In a world when most car manufacturers are touting minimal maintenance, Subaru has published a 500,000 kilometer maintenance schedule. What’s so great about that? It addresses what needs to be done to keep your car operating reliably for a long time. It also represents the forward thinking of a company that builds cars to last a long time. Will many Subaru owners keep their cars for that long? Highly unlikely, but those who follow this maintenance schedule will undoubtedly have very reliable cars for the duration of their ownership. When it comes time to sell their car they will get top dollar because it will be in great condition.
There are no outlandish recommendations in this maintenance schedule. It’s what we (and other maintenance minded shops) recommend to our clients for every car that we service.
Here are some of the outstanding features:
- 6,000 kilometer oil change interval
- Brake fluid flushes
- Transmission flushes
- Regular comprehensive inspections
There are several excellent recommendations that are unseen on any other maintenance schedule:
- Fuel injection cleaning
- Throttle plate cleaning
- Mass Air flow sensor cleaning.
These are a valuable part of a good maintenance program.
What seems a little strange is the recommendation to replace the fuel injectors at 320,000 kilometers. While this is many kilometers down the road and the injectors will be old it strikes me that many other components will likely require service before this and the injectors may still be in very good condition.
Still in the spirit of vehicle longevity this maintenance schedule stands as the best that I’ve seen. It is about time that car companies thought this far ahead. Your car is a very expensive purchase and keeping it running a long time saves you a lot of money.
