I do not believe the engine is removed for CVT replacement. I think they put the car up on a lift and remove the CVT from below. It would be a good time to get the oil changed in the differentials.

 

you can price out changing the timing belt KIT, (not just the rubber belt).

they can do that with the engine in the car.

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alternatively you can ask for a price at a local garage that likes subarus,...and does not charge dealer labor rates.

the timing belt kit to buy is a Aisin. (japanese made, and not chinese junk in a box, ...and maybe the OEM maker today).

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I would hope you are getting new CVT transmission fluid with this work.

and you can review what else needs to be done here:
2012 Subaru maintenance schedule and new car break-in period

 

The timing belt is due - but do it later so you can plan and get it done properly - belt and pulleys.

It's highly unlikely, unfortunately, that you'll save any labor costs due to flat rate billing "per job". They'll try to make it look like $100 cheaper to sell you on some services, but in reality you're not going to save anything.

There is reduced "labor" doing it now but you won't save "labor cost".

The inner axle boots are wear items, will most likely tear and need replaced, and would be what I would do in your situation (and did in a similar situation recently) - but unfortunately it probably won't work. Even though the axles will be dangling free of the trans and take minutes to reboot, they won't cut you any labor savings. In addition, dealers rarely reboot axles, replacing one axle (because the outer one rarely fails) is probably foreign and confusing to them, as they just toss in new $200 axles instead of a $30 boot so you might get some misinformation or hesitation from them. So you've got a good chance to do something mechanically and practically astute but your hands are tied.

That said - it's worth asking. When your axles break instead of rebooting (which should be done IMO) Subaru will only change axles at $350-$400 each. So that's $700-$800 you could get taken care of now for $150 or so. I wouldn't pay more than $150-$200 for it though. Any more than that and you can just have a local shop do it right later as needed.

 

I don't think the belt's due until 105k miles or 105 months, which is 8.75 years; they've got a little more time in it, I think? Is it the 8.75 years from the manufacturing date, is that what you're going off of? I bought my car in April of 2011, so was thinking I would be due around December of 2019, which will probably right near 105k miles.

 

brinkmanship occasionally lands people with a broken belt before 105months/ 105,000 miles.

 

if the engine doesn't come out, I'd just wait and have the TB system (and any other maintenance) serviced in a year or so at a subaru-friendly independent shop.

IF the engine does come out, maybe spark plugs and VC gaskets? if original, plugs are old.

 

Ok here is an update
I was wrong - the engine DOESN’T come out so I’m not going to get a break on any preventative maintenance items here. Thanks for all of the suggestions though - they are all gojng to be added to my todo list.

On the other hand, one thing that I think is necessary is to replace all of the tranny fluid - my dealer is saying the torque converter is bad but they didn’t find any metal in the fluid so they weren’t going to replace all of it. I think that’s ridiculous - if the TC is bad I would assume that at least some metal is circulating even if they didn’t see it. They want to charge me $375 to flush and fill the tranny.

That seems really steep so I asked my tech to talk to his manager and see if they will do it for $200.

Am I being too paranoid? And/or too cheap?

Thanks for the suggestions guys I appreciate them.