MattyC

Been battling now for well over a month, with subaaru, to get a pwa for my01 gearbox which kindly stripped itself of 1st, when pulling away at a roundabout, highly embarasing! Anbody else had problems with their warranties? still has a year left on it and the car has only done 37k miles! Subaru says its my driving style ( how offensive ) how can it be caused by crunching the gear?? 2nd or 3rd maybe but not first? Please help as i am banging my head agaist a brick wall here!!

dr_ming

Battling with a dealer, or Subaru UK?

MattyC

dealer great just mr evans at subaru uk

AndyBrew

This in my opinion is NOT a good sign, as the warranty is one of the reasons I purchased a Scooby in the first place. If we start to hear of issues such as this, it makes me wonder why I spend a fortune at Subaru garages having my car serviced

anyway good luck with the claim

dr_ming

Hmmm. That's not good. It's supposed to be a high performance car, not a shopping run-around. To say it's your driving style is bo11ocks, to get a catastrophic failure like that is almost certainly a mechanical defect (if it were your driving style, you'd be on your second clutch by now). Good luck with your claim, dunno if you could take this through the small claims court (with independent examination of the box), might be worth exploring.

Scratch

iTrader: (1)

Start stirring it up - someone posted info about getitng EVO Magazine onto their case not so long ago (maybe a month?) and how having done this, there was immediate results in U-turns eating words and actually being reasonable.

ANyway, when you pay that amount for a car you have an expectation with regard to all aspects of it. A long life for the mechanicals is one of them.

Plus regardless of your "driving style" this is irrelevant as long as you have not invalidated the warrenty by failing to service it per manufacturers recommendations or having used it outside of the warrenty terms such as in competition (racing etc).

I'd defintely start to cause a stir. . . .

Forgot to add this sort of behaviour by w*nkers who claim they're only doing their job really pisses me off [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

[Edited by Scratch - 10/16/2003 7:35:36 PM]

a110

The car is still bog standard is it?. If not of course the warranty is invalidated.

MattyC

thanks andy my thoughs exactly payed the extra for a year old car, so i could have some warranty left, should have got an older one then i could afford the 3k for a new geabox! what happened once appon a time subaru topped the top gear, jd power survey! now this! I like you andy have always had the car serviced at subaru, i could have done it in my own garage and saved a packet, even kept the bodywork warranty up to date by havin the 1 year re-underseal. Maybe its just me but i have totally lost faith in the car my missus has a j reg fiesta with 110k on the clock and we havent had any problems with that! i would definately think twice now about buying a new one! small cliams is an option, know any good lawyers?

navigator

mattyc
how does he know your driving style? has he seen it?
if he hasnt then he is a fool.
write to him first stating your case and get his reply in writing...dont be rude just stick to all the facts
contact your trading standards they will help.
then tell your local paper
if they dont help get an engineers report,tell IM you will charge them for the repair and costs and then get the gearbox repaired.
then take them to court.
good luck.

Shark

MattyC

Have the dealer striped the gearbox and determined exactly what the fault is?

I know for a fact that Subaru UK will NOT shy away from any genuine warranty claim, provided the cars drivetrain is not modded apart from the PPP and the servicing is upto date at main dealers.

Call Subaru UK on 0121 522 2000 and talk to the warranty department. If you have a genuine claim and the car has not been abused they will pay - no questions asked.

They have 3 mobile Regional Service Managers to inspect cars in case of dispute. The guy who works the South East of England is top notch and totaly unbias.

David

[Edited by Shark - 10/17/2003 12:23:28 PM]

Shark

Just thought - is it a UK car or a parallel import?

If it's a EU import, the same rules apply - they will not shy away from the work once a genuine mechanical failure as been proven. It may take longer as the EU importer may wish to see the parts before authorising a claim.

David

Chris L

I would agree with David. Largely with his help, Subaru have been very good with genuine claims on my car. I would strongly advise you to take David's advice, before you go kicking up a bigger fuss, involving magazines etc.

Chris

MattyC

na uk car to make things worse. the dealer has stripped down the gearbox found the fault to be a retaining washer on 3rd, have e-mailed pictures of this to subaru and still no joy!

MattyC

done that too letter but no reply, this is why i have come on here have refrained since 31/8/03 when assistace took my baby away on the back of a lorry! i think ive been to soft havent demanded a courtesy car, that alone for nearly 2 months would prob be more than the cost of the dam repair!

Ian D

Write a letter to Subaru/the dealer with the timescales and the history of thr claim, copy the letter (and make it obvious) to What Car and Autocar magazines, trading standards, Which? magazine, www.honestjohn.co.uk (an excellent website) and any local press you can think of and see what happens, also a letter to the MD (polite but firm) often helps.

Good luck

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

David, excellent advice as usual on these matters.

Guy

Andy W STI

contact deatails can be found on this thread http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/threa...hreadid=197474

Andy

MattyC

thanks for awsome response will e-mail to see if it has more effect than snail mail, sure i wont have a problem now with all your advice, guess they were lookin for an easy way out, ta Matt will keep you posted!

pbee

Send the a copy of the e-mail recorded delivery you need to keep track of the communication if ypu do decide to take it further.

As respective of the driving style, I had a problem getting warped brake discs replaced under warranty within 10 months of getting a brand new car, The response I got was driving style, But when I proved the Original tyres had not lost 1mm of tread yet I was able to prove i was not thrashing the car.

Prove to them how many consumable parts the car has used for the mileage and this wiull help your claim.

cheers

Peter

p.s if youve been through 10 sets of tyres in less than 40k miles probably not a good thing to mention.

MattyC

oh yea one other thing the previous owner reported strange gearbox noise at 1st service, which is also on the dealers system! surely this says something?

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

is the car modified in any way?

MattyC

only what previous owner did looks nice but standard part from ppp which wont afferct warranty! chcked out warranty with dealer when broght car and was all intact! if i could afford to mod the car i could afford the gearbox, spent every damn penny i have buying car and i only use it a couple of days a week only did 7000 miles for the year!

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

Then don;t let this drop... they should be paying. All the best with it and let us know how you get on

The Zohan

Sorry to hear this.
I had several minor problems with my MY99 one being brake discks which where sorted straight away without problem.

May just be the dealer being a PITA.

Ask to speak to someone senior within the garage about it, if no joy then talk to IM in Birmingham.

I know of one SNetter who went through 3 gearboxes under warranty.

Good luck

Nick99

If you write a letter when you're getting pi55ed off, it's always good to put "Without Prejudice" at the top in big bold letters. This normally gets the letter sent to their legal department and helps it to be taken very seriously. I think it means you reserve your right to pursue it legally, but helps encourage them to sort it out first :-). As stated previously - stick to the facts and don't get emotional in the letter.
Any lawyers out there who can confirm ??

wrxbugeye

I think it must be the dealer.
I had no probs getting a new engine (piston slap) and brake discs done on my last car under warranty.

mbc

i am the previous owner and loved this car, never tracked it ever and the running in period was done to the book, subaru are being a$$holes about this whole situation

LAG

sulli

As a comparison, my MY98, with 96k, was a bit notchy into 2nd and 3rd. Took it out with a mechanic from Subaru, who agreed, so they stripped the gearbox. It's still under 5yr from new Subaru Proven Warranty.
When they stripped the gearbox, found a few parts were knackered, told Subaru Warranty it had failed and they authorised the repair - this cost 1400 quid.
I now have a completely rebuilt gearbox, FOC, and no problems at all - in fact they even washed and waxed the car!
I also had a nice new Legacy for the week they had the car.
In conclusion - you need to get the dealer's warranty person to push it with Subaru, and you should have no trouble at all.

206CC

The third/Fourth gearset is a problem that Subaru know about.. They supply a modified 3/4 gear, syncro hub and baulk ring to cure it..

We had a T plate turbo in last week for a 30K service. when the gearbox was drained, the magnetic plug had pieces of the washer you have described on it..

Gearbox out, to confirm 3rd failure, call IM and the job was authorised..

The customer didn't even realise the box was defective..

So get on the Case...!!

Dealer Scooby Tech

206CC

In fact it might even have been a 60K service come to think about it..