I just bought my 04 WRX last week from a local used car dealer, got a good deal and managed to arrange for them to carry out the 50kservice as part of the deal.

I drove the car for a week, sweet as a nut, totally love the car. I put the car back to the dealer yesterday for the service, was due to collect it today but they phoned me up and told me that they've 'bent 2 valves', started it up after the cam belt change and found that 2 of the cylinders had lost compression. F**king nuggets!

They have offered me a full refund of what I paid for the car, it sounds as if they don't feel too comfortable about repairing it as they said that would take a couple of weeks!!

I'd like to keep the car and want it fixed but not by them as I have no confidence in their ability now. I phoned the subaru dealership and they are quoting around the £2k mark to fix it.

Does anyone know what my rights are on this? I know that they have a responsibility to repair the damage as the car is owned by me and not them. But have I got a legal right to specify that it goes to Subaru for repair??

It's either that or I'll have to hunt for a new car again!!!

Cheers
Dave

 

At least they have been straight up with you

I would take the money as they will not pay 2k for subaru to do it i can assure you, so if you do get it fixed by them you will always be wainting fro it to go pop...

Call CAB and get the legal stance first

 

Get your money back asap. Theres plenty of others out there.

 

take this as a let off, find the extra few grand and get an sti.

 

UPDATE

Dealer just phoned me - Everything is now fine.

He tells me that they found they had put the Pulley on the left hand side 180degrees out of sync with the rest of the pulleys. They turned it round the right way and everything is now running fine.
He assures me that this will not have caused any damage to the engine at all, Any one know if this is true??

Ta

 

They have been straight with you, which is a great thing to see these days.

I would take your money and get another .... phewwww, what a let off - they could have bodged it and denied all knowledge!

They are a good dealer - maybe crap at repairs - but look fair

 

i would ask for the money back as this would have cuase some damage if they had not put the cam belt on right and started it

 

Not sure if its true but by the sound of it they have been upfront and very fair with you so if you cant take a dealer like that's word who can you trust

 

I agree that these people seem to have looked after you well, honesty is a rare commodity these days and should be applauded.
If they have checked it over and its fine then you have no more recourse unfortunately

 

Sounds dubious, ask a respected engine tuner, Mark at Lateral, Allan Jeffery, David at API, Harvey, etc.

 

Yeah, To be honest their customer service has been exemplary from the outset. The car has only done 42000 miles and they were doing the 50k and 60k service for me as part of the sale due to the age of the car, so the parts alone would have cost them a bit.
I want to keep the car but need to be sure that there is no damage. I'll maybe call Subaru main dealer in the morning for advice.

Cheers

 

take the money and run for the hills. why go through all the hassle. plenty more out there.

 

Anyone know if the 2004 (UK) WRX engine is interference or non-interference?

I'm guessing that if it's non-interference it will be fine.

 

+1 speak to the experts

 

subaru dont disconnect crank sensor do they just had oil change if you do a search in general tech section mechanical theres plenty off blobeye posts in there where incorrect oil procedures has led to engine failure in weeks talk tu david at api wudnt drive it

 

Unless it's a non-turbo car, it_will_be an interference engine, and I'd hate to think what condition it's in now if they managed to turn it over with one of the cams the wrong way up.

It'd be interesting to know from the experts if there's any way to check for valve damage without opening the lump up (I didn't personally think there was), but if it was me I'd take the money offered and look elsewhere.

 

Interferance 100% Sheer luck if they have got away with it. How much warranty is there with it?

 

you will know very quickly when you hear it running if anything is amiss.

 

surely you can tell from a compression test??

 

Nick,
Where do I get the contact info for API? tried a google search but found nothing.

Jonny,
I've got 3 month warranty but only covers up to a max amount of £1500. I was going to ask them for a letter stating that they would garauntee the timing work for the next 12 months and would pay for any damage caused as a result of their mistake.

I'm going to ask subaru dealer in the morning what they think, maybe get the dealer to pay for a check over at subaru for good measure.

 

subaru dealer will tell you they have done the correct engine oil procedure put in the search engine off scoobynet oil changes and david api will come up he disagres with subaru oil change procedures and he ia a top man

 

lol, as if by magic it reappeared ! Money back please !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

i have known of someone doing a haedgasket on a classic and getting a pulley 180 out when refitting the cambelt! had same prob,no compression,realised mistake,turned it 180 refitted belt and all was ok,and has been for last 2 years!!

 

a compression test will show any problems

 

its very easily done on our engines if your not familiar with them, you can put them 180deg's quite easily if you make you own timing marks (as most mechanics do)- as long as it was 180 out then its just in the reverse cyle and wont run on those cylinders because its firing fuel into closed valves. if you then time it back up and put the cam pulleys the correct way it will be back to normal and fine- nothing to worry about apart from scare mongering.

 

hi m8 there wont be any damage to the engine ,trust me ,seen it done many times after guys have changed the belt. the pully spins around 180 deg
,put it back to the set position now ok bud
when you set up the engine to change belt ,everybody thinks the engine is on top dead centre it aint ,all pistons are down the bores
so get your car back and enjoy
geo

 

The engine is fine, if they had messed up and caused any damage to it then it would still be apparent after rectifying the timing issue. You would be wrong to think that there has been any damage that will rear it's head at a later stage... If they had broken or damaged anything then it would still be like it & would be running rough or not at all.

No Subaru boxer engine is a safe one & if you get the timing wrong to the point where the pistons touch the valves then there is no going back! Fitting the belt correctly afterwards will not straighten bent valves. Period... If it is running on all four now then no harm has been done & rest assured the technician will NEVER make the same mistake again, we all make mistakes and he was lucky to get away with it today!!

The reason that it had no compression was because the cam shaft was out of sync with the pistons and the valves were open when they should have been closed, they have now rectifyed this and everything is back to normal.

I personally would be grateful that my dealer has been honest and open about their **** up & take your car back knowing that everything is now ok & you can get on with enjoying it again

 

Thanks for the more positive posts, I was beginning to think I was between a rock and a hard place! I'll take it for a good run out tmrw night and see if I notice any power or strange noise issues.

 

Of course I'll still talk to subaru and api before I collect the car

 

You won't find any better advice than you've already received from Techno Brat and PeeVee. If it will now pass a compression test and drives fine when you pick it up, it's a lucky escape for the technician responsible.

On this basis, kudos to the dealer for being straight with you.