Tune ups

There's nothing to "tune" so it's a misnomer.

Just follow the recommended maintenance schedule in your owners manual.

Really?? My local Subie dealership offers Tune-ups for $149? What is that they are talking about then?

Tune-ups are great for shops because they can define it as anything they want. Usually a combinations of these

oil change air filter change refill fluids put some gasoline additive into your tank check engine diagnostic code inspect tires, brakes, belts and whatever else that sounds good and not too labor intensive to perform

If you want to save money, give a list of specific stuff you want done. This will be cheaper than a tuneup. The inspection and fluid checks often will be done for you whether you pay for it or not.

Rather than asking me, try asking *them* what specifically they are "tuning up".

In the old days, a tuneup was a combination of replacing a few parts that wear out, such as points, condenser and plugs, and performing a couple adjustments such as dwell and ignition timing.

Now theres no points or condenser, plugs go

All that's left are the preventative maintenance items.

Good question. Ask for a list of services it includes.

-- Todd H.

I've got a 1999 Forester too. I think the user's manual has the tune-up intervals in it, at least for the first 100K. After that, depending on how you drive, ever 20K miles has been what I've done with previous cars. (This one is still quite a ways from reaching 100K.)