Major_Sarcasm

iTrader: (27)

Am I reading that correctly if I say that my '53' plate JDM STI is unaffected?

Twin Fields

If you have a quick look underneath you'll find your car has alloy ones and shouldn't be affected.

Major_Sarcasm

iTrader: (27)

Thanks. Not owned it very long, not even been underneath it yet

nshaunluke

iTrader: (1)

Got the letter today - y plate Bugeye Wagon

andy_rr

Sorry to ask a muppet-like question but I've booked my '03 Wagon in for the drop-links all-round to be replaced at a garage and today received this recall letter. Question therefore - is the droplink and this lower arm separate items ? ie would a replacement of the arm relate to droplink replacement ? If Subaru are going to potentially replace the arms then I'd await that job before looking to get the links done - that job is already booked for a week today.

Don Clark

In a word NO, and anyway if a transverse link needs replacing (which I'd highly doubt) its free of charge on recall.

Steel Transverse Link


Assorted Front Droplinks depending upon vehicle

andy_rr

thanks for resolving my simpleness !

enneaitch

Alright guys ive just joined this forum due to this thread...

I was travelling at 75mph on the motorway when my lower arm snapped.

luckily I was ok, my mrs and two kids aged 4 and 6 months were in the car and were pretty shaken.

I got the car home and noticed that the bottom arm was corroded and had snapped. It seems to have lost drive so I would say the drive shaft has been damaged and had noticed the drop link has burst.

Do you recommend phoning my local dealer and telling them what has happened?

Im one for fixing my car myself if I can and had already looked at parts to fix this when I was told about this recall. Will Subaru replace the arm and broken parts or will they just replace the arm itself then charge me for everything else?

I havent had a letter stating that the car is included but my car is a 2001 bugeye wagon. some one had previously said they had a 2001 and had recieved a letter.

Any advice on where i stand or where i go with this?

BaojeeX

I have a 03 Impreza Wagon GX Sport, am I affected by this? I only bought it a couple of days a go.

Don Clark

Should be on the recall list as it has steel lower front arms.............. maybe already done. Check with a dealer.

rob84

iTrader: (5)

Pm me your chassis number I can check at work and see if yours is part of the on going SU31 Transverse link recall program.

Suspect the drive-shaft has become dislodged due to the arm breaking off.

enneaitch

Rob I've sent you an email to the Bt open world email.

Thanks.

rob84

iTrader: (5)

Cheers Nick, I'll have a look on the system tomorrow morning and let you know if your vehicle is due the recall & take it from there

enneaitch

Cars gett

enneaitch

Ing transported to eaglesham Subaru for them to replace arms and assess the damage that been caused by the arm snapping. Fingers crossed they fix everything! Thanks again rob!

rob84

iTrader: (5)

No problem mate, I'm glad your local dealer has been able to assist you

ob-serve

Nick

Very interested to hear how you're getting on. I find myself in an almost identical situation to yourself although thankfully not at motorway speeds – that must have been really scary and you did well to keep it all pointing in the right direction. Mine went at parking speeds when loading up the front suspension reversing one rear wheel over a curb. Took me around 2 hours with a jack to get the car off the off-camber road an inch at a time because the wheel wouldn't stay located. Luckily the traffic was light.
.
UK spec 2001 WRX wagon imported from Holland personally (1 owner car – 54k miles). Like you, I do almost all the work myself and am sceptical about dealers given some personal experience & a lot of what I hear. I appreciate there are some good ones out there though – just doesn't seem to be the majority unfortunately. The lower arms have been repeatedly waxoyled by myself over the life of the vehicle but the rust seems to be across the weld and from the inside – very hard to treat and the metal looks woefully thin given the job it's doing.

Have Eaglesham finished the work yet? What kind of service are you getting from them? What was the extent of the damage (had the driveshaft just come adrift or was it worse)? My anti-roll bar end link has sheared as well as a result.

Rob - are you OK if I pm you my VIN for checking?

Thanks
Ian.

rob84

iTrader: (5)

Hi mate, You can pm me your Vin Number and I can have a look. However the big issue maybe that with the car being an import the likelyhood of it being on the uk database is pretty slim unless it was registered with them at Subaru uk at time of import.

ob-serve

Thanks Rob - just sent by email. I understand your concern over the UK database unless one of the UK dealers who did the first few services (whilst it was under warranty) added it? If it isn't on there, interested to hear your opinion on getting it fixed in the UK under the recall given that the recall is EU wide anyway and Subaru Japan were happy to sell a UK spec car through Holland?

davy1977

Hello new here just to let you know mine snapped yesterday and contacted blue bridge very helpful cars gone for repair there now

greylag

I have a 2002 wrx wagon which was imported when new from holland with 49000miles on it and have not been contacted,quite alarming hearing about cars with arms snapping,a clear design fault and a potentially lethal one at that.

rob84

iTrader: (5)

Hi Ian.

I've checked your vin number today & unfortunately it's not currently registered on the system with subaru uk. Maybe advisable to get in contact with subaru customer services with your vin number & explain about yours being an import & you know about the recall campaign and give them the Vin number & take it from there mate.

b11fyn

iTrader: (1)

hi guys,

would a 2002 wrx sti type uk be affected.

regards

shaun

Don Clark

Nope you have alloy lower arms...........

ob-serve

Hi Rob

Thanks for your advice and sorry for the slow reply - I wasn't getting the emails off this thread for some reason. I've done exactly what you've suggested and Subaru UK will contact Japan to confirm the VIN and add it to some other list of imported vehicles that are still covered by the warranty. Subaru will therefore still pay for all the necessary checks or work (in my case) to be done at a Subaru dealer although the Subaru dealer will need to phone Subaru UK themselves to make sure it's on the imported list. What Subaru UK won't pay for is the transportation cost to the dealer if it's collapsed whereas they would with a full UK car. This is fair enough and most owners of import vehicles will be able to use their own breakdown cover anyway.

So my advice to greylag & all other EU imported vehicle owners is to phone Subaru UK immediately and get their cars booked in for checking. Just to repeat that the corrosion is very difficult to spot because it's from the inside of a box section that joins the main part of the lower arm. It may look perfectly solid from the outside. I'll take some photos of mine and post them here next week before the car goes for repair.

Interested to know which model davy1977 owns and under what circumstances it snapped? This is a potentially lethal accident waiting to happen.

Ian.

davy1977

Hi mine is a 2001 gx wagon and I was lucky because my partner and kids have car all week as I ride my motorcycle in the week and all I did was reverse my car with full lock but the car didn't turn it just draged across so I looked under and seen the snapped arm
Car has been in blue bridge since Monday waiting for arms as they are on back order but this is a real pain no car costing a fortune on taxis

Steve_PPP

iTrader: (3)

Hmmm.... forgot all about this and just remembered it. Never did receive a letter.

Got a '52 plate UK WRX, guess its time to badger a Subaru dealer....

Jonnys3

Apologies for raising a thread from the grave but ...

I have a 51 plate WRX bugeye wagon. I received the recall notice in March 2012 (as per my previous comment in this thread) and duly booked the car in at Europa Subaru, Sheffield. Europa told me that the lower arms did not need replacing and so "treated" them in line with the recall notice. All sounds well so far - forward 2 and a half years later to this morning ... I reversed onto the drive and whilst manoeuvring the car I heard / felt a horrible crunch; suddenly something felt amiss, especially with the steering. Having managed to get the car stationary on the drive, I inspected the front wheels and instantly noticed the front o/s wheel to be misaligned (the n/s wheel remained completely aligned). I got the torch and start looking under the car and to my despair found this:



Looks to me like the lower arm has suffered fatally from corrosion even though it was supposed to have been prevented against this (I can poke my finger through it) ??

So I'm here to gauge opinions on what my options are moving forward. The way I see it I have a few:

1. Speak to Scoobyclinic (they are my local, and preferred Subaru garage), ask them if they'll collect the car and repair - not sure what the costs will involve

2. Contact Europa, who supposedly treated the lower arms back in 2012 under the recall notice - although I don't have much faith in them now since they were supposed to have undertaken work to prevent this issue from happening.

3. Contact Subaru UK direct, explain the situation and see if they are willing to move things forward.

Would really appreciate any opinions or suggestions.

Thanks.

rob84

iTrader: (5)

I would contact your local dealer and have them investigate the issue. they should have been assessed and a tool used to check for corrosion then if all ok treated internally and externally with NOX products to try and prevent corrosion continuing.

mikeblackett

Lucky this only happened on the drive ! can you imagine if it was on the open road. I personally would contact Subaru uk and complain that the issue hadn't been dealt with properly and ask them to arrange collection of the car to a designated garage.
I personally watched them doing the test on my arms with a tool which resembled a sliding hammer with a punch on the end. Mine passed the test but as there was some slight rust marks they replaced them anyway.
I'm sure Subaru uk will sort this out for you