, 06:31 PM   #14
cartoonlife
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The stealership strikes again


Sorry to hear man. That was wasted money. You could have searched the how to forums and found the info needed for free.

GL next time
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Old 06-21-2010, 08:03 PM   #15
Columbo
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You can watch a video, or have someone show you how to do a particular repair, say...changing drive belts, or replacing brake pads. That alone does not make you a mechanic. Being a mechanic is a "gift" just like being a musician or an artist. The difference is that we get no respect!

What I mean is, there is a "feel" a "sense" and "understanding" that goes along with turning wrenches. How tight is tight? Which way is tight/loosen (most of the time!)?

If you don't think you have this gift, then you might break something that will cost you more than if you got assraped at the stealership in the first place.

They will ALWAYS charge you for more time than it takes to do the job. And at $100/hr. that adds up fast.
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Old 06-21-2010, 08:43 PM   #16
fastwrx25
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everytime my gf takes her bmw to her dealership for free service, they always try to sell her stuff she doesn't need.

they always try to sell her fuel injection cleaning, for 350 dollars!! WTF?!?!

pump her tires with nitrogen for 75 bucks...

She always says no, but they ask everytime. I just told her to ask them why does she need that service if its not required in the service manual.
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Old 06-22-2010, 12:54 PM   #17
Big-E
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OEM Subaru Manuals:

Go online to Subaru and purchase your downloads.

Purchase a CD

Purchase the actual paper shop manuals.

Ye olde shoppe manual: don't do work without it!

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Old 06-23-2010, 12:48 AM   #18
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the FSM rocks nuf said... get it and look through it to familiarize yourself with the inner workings of your car!

These things are so usefull they are worth way more than their price!
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Old 06-23-2010, 02:24 AM   #19
Columbo
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When it comes to adjusting the valves, the SM says you can do it in the car (about 7hrs. labor) with a special tool that costs about $300 I think. BUT the general consensus here on the forum is that it is easier and faster to pull the engine. Therefore, it should also be cheaper! But THAT would be my LAST resort as I don't think it would ever be the same again (routing wiring, hoses, ALL bolts put back in and tightened properly, etc.) I know how the flat-rate system works.

But I agree, having the service manuals can be very helpful. I actually like parts manuals even better sometimes because you can see a better breakdown of the assemblies.
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Old 06-25-2010, 12:26 PM   #20
leecea
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Quote:
Originally Posted by awns729 View Post
What I'm unclear on is if that means the content on the manual is created by a third party (similar to a Haynes manual?) or if someone broke the DRM on a legit copy of the manual and burned a CD of it.
They are selling illegal copies of the Subaru manual (at least for the 02-03 WRX manual).
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