I plan on running the filter for 30K which is recommended from the manufacturer. I don't have a problem with that since I believe these only have clutch packs for forward and reverse transition, which the car shouldn't even be moving for that transition. So almost no clutch material should be present.
It might be a year and a half before you can see what's in that filter, but I'll surely open it and let you see the contents.
I know there is the pickup filter down at the pan and an internal cartridge filter as well, but I have more of a peace of mind running this external filter that can at least be changed.
Thank you and absolutely agree with what you've said above.
My theory is that Subaru engineering and marketing made a "drug deal" so to say. The engineers basically said that the car's will make it at least past the 100k (if not more) with "lifetime fluid" to get them out of warranty before there's any possibility of CVT failure given that the vehicle is driven under "reasonable conditions". At the same time marketing agreed to let there be fill and drain plugs for the front and rear diffs along with the transmission for those people that know better than to believe in the "lifetime fluid" BS and want to actually maintain the car if they plan to keep them for an extended period of time, say 15 to 20 years, which is my plan for both my wife's 2017 Forester and my 2016 Legacy.
Riddle me this, if they were truly "lifetime fluids", why would they even put drain and fill plugs on any of the normally serviceable parts to begin with i.e. front, rear diff and the transmission? Why not have those units sealed so the end user can't have a realistic capability of servicing them if they're truly "lifetime fluids"?
Again, just my opinion and theory on the matter.