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Comments
Deadeye5
Hope you all are relaxing after all that turkey! Jim - I did a little on the inside and a little out (for the "low cal" folks). It worked out well. Everyone's sleeping with the exception of my daughter who's at a D.A.R.E all night bowling thing. I don't know how staying up all night helps kids fight drugs, but she was psyched about it. Now - I have to pick her up at 5AM!
Happy Black Friday! Let the shopping begin!
Patti
Great time with the inlaws. Still bitter cold here in Penrose, CO. Hoping to hear about my Legacy today. Must be a really tough job getting at that heater core as they have had the car since 7:30AM monday. They thought it would be done on Wednesday but asked for more time when I called late that day.
Patti - Thanks again for all of your help.
bit
Service rep, service manager and service tech were very nice. And of course Patti made it perfect (another big thank you!). So glad to have my Soob back.
Patti
Patti: I wil drop you an e-mail in the near future.
Ed
Cheers Pat.
bit
I asked dealer to talk to factory rep to see what could be done. So far, I've paid dealer $606.85 for new alternator installed and I'm out almost $200 for towing and car rental. After 3 follow up call to the dealer, I was told that the rep said there was nothing that could be done. During the ongoing inquiries with the dealer, I called SOA who told me that they would open a case # but could do nothing until the dealer responded. A call back to SOA yesterday after the dealer blow-off resulted in my leaving a voicemail message with no return call. I don't know whether to be unhappier about the bad product or the bad customer service.
My thought? It isn't a purely electrical component (like an ECU, for example) but the engine WON'T run without it. I mean, it is an accessory... driven by an accessory belt. A water pump would be an accessory too. While they don't fail often stuff can happen. We feel priviledged when fortuitous stuff happens to us, like finding a $10 in an old coat, and feel indignant when misfortune comes our way.
So you were 3,000 miles out of the bumper-to-bumper warranty. Ouch. Patti might be able to help ya, but I totally understand where you're coming from on the customer service side of things. I presume you were courteous to them and it is reasonable to expect that in return.
-Colin
Follow up with 800-SUBARU3, keep on them to get a response. Some times this delay is them taking time to sort out what SoA can do for your case, not out of rudeness or them ignoring you.
Good luck.
-juice
I'm very sorry about the failure and the perceived lack of responsiveness on our part. There were some other factors that contributed to this that were beyond our control.
Patti
If that is the biggest problems we've had on our cars, we should count our blessings, jump over to the FORD board and check out the bad tranny's or the Trailblazers with all kinds of problems.
Cars are mechanical so things like that may happen from time to time. Hopefully patti can do some "good will" work and get you some happiness on this matter.
-mike
Same thing could have and does happen even on Rolls Royces, I was going to say that given time Patti would take care of this and her timely post before mine shows that she has.
Incidently I owned Hondas for many years before buying my Subaru and while I was happy with all of the Hondas I owned when you were out of warranty generally you were out of luck, in Subarus defence I have seen Patti get satisfaction for many customers that other car makers would not have bothered with.
Cheers Pat.
I imagine the alternator itself is kinda pricey, but not that much. and there shouldn't be much in labor; I could change one in about 30 minutes given the easy access with the longitudinal engine and (typical) top-mounted location. 45 minutes tops, say without air tools.
-c
PS mike do you have to be so abrasive? if anyone complains or asks for something, they're sure to get a nice flaming from you. ease up!
YWRX thank heavens!
Sorry I will continue to call em as I see em!
-mike
It would be good to receive a warning message on the dash when it fails, the battery should be able to let you drive for a while.
I agree it's something that just fails at times, we have to live with that. But $600 sounds very pricey to me, too.
- D.
I also hope it wasn't the belt. My belt was cracked and worn at 30,000 miles, and squeaked on cold/damp mornings. The new belt was about $20, and easy to install (the H6-3.0 has an automatic tensioner). By the way, this is an "inspect and replace as necessary" item on the 30,000 mile maintenance.
Craig
Also, things like tires and batteries have seperate warranties from their manufacturers. That's standard protocol for the auto industry.
Maybe we are spoiled, though. My dad has spent $6000 fixing his old Taurus wagon, more than the car is worth!
-juice
Anyway, it should wind up early next week.
Unfortunately, I won't be at the chat tonight either. I'm neglecting my friends here and I'm sorry about that! Children responsibilities you know! I was really hoping to be able to check in with Steve's exploits with his newest addition and Ed's!!
I'll catch up soon!
Patti
Cheers Pat.
First, I'm impressed that a manufacturer would put themselves out here in an open forum of this nature. Congrats to Subaru.
Patti, I am officially fed up with my dealer, Rancho Subaru in San Diego, from whom I purchased a Forester XT last week. In addition to poor dealer prep (scratch on dash, dirty razor blade on top of the car from scraping stickers off, sticker still on one side of roof rails, small paint scratch on pass. door and an overall dirty car) I am livid about the dealer followup to install acessories, their F&I sales tactics and poor customer service.
The sales manager gave me a due bill for additional parts (arm rest, rear diff protector, air filter) and told me I'd be called this week to arrange an appointment for install. I called them (after five business days) and was transferred to a person's voicemail who was full and not taking messages. Then I was transferred to service who said that was sales' responsibility. Once I got the sales manager with whom I worked out pricing and arranged the original due bill on the phone she had no clue about my parts. The sales manager said she'd leave a note for the person who writes the parts orders. No responsibility taken, no ownership of this issue offered by the sales manager. I was told on a Friday that I should get a call the following Monday, eight days after I purchased my car.
I love my car, and feel I got a good deal, but this dealer's service is very aggravating. I just spent close to $30k at this dealer and they delivered a half prepped car and showed the worst follow through and customer service I've seen from a dealer.
In addition, after negotiating with the F&I guy for 45 minutes to get an agreeable price on warranty he pulls out his paperwork and then says "Oh no, that's a turbo car, turbo warranty is $250 more". I was so frustrated with him at that point I almost walked out, but after 5 hours at this dealer, no lunch and a pretty nasty flu I had I just wanted to close the deal and go home. That F&I tactic is complete bait and switch foot-in-the-door sales techniques and very insulting. After negotiating and AGREEING to a warranty price between dealer and customer he should honor that price....regardless if he made the mistake of not including the supposed "turbo clause" prior to agreeing on price.
To add insult to injury, I realized today that my moonroof rattles when it's open. Sounds like a loose wire above the rear passenger headliner.
Patti, I know this is a long message but the simple matter is I feel this dealer is causing Subaru more harm than good with it's customers. Their follow through is terrible, their dealer prep is non existent, their F&I guy is dirty and their sales management doesn't understand the first thing about customer satisfaction.
I look forward to your response/guidance on where I can go from here.
Thanks,
Stuart
Rip-off room revisited (CNN)
Steve, Host
Bob
I knew the downside of warranties and was prepared to walk away if I didn't get my 40% off price. Once I got that price, and he came back at me with this "turbo clause" I was mentally spent. I should have walked out, but at that point I'd reached my limits after this marathon dealer trip. I'd achieved my objective, but was not prepared to fight this additional battle. It's like getting a curve ball after fouling off 10 fastballs.
Live and learn. But this guy should be held accountable by Subaru for this dirty tactic.....and even if there is a "turbo clause", he agreed to a price, and then changed it during the paperwork.
In fact, some of the "distributors" possess quite a bit of power. Just ask our members in the Northeast who pay slightly higher prices!
You had the right attitude of always being ready to walk. They are counting on the combination of your emotional desire for the car and wearing you down to close the sale.
Jim
Note: I'm not in the auto industry. 8~O
-juice
-c
Cheers Pat.
I don't think his job was near the same as Patti's though.
Patti, is there any way that you can use (impose?) your influence with SoC? I know they're separate from SoA, but perhaps there is a way that some "global" pressure can be applied?
It really is a shame, as we have several Canadian regulars here, and it would be great for those folks to benefit from someone like you.
Maybe it's just wishful thing, but nothing ventured, nothing gained...
Bob
(ducks and runs) ;-)
-Brian
-c
-Dave (ducks and runs too) ;-)
Cheers
Anyway, TGFP.
-c
Cheers Pat.
Cheers Pat.
Ken
-Frank P.