Dealer not following maintenance schedule?

[NYC_Eli]

I recently passed 2 years with around 11.2K miles. Went in for 12K service, and was told that I was "early" for the service, and only received an oil change. They told me they would use a 15K maintenance mark, when I return in 6 months. Shouldn't they have followed the maintenance schedule, instead of going by their own?

[The Grey Goose]

Have you never had an oil change before?!

[capttris]

The Subaru published "maintenance schedule" is a guideline/recommendation and there are certainly variations/interpretations based on how many miles you drive.

11,000 miles in 2 years is very light use. Unfortunately it doesn't tell the entire story.

Are these 11,000 miles all around town, short trips, lots of idling, stop and go? My guess is probably yes.

Or perhaps you only use the car a couple days a week and do a longer highway drive on the few occasions you use it.

As your location shows NYC, my guess is the first one - and lots of NYC traffic.

 

Is your goal to keep this car for a very long time and make sure it is as reliable as possible for this long period? if yes, oil changes 2x3 times a year would a good thing, even if your mileage is low.

 

If you goal is to do the bare minimum but still try to "meet" the Subaru published maintenance recommendation, you should still do an annual (once per year) oil change as a minimum, even if you aren't hitting the mileage numbers. (I'm cringing about thinking of only changing my oil once a year, but it's up to you)

 

As for the dealer "following" the "Subaru published maint. schedule", dealers typically have their own variation of this that they "publish/post" and it is often to upsell more service. (not always, but usually)

 

thoughts?