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Comments
Hence the name! It all makes sense now
I think part of the problem is that mechanics are not really trained well these days and expert mechanics who actually like the work are rare. A lot of the mechanics I bump into at dealers are lazy and clearly don't care about their work.
In contrast, some of the smaller independent shops are great, as they are usually owned and operated by people who like working on cars and take pride in their work. I would definitely use an independent for big jobs. Anybody know if SOA will reimburse us for warranty repairs made by independents, or are we stuck with the dealers?
Craig
More importantly, it seems dealers make more profit through maintenance and repair work than by selling new cars. I think that should give them some incentive to have competent people. A potential loss in the form of people avoiding them for maintenance and repair work may affect them significantly.
Are we allowed to post dealers names here? If so, I would strongly suggest that people post any good/bad experiences with any dealer. That will save some of us from trouble and if dealers learn that there behavior has consequences they will be forced to act upon it. A popular forum such as this may have some decent sized impact.
Jon
I find that very unfortunate, especially as Subaru is trying to move up-market and is even charging a premium here in Canada
Sly
I'm going to order one with the nipple.
Cheers,
Jay
Steve
Jim
My first complaint is that for scheduled maintenance, they adhere to the extremely severe maintenance routine which translates into big bucks for the 15k and 30k services.
My other complaint is the response to service while under extended warrantee (I hope my friend Patti is listening to this!). With a 100K gold warrantee, I found it extremely difficult if not impossible, to get anything done under warrantee by the dealer.
I lived with several oil leaks for over two years before they were found (huh!) and repaired. My power antenna gave me years of problems before the motor was replaced. It had to be completely broken to be covered, not an intermittant problem. I might have helped it along one day ...
The best however is my sunroof. Gaskets are covered under the warrantee. The gasket split on the sunroof. HOWEVER, because the gasket is attached to the glass, and glass is not covered by the warrantee, the sunroof gasket is not covered by exclusion. Because I did not want to dish out $350 plus 2 hours of labor, my sunroof still leaks 4 years later.
Back to the original statement. The service at my dealer is very good ... as long as you don't mind paying some serious bucks. Rob M.
I guess you are saying that you can at least be confident that when they do something you are certain they will repair it well and not screw up anything else. That part is of course very good.
Sly
You might want to read some of the dialog in the Meet the Members thread over the last 4-5 days. It has been rich in "Patti" testimonials.
Steve
Steve
Karl
-juice
Apart from one hiccup I had with my dealer last year I have had outstanding service since. For the little I use them that is as I do most of my own servicing.
Cheers Pat.
I had the injectors cleaned on my 96 Outback. Once. Cost $89. It went from 20k highway miles a year to 5k miles around town and occasional weekend trips.
It started bogging down when cold and the engine was skipping on long inclines. Problem cured.
I hope this helps! Rob M.
Have an '04 Forester XS /8K miles with a factory installed alarm system. Got back from running errands here in Mid Miohigan today which was snowy/rainy/sloppy - if you live here, you know what I mean.
After parking the car in the garage, my wife noticed a steady audible beef coming from the engine compartment.
After verifying that there is not a tire leak and opening the radiator to release pressure, the steady beep continued. We noted the beep was most pronounced by the grill - right by the Subaru logo.
What I found was that if I replaced the hood prop firmly in its connector, the beep went away, when I lifted it out, the beep came back - not always, but 90% of the time.
If I get it to stop the contiuous soft beep by messing with the hood, when I use the remote key, it always starts again.
My theory is that I have a fauly alarm system - there is probably a sensor by the hood latch that got wet/salted and now renders my alarm system / door locks useless. I do not get any beeps, flashed, etc.
Any one else see this - needless to say, it's another trip to the dealer tomorrow....
Paul
Chuck
Thanks
Chuck
Most alarm system will emit an audible at intervals when the battery is running low. Check to see if that might be it.
-Dave
For the first two years of our new life in America, I'd take our Subaru for its service, and it would come back with the tyres pumped up to 40psi. Each time, I'd check the door pillar sticker which informed me that they should be 32psi front and 28psi rear, and let the air out to get to those values. Eventually, seeing odd tyre wear and getting fed up of doing this, I asked one of the mechanics "why do you always over-inflate the tyres?" I got a very long and technical response which basically indicated that Subaru are one of the manufacturers who've never really adjusted their recommended tyre pressures in line with new technology. It seems that the numbers they put in their manuals and door stickers are a little out of date. I'm a bit of a skeptic so I researched this on the internet in some of the Impreza forums and chat rooms and it turns out to be true. So I pumped up the tyres to 40psi front and rear, as the garage had been doing, and as my research indicated. The result, of course, is a much stiffer ride. But the odd tyre wear has gone, and my gas-mileage has changed from a meagre 15.7mpg (U.S) to a slightly more respectable 20.32 mpg (U.S). That's with mostly stop-start in-town driving. Compare that to the official quoted Subaru figures of 21mpg (city) and 27mpg (freeway) and you'll see that by changing the tyre pressures to not match the manual and door sticker, I've basically achieved their quoted figures.
I'm not sure about 40 psi, but I'd like to get better mileage than what I'm getting.
Thoughts?
Eric
Get into car ('05 Forester XT) Friday morning and attempt to start. Car turns over, won't start. Battery has enough juice to power accessories. Call Subaru Roadside Assistance. Car gets flatbedded to dealer; tow guy asks me to bring along spare set of keys. Car gets offloaded at dealer; tow guy gets into car with spare keys, starts car right up(!). Dealer performs diagnostics, determines car did not recognize my primary key and activated immobilizer. Keys get reprogrammed; car now starts with all keys. Off I go.
I'm curious if anyone with immobilizer keys has had this problem yet. Dealer said they'd had few reports but not enough to spot a trend.
Ed
Sly
Or, been near any magnet that morning?
-Dave
p/s: If static is the culprit, boy, would I be visiting the dealers regularly for reprogram - I'm charged year round
I would be a bit concerned about going to that extreme for the following:
1) Make sure that this does not exceed the max as indicated on the tire sidewall.
2) Tire 'give' reduces the transmission of impact to the suspension and unitbody. That harshness is accompanied by additional stress.
3) That same give also saves the tires belts and cord body from damage.
4) The pressure differential front to rear is ratioed to the vehicle weight distribution to even out effective rolling circumference. Messing that up might put stress on the center differential, and overheat it.
5) The higher pressure reduces rolling resistance in part by decreasing the contact patch. That directly translates to less grip. In an emergency stop, it may increase the chance of the rear end breaking loose and coming around on you.
In summary, I wouldn't do it. Consumer Reports used to recommend going up 2 psi or so to save gas, a little bit of wear, and give a slight load/temperature margin.
Steve
A lot of WRX owners bump up the tire pressure for better handling, but that is not something I would use to conclude that it's the right thing to do for every car and every situation. Rather, it probably applies to a small percentage of the cars onthe road. In fact, a lot of those people are running very low profile tires which can be a different ball game alltogether. And I have seen knuckleheads talk about how they run at 50psi "as written on the tire" !! (in other words, the max, not the running pressure).
Finally, mechanics and service reps at dealers have given out some of the most inaccurate, erroneous, and potentially dangerous information I have seen. I don't give them much credibility at all.
My personal experience is that bumping Subaru's recommended pressure up 2-3 psi for high to medium profile tires (55 aspect ratio and higher) is probably just about right.
Craig
If I install it I'll document the whole process to benefit everyone here.
The ride's too stiff at 40psi. I like 32-33 or so.
-juice
Here's another tip - if you don't have the exhaust tip covers, try those. Supposedly, and don't ask me to explain why, but supposedly people with those experience backfires with less frequency.
I have no idea why, but that's what was observed early on among Forester owners.
We did a fuel service on our 626 and it solved a rather nasty hesitation problem we had, but that was after 70k miles IIRC.
I had tried Techron but that was not enough. And we'd been using premium fuel only up to that point in time. I still think we just got a bad batch of gas or something.
-juice
-Frank
You can ask the dealer to quote on just the service that is required in the manual. If the dealer refuses, then I would go to another dealer or independent shop for service. On most Subaru models, the only service needed at 15,000 is an oil change, lubrication of locks and hinges, and visual inspection of brakes, belts and hoses.
Many shops routinely include the inspections with every oil change, if requested. Thus, at my dealer, if I ask for the 15k service, they charge something like $120, but if I ask for an oil change and 21 point inspection, I get all of the necessary services for $100 LESS.
At 30,000, the same is required plus changing coolant, brake, clutch differential and transmission fluids, and in some models, changing spark plugs. My dealer charges about $375 for a 30,000 service WITHOUT plugs but includes cleaning brake calipers, tire rotation and a 21 point inspection. However, when I ask, they do only what is required in the manual for about $200. They will do the 21 point inspection FREE if asked, even if no other service is scheduled because it is a way of generating business, howver, they do NOT take advantage of customers by recommending unnecessary repairs. I hope this helps.
Cheers Pat.
The beep I believe was the same tone and volume as the beep from when you lock the car remotely. I wonder if the speaker element is near the radiator...
Paul
The beep I believe was the same tone and volume as the beep from when you lock the car remotely. I wonder if the speaker element is near the radiator...
Paul
DaveM
But you had no problem recreating your message today. ;-)
Tip - Don't hit refresh after posting.
FYI - You can delete the duplicate by selecting the delete option.
DaveM
I'm afraid we're growing further and further apart...
I'm afraid we're growing further and further apart...
Hmm... with an attitude like that we certainly will ;-(
-Frank
is Canada still a Commonwealth, United Kingdom?
I think they use both Imperial and Metric.
I'm running 34/33 psi front/rear, 35/34 is too bone jarring.
-Dave