[rasterman]

Whichever comes first: 105 months or 105,000 miles.

So it was due sometime in 2010. Get it scheduled.

 

[rasterman]

Fair spread... local indie places will usually be a bit cheaper than the dealer. It can be a DIY project, but I would list it as intermediate difficulty. Not awful, but not good for beginners.

I see $1100 thrown around a lot, and that isn't so different from what I paid even though I have a different model and had some other work done on the same ticket.

You can cheap out and skip the idlers, tensioner, waterpump etc but I generally advise against that. At a dead minimum an experienced mechanic needs to inspect the existing ones to determine how shot the bearings & tensioner seal are. Doubts about the mechanic's experience are eliminated by just installing new parts & moving on

 

[rasterman]

Wow that's a really good price.

So unfortunately they got everything taken apart and the head gasket is leaking coolant. So I have to get that fixed too. Probably going to be around $1900 parts and labor.

How common is this at 90,000 miles? It's been well taken care of.

Too common. Sometimes Subaru of America will split the cost with you- Subaru's undeclared warranty program. Undeclared so nobody can hold them to it. I don't know the terms, but maybe write or call them and see what you get.

 

[rasterman]

Fortunately I have changed the ATF within the last year. I switched it out to Mobil 1 and also changed the filter. I have not done the front and rear differential. How hard are these?

Not very, though you need weirder tools. Long skinny funnel for the front, and some oddball sockets for the drain plugs. Torx T70 I think?

Make sure you can get the rear fill plug out before you drain the oil. The filler plugs like to seize themselves in. Not impossible. It's lame when you're stuck with an empty diff and can't put new oil in.