chickyb

Check this page out..

http://www.subarusuck.com/

I don't think he will buy a scoob again!!!!!!!

chickyb

Anyone else have the same problems?

corradoboy

I have to agree with the man. I'm building up to joining this friendly little community but one recurring doubt is the attitude towards the owners exuded from Subaru, International Motors and most of the dealers, and frequently reported on these pages.
They seem to be resting on the laurels of an excellent product, and think themselves immune from criticism. They seem to forget that their current success and future reputation is tied to you people.
The best form of advertising is word of mouth (this very forum is testament to that), so it's best not to encorage any foul ones. No matter how much Tiff Needell waxes lyrical about the product, or how much success Tommi (not much recently) has, if we don't part with our hard earned they will suffer. Anyone remember the phrase "Don't bite the hand that feeds you" ?
Their reluctance to involve themselves with enthusiast organisations almost borders on contempt, they obviously just want to sell the product and then wait for the satisfied customer returning for another. Anyone not happy can please go away.
The Evo has long been a competitor, but recently the Golf R32 and Focus RS have stolen some of the thunder. I think loyalties may be stretched if you could get a 2 litre turbo 4x4 Peugeot 206, Citroen Xsara/C2 or any other manufacturer who wants to join the fight. Just look at how the waiting lists have dropped since the RS came out. God help them when the Cossie turns up.
If Subaru want to employ me in their marketing department heres my first promotion. A single European wide pricing policy, set in Brussels and only varying in non-Euro countries due to exchange rates. After all, the independant taxation policies of any goverment or nation is not the concern of a Japanese car maker. Design it, build it, work out how much it cost you to do that, add a profit and sell it. Without victimising or alienating anyOne or even an entire nation of 60m people (in effect, asking us to pay tax for other nations). Then look after them all, and they might keep coming back.

rb5 286

iTrader: (2)

not yet

Toonman1

"Anyone else have the same problems?"

No - currently 170,000 trouble free miles in 3 Impreza Turbos and an 02 WRX PPP. Like to hear about all the problems we had with a Focus 1.8 Zetec and a Seat Leon Cupra? Both cars were way worse than this guy's Scoob. No? Thought not...

Chris L

Never heard of anything like this on a Scoob before. The guy is right to be upset and fed up. I would be too - regardless of the product or the manufacturer.

To put it in persepective though, for every guy like this, there are thousands that are perfectly happy with their cars, who enjoy good relations with their dealers and don't have a problem with IM.

If I was him, I would have rejected the car at the first sign of a fault - as is your legal right and demanded a replacement.

Any manufacturer who mass produces a product will at some point produce one that doesn't meet the same standard. I bet if you search hard enough, you could find at least one similar story for pretty much any make of car. If I was to list the faults my Dad has suffered on his 2 year old VW Golf, it wouldn't make pretty reading.

Not a good endorsment though and IM could have handled the situation better for this guy.

Chris

JackClark

My car had a dodgy spot weld fixed. Was an annoying click more than a clonk.

mutant_matt

This problem is well documented and several people with 02 STi's have been fighting IM on this for many months. I have also heard that it is a problem on the STi 8 as well.

Phil Harrison has been battling with IM and has got not a lot further than this guy

Matt.

BlueSimon

Im in the same boat, not very happy with dealer responces so far, going back today - lets see this time.

Simon

Dizzy

here hmm I have not experienced this problem first hand but how can he claim "A life threatening problem" when no-one knows what it is? Sounds to me like the rear diff

Would like to see the independant engineers report

urban

iTrader: (1)

I've been battling with IM on the exact same issue as Phil Harrison, and not got just as far as Phil, but only just because of the massive bit of water which seperates N.Ireland from the UK.

Shaun

Phil Harrison

I'm doubtful. S-UK are fully aware of the suspension problem as are FHI, even if a solution remains elusive, and they don't like to feel it's as widespread as I suspect it is. Whatever we may think of S-UK, it's not credible to me that, if it were a suspension problem, both S-UK and the Dealer would have failed to change struts and topmounts! It does sound as if the Dealer could have been a bit more forthcoming, I agree: my Dealer has been absolutely excellent throughout!

Jury's out for me.....

Phil

mutant_matt

Has anybody mailed him/her to let him know they are not alone?

Matt

chickyb

Did anyone go to the link on this dude's page for the topgear duffers page? There is a reply from Arthur Fairley from the IM group.

http://www.topgear.com/content/my_topgear/duffers/subaru/01/

mutant_matt

Hmm, just read that - His car is hardly "falling apart" though is it?

Matt.

Gaz Jones

i suppose i would take it in to be checked, and id want it sorted... but "life threatening" is taking things a bit far!!!


gaz

LanciaChris

Sounds to me like hes a gimp and pissed off the dealership so much they didnt feel like helping him

Dr Hu

T W A T

Fullonloon

Sure it's not the exhaust rattling?

wrxgirl

When I bought my WRX I was told that Subaru had won the Customer Satisfaction Awards for years, blah blah blah. I took my car in to the dealer I bought it from with 2,000 miles on the clock and told them that it made a wierd noise at 120. Their attitude was that I shouldn't have been driving so fast, and that they couldn't test it at that speed because it would be breaking the law. They also said there were no courtesy cars available for 3 weeks. I rang Subaru UK and got bugger all sense out of them. Eventually, after several arguments, my dealer advised that one of their technicians had volunteered to test drive the car. (Bear in mind, the sales guy drove at circa 120 when he demonstrated the car ...) I received a call from them saying that the guy had driven the car and ... no noise; but that if it happened again they would ask an engineer from Subaru UK to come down and check the car out. I picked my car up, and noticed they'd used 3/4 of a tank of fuel - which did seem slightly excessive - they are based 2 miles away from a motorway.

Having realised just how crap these dealers were, I decided to take my car to another Subaru Dealers for its 1 year service ... I arrived there yesterday, mentioned the noise and they said "yep, we know exactly what that is ... we'll sort it". They test drove the car, heard the noise, and fixed the problem - roof runners required re-sealing.

So not all dealers are crap .... BUT in my experience with Subaru, I found Subaru UK to be less than helpful (they make a car and sell it on the premis that it'll do 147 ... if it makes a noise at less than that speed, they should sort it ...) and the Dealers I bought the car from were appaulling.

Complacency really is the key word here ... not only are they p&ssing off all their existing customers, they've also really pissed off all the people who bought an MY 02 - by dropping the price so much ... their attitude seems to be one of reaction rather than planning ... and as we all know prevention is better than cure!

I wish I could say "I have found Subaru to be excellent and am delighted with the dealers after-service ..." but it really isn't the case! Incidentally, the Subaru UK Complaints people took over 3 hours to call back, due to a 'long call list' - don't they stop and ask themselves WHY that list is so long?!

Toonman1

4 Scoobs since April '94 - 170,000 miles in total. No hassles with the cars, dealer (SG Petch Richmond) or IM Group and no complaints. My Wife's buying a 5dr to add to the 4dr.

wrxgirl

Toonman - that's cool! - don't get me wrong, for every unhappy customer there's a happy one ... and Scoobs are good cars, which I'm sure is why Subaru UK aren't geared up towards unhappy customers! - I didn't have a problem with the noise, it was the attitude, the lack of customer service, and the fact that the dealers didn't have a CLUE - and neither did Subaru UK - about what the other dealers stated was a "very common problem" - there's a big lack of communication going on somewhere! - Ashburton Motor Works (who sorted it) are FANTASTIC, so yes - there are some good dealers out there!

Toonman1

Don't get me started on the Focus Zetec my Wife had, or the Seat Leon Cupra I bought inbetween Scoob no 3 and 4. Dreadful car - had all the common Leon problems...

Good luck with yours!

Cheers

spanner75

i have found my dealer hit and miss depends what mood the service team are in , i have a wrx bugeye MY02 and have the worst bloody gearbox in history, reverse ? it's quicker to push the car backwards then try to find reverse , have had a subaru tec out 3 time to sort this , "just needs running in mate" i was told the last time this is not good enought for me dealer told me that their hands are tied as subaru will not pay for the work and they are not prepared to cover the cost of repairs as it could be £100 if not £1000 , i have had a "plastic bit" (service manager's description) replaced in the gear box belive it was a selector which made little differance.

wrxgirl

Spanner - that's awful! - have you tried taking it to another Dealer? - I really have found the difference between the two I've dealt with absolutley astounding! They're in breach of contract I would've thought - needing a new gearbox on a 1 yr old car is hardly "wear and tear" is it! GRRR - things like this make me MAD!

mutant_matt

I agree,

The quality of the "Subaru Ownership Experience" is almost completly down to the quality of the dealer you use. I've dealt with probably the worst and the best and the chasm between them is staggering!!!! Good Luck if you have to deal with IM because they certainly give the general impression that you're not important to them! (and I suppose you're not in the scheme of things! ))

Matt.