g7prs

iTrader: (5)

You have a pm.

mickp

iTrader: (1)

How can Subaru not honour this

IMHO it should be very easy to apply pressure to get the job done. Assuming the car has not been seriously abused,some internet research a carefully worded letter should have them begging for mercy.

I love my car but not impressed with I.M at all. Doesn't seem that long ago that they were up at the top of Customer Satisfaction Surveys. How things appear to have changed.

Shame on you Subaru. At the end of the day people will vote with there £££££££'s and you won't turn round the current sales totals by not honouring warranty

jsfb

iTrader: (1)

well just took the dip stick out and opened the oil cap smoke pouring out of both on tickover, so now sure it is definetly the pistion rings. Looks like subaru are doing there best to destroy the brand, no wonder they pulled out of rallying if they all break down after 10,000 miles.

Dave_P

Yes, someone on here told me a dealer told them that IM have sold about 230 08/09 STI's in total, no wonder they are a rare site on the road!

For comparison 5000 STI's were sold in one year when Solberg won the WRC...

A specialist (not main dealer) Subaru trader told me he won't risk buying one secondhand because he thinks it would be hard to sell

I suspect when the problems have been ironed out, people realise it's a great car (it's better than my previous scoobs now it's been modified), it wins a few more rallies and the economy pics up they will sell a few more...only time will tell

Scoobyspanners

JD power 2008 results..

JD Power customer satisfaction poll '08 - Introduction - Car and Car-Buying News - What Car?

Impreza 30th on list by car and Subaru 11th on list by make..... not good at all and I would not bet on them being any better this Year... what the Hell has happened to the company since the good old days?

jsfb

iTrader: (1)

mutliple engine failure on brand new cars will go a long way to putting people off and take alot of ironing. If its a choice between a car that wins rallies or one that you can actually drive, i think we know what most people will choose.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Accountants!!!

Subaru were always a niche brand. In the 90s the Impreza became a runaway success as it did the basics right (engineering, performance) and didn't worry too much about things like interior quality etc.

Of course as the car became more popular and more successful and more and more people bought into the brand so people's expectations rose and so Subaru started to try and address those expectations with its replacement models for the iconic classic Impreza.

Adding nicer interiors and more options etc. can be done in two ways, by increasing the price or cutting costs elsehwere and I think Subaru did a bit of both,. With them becoming so popular all of a sudden you can't help but feel that the accountants moved in and looked at ways to maximise the bottom line of their latest cash cow and for me that is where the rot sets in.

Yes a car might be cheaper to produce if we use component A over compnent B or we don't test the vehicles as long as we once did etc, etc. Ultimately though if the car has a major design fault (like the suspension on all blobeye STIs or seemingly the engine on the 08STI) then people will not buy it and the costs of rectifying the problems far outweight the savings made when building the cars in the first place.

Just my 2 cents and thoughts on the way Subaru have changed over the last 15 years. For a while they were special, now they are just another big car company.

stuart2008sti

iTrader: (1)

Subaru Stops 2.5 Turbocharged Engine Production

Dealer told me that mid 08 2.5 engines had a redesign,pistons,crank and cases to help out with these problems.

John Hughes

Just as a bit of info for hatch STi owners. I got a call from Ian Grieve (Falkirk Subaru dealer) on Monday to come in and get a flash to my ECU as a recall from Subaru. I had it done this morning (took about 30 minutes) and I asked about the situation of a new shape STi (engine) not being fixed under warranty. They have one such car in at the moment for an engine rebuild and it is being fixed under warranty.

I was also told there will be no problem with warranty for UK spec, unmodified engines (300BHP). That's what I have and intend keeping it that way. I never enquired what the situation would be if a modified engine (under warranty) has problems, but I'm sure anyone modifying the engine would have considered their own options.

rob84

iTrader: (5)

Thought about the the problems with a modified engine under warrenty, if it goes bang its a good excuse to put fully forged internals in and give it some more power

walsh128

Fingers crossed, my MY08 from motor depot has been sound as a pound. Bought it last sept. Done 7k miles. Just checked the dipstick for the first time and 3/4 full. Phew.
Got the one with the BBS alloys and sat nav. Can honestly say its the best car I have ever had. Last car was an uprated foxeye wrx.

Handles brilliantly (though havent had it on the track yet). Quick as you like. Runs on standard unleaded and has averaged 29.1mpg over the last 5k miles.
Best ever was 37.5 over 30 miles on the m6 when crawling in traffic at 60.
Averages 32 at 70 and 29 at 80.

Was going to enter the scooby sprint this weekend, but will probably now wait till have had it remapped. (after reading the previous threads).

silver demon

Glad to hear yours in running ok, Got mine from Motor Depot 1st April and it needed the Subaru ECU update. Have you had yours done?

I had mpg figures like yours before the update, but now I struggle to average 25mpg

walsh128

No ECU update done to mine. Not been near a garage.
Did you have a problem with yours, hence the remap or did you just take it to the dealer after reading the doom and gloom on this thread.
Sounds like they richened the mixture on yours to keep it on the safe side of detonation/knocking.

At last years sports car show (NEC) i asked the prodrive guys about having to use super unleaded and got the answer that ordinary unleaded was safe for normal use. ECU has antiknock protection settings.

On its first service i'll probably get the 330 Prodrive upgrade and remap. Have heard it transforms the low down torque.
As I said. Love the car. Power, speed, handling, MPG and Satnav is the best i've seen. Compared with Golf GTI, TOMTOM.

jsfb

iTrader: (1)

Walsh128 do yourself a favour and get your car into the dealers for a remap not worth the risk. Mine was running great at 7000 miles as well.

Jim_330s

Mine let go @ 12000 miles  it was replaced with a whole new bottom end which I was happy about.

I have now done 14000 miles and its not right its had the new ecu update done but I have a feeling its not holding boost comes in and out of the power around 5k 

My car is returning 19.7mpg and 95% of time my Mrs drives it in the slowest setting and really doesn’t go above 3.5k if she even goes over 70mph it would be a bloody miracle!

I’m really not happy with my car and my local dealer has done nothing but abuse my car. At the moment I’m waiting to get some time off work to take it to litchfiled.

orthochris

Reading this thread stresses me out. I feel really bad for all you guys that have had trouble.
I am not as brave as Rob84. I went for the PPP and prodrive springs. Transforms the car. The engine just pulls like a train now. Major grin factor. It builds revs quicker than I can get my foot to the floor.

If I had trouble with mine I think I would let subaru do their warranty work then send it to Litchfields to get it properly fettled. It sounds like they are the people to look after the hatchback.
My advice, get the reflash then immediately order the PPP and springs.

silver demon

Jim, I take it by your user name you have a 330s. I thought these didn't have this problem due to the Prodrive ECU. Yours still let go???

silver demon

Reading on here and the US sites, so thought I'd check if my Vin number was in effected range, It was so got the update done

Jim_330s

Yes mate its a 330s and it still had the problem

Still has a problem

Jim_330s

If i keep mine after all this trouble i will get the springs

Ive had the new focus rs on order for nearly two years now and is ready to pick up next month so it might be getting part-x'ed

orthochris

I can't believe your 330s went pop. I had just stopped worrying after having the PPP fitted.
The Focus RS sounds like a great car. I couldn't live with all that power through the front wheels. The roads are cold and wet so much up here I would spend all my time wheel spinning.
If I have trouble with the engine in mine I have already decided I would bin it and get a Type 20. Just like L17 CHO

Good luck Jim and I hope you get it sorted and are happy with the end result.
I think taking it to Litchfield would be cheaper than trading it in though? Just a thought.

Alan Jeffery

I've just spent the last two weeks running about in one of these, running it in, and finally setting it up after extensive modifications. I got into it with a clear mind, but gradually got to like it more and more as time went on. In truth, it's a very different car from its earlier cousins, and was obviously designed to be so. It's hard not to describe it as "up market" as that's how it makes you feel.
We all know the P1 has a reputation for engine blow ups, but it still has a great following with it's "feel good" factor. If you're fortunate enough to be able to afford to have a forged engine built for your 2008 Sti, I'd say it's a real rival for the Evo X FQ400 and still sounds fantastic in a way the Evo never will.
RS Focus? nice car, but front wheel drive? I couldn't live with it.

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

That proves it, it's got to be running too lean?? (can't believe you never checked the oil level for 7,000 miles I wouldn't do that to any car, let alone a performance car!)

JohnD

Alan Jeffery

They run leaner than they used to out of the box, that's a fact, but I'd blame the ignition strategy for some of it. Very aggressive, and aimed at reducing fuel consumption.

oiler

iTrader: (1)

The guys at Central Cars in Southend had a 58 plate 330s.
It had had several exhausts blow out there packing, a turbo and then the motor blew a piston at 4500miles
They managed to get a new one from Subaru (car was from AMC Chelmsford) on a 09 plate to replace it and sold it on quickly!

Jim_330s

My Car is from AMC Chelmsford sales server is bloody brilliant there mechanically skill doesn’t exist.

I’ve got a step closer to having the car sorted today after putting a number of calls into AMC and getting no reply I contact Welch Subaru I explained to Chris (service manager) what had happen to my car and the concerns I had with AMC he took it upon him self to call AMC and get it sorted for me. 10 minutes late I get a call from the AMC saying get the car in and they will get a Subaru Tech guy down and get it all sorted.

Looks like things could be heading in the right direction.

oiler

iTrader: (1)

Yes Simon at AMC in sales seems a good guy.
The 330s from Centrals was White, EO58GGK, dont know if AMC still has it waiting repair or if Subaru took it back. Could be a problem car when it reappears for sale.

silver demon

Glad it looks like things are been sorted for you Jim

Is it worth just getting forged piston fitted But I guess then Subaru wouldn't cover the engine warranty

Jim_330s

I think EO58GGk was sold two days after mine by AMC Subaru as i was tempted to buy this car but i wanted the BBS wheels which mine has.

I drove the white one after my engine went pop and it seemed spot on

Not like mine it had issue's over taking a 1.6 mini cooper

rob84

iTrader: (5)

I am Not brave Chris, Probably stupid but after hearing these engines letting go I went solo and had it custom mapped cant go wrong that way tbh its set to that engine and my driving style so in effect should be bullet proof, mine has 16k on the clock now 10 of which are since the remap so fingers crossed it all good lol