Report - Subaru’s Actual New Vehicle Service Costs In The First Three Months

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How much does it cost to own a 2021 Subaru Forester, Outback, or Crosstrek in the first three months of service? See how it compares with other automakers.

A new report from We Predict measures money spent by owners of 2021 model-year Subaru vehicles and other manufacturers in the first three months on the road. It reveals which brands have the lowest service costs. How does the 2021 Subaru Forester, Outback, or Crosstrek compare with other automakers?

The Forester compact SUV, Outback midsize SUV, and Crosstrek small SUV did not win any individual segment awards for the lowest service costs. The best-ranked vehicles are the Hyundai Kona (small car), Ford Ecosport (compact SUV), and Nissan Murano (midsize SUV).

How does Subaru compare with other mainstream (non-premium) car brands? In the We Predict Deepview True Cost Report, Subaru is in the top five automakers with the lowest service costs in the first three months on the road. Honda is lowest at $21.00, Hyundai ($22), Buick ($24), Toyota ($24), and Subaru ($27) are the top five automakers.

Included in the calculations are maintenance, unplanned repairs, warranty and recalls, service campaigns, diagnostics, and software updates. Items such as gas, local and state inspections, and insurance are not included. The average actual cost among non-premium brands after three months on the road is $42. You can read the full report here.

We Predict says the new report includes more than 801,000 vehicles across 306 models, with results based on 1.6 million service or repair orders that totaled more than $128 million in parts and $254 million in labor costs.

The following best brands are Mazda ($28), Nissan ($32), Kia ($34), Volkswagen ($39), and Chrysler ($39). GMC had the highest non-premium brand costs at $132.

In Kelly Blue Book’s 2021 5-Year Cost to Own Awards, the 2021 Subaru Forester, 2021 Subaru Outback, and 2021 Subaru Ascent score among the eleven best new SUVs.

KBB adds up all costs associated with a vehicle for five years to come up with the winners. Costs such as fuel, maintenance, repairs, financing, insurance, and one of the most significant factors of all, depreciation, are all factors that affect a vehicle’s total ownership costs.

According to the new Vincentric Best Fleet Value In America 2021 awards, the 2021 Subaru Outback, Crosstrek, and Legacy scored the lowest cost-to-own awards in other recent awards.

It costs less to own a 2021 Subaru Forester, Outback, or Crosstrek in the first three months on the road than most automakers. In the We Predict’s Deepview True Cost first report measuring service and warranty costs compiled from actual service records, Subaru ranks in the top five automakers with the lowest costs.

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Denis Flierl has invested over 30 years in the automotive industry in a consulting role working with every major car brand. He is an accredited member of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press. Check out Subaru Report where he covers all of the Japanese automaker's models. More stories can be found on the Torque News Subaru page. Follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Photo credit: Subaru

Submitted by jg (not verified) on May 20, 2021 - 11:06PM

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This "Inaugural Deepview True Cost report ranks 2021 vehicles by the service cost per vehicle during the first three months of ownership." It is a data analysis of "actual [parts and labor] dollars spent by customers and manufacturers – to keep vehicles in top working condition – in the first three months of service."

Since all the cars being "ranked" are under warranty, it's a fair assumption there are practically no costs being incurred by the customer (unlike what the first statement in this article says).

Of the 10 or so new Subaru's I have had, the only things the dealer needed to take care of were omissions or damage from the factory (actually had a missing badge once and a couple seats replaced), damage in transit (have you ever seen cars on and offloaded from the ship), and damage by customers test driving the vehicles.

I would submit the first 3 months are when the customer gets the car back to as pristine as possible and that a more reliable indicator would exclude the first year of ownership.