My car just hit 60k miles (4 cylinder). I already did a post for the 30k mile service. First, the facts, and then I’ll give some commentary.
The recommended service from the official Subaru website for my car is:
Recommended Maintenance
Inspect CVT Fluid
Inspect Clutch operation
Inspect Disc brake pads and discs, front and rear axle boots and axle shaft joint portions
Inspect Drive belt(s) [Except camshaft]
Inspect Engine Coolant Systems, hoses and connections
Inspect Fuel systems, lines and connections
Inspect Inspect brake lines and check operation of parking and service brake system
Inspect Steering and suspension
Inspect Transmission/Differential (Front & Rear) lubricants (Gear oil)
Inspect Wheel Bearing
Perform Rotate and Inspect Tires
Replace A/C Filter
Replace Air cleaner element
Replace Brake Fluid / Clutch Fluid (Manual Only)
Replace Engine oil
Replace Engine oil filter
Replace Spark plugs
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That’s a lot of “inspect” and only a few “replace”. Unfortunately, it seems that most dealership convert some of those inspects to replace as part of their recommended service.
My dealership (which has been very reasonable in my opinion – but I have a really hard time trusting car dealers) recommends the following as the 60k service:
Oil change
Tire rotation
Air filter
Cabin filter
Brake fluid replacement
Differential service (front and rear)
Multi point inspection
Spark plug replacement
On the phone, the scheduler quoted me $499, but the price is actually $649. They honored the price they quoted me on the phone, which makes me feel a bit better about the high price for the 60k service. So, basically, my dealer recommends the differential service rather than just inspecting. This also happened at the 30k mile service and I went ahead and had them do the differential service. Front and rear differential service usually costs $179 at my dealership.
Looking around online, many Subaru dealerships publish their price for the 60,000 mile service. Prices generally seem to mostly be between $550 and $675.
I do not like that some of the things that Subaru recommends be inspected are considered things to change by the dealership. I’ve also seen a variety of recommendations on the CVT transmission service too – with a variety of prices on that. My dealership charges $189 for the CVT service – and they list it as recommended every 60k miles, but they don’t include it in the 60k service.
I wonder if Subaru does this to give the dealerships more opportunities to add on these services. On the other hand, maybe it is a legitimate approach that different parts of the country warrant different approaches. For me, I’d rather have a manual with clear service recommendations – this is the first car I own which isn’t clear cut from the recommended service in the manual.