heartless

need to clarify that pre-1996 is the only guarantee of non-interference. There are no shortcuts to good maintenance. Do it right, every time, and dont cheap out on parts. Cheap parts will do you no favors.

extension cords are cheap, as are the magnetic oil pan heaters. we do get extended periods of extreme cold here in WI, altho not too terrible the last couple of winters.

I am willing to bet that the rear seal is NOT leaking. 99.8% of the oil will be coming from the rear separator plate.. the flywheel will throw that oil around and make it LOOK like other things are leaking. and again.. unless that seal is VISIBLY DAMAGED - dont touch it!

lol, not the bar that needs upgrading..just doing the links and bushings will make a huge difference and there are NO "good" assemblies on the market for Subarus.. You buy the strut, spring and tophats separately.. KYB for struts, KYB or OE for tophats OE or King Springs for springs.. if going all brand new and just want to change assemblies, which i have done, you will also need all the rubber bits (spring pads, boots, etc), spacer washers, etc that go along with it. for mine, i went with the KYB Forester struts and KYB Legacy tophats, and OE Forester springs with the various bits and pieces purchased from reputable online Subaru parts sites. total cost is not cheap - i did all 4 at one time, but well worth it in ride quality and handling.

KYB for struts - anything else is going to be too soft, and yes new springs DO make a big difference.. Match the spring to year strut you are using see for yourself here: https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/168389-strut-top-nut/?tab=comments#comment-1395227 springs on the old strut in that image were shot and not supporting things like they should have been.

not freeway, no.. but we do live in the country, so yeah, lol, lots of 55mph zones. Plus, relatively "flat" country.. rolling hills, nothing real steep - its all farmland around here city mileage wont be near that, no.

not that much a fuel mileage difference between forester and legacy.. I have had both the 95 Lego automatic I had, i put forester struts in and ran the 15" forester wheels.. got around 27-28mpg out of it on average. the 02 Forester, pretty stock, also automatic, ran around 25-27mpgs, depending on the season. i think i am getting slightly better with the 04 Forester, but it is a 5spd, lol

yup, just plain old green stuff - save yourself a bunch of headaches and buy the premixed ready to go stuff - 2 gals should be plenty install the radiator, hook up the lower hose, but leave upper off temporarily... raise the front of the car, and pour antifreeze in the upper hose to fill the block, attach hose, and fill the radiator, wait a minute or two, top up, etc, until you cant get anymore in. dont forget to fill overflow bottle to the correct level with front end still raised, run the engine to full operating temp (rad cap on). Shut car off and let it cool completely. DO NOT try to open the cap hot.. when it is completely cool, pop the cap, top up as needed, and check the overflow. should now be ready to run.. carry any excess coolant with you for a week or two just so you have it if you need to top up the overflow.

about the only thing I think the shop is way off base on is the labor hours.. I also realize that most shops have a "shop time" listing that is used to estimate pricing.. but i still think the 20hrs is excessive. and yeah, go look up prices for the parts, even at the Subaru discount places, and the prices are not that far off when looking at individual parts - thus the reason for the Aisin kits.. a third of the cost, and quality parts. I am lucky enough to have a decent shop near me that is reputable, and i trust enough, to take my car to when I am unable to do things for various reasons.. stuff like wheel bearings (dont have the equipment), alignments, etc.. And they have no issue with me bringing in parts that I have sourced myself.

yeah, i get it... and this is probably one of the biggest reasons I learned to do stuff myself.. despite the fact that "women dont work on cars" lol buying the components individually is ALWAYS going to cost more, always. And buying direct from a dealer.. yeah..

i am sitting here looking at the timing costs.. OMG is that WAY overpriced!!! the total of JUST the timing components is $689.35 - plus taxes... that is some serious raping there. a good Aisin timing kit is about 1/3rd that cost - just purchased one for our 2004 EJ251 at a cost of $244 & change - i would expect one for the EJ25D to be similar, possibly a little less and yes, this includes the water pump, all the idlers, etc.. and i have to agree on the EJ251 - with proper care, they are a good motor.. my 2002 Forester had one, as does the 2004... the 02 had similar mileage when I sold it and was still going strong. I personally have no experience with the EJ25D, based on info from this forum, i tend to avoid them, LOL

thoroughly check the air intake.. make sure there are no blockages, debris.. also, how old is the air filter? Air filter is cheap - change it.

agreed! the rubber compound (blend of materials) used to make the tires is a huge factor.. Cheap or expensive. Touring tires are not going to do as well on snow/ice... the compound is too hard - this is what makes them last so long. They are great in the summer, or in places that dont see a lot of snow, but not so great in winter. snow tires are a softer compound, having more flexibility, but will also wear faster. Also, how much you drive the vehicle will be a factor in how long your tires hold up.. the rolling friction of going down the road does play into this. Tires that sit will dry out much faster than tires that move.

probably fine, but the codes will be stored in memory. And Yes, Advance can do code reads for you. As mentioned, they wont clear them, but they can read them and probably give you a printout. Bad battery can kill an alternator... flip side of that, Bad alternator can kill a battery.. the two work hand in hand to keep things working right. FIX that bad connection!! don't put it off, Find it, Fix it! That bad connection is probably the reason you have had to put so many alternators in.. (altho i do agree with GD on the aftermarket alts being junk, lol)

you can also go to pretty much any of the large chain auto parts stores and get the codes read for free. they will NOT reset them, but they will tell you what is present and give you a printout if you ask for it. Get those codes and post them here in the order the car presented them. And yeah, Cruise light flashing just means it has been disabled by the vehicle until the other things are addressed, or reset. Very probable that something got moisture where it should not have and that is where the light show is coming from. Also, just to clarify here.. TCU is Transmission Control Unit on a Subaru, not traction control.. .that would come up as VDC - Vehicle Dynamics Control. And both battery AND brake lights on? Battery light is not really something to ignore.. Battery light on is an indicator that your charging system is not functioning correctly - I would also have a charging system check done while at the parts store - again, most of the large chains will do this for free. Brake light is not quite as worrisome and could be something simple, like your parking brake handle very slightly raised... but, check your brake fluid level.. make sure it is where it should be. the light will come on if the fluid level drops too low. If the level is low, you need to top it up, and then try to figure out WHY it was low - ie: leaking somewhere? Warning lights in the dash are typically not something you should just ignore.. they are there for a reason - you need to find out what the car is trying to tell you and then fix the issue.