Periodic Maintenance Questions on 2009 Forester

grafzeppelin

I have a few questions concerning periodic maintenance on our new 2009 Forester:

1) Does anyone recommend (or not) to periodically spray the CV joint boots with silicone lubricant in an effort to keep the rubber boots from cracking? It was recommended to me years ago and I have been doing this to our 2000 Honda CRV whenever I change the oil, which I do myself. I have never had a CV joint problem but I know it's not necessarily from spraying them. I also understand that some rubber/plastic parts do not react well to some silicone sprays/lubricants. Does anyone know if the Subaru's CV joint boots are OK to be sprayed with the stuff??

2) I typically change my own oil. What do I need to do (as far as documentation goes) to ensure that the warranty is kept in good standing with Subaru? So far we have only had the initial servicing (@3500 miles I believe) done by the Subaru dealer but I've looked under the vehicle and as far as accessibility goes, changing the oil won't be any problem. Does anyone have any recommendations or advice for, or against the idea. My plan was/is to buy the parts from the dealer, keep the receipts and document when I changed the oil.

Any advice is appreciated.

ateixeira

Not sure about #1, but...

For #2, I recommend keeping records on My.Subaru.com. You can input each service you do, then print them out and keep them in a 3-ring binder. Staple the receipts for the oil and filter to that print out.

When you sell it, you have all the records, and you can even print out a summary sheet that lists everythinhg you did (including dealer stuff, like warranty repairs and recalls).

I did this for my 1998 model and got full price when selling it. :shades:

grafzeppelin

Thanks for the info. Should I include the fact that (@ ~ 1000 miles), that I changed the oil and put in a quart of Slick 50? I'm a believer in the stuff but I don't know how the Subaru folks might react.

p0926

Wow! Slick 50 in a brand new car.... that's got to be a first :P

paisan

I would make sure to save the reciepts for the oil changes and document it in my.subaru.com I had an engine issue and there was a question as to the maintenance until they tore it down and realized they could eat off the oil pan. I own a shop that does subaru upgrades and maintenance so when they asked for reciepts I faxed them the reciepts for 60 cases of Amsoil and 60 oil filters. Haaaa.

But I wish I had kept better records would have made my repair experience better.

As for silicone, do not ever spray it on rubber. The silicone will lift the oils in the rubber out and dry out the rubber faster. Same goes for silicone and other "tire dressing" this will dry-rot your tires.

-mike
Subaru Guru and Track Instructor

grafzeppelin

Thanks for the information. Do you recommend any other product for use on rubber or plastic?