When does this stop?

^ last two shafts Ross replaced (both re-co) were $250 each, fitted. Plus, the cars always come back washed, regardless if only getting new wiper blades ...

From my Batphone
 
MiddleAgeSubie said:
Hmm...keep or dispose is a very tough call and it depends way too much on one's personal circumstances for our opinions to matter much.
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I definitely won't be disposing of either of them yet. The Golf is only 15 months old and the best car I've ever owned and the Forester the second best and owned since new, and now I have spent this money on these maintenance items I want to get a bit of value out of them. Besides, I'm really attached to it and no way do I have any desire to trade it in on a new ugly $47,000 Forester XT with auto. That's for the poor sods who have come to the game late and missed out on getting a late SG XT manual :iconwink: Yeah, I know, I'm a bit biased.
 
Ratbag said:
Plus, the cars always come back washed, regardless if only getting new wiper blades ...
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Wippells always did that for mine too which I appreciated at the time because we were banned from washing cars in Toowoomba for a number of years because of the water shortages. Jan 2011 and that famous cloud burst saw an end to that shortage.
 
Ratbag said:
The above figure should be "around $250 p.a.". Roo1 cost about $4,000 over nearly 18 years for maintenance and repairs. I will amend my post accordingly.
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I have never sat down and added up the service costs for each of my cars but it would be a lot more than that. We are doing 1,300km a week paying around $150 a week in petrol in both cars with the Forester getting 2 regular services a year and the Golf getting 3. Actually I did 18,500km last financial year in the Forester and 41,000km in the Golf. I think I worked out that we spent just over $7,000 in fuel. No wonder the local Woolworths petrol owner smiles when I walk in twice a week.
 
Hi Guzzla,
Yes the complete swap half shaft comes ready to install, grease, new boot, clips the lot so your invoice is indeed a tad confusing.
You are correct a small new boot split will not allow enough grease to leak out, and more importantly, no abrasive crap to get in, to cause damage. I once had a boot failure on my MY80 which allowed sand to enter which caused an interesting wear pattern on the inner race cage before I could repair. Problem was easily solved with a good clean out, regrease and installing the damaged ball race in reverse. Not sure if that is possible with modern CV joints.
 
Gidday Guzzla

I haven't done anything like 40K kms/year since my youth.

One needs to pro-rate one's costs accordingly.

From my Batphone
 
Well, here's why you must avoid "stealer" services.

Advanced Service Centre just quoted me $190 to fit the new CV boot. Last year Wippells Subaru charged $300 to do the same job. I just checked for cost of parts through Wippells again and they are $64.05 for the boot, $42.75 for the grease and $3.08 for the clips - so nothing has really changed there in the last year.

As far as the steering rack goes I can save around $50 by going somewhere else but won't risk an unknown servicer for that small saving. A genuine new Subaru rack part no. 34110SA110 costs $2514.91 When I started to laugh the spare parts guy said we might be able to do a better deal when you book it in.....

So Advanced Service Centre it is on Thursday for an exchange reconditioned rack and new CV boot - $1590 including free return home across town and pickup, and decent professional guys to deal with.
 
ateday said:
Have you considered SubaruParts girl?
Would be interesting for a price comparison. Might be a bad size to post from the US though.
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No though would if I could plan well ahead for repairs. Be interesting to see what a new rack price would be from her but I wonder if it would be for a right hand drive car?
 
Just gotta remember we're upside down compared to them, so it'd just bolt in the other way no problems :ebiggrin:
 
I started replacing bits on my Foz too...so far new KYB struts & Kings springs all round; new inner CV boots front & rear; new bearings f&r; new tie rod ends, rack ends, ball joints; new aftermarket radiator (so much better than the stupid plastic tank OEM ones!); plugs, leads, fuel filter. It needs a new timing belt kit but I'm putting that off till I put in a new EJ22 engine :lildevil:

Its all part of owning an older car. As you like your current Subie, I'd suggest instead of spending heaps on a new (old) car, you invest a bit on replacing all the components that wear out, incl bushes. Then it will feel like new with the associated reliability :biggrin:

"Removed and replaced RHF inner CV boot as it had split. Cleaned off excess grease and checked, all ok." It cost $172.50 + GST in labour and the replacement parts were CV boot clip $2.80, grease package SFJ $38.86, boot drive shaft $58.23, all + GST. That looks like they replaced the whole shaft doesn't it
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guzzla said:
re. the CV boot The workshop service invoice says
part number: 28323 SA030 BOOT DRIVE SHAFT 88A $58.23
part number: 28495 AE010 GREASE PACKAGE SFJ $38.86
the CV boot clip didn't even have a part number
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No they didnt replace the whole shaft. They took it out, cleaned & inspected it (prob quick glance lol) then greased & reassembled it. I did this same thing myself yesterday. Took me the whole afternoon, they would have been faster lol.

Its a close call whether a c/o reco shaft would be cheaper as they are about $110 trade so prob ~$160 retail but labour is much less. They are also stronger than OEM as they have oversize bearings fitted.

This dealer seems to be pretty expensive! For parts in Oz, use Frog on AUSubaru. He works in the parts dept of a Subaru dealership. He got me boots for $36.22 each (retail $45.29) and front pads for $132 (retail $165) plus $15 postage, arrived the next day! Subaru grease I was quoted from Glen Waverley Subaru $30+ per packet (lol, are they serious?? 1 packet per joint, what a ripoff!!) so I got Castrol CV grease for $10 from supercheap, enough to do about 10 CVs!

Their labour price seemed very good though. Fair bit of work to remove, strip, reassemble & replace a CV....

ateday said:
Have you considered SubaruParts girl?
Would be interesting for a price comparison. Might be a bad size to post from the US though.
Click to expand...

Lots of people have gone through her, been very happy. If you need it faster, use FROG - Andy . Good bloke, very helpful, good prices :biggrin:
 
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Rack and CV boot replaced today for total of $1570. The reconditioned exchange rack cost $884, 3L of steering fluid $29.84, labour for that $270 plus $89 for wheel alignment. The CV boot kit was $55.65 with $108 labour to fit. Then there was $142.73 GST on top of all that.

I don't regret paying to keep my Suby in the condition it is and realize what maintenance can be like as cars age. It actually has 264,540km on it and I should be thankful it hasn't yet needed a new radiator, or wheel bearings, or even new clutch or rear brake pads. The new KYB struts and King springs have helped maintain that better than new feeling without any of the associated suspension parts needing replacing. And I've never had a car that has still felt so new and tight with that sort of mileage on it. The clutch and gear change are remarkable for their smoothness and tightness. And no oil use. I will be keeping it for years.
 
In the long run if you are happy with it then it is a lot less expensive than buying a new car.
As I think I mentioned in a previous post I have replaced many more bits than you have. Some probably needed replacement but some, I suspect, were mechanic value adding.
 
Gidday Ate

ateday said:
In the long run if you are happy with it then it is a lot less expensive than buying a new car.
As I think I mentioned in a previous post I have replaced many more bits than you have. Some probably needed replacement but some, I suspect, were mechanic value adding.
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I could not agree more.

Guzzla, your car has exceptionally high mileage for a 2007 car. Two things "kill" a car - age and mileage. At this mileage ("kilometreage" doesn't even roll off the fingers, let alone one's tongue ... :lol:), one has to expect some pretty major refurbishment.

This is what I was facing with Roo1 ('93 Impreza with 236,000 kms on it). I loved the car in many ways, but wasn't prepared to throw $5-10K at it to bring it up to scratch within the next 20K kms.

That's why I opted to trade it in on Roo2. That changeover cost us around $16,000 (nett). One has to add to that the new tyres, early 125K kms service, new rear suspension. While this is a lot more than the costs associated with bringing Roo1 up to scratch, these costs will hopefully not arise for around another 150K kms with Roo2. The main reason for the change for me was that the Forester suits my wants and needs far better than the Impreza ever could or did.

I am sure you will be very happy with your "refurbished" Forester for many years to come, mate.
 
Turning up the radio is always an option as well.

I try not to think about how much i spend on maintenance it's a necessary evil, repairs on the other hand annoy me (yes i'm making a distinction). Hopefully this summer i'll get around to fixing the delaminating paint on my roof.

But blinky has been pretty low on maintenance costs tbh, he's done 260k~ now and the only major work I've had to do was the timing belt and crank seals. And 3 sets of cv joints up front but if i stayed on the black top they probably wouldnt of ripped open. I've been looking for another car but nothing else really has the 'nice' features like subarus do like cruise control standard or headlights turning off with the ignition
 
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Had the driver`s side inner CV boot replaced this morning. Total job $123.00. A generic boot used as I didn`t have a genuine one so don`t know about longevity.
Can`t complain about that cost and he fitted me in at short notice.
 
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