I'm new to the newsgroup and have been lurking a bit, but wanted to tap into the group knowledge base.
I have a 2003 Forester, In January it had it's 60,000 service at a non-Subaru dealer. Yesterday, I had it at one of the Subaru dealers here in Austin for a Moonroof repair, it turned out to be not a big deal just some debris in the roof tracks, which they didn't even charge me for.
However, on the way out I was talking with the service manager and he asked me where I had my 60,000 mile service done and I told him. He asked if they had changed the timing belt out. No, I said the Warranty and Maintenance schedule doesn't call for it until 105,000 miles. He said, "That's written for the people that live in the northern part of the US, here in the south (Texas) they wear out much quicker." Then of course he went on to relate the story of a customer who, with about the same number miles as I have on mine (69,800) had her timing belt break and of course it damaged the engine incurring the dreaded $2,000+ repair.
I asked him if they had done an inspection on my timing belt and he admitted they hadn't.
Any experiences in the group to relate to having to change the timing belt at 60,000 miles instead of the Subaru recommended 105,000?
Thanks for the help,
Glenn Austin, Texas