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It does seem like the the estimate of $1272 in maintenance for the first two years for an Outback is about right. The estimate by Edmunds is based on a high 15k miles a year of driving. Subaru's maintenance schedule calls for more frequent oil changes than most, at every six months or 6k miles.

So for the first 30,000 miles you'd need about six oil changes + tire rotations, which at Bachman Subaru's prices would be about $700. Looking at the Subaru service schedule the other things you'd need at 30k would be brake fluid (c. $200), engine air filter (c. $75), and cabin air filter (c. $75). So that adds up to about $1050.

We have two Subaru dealers in Louisville, Huffman and Bachman, and we bought one Outback at each of them. Bachman's prices for service are higher, but they say they use synthetic oil direct from Subaru rather than from another source. Not surprisingly, having bought from both of them, Bachman and Huffman have quite an intense competition with each other, and they really don't like each other much.

Not sure if it is in your car's owner's manual, but Subarus also have front and rear differential fluid that needs to be changed. IIRC @xwesx, our resident Subaru guru said to have a "drain & fill" service performed with 75W90 fully synthetic gear oil every 30Kish miles.

When Costco is having a sale their prices on Michelin tires are good. Unlike other places the prices include installation and a 5-year hazard warranty. I've seen online how many swear by these Defender tires, and some say they do get 70k or more out of them....I'm hoping for 60k-70k out of my CC2 tires. Currently at 43k with them, and it seems like it might be possible.

When Costco is having a sale their prices on Michelin tires are good. Unlike other places the prices include installation and a 5-year hazard warranty. I've seen online how many swear by these Defender tires, and some say they do get 70k or more out of them....I'm hoping for 60k-70k out of my CC2 tires. Currently at 43k with them, and it seems like it might be possible.

I just looked; I've got about 24,000 miles on our CC2's in almost 3 years. Should easily get 50K or more out of them, at the rate of wear we're seeing.

Now that my extended family owns two Outbacks, the Edmunds Cost to Own chart is of interest, even though the costs for the '25 will be carried by next gen and partner. These charts seem more or less on the money for most things, but thank goodness for maintenance and repairs their estimates seem high.

For instance, back when I got my 2018 Acura TLX the estimate was similar to what's shown here for a 2025 Subaru. Iirc it estimated about 5k for maintenance and $1k for repairs during the first 5 years/75k miles for my TLX. But my actual costs for maintenance at the Acura dealer, sometimes going beyond the maintenance schedule (for the transmission service, for instance) for the first 7 years and 90k miles have actually been $2700, with $0 for repairs.

I know we won't do that well with the Subarus, but my guess is we'll still spend less than this chart. One thing we are saving big on is when it comes to interest costs. The chart shows that you might pay as much as $6k in interest for a 5 year loan from the bank. With the 0.9% we have from Subaru for a three year loan the interest charges are only c. $400, and so we saved more than $5k right there. These charts are interesting, but also make you take stock of all the costs that come with owning a car. Depreciation is a huge cost for most vehicles.

With this link below you can put in the info for most vehicles from the last five years.

https://www.edmunds.com/tco.html