Subaru Crew: Official SOA Presence (aka Patti)

subaru_team

but I'm not sure if I can get any more assistance due to the mileage. The wheel bearing is really far out of warranty and I'm not sure of the history on the vehicle. It's a challenge because we can't provide the same benefit of coverage that an Added Security agreement would provide if someone opted not to purchase one. We can usually get assistance one time, but to go back and try to get it again is a different issue. I'll chat with the Rep. tomorrow. They'll need to know if you have any kind of service relationship with the dealer to see if we can try to "encourage" them to help some with it.

We'll be in touch.

Thanks!

Patti

subaru_team

I'm glad it's resolved. I was told that it was addressed, so it's good to hear that from you.

If you could send me "paper" it would be great. I still cannot receive attachments. The address is:

Patti Mickel
Quality Control/Training Leader
Subaru of America, Inc.
P. O. Box 6000
Cherry Hill, NJ 08052

Thanks!

Patti

leo2633

Patti,

Thanks for looking into it. I really appreciate that, even if you can't get anywhere with it.

Colin: I have no idea what type of bearing they put in. Hopefully, it is the updated one. I don't want to have to do this again!

Len

subaru_team

ateixeira

Len: the front wheel bearing on our 626 failed at fewer miles than that, and we paid over $800 for it. Mazda did nothing for us. The dealer originally wanted $900+, ridiculous, and gave us a "generous" discount to bring it down to $880 or so.

So don't feel bad, your price was very reasonable.

-juice

leo2633

Relatively speaking, it isn't too bad. However, compound it with the other problems I've had with this car, as well as our '02 and '03 Outbacks, and it starts getting to you. Not just in dollars and cents, but in time and aggravation. The $$ are the easy part.

Len

hypov

gets to anyone and everyone everytime.

-Dave

ateixeira

I dunno, I just haven't ever owned that perfect zero-defect car.

By that mileage my Escort's A/C had died twice, the condenser was $700+.

Our 626 was a lemon compared to your Subie, we had $2500 in repairs in 7 years and less than 80k miles.

My Miata's been good, can't complain, but my new top just set me back $880, and it has 47k miles.

Are you getting loaners? We do.

Even when we don't we have 3 cars, the spare car is always available and gets a lot of use.

Be glad you didn't buy a BMW X5, there were something like 14 recalls in the first year alone. Talk about aggravation...

-juice

paisan

You must be the most unlucky person, if you had 3 subies and all of them are bad cars....Statistically that is quite strange. To counter that I've personally owned 4 and getting my 5th subie in a few days (from JimmyP from TX on here) all of them are well over 100K miles w/o major problems, my family/extended family has owned close to 9 or 10 w/o major problems, one exception was my uncle's '97 Outback blew a headgasket recently.

-mike

ateixeira

We've had 5 in our extended family and not one of the 10 (remember, it's an H4) head gaskets has failed. :-)

-juice

hondafriek

This is only my opinion, but you are well over the warranty, to even expect Subaru or any other car maker to think about it is a stretch, at some point you have to suck it up and pay.

 A couple thousand miles over the warranty is one thing but 24,000.

  Cheers Pat.

mrk610

Count me in too

Mike k

hondafriek

<Warning Rant.

I was at my dealer the other day and I enquired about the coolant sealant, the answer I got was that this was still too new and transport Canada hadn't signed off on it yet, what BS. is this? what the hell has transport Canada got too do with it?

 Oh and Subaru of Canada sucks, check just about any Subaru website in the world and there is some way of contacting them either by E-Mail or phone. Not Subaru Canada no sir no way,their website has no way of contacting them it's like they want to be invisable.

  Okay Rant Off>

  Cheers Pat.

subaru_team

I hear you my friend. Let me dig a little? I'll post back here. I'm sorry. I wish I could influence someone up there. But hey - letters to SOA worked?????

Patti

leo2633

Pat: I don't EXPECT Subaru to pay anything toward my repair. I paid, it's over. BUT, when there seems to be an ongoing problem with the rear wheel bearings on many of the first generation Foresters (and Imprezas, if you do an internet search), I thought there might be a chance that they would. Back when the head gasket problems began to surface, not many people thought that SoA would do anything for them, either. But they did. And they did for me. So I can't complain TOO much.

Mike: Out of the three Subarus ('01 Forester, '02 Outback and '03 Outback), the problems have all been repaired on the Forester (at least up till now, no matter what the cost), the '02 OB was beyond help - that's why we got rid of it, and the '03 needed a new clutch at around 7K miles. Other than some relatively minor issues with the '03, it has been a great car. So I guess I am unlucky.

Believe it or not, I really LOVE my Subarus. I just wish the damn things didn't have so many problems. I expect I'll probably wind up buying another one for my next car. To all of you who haven't had any problems with your Subarus, I envy you and I wish you continued good luck.

Len

hondafriek

But Jon they should be a lot more accessible than what they are, it's like they don't want to be bothered.

  Cheers Pat.

bluesubie

Len - Who's your dealer?

Pat - Time to move south of the border? :-)

-Dennis

ateixeira

Pat: you can't have Patti, she's ours! You hear me?! ;-)

Len: it's a gray area, but 84k miles is a lot. The bearings failed early on when they were not installed properly (over-torqued). In fact some failed a 2nd time, almost immediately after replacement, due to this.

Honestly? I don't think we can reasonably conclude that your bearings were installed improperly. They worked fine for 83,999 miles, so IMO it's reasonable for SoA to conclude that they failed due to normal wear and tear.

Ironically, if they had failed much earlier, and hence been less reliable, the warranty would have covered it.

I don't mean to make you feel bad, I'm just discussing the merits of your claim.

I for one paid for a Subaru Gold warranty, 7/100. Now Subaru is covering head gaskets for everyone for 8/100, so my warranty, in essence, lost some value, i.e. I have less advantage over everyone else when it comes time to re-sell.

I grudgingly accept that as good for the Subaru Crew overall. Also, it's not because the gaskets were installed improperly.

If they start covering everything up to 100k miles, then fine, but please, I want my money back. Cash please. With interest. It's not fair that a Gold customer pays more, is it?

-juice

leo2633

juice: I guess you don't understand the time and aggravation factor. I've already written off the $$$ part. OK, so maybe I shouldn't expect longevity beyond the 5-60 warranty on my Forester. That's why we bought the Subaru Gold warranty on the '03 Outback. Believe me, if I get another Subaru, I will absolutely get the Gold. But, like you, my Forester was my first Subie. In my case, I believed I wouldn't need it. I was wrong. You lucked out. And sorry that the 8/100K warranty on the headgaskets has devalued BOTH our Gold warranties.

Dennis: Kolb Subaru in Orangeburg, NY. It's 5 minutes from work, and they've been great to work with, both for sales and service. No regrets on my choice of dealers.

Len

paisan

Not sure what you want as an answer, you seem to keep furthering and furthering things when there is just no answer for you. Would you like them to buy back your car and give you a new one?

Let it go already IIRC you have a first year production vehicle? You should count your blessings you don't have more problems, look at all the 1st year problems in the Escape/Tribute, Envoy/Trailblazer, etc.

-mike

leo2633

Mike,

I'm not looking for any answers. Just venting, I guess. BTW, my Forester is a 2001, which was the 4th year of production. You'd think they'd have worked out some of these bugs by that time. Oh well, what are you going to do? It's a Subaru. You gotta love it, right?

Len

subaru_team

the "love" for us anyway. I'm glad you're willing to stick with us.

Patti

hgutstein

Hi all!

Sorry have been away in Australia. Have seen the 05 legacy turbo - it is already out as 04 in Australia - looks very sharp! (was not able to drive)

Weekend of June 4-6 probably works here - Sat. is the best day for plant tour for me - probably could not get up there till fri. nite. I am thinking of bringing my son who is 8 - would he be permitted in the plant tour??

Howard

ateixeira

Len: you're right, I don't (have the same aggravation factor).

I get along quite well with my salesman. If I go in for service or a recall, no biggie, we chat, drive something, chat some more. I actually enjoy it.

Get a loaner? Better still. I write another review for the Town Hall Test Drive Team thread.

Looks at the latest surveys - you see the most reliable 5 year old cars have 2-3 problems on average. I just think it's unrealistic to expect the perfect zero defect car. Even for a Lexus or Infiniti.

I think once you accept that likelihood, you'll be a more satisfied driver.

-juice

cusafr

Can anyone go? Is there a limit? I don't own a Subaru yet, but a 2005 Legacy has my name on it for sure. I know you don't know me, but I have been around for a long time, mostly reading. Would be neat to meet some of the crew if possible. Don't even know for sure if I could make it, but would like to know if it is allowed, or if one would be welcome. Is there someone making arrangements?

Thanks,

CUSAFR

ateixeira

Actually I do recognize your handle; you've been around for quite a while, right?

-juice

cusafr

I have been around for a few years. Had a couple other handles, older computers etc. Don't mean to push myself on anyone, just would like to join if appropriate. If not, no problem. I'm really a nice guy. Nothing weird...Chief Master Sergeant, Chief, United States Air Force, Retired (CUSAFR)

aka Jim

bigelm

YES SIR, ALRIGHT SIR!!! :=) j/k.

IF you want to talk about weird than juice is your guy!!! Otherwise, we're all pretty laid back but sometimes these folks don't know how to act... maybe it's those days of the month... I guess :-D

rsholland

You'll fit right in. We're all nuts...

Bob

cusafr

I've been accused of that many times. Especially when it comes to cars.

I hope no one takes the chief thing wrong. Was just trying to explain the CUSAFR thing.

Jim

locke2c

not at all, I sit next to a Chief at work. he's retired Navy though. swears like a sailor when annoyed, too.

~c

w8ifi

Hi....!

I'm new here but have been lurking around a few of these chat boards for a few weeks. I'm impressed with Patti and the quality of most of the answers, especially IdahoDoug and "Juice". I don't want to make this too long but it's helpful if I can give you a little background. I'm 63 and a conservative driver. I live in a small town about an hour from Lake Superior. (It's so small the city limit signs are all on the same post).
I've always wanted a AWD and a Subaru. I never could afford it. Last fall the chrysler dealer who I have been dealing with for years found a 97 Impreza sedan AT driven by an 82 year old lady and only had about 30,000 miles. (TRUE!)The price was reasonable so we had a Subaru dealer about 150 miles away look it over. He changed the tranny fluid and filter and looked it over and said it looked o.k. I bought it then and drove it about a month and to make this short, the auto tranny failed. The chrysler dealer was helpful and instead of going to the tranny shop up the road I asked to have a Subaru dealer repair it.We had it shipped to the same Subaru dealer that checked it before I bought it. They installed a new factory rebuilt which I was pleased to have. The chrysler dealer paid almost $2,800.00 for the repair and didn't charge me much to flat bed it a 150 miles down the road. (Partly covered by insurance.)After I had it back a few weeks I notice that when I first turned the key and the warning lights lit up, they would all go out after a couple seconds except the AT temp light would go out, then flash 16 times and then go out. I'm not very knowledgeable so I stopped by the chrylser dealer I bought it from. They called the Subaru dealer who thought it probably was an electrical thing but didn't express an urgency about it. I'd like to wait a little before I take a day off and travel 300 miles round trip to have it checked out. I think it started occuring after I drove it thru a car wash, but I'm not sure. Would it be o.k. to have the chrysler dealer do a ECU check for code and message.? Or should I be more urgent about this? The car runs fine. The fluid level is right on, good color. I really, really, like the car!!!!! We get some pretty extreme weather here so it's a good thing to have. (It was so cold today I saw an attorney walking down the street with his hands in his own pockets.
Thanks for your patience......Jim
p.s. I wasn't sure if I should post under problems board but the replacement tranny has a 2 year warranty and I'd like to protect that, so I put it here.

rsholland

I welcome you to these boards. You will find a very enthusiastic group of Subie owners here, who are more than willing to help out whenever possible.

My gut feeling is that the previous 82 year-old lady probably did not have the vehicle serviced properly during her 30K ownership, and unfortunately, you (the current owner) are now suffering from that neglect.

Any time one buys a used car, even from little old ladies, it's a risk. You just don't know what kind of life that car had. All cars need to be serviced every 7500 miles or so. If she's like anything of the the elderly folks I know, I doubt she followed through on the recommended maintance schedule. My father-in-law only had his car serviced when it broke. At the risk of stereotyping, I think a lot of elderly drivers are much like him, when it comes to car service. They drive it until it dies, then they get it repaired.

Bob

subaru_team

I'd suggest you get it checked out pretty quickly. With the A/T Temp. light flashing, the TCU (transmission control unit) is telling you something is amiss. Whenever one of the amber/yellow lights goes on - steadily - it's okay to not treat it as something "urgent". But, when it's flashing, it indicates something that needs attention promptly. It should have stored codes that will help the dealer.

I'm suggesting that you bring it to a Subaru dealer so that there is no question related to the warranty. It may be something simple, but if it is more complex, they'd be set up to help you quickly. If you run into any trouble at all, please call into us at 1-800-SUBARU3. Please have the VIN (so we can update your ownership records and check for recalls). Tell the Rep. the story (so I will recognize the situation) and let them know that I'd like to review the case. I can't take it on directly as it would go on a long list and I'd hate to see you wait for me. But, I can advise the Rep. if they need help.

I hope this doesn't ruin the start of a wonderful relationship I'm sure you'll have with your new car. We're happy to have you with us!

Patti

subaru_team

All are welcome. Let's do this.... post your name and preferred dates for the trip. I'm not sure if they'll do a tour on Saturday's - I'll have to check on that. My calendar should be pretty flexible at this point. Shall we go with majority ruling? I'll sum up the dates by the end of next week and we'll decide. I don't antipate any problems at the plant for any dates. This will be fun.

Patti

hypov

I'm good for any day [as of to date]

-Dave

w8ifi

Thanks for the warm welcome Patti! Early next week I'll see if I can schedule an appointment. It'll be with Kastken Motors in Schofield, Wi.
Hope I can pick a day when it isn't storming. Been snowing hard since noon and 4 below when I got up. We have a dealer about 50 miles closer but my brother lives near Schofield and he said Kastken has a pretty good reputation locally so I went there. We have 13 people in our office and 5 of them have Subaru's!
thanks again.....Jim

ladywclass

My name is Brenda ... and I want to tour either June 5 or anytime in the week after that ...

(I really don't think I can arrange June 4 as it's our last scheduled teacher work day ... )

cusafr

My name is Jim (CUSAFR). I really want to go on the tour, but I cannot commit this early. My schedule is too hectic. Will you take a maybe? What date would you have to have a final Y/N?

As of now, mid-June would be best for me. Actually, once a firm date is set, I could try to work towards my schedule to meet that date.

Jim

subaru_team

better feel before I try to formalize something. No worries!

Patti

p0926

I just checked the caledar and I've got a conflict with the first weekend in June. Other than that, any time in late May or first half of June is fine. I suspect for the crew a Saturday would be best but if that's not possible how about Friday, 11 June?

-Frank P.

cptplt

June 5/6 weekend or the 19/20 is ok, the one in between I have to work

bat1161

My name is Mark and any of the first 3 weekends of June will be good for me. If they don't do Saturday tours, maybe Friday?

Mark

ateixeira

I will go but don't know my schedule that far in advance.

I mean, I don't know what I'm doing tonight, much less in June. :-)

-juice

deadeye5

Have scanned the past few pages of Posts looking for info on the SIA plant tour--Nothing. Can someone fill me in __Where is it and when do they have tours ????

                                Deadeye

bat1161

Deadeye:

Patti and some of the crew are trying to set up a tour of the SIA plant in Lafayette, Indiana. They are trying to pick a date, and see who would be going now. A few of us from the East coast are palnning on driving out.

Mark

ateixeira

I'm interested, might drive or hitch a ride. Not sure the family can make a 10 hour drive, but we'll see.

-juice

mrk610

Myname is Mike and the 1st or 2nd weekend sounds good

fibber2

and I own a Subaru.... (but you probably already knew that).

From this far out, a long weekend in early June will be fine for me.

Steve

paisan

I'm free:

June 4-6 Absolutely can't make it
June 11-13 Prefferable
June 18-20 Less prefferable, but able to make it.

-mike