what will it cost to have timing belt changed on my 2005 Subaru Outback
13 Answers
Hi Nancy,. by the way, love the picture of your horse! Generally, a timing belt is going to be around $675 to 900 or so with labor. It depends on where you live. Some people on the forum will disagree with me, but, this is a great time to check out the following, water pump, change coolant, inspect the radiator, inspect the head gaskets, and make sure that the thermostat is working fine.. A normal 2005 car probably has over 100,000 miles..? You're easily at the halfway point in the car's lifetime, and if you do the preventative maintenance now, you'll have a much better chance of going another 100,000 or more?? It might seem expensive, BUT, compared to another round of car payments, it's the cheapest option. As far as I'm concerned, it's always a much wiser thing to take care of these issues before you're stranded somewhere. If you decide to replace the water pump and thermostat, be certain that you get original Subaru parts...it does make a difference. Good luck.
Thanks for your answer. Timing belt was replaced along with drive belts at 92k. Suspension was redone at 96k, All 4 brakes, pads and rotors, at 113k. Lots of oil changes in between, every 4k miles give or take a few hundred. Have 131k now. Everything else looked good on dealer's inspection. Problem is in the last week I started hearing an engine knock, naturally when I'm trying to sell the car. Trying to figure out worst case scenario to know how price the car so I can sell it knowing this knock is now happening. If not timing belt, maybe head gaskets. Any idea on cost if that's the problem? Thanks on the picture of my horse, that's what she does when I ask her to smile for the camera.
Nancy- I imagine that you have a regular mechanic and you didn't do all this work yourself? If you don't see any leaking from the gaskets or the car is not overheating, it's probably not the head gaskets . But, I'm with you, thinking at 131,000 and the fact that your car is 12 years old, this is the perfect time to sell. I see that you have the Subaru Outback Sport, it's closer to an Imprezza than an Outback.. Here's the value of your car, you didn't mention if you have an automatic or manual transmission so the value is approximate, http://www.nadaguides.com/Cars/2005/Subaru/Impreza-4-Cyl- AWD/Wagon-5D-Outback-AWD/Values
Could be something as simple as a fuel pump or filter ? It's worth fixing to get top dollar... UNLESS it's the engine.... Get a professional opinion.. I presume that you want a new car?
You mentioned a "dealers inspection"? You could just trade the car in ? It's not the most financially advantageous decision, but, it's a fast and easy way... besides, dealers are more likely to take it if you are buying a new vehicle.
All the major work has been done at the closest Subaru dealership to me. Oil changes have been done at the Toyota dealer which is much closer. This car is an automatic with the sport shift option. I'm not planning to buy a new car, I'm downsizing...don't need three vehicles for two people. The Subaru dealership would offer me almost nothing for it compared to the book value, although they said they would like to have it. But on the other hand they haven't seen it since this knock started in the last week...so they may not even want it at this point. They told me retail would be $6250 on it based on all the information on the car that they have in their records. I was asking for 5k or best offer, but now I think I need to rethink that. I would like to sell as is because I live so far away from a good Subaru mechanic that I would trust to do the work. I'm talking almost 2 hours one way. I would be open to ideas on what I should do. Would it make sense to have a generic mechanic take a look at it locally, or just put a really low price because it needs work?
Nancy- your call on this, yes, a local mechanic could tell you more..you don't really know yet what it needs.... I would think that an asking price of $3,500 is entirely reasonable.... Not $5,000....
Here's another thought, every year you keep your car the liability insurance alone is minimum $500 or so.... If you really are not using it, sell it and save the insurance, maintenance and other repairs. A car that sits around doing nothing is NOT GOOD.
I was thinking about $3,500 would be a fair asking price, and you are right, just the costs of keeping it insured and maintained, etc. would make it not reasonable to have it just sitting here. I'll ask a local mechanic to take a look so I have more information about what is needed. Thank you for all your responses, it has helped me sort things out in my head.
Nancy- you're very welcome.... yes, sometimes just bouncing this off another person helps., Good luck with the sale of your car. Sharing the repairs and maintenance in the form of receipts will get you the best price.
All subarus with a 2.5 engine have an engine noise or called piston slap.As long as you change antifreeze every 2 years your head gaskets are fine.
Petney01-. This may be the case with older Subaru's, but, the new ones have a special ""super coolant" from SUBARU and they are supposed to be changed at 105,000 miles....
Nancy- Good luck and if any of my answers above have been helpful, please mark one of these as best answer....thank you,---Mark
