Time and/distance between oil changes for Subaru?
Open your owners manual and all will be revealed… Look for “oil” in the appendix, or maybe “maintenance” and you will learn what Subaru says how often you should change do to keep your warranty in effect (save your receipts!!!)
Far better than advice from ANYone on the interwebs
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Mustangman is right. However, I can tell you that the maximum time in my 2016 Forester manual is “every six months.” So I’ve changed it 6 times for 15,000 miles. It does not even get dirty.
I think you might be short changing yourself there a bit @GorehamJ… Now there is nothing I can warn you about in the “bad for your car” scenario, but its a bit rough on the wallet, no?
Hey if it works for you, have at it, certainly no harm done. I’ve gone from 3K to 5K on conventional oil and no more than 7K on full synth and all is well. Truth be told I honestly feel like I’m getting away with something when in reality I’m probably not…
Actually, Subarus have an extra booklet placed in their glove boxes, entitled “Subaru Maintenance and Warranty”. If the OP opens his glove box and opens that slim booklet, he will find a chart detailing the maintenance schedule–which includes the elapsed time intervals as well as the mileage intervals.
That is correct when it comes to my 2011 Outback, and I suspect that it still holds true for the OP’s 2018 Forester, but–as Mustangman stated–all will be revealed by reading the publication that the manufacturer provides.
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I did that with my 2006 Matrix while it was in warranty, for the first 3 years.
The shortest distance change was 1,100 miles.
After warranty I went to every 5,000 miles, longest interval was 9 months.
All conventional oil.
Regardless like I’ve said, I change oil in the Acura with Mobil 1 at 5000 miles and generally 50% oil meter. My Pontiac I do at 3000 with dino also at about 50%. Now I have a problem. My Pontiac is at about 45% but only has 1700 miles on the oil change done in November. So while warming my feet, I’m trying to decide to just change it or wait. Maybe I forgot to reset the meter but I doubt it. Still it has been a rough winter with all short local trips in cold weather. Not sure if the thing actually calculates the temp. So I dunno, 20 bucks and 30 minutes would make me feel better.
+1
When you consider the silly things that a lot of people waste their money on, one or two extra oil changes are–as Ralph Kramden said–a mere bag of shells.
Or one could send off for a $20 used oil analysis and know how often they should change their oil with a scientific basis. I have always thought I should do this but have gone to 5000 mile changes on synthetic and the oil doesn’t even look that bad when I change it.
Yes, there are definitely worse things than oil changes we could be spending our money on! It always gets me when someone is buying like $100 in lottery tickets. I think oil changing is a better investment, even if it is OCD.
Heh heh heh. Don’t tell anyone but instead of hoisting a pint on St. Paddy’s Day, I invested $20 and came out with $600. So what the hey, oil change is done. Battery charging station near done for my new pole saw. Reinvesting in the economy.
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Good to hear! I never get that lucky but probably don’t play often enough either. I do have a PowerBall ticket now that the jackpot has gone up so high but I know the odds are against me. You could pay for oil, an oil analysis, or even a new car with that kind of jackpot.
I forgot the make but it was some type of supercar, maybe a Bugatti, but the oil change cost more than many regular cars! There are people who don’t care and just buy junkers and change their car instead of the oil! Some will surprise you with how long they run like this.
Gee, there outta be a law. We have laws against child abuse, elder abuse, animal abuse, spouse abuse, and I’m sure fish abuse is coming. So why not car abuse? I can see the headline: “Sheriff arrests man for failing to change oil for 10,000 miles-man says I didn’t know” 
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I know what you mean. It seems that people run perfectly good cars into the ground by not doing basic maintenance. Mowers and other yard equipment are probably the worst for this. People just run them and never add oil. Then the rod flies through the block and you just roll it out to the curb and buy a new one.
Heh heh. When my dad retired he didn’t have a snow blower. A guy at work had one in a bucket that the rod had come through the block. So I bought it, put a rod in it, had the block welded, painted it all up current and we were good to go. What did he do? Traded it for a new one. Coulda saved me a lot of work but guess he just needed to warm up to a new fangled way to clear the drive way. Yeah I serviced it though with annual oil changes, etc.
I believe it. I have seen rods come through the block in a way that the cylinder is relatively undamaged when they break down by the crank. I personally probably would have just JB Welded it or just replaced the engine but to each their own. Yes, sometimes you live without something for so long and then are amazed that you survived without it. A snowblower is definitely one such item if you live in the great white north.
I have recently been upgrading some of my power tools from cheaper models to nice brushless Milwaukee stuff. People are telling me I need to get an oscillating multi tool and that this is the tool you never knew you needed until you have one. A couple of my friends wouldn’t have gotten them except they came in a set and then they realized just how useful they are.
Heh heh. Yeah I bought one of those and it doesn’t get used much but is very nice when you need one. Cutting holes in sheet rock and not making a mess, trimming base molding, etc. OK story. Thing is I wanted one but didn’t want to pay $80 for one so I saw a Porter Cable battery operated on sale for like $39. My first battery tool. I didn’t know what “bare tool” meant but got it home and no battery or charger. So back to the store for a battery and charger but they wanted like $100 for it. But they had a Porter Cable drill with two batteries and a charger for about $110. So I said who couldn’t use another drill? I really like that drill and use it all the time-the multi tool not so much but very useful. The bare tool deal is a steal if you already have batteries. And I’m sold on battery tools now but I think the Milwaukees are what the pros use most or at least used to be. Might be all made in the same plant now though.
Yes, Milwaukee seems to be the big show in town right now. They make ALL KINDS of tools including ones for mechanics and basically any other trade. I kinda started from scratch so made sure to do my research. It seems that Makita is rated #2 and DeWalt #3. I don’t know how the Milwaukee impact is rated vs. a Snap On but I always think of brands like Snap On when it comes to automotive tools and not Milwaukee. I am sure there is nothing wrong with Milwaukee for this purpose though.
I am replacing all my old mismatched tools bit by bit. It is a pain having like 5 different chargers sitting around because none work together. IT is also frustrating having a full battery for one tool that will not work in the tool I currently need with a dead battery. Yes, getting a bare tools can be a cost saver but you have to be careful what you get at big box stores. With Milwaukee, they have 3x grades in some of the more common tools like drills that everyone uses. They have a basic brushed motor set, a brushless set, and an M18 FUEL brushless set. Anything with Fuel in the name is their top tier line. All the batteries will interchange between tools as long as they are all M18, M12, etc. Often those sets from box stores are a cheaper grade of tool but honestly they are probably fine for occasional use. Hey, you basically got a free tool with the battery and charger you needed so it was a good deal. The nice thing about the battery interchanging between all 3 lines is that you can buy the top of the line tool if it is something you use everyday and a lesser grade for something you rarely use. Now I have seen some of the cheaper Milwaukee tools reviewed and they do quite well. The same cannot be said for DeWalt.
The one odd tool I really have no urge to replace is a Harbor Freight Earthquake 1/2 inch impact. It is quite capable and does everything I need. The differences between my Harbor Freight drill and the Milwaukee is night and day. The difference between this impact and a more commercial grade doesn’t seem to be that much. Of course I do not use it everyday but it isn’t let me down on ANY of the projects I have used it on. If I did I would probably buy Milwaukee because I now have all the batteries and chargers. Again, I read the reviews before purchase and it seemed to be a really good value although it was by no means a super low price which is probably why it is OK. Harbor Freight can be hit or miss. They have like 6 lines of power tools now. The super cheap $20 drill line is crap but the two higher end lines are actually pretty decent for what they are. My reason for not buying them was that the Milwaukee sets were actually about the same price, were brushless, etc. If I just needed ONE tool, the Harbor Freight probably isn’t a horrible deal but they don’t have the big 4 and 6 tool sets in their upper tier Hercules line.
I am also sold on the modern battery tools. I can’t tell you how many times I came up short with the cord or the cord got in my way. Battery tools were a compromise in the old days but those days are over. I even have a Milwaukee chainsaw and love it. It falls on its face when you cut wood nearly the length of the bar but for normal stuff, I much prefer it to gas. The torque is insane and the battery life is great. Cutting the big stuff runs through batteries quite quickly though. I also sharpened one chain a little too aggressively which sometimes kicks out the overload. This wouldn’t have been a problem with a gas saw. Overall I think it is a great tool as are the rest of them.
Last spring I got sick of my Gas push mower never staring when I needed it to. I did all the regular maintenance including Sta-bil in the gas tank in the fall, new spark plugs, oil, and filters…and the blasted thing still wouldn’t start regularly. I was about to trash it and get another gas one… but then started looking at the battery powered electric models.
I went with a Ryobi one, and let me tell you, my eyes were opened. It’s the best lawnmower I’ve ever had. Virtually no maintenance, and it starts Every Time. You do have to plan a bit around when the battery runs down and recharging, but you can drink a beer (or two) while it’s recharging.
Electric/battery tools are not a joke or compromise anymore.
That actually sounds like a huge bonus to me
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Battery tools are definitely not a joke or compromise!
I know several people with GreenWorks or whatever the common brand is and they love that lawn equipment. I guess there are like 3 grades of this as well. You want the 80V if you plan to do heavy duty work. Basically you have to pick a series with them (40, 60, or 80v), unless you want to have multiple batteries and chargers. I think the electric mowers are great but I have a lot of land so don’t think it would be practical for me.
A lot of the battery and motor tech behind these power tools are from Tesla and other electric car innovators. The brushless motors are quite slick in how they operate. They basically invert DC to 3 phase AC and modulate the phase to account for speed and power demand. They can deliver just as much as is needed, saving power. You can run these brushless motors without load for a very long time and barely use any power. They know exactly how much power is required.
Electric cars and high efficiency air conditioners also operate the same way. A lot of the newer air conditioners and heat pumps no longer have a hard start and are truly variable in speed so only run as hard as is needed for the demand.