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Impressed a 2015 in Western NY has no rust.

I got Michelin Pilot Sport AS 4.

Makes me glad I park my car in a garage at work and home. I also got my windows tinted and use a sun shade when I do have to park outside in daylight hours.

I was following the Subaru recommended intervals until the past couple of years. FWIW: I had the original oil in a lawnmower for 10 years, and it still ran great when I gave it away. I was young and ignorant. Didn't realize oil changes were required. I think I could be comfortable up to a year, assuming the engine warms fully when it is driven.

With the advent of my wife working from home 100% of the time and increased gas prices, we are driving our cars a lot less these days. We easily hit the time interval between oil changes way before the mileage interval. I was curious what people think about how often I reasonably need to change the oil and filter. Does synthetic oil change the interval at all? I assume it is more important on our EJ25 Forester XT, but that is just an assumption. Anyway, opinions welcome.

As long as the miles are mostly highway, I would think the CVT concerns are probably minimal.

Got the new tires installed today. I can't tell much from the drive home except they are A LOT quieter than the OEM Goodyears. I think I'll be happy with theses. One thing I wasn't aware of is Michelin tires come with 3 years of roadside assistance if you register them at the time of purchase. https://www.michelinman.com/auto/assistance/warranty

Well, we don't get that much winter here in NC. Traveling to NY at Christmas is the time I'd most need the snow traction. The AS4s are still going to be a big upgrade from the LS2s in all respects.

To clarify: the prices for my local dealer were better online than in person at the parts counter. Not sure if I made that clear.

Ironically, I ended up ordering the Pilot All Season 4s. For some reason the CrossClimate2 in my size was backordered at my local shop even though their website said they were available. I could've gotten them elsewhere, but not at that price. Do you dislike your AS 4s?

I recently had to replace my grille, and I found my local dealer's website had a better price than those online-only parts resellers. I also didn't have to pay shipping. Just picked it up at the parts counter.

Yes, they are probably worth it. I did look at that other tire and strongly considered it. I found the CrossClimate2s locally for just under $200 each, so I am just going to go with those. Tires are too important a safety feature to skimp on.

Update: time to replace my OE Goodyears. I am leaning towards the Michelin CrossClimate2, but that price is a little hard to swallow.

I installed the Sport grille on my car today. I was trying to figure out how to remove the emblem from the old grille. Anyone know offhand?

The only car I've ever owned that didn't end up with warped rotors what my 2012 Prius. The best aftermarket solution I've found for the problem is KNS's Pillar Vane design: https://www.knsbrakes.com/c/car-series/741_2011+Subaru+Forester+All+Models/815_KNS+Brake+Rotor+-+Single+Rotor Unfortunately, they do not seem to have rotors for the Legacy, but I haven't had any issues on my wife's Forester since I put these on.

When they replaced the timing belt on my 2011 Forester XT, it was listed as $140/hr. It has probably gone up since then.

I went with these based on recommendations on this site as well as others. DD has a really good reputation for performance, reliability, and engineering. Could you do as well with a lower cost option from Amazon? Possibly, but I don't like to take risks with safety equipment, so I went with DD to limit the risk of switching to a non-OEM part.

This is what I got for my 2018 Limited which came with Halogens: https://www.diodedynamics.com/h11-sl1-led-bulbs-pair.html They made huge difference. Prior to that, I ran H9s which I modified to fit the wiring connector. I also upgraded the high beams to LED, but it really didn't make a difference. You just swap these in for the bulbs that at there now. According to the 2016 Legacy Brochure, the 2.5i Limited did not have any special headlights -- only the 3.6R: https://www.subaru.com/content/dam/subaru/downloads/pdf/brochures/2016/Legacy/2016_Subaru_Legacy_v2.pdf

Actually, I think I see the difference now. The different color combinations: black/chrome, grey/chrome, and black. I guess the all black one came on the Sport. I like the way it looks, so I'll probably go with it: Anyone know how much work is it to replace the grille?

It looks like there are three different ones on subaruonlineparts.com: https://parts.subaruonlineparts.com/oem-parts/subaru-grille-91121al21a?c=Zz1ib2R5JnM9Z3JpbGxlLWFuZC1jb21wb25lbnRzJmw9MyZuPUFzc2VtYmxpZXMgUGFnZSZhPXN1YmFydSZvPWxlZ2FjeSZ5PTIwMTgmdD0yLTVpLWxpbWl0ZWQmZT0yLTVsLWg0LWdhcw%3D%3D https://parts.subaruonlineparts.com/oem-parts/subaru-grille-91121al19a?c=Zz1ib2R5JnM9Z3JpbGxlLWFuZC1jb21wb25lbnRzJmw9MiZuPUFzc2VtYmxpZXMgUGFnZSZhPXN1YmFydSZvPWxlZ2FjeSZ5PTIwMTgmdD0yLTVpLWxpbWl0ZWQmZT0yLTVsLWg0LWdhcw%3D%3D https://parts.subaruonlineparts.com/oem-parts/subaru-grille-91121al18a?c=Zz1ib2R5JnM9Z3JpbGxlLWFuZC1jb21wb25lbnRzJmw9MSZuPUFzc2VtYmxpZXMgUGFnZSZhPXN1YmFydSZvPWxlZ2FjeSZ5PTIwMTgmdD0yLTVpLWxpbWl0ZWQmZT0yLTVsLWg0LWdhcw%3D%3D Not sure which is the correct one.

I am currently at my local dealer for regular maintenance, and we noticed a hole in my grille where it obviously got hit by a rock or something. They are going to check the radiator, but the hole it big enough I will probably going to want to replace the damaged part. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for options beyond the standard grille. I thought there was a sport grille for the Legacy, but I can't seem to find that on the official Subaru Accessories site. Thanks, Ted

Yeah, they don't feel as nice as the Pirelli and Michelins we had on the Forester in the past. So many tradeoffs. If I didn't need to travel to NY to see my elderly parents, any random all-season tire would probably be fine for where I live in NC.

I have no complaints about the function of the CVT in my Legacy. I quite like it compared to the 4EAT in our Forester XT. I am just concerned by the almost Schrodinger's Cat kind of situation when it comes to reliability. It might be reliable in the long term or it might not, but don't open it up to find out because that will change the decay rate.

What I get from your response is the Subaru CVT is not an engineering tour de force. Anyway, we'll see how it goes. Subaru doesn't feel like it killing it on reliability like they used to though.

CVTs from some other manufacturers, specifically Toyota, don't seem to have the same problems as Subaru's. Plenty of Prius drivers can attest to the bulletproof ones they own. Also, a lot of US and European manufacturers seem to be sticking with 8 and 10 speed conventional autos, so I don't think CVTs for all is in our future. As for the fluid change, I cannot fathom why Subaru doesn't recommend some kind of periodic fluid replacement for their CVTs. I understand the longer oil change intervals are largely due to euro-spec regulations, but I don't think that applies in this case.