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Subaru Maintenance Options in Asheville

In today's economy it is important to get the most for your money.  Likewise, it is important to know when something that costs less might not necessarily be the "best bargain."

Some people choose to have their routine maintenance work (oil changes, tire rotations, etc.) outside the dealership because they believe dealership maintenance is too expensive, takes too long, or is not a good bargain.

  
Not all oil changes are created equal!

Have you ever actually wondered what is inside an oil filter?  Well, you're not the only one.  One of our techs recently pointed out that the Subaru OEM oil filter felt much heavier than an aftermarket on he had just removed.  Being the curious type, he cut the aftermarket filter apart, as well as a used Subaru OEM filter.  The results were actually quite surprising.  The OEM Subaru filter contained over 60% more filter material.  Not only that, but the aftermarket oil filter did not contain the special anti-drainback valve that the OEM filter contains.  This valve is important because when the engine is shut off, the valve closes, keeping the oil in the engine, rather than allowing it all to drain back down into the oil pan.  This helps eliminate dry starts, which can prolong engine life.



Since this initial experiment we have cut open filters from 5 different manufacturers and found that none of those have had the special valve, and none of them had as much filter material as the Subaru filter.










Does Your Battery Look Like This?






This customer brought their car in complaining of sluggish starts.  There was so much corrosion that our technician was frankly surprised that the car could start at all.  This was caused by a leaky battery and a bad engine ground.

 
Recently a customer brought their Forester in to our dealership complaining of a "burning oil smell."  Upon investigation, we discovered oil leaking near the oil drain plug.  Further looking around uncovered an aftermarket oil filter as well.  When speaking with the customer we were told that he had been out of town and unable to get his car in to a dealership so he had an oil change done at a major nationwide chain store.  The store had neglected to replace the very important crush seal on the oil drain plug.  Not only was this messy, and inconvenient for the customer, but after only 900 miles, his car was over a quart low on oil.
 
TRUE OR FALSE:
Dealership service is too expensive!

Some people firmly believe this, however we recently did some research to find out how competitive our prices really are.  Below are the results of a comparison of our shop, 2 nationally recognized facilities, and a large, widely recognized independent shop in our area.
  

As a side-note to the above comparison chart, on both National chains, the oil used is low-grade bulk oil.  Upgrading to a premium oil, such as is used at Prestige, increases the price by $1.00-$1.50 per quart.

These shops also charge extra for some of the items that we include in our standard oil change.  With one of the National chain stores after an upgrade to premium oil, and adding all the other things we offer at no additional charge, the price skyrockets to $46.50.  Even at this price, they don't use the special OEM oil filter, and they reuse the oil drain plug crush seal (which can cause leaks like the one shown above.)

It is also important to note that when you have your car serviced at Prestige, we check the vehicle over from top to bottom.  Many times we can catch a minor problem (such as a torn axle boot) before it turns into a major repair (axle replacement.)

Prestige has customers that drive from Hendersonville, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greenville SC, Johnson City TN, and even further to have our experts take care of their Subaru vehicles.Prestige beats Hunter, Folger, Fairway, and Wallace every time on price and service!
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