I took our 2008 Impreza WRX STI in for its first scheduled oil change today. Subaru's maintenance schedule requires all turbocharged models to be serviced under the severe-usage schedule, so this means oil changes every 3,750 miles. Umm, so we were a little late on this one.
Herwaldt Subaru in Fresno, Calif., was the dealership of choice. There were no surprises, though the service advisor seemed completely unfamiliar with the car – at one point during the check-in, she asked me if our STI was a four- or six-cylinder...
Total bill was $31.30. As always, you can rate your sales and service experiences using Edmunds.com's dealership ratings feature.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor @ 5,162 miles
joefrompa says:
12:06 PM, 06/ 9/08
Pretty reasonable for a $38k car :)
A little late? Not only were you significantly late, this was your first oil change...the most crucial...
Ouchers :)
Joe
P.s. Subytrojan, don't buy it when they are done.....it's been abused already!
m_thrizzle says:
12:18 PM, 06/ 9/08
Wow, a $31 oil change from a dealership?!? I'm pretty shocked at how inexpensive that is. Does the STi require synthetic or dino oil? It must be regular oil for that price.
rsholland says:
12:23 PM, 06/ 9/08
The 3,750 mile oil change is new for 2008, and it's only for turbos. Prior to that it was every 7,500 mile for all Subies, including turbos.
Makes you kinda wonder if they've been having problems with older turbos, which is the reason for the more frequent oil changes.
syt_shadow says:
12:33 PM, 06/ 9/08
My god, talk about annoying oil changes!!!!
It's not a matter of cost, but of inconvenience! What a PITA to get it serviced continually....
joefrompa says:
01:20 PM, 06/ 9/08
Lol....all those people who changed their oil every 3k miles were in constant pain....
RSHolland - The subaru engines always had the following basic guidelines:
Severe service - 3750 mile oil change interval
Regular Duty - 7500 mile oil change interval
In recent times, Subaru dictated that their turbo engines constituted severe service :)
I've seen a rash of blown turbos on 2005 Subaru Legacy GTs....but there's a ton of discussion there. Lots of people with blown turbos were running stock engines, with frequent oil changes, running either dyno or synthetic oil. Some blamed it on a clogged banjo bolt (a bolt which allowed oil to pass through it, and could get clogged).
I'm sure those things didn't help....
Joe
elbee says:
02:32 PM, 06/ 9/08
31 bucks for an oil change at the dealer on a 40K car?! I'm buying a Subaru. I refuse to set foot in a Honda or Acura dealer anymore, with their horrendous parts prices and 110 dollar an hour rates. Who cares about Honda reliability when they are soaking you like this?
slickersdrip says:
02:58 PM, 06/ 9/08
Geez, in my SRT-4 I always have the oil changed with full synthetic and a K&N filter every 3000 miles or less (as in 2900) miles just to make sure it's always in top shape. This is why I only buy used cars from people I know- that's a long overdue change...
hondacura4 says:
07:06 PM, 06/ 9/08
The service advisor had to ask if the STi was a 4 or 6 cylinder? I could understand if this were a Legacy or something but its an STi!
trackwrex says:
11:51 PM, 06/ 9/08
brent: a 6-cyl impreza STI?! hahaha. i wish i had a camera for the look on your face. where are they hiring these people? oh, and that dealership ratings thing is cool. i've been using that whenever i could. it's a great way to blackmai ... er, convince dealers to do a good job.
joefrompa: yeah, i've known about the blown turbo legacies. it's all the RAGE in legacygt.com. luckily, there hasn't been too much to sound off about here in socal about that issue. then again, it could be due to the fact that we've probably modified the car already. i'm currently on my stock turbo- my wife keeps trying to deter me from modding it. although if mine died, that could prompt my upgrade- hmmmm...
cx7lover says:
06:43 AM, 06/10/08
Well, it's 30 dollars at my Mazda dealership.. not at all I will say, some will try and stiff you on that.
roadburner says:
09:54 AM, 06/10/08
My Mazda dealer provides free oil changes at 5K intervals for as long as I own my Mazdaspeed3. However, if I want synthetic I have to provide it- so I'm out @$36 for six quarts of Mobil 1 5W-30. I had a used oil analysis performed at 10K and 15K and the results indicate that 5K is an acceptable oil change interval.
greenpony says:
11:20 AM, 06/11/08
I'd like to see the 3.0L H6 with STI treatment. Apparently your service advisor has.
xoquixxoqafxo says:
12:18 PM, 08/ 1/08
YOUR SERVICE ADVISOR IS A MORON. I WOULD HAVE SLAPPED HIS/HER FACE IF I WAS ASKED THAT QUESTION. IT IS SIMPLY UNACCEPTABLE.