Scoobug

Bought a 2001/51 plate WRX bug-eye version with a headlamp conversion. Mates kept telling me a Subaru is bullet-proof.

Anyhow - been the proud owner of a WRX for just 3 weeks & just had the car towed into a garage with a knackered Gearbox - seems all the teeth in the gearbox have been stripped (stuck behind a lorry doing 45 mph - not exactly hammering it). Although the car is still under warranty, I'm being told by the dealer to expect Subaru to void the warranty claim cos the car has been modified with a dump valve, air intake & different exhaust. Leaves me with a bloody expensive repair bill.

Interested to hear if anyone else have suffered at the hands of this crap service ?

Even better if someone has got a WRX gearbox they don't want and can recommend someone in Berks who can fit it..

Never had this problem with an Audi......... :-)
Nor with an MG....
Nor with a Ford..
Nor with a Jeep..
Nor with a Chrysler..
Actually not with any other bloody car I've owned..

Oh yeah - it's 2 yrs old & only done 18k miles. Serviced 1 week ago.

mart360

Did they follow the correct procedure for changing the oil????!!!!!!!!!!!!!




cue mega thread!!!!




Mart

Jza

Dude - You must have known (unless you never read this site) that adding mods would invalidate your warrenty???

Pays your money - takes your chance!!!!!!

DEAL WITH IT......!!!!!!!!

No sympathy i'm afraid. Your a great advert for keeping the warrenty INTACT!!

mrklaw

Sorry about your problem, sounds like a biggie. But as mentioned, you were always on dodgy ground with 'significant' engine mods (i.e more than just air filter and backbox) - don't think the 'crap service' is justified in this instance.

You might just get away with it if you could argue that engine mods wouldn't affect a gearbox (sounds like a big mechanical problem).

as for reliable, well all cars are reliable until you have one break on you. I'm sure there are ex-Audi owners out there that will never buy another one because of a recurring fault. You've just had a good run with the cars you've owned.

Scoobug

Only found out today that there were MODs on the car. I didn't know the car had been modified except for the exhaust. The original one was being put back on by the Subaru dealer this week anyhow.

Cheers for the sympathy - really appreciated & makes my day complete.

Proud Subaru owner for 3 weeks. Pissed off Subaru ex-owner forever.

davyboy

..although to be fair, the mods are hardly gear box wrecking stuff are they?

Scoobug

I tried that arguement already. Doesn't look to me that Subaru like keeping new customers. Having bought the car in good faith with warranty (supposedly) intact for another 6 months - I didn't expect to get crap like this.

It was nice to drive while it lasted.... which wasn't as long as an MGF (& I hate to admit it)

Steve vRS

Bad luck mate.

The MY01 geraboxes do seem week. I know someone who went through two. He had a heavily modified WRX and the dealer coughed up on warranty each time.

Steve

Scoobug

So there is hope yet..

greg.g

Was it bought from a subaru dealer.
If so, then the mods were on the car when you bought it, so it was sold as standard so you should be covered.



TBH alot of people on here (myself included), have modded their cars.
When its time to sell, alot will strip off the mods and sell seperatly, then sell their cars as standard.

I bought my car as bog standard from a reg. dealer 20 months ago.
Shortly after i bought it, the big ends went.
It was repaired under warranty

In january this year, i took my car for a re-map and found that the car had a superchip fitted already

My point is you may never really know the cars true history.

Scoobug

No was bought privately - so no come back. My fault for being a prat & not realising that Scoobies can be subtly modified. Seemed genuine enough - owner by a 45yr old bloke & wife - no damage inside/outside - looked as new.

great car to drive - just ain't happy about the result.

Steve vRS

Each time I see a post like this, I wonder if it was my old Bugeye. It was modified, but stripped of all mods (apart from the Eibachs, up-pipe and big spoiler) before I px'd it at the Skoda dealer. He saw it and heard it before the mods were off though!

Steve

pflowers

So hang on you bought this scooby privately, it has been fairly heavily modified and you do not know its history. What do you expect ? If you want to benefit from the warranty buy from a main dealer. Yes I know the car may still break down but at least the dealer / Subaru will be sympathetic to a warranty claim.

Sounds like this problem was there when you bought it, the warranty claim had probably already been rejected by Subaru. Did you get the car inspected ?

I do feel sorry for you but that is the chance you take buying a car privately. Perhaps the money you saved against dealer prices will pay for the gearbox ?

MattW

Hardly heavily modified is it.

Was the exhaust just backbox or decat?

there are a couple of good breakers that may be of use, I'm sure someone will post links.

MattW

Bit OTT Jza, the poor guy only has 9 posts, he probably didn't know. most car manufactureres would n't have too much of a problem.

CraigH

FFS, get off your soapbox. The car has got an exhaust and filter change - it's not going to gain enough extra power to munch a gearbox is it. Hardly FMIC, new turbo etc territory

Bleating about this, bleating about Prodrive because they don't make a car that's "fast enough"

You need to get out more.

urban

iTrader: (1)

Jza, yeah, pretty fecking OTT - especially from someone who obviously can't spell

Its Warranty, not warrenty

speedking

I had a Kia Sportage that ate two gearboxes. One in the 3 year warranty period, replaced FOC with courtesy car. Second one after 38 months I had a real fight and got a 50% contribution. They said it was down to out of balance propshaft (which you couldn't feel in the car). When we got the car back the prop was worse than ever.

Does the car have FSSH? If so then I imagine that if you keep fighting that you should get at least a contribution to the repair.

BTW Age is no barrier. I'm nearly 45 and can grind a gearbox with the best of them

davegtt

Idea, get the car back... fit the std parts back tot he car and take tot he enxt nearest subaru dealer. car is std, no excuse from dealer and walah new g/box

I presume this would work no?

hawkeye

you say that you never had problems with other manufacturers HOW MANY of those other warrantied cars were modified??????


Looks to me like youve bought a car with a fault already there IMHO i would try talking to the subaru dealer. If the mods cannot/have not caused the damage then IM cannot refuse to cough up IMHO it may take some legal representation .

A friend of mine whose gearbox went in his BMW was told his warranty was invalid because the 18" wheels he'd put on weren't BMW approved...

needless to say several letters and threats later a gesture of goodwill was forthcoming and he got the repair done under warranty.

Muffleman

Firstly, it's NOT heavily modified.

Secondly, no-one knows the true history behind a used car, but at 18k and under warranty - I doubt anyone on here would think 'hmmm, probably about due a new gearbox, think I'll give it a miss'

The warranty should mean that the car is free from mechanical fault for the duration of the warranty. Yes you are taking a chance with mods, but an exhaust and air filter should not affect the gearbox.

If there is a full subaru service history, I'd fight for it.

All the best


Matt

hawkeye

ask the question to the garage if i take it back to standard ??

have they told IM of the modifications yet??

its down to the dealer not IM most of the time IM dont even come to check the car its only spot checks.

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

If it had been fitted with PPP it would not only be producing more power (and more relevant- torque) it would also be fully covered by warranty!
The earlier comment about oil change procedures does'nt apply - it's the gearbox that's gone bang!
When you say "All" the teeth, do you mean all the teeth on one gear? Only one transmits drive at any one time, the others just whizz round doing no actual work. If it is one ratio only, the re-build might not be as bad as first thought.
JohnD

Midget

Scoobug ! If the teeth on the gears are stripped regardless of mods it didnt happen
as a result of 45 behind a lorry .If it is 2nd gear and the main shaft stripped then my friend somebody did a little more than straight line driving !

davegtt

So you dont change the gearbox oil????

MattBiggin

I had a friend import a brand new Impreza a couple of years ago and within 4 weeks it had had 2 new gearboxes fitted under warranty. I guess that just occasionally their quality control must miss a batch of dodgy gearbox parts.

pflowers

Ok so 'heavily modified' is perhaps a bit strong. What I am actually saying is that if you choose to buy a car privately and not through a main dealer you have to accept that it is 'sold as seen' with no warranty. Even though the car is still under the manufacturers warranty, I would always assume that buying privately it may not be valid for any number of reasons.

Subaru dealers are bursting at the seams with used 'bugeyes'. If the warranty was that important this should have been the place to buy. The car I am sure would have cost more, but you at least would have had statutory rights and could easily have rejected the car. ( I know I have done it before )

Believe me any manufacturer is the same with mods, I had a BMW 320d Compact and was told colour coding the cars rubbing strips could invalidate the warranty !

As I said before I am sure this is a genuine claim that Subaru should honour, and I do feel for you. But if I had bought a car privately I would buy on the basis that any problems would be down to me, if I could claim under a warranty it would be a bonus not a right.

kob999

Subaru dealers are bursting at the seams with used 'bugeyes'. If the warranty was that important this should have been the place to buy.



Not quite sure if they are bursting at the seams or not but even if they are the premiums they tend to charge over what you pay for a private purchase would pay for several new gearboxes.

I have never bought any car in 10 years of motoring from a main dealer and I never will. The amount of money I have saved in that time would more than cover a catostrophic failure in my current scoob (which despite this thread is still a rare occurence).

pflowers

Exactly what I said, even with the cost of a new gearbox he is probably still quids in.

I am just putting across my point that you can not expect to have it both ways ie: cheap prices & full warranty. The basis of his post was to slag off IM and Subarus, IMO it was unjustified.

MJW

Send the gearbox repair bill to the guy you bought the car from : he's sold it to you on the basis there's some warranty left. Obviously the previous owner must have known/fitted the aftermarket mods (which aren't gearbox-wrecking mods, really) and therefore known that the warranty was void.
Sounds to me like the car has had some unsympathetic driving prior to you buying it as well.
All the people with the 'you should've known, its just tough' posts are being a bit harsh. Not everyone is a trainspotter type who recognises every make and model of exhaust and dump valve, give the guy a break !