Was the call recorded by chance? I'm sure Subaru of America (SoA) would love to hear the recording.

Are you female? There's been many a tale on this forum where some dealers treat women differently to men, assuming they're not so knowledgeable on car related topics.

Never heard of someone including a shortblock when quoting a head gasket repair - They might as well include new tyres and a new exhaust in the job too as they're just as relevant.

 

Try another dealer, or even better, an independent Subaru-only shop.

 

As simple and obvious as your advice is, it makes so much more sense than the some of the other responses posted!

 

So are the heads, cam seals, and etc. actually leaking, or are you "pro-actively" wishing to fix what's not broken but you expect to fail in the near future (see signature please)? If you are you might consider a private wrench guru vs a dealership. Or, sell the vehicle and buy a new car using the proceeds of the sale and with what a block and labor would cost you. 110,000 miles is really not a lot of miles. If it's not spurting oil or dumping oil into the coolant then maybe you should just drive it into the ground, have it crushed, and then refresh with a cold beer.

 

It's unclear to me what you were actually requesting and why, not to mention what issues your car is experiencing. Some of what you are asking for would depend if the engine was out of the car already. Trying to quote each job individually is a bit of a mug's game as you would not do these repairs individually but as part of an overhaul. The short block replacement was mainly for early gen FB25 engines which suffered piston ring and oil consumption issues and some leaks. You have an earlier gen engine that did not have these issues and for which there was no extended warranty offered. ( Even that is now expired).
Your engine requires timing belt replacements, spark plugs, ignition wires, and most likely at some point a head gasket change. Your engine has been out of warranty for well over a decade. Frankly, it's a testament to the quality of the car that you are still driving a 2007 and want to keep it.
I am all for bashing dealerships but in this case, they have done nothing it seems--no work and no actual service recommendations that were questionable. I think you confused them with your requests that from their point of view did not make much sense. Basically, you were asking them to do a fair bit of work to provide you with detailed estimates for hypothetical repairs that might get performed in a couple of years' time. A lot of people don't like doing extra pointless work for nothing, and that is what this would have been for them.

 

I will be the first in line to bash a dealer service department, but see their point of view on this. I don't understand what is gained by asking about some repairs in the future, that may, or may not, be needed. I suggest if and when you need a major repair, or an engine rebuild/replacement, then research what the cost would be, and compare that to getting the vehicle replaced.

 

A 2007… It’s almost a 17 year old vehicle, and at that age, the mileage doesn’t play much of a role in vehicle resale value…at least, for most potential buyers …

From a dealership’s standpoint, not a high percentage of vehicle owners that have cars that old put significant amounts of money into the vehicle. It’ usually (but not always) makes far more economic sense to trade vehicles for a later year model…

 

I am doing exactly what Vishnu suspected... planning to do expected repairs that are in the 1-2 year horizon and do them all at once in a cost effective manner. Nothing could be worse from the point of view of convenience and cost than waiting for the car to get knocked off the road and then doing a single repair so that you can drive on for another 10K-20K miles at which point you repeat the process of being stuck with an undrivable car and another expensive repair(s) to take care of. As others have pointed out, an indy mechanic is going to be the best (and only) option for doing multiple jobs at the same time.

 

I would not expect any shop, dealer or otherwise to give estimates for some future work, without seeing the vehicle.

I've been there and done that way back when I had a shop. The last thing a customer ever remembers is the price you gave them over the phone for a, b and c. They don't want to hear the new price after seeing the vehicle it also needs x, y and z.

It sounds like the dealer isn't much interested in working on older vehicles. That is not uncommon these days. If that is the case, the only thing I would fault the dealer for is not being up front about it.

 

You know, fixing things that might go wrong is the slipperiest of all slippery slopes that you can fall into. Logically it can't end. Save yourself and get a rental car if it breaks down and start saving money for a replacement tomorrow. Don't insurance companies offer rentals if the vehicle breaks down? If so, you could throw your money down that hole. Cars usually give advanced warnings before they break. I hope you resolve your dilemma.

 

This is not the same as the OP, but is somewhat similar. I have a 1999 Nissan Frontier that I use for a second vehicle. I do take it out of town for some outdoor type trips. I have a minor concern about a possible unexpected breakdown, because to the age of this truck. To address this, I belong to an auto motor club through the AARP. It covers for up to 100 miles of towing. I have never had to use it. If I faced a major repair, I would donate the vehicle to a charity, and look for something else. The Frontier runs great, that why I keep it.

 

Dealer service personnel are lately fully involved with helping paying customers. Your requests put you in the neighborhood of "dreamer" or "window shopper" and service writers have actual work to do to keep paying customers moving through their queue. You seem completely tone deaf to this concept.

Doing extensive work on such an old vehicle often reveals or causes other problems, and these problems are not easy to anticipate. You were told that the dealer's policy is not to quote on anything short of a full short block replacement.

 

Dealerships should at the very least, be open, honest and clear. These days a lot of shops are taking only jobs that produce the most profit. They should have been honest with you and explained the difficulties of predicting a future job but that shouldn’t stop them from giving you a ballpark estimate. Maybe it’s a good red flag that you were able to see early on. Keep doing research and find a decent shop. Good luck.

 

At least in my line of work, quoting a price over the phone is very difficult and nearly impossible to get right. The client needs to come in with all their paperwork, and a proper interview to give an accurate quote. Everyone says their tax return is simple, but when they come in it's a completely different story. Cars are the same way.

 

So out of curiosity who do you think provided bad advice or information here? You called out a dealership based upon your own lack of knowledge, and yet you still insist you were in the right? Frankly, you owe them an apology.