AER-SCOOBY

Hi All,

I had a 37500 service with Subaru the other day. While I was there they asked if the was anything else needed to be looked at. So, I asked them to have a look at the clutch cable to see if it needed adjusting, as it was getting hard to put into reverse.

Well they came back and told me the cable was ok, however, there is a common fault with the synchromesh in the gearbox, and the work will be covered by my Listers/Lexus warranty.

So I took the car in to Subaru on Monday, Subaru took the gearbox out and stripped it, then Lister/Lexus warranty engineers came to inspect it. Guess what they said!
We will not carry out the work for 2 reasons.

Reason 1: I have not kept to the warranty serving guidelines. (I have) car had 30000 miles when picked up and I had it serviced at 37500, they also said it had not been serviced by myself for 14 months (Kind of hard when I had only had it 11 months).

It gets better!

Reason 2: Driver abuse! I have been reversing in the car and ramming it into 1st while still moving! Bollocks!

I personally think it’s a cop out as the work is going to cost a lot to do £1800 plus Vat according to the dealer. I also think it is to do with my age young driver crap out.
“Oh, the owner is young, Must be a case that he drives it badly.”

Now if I decide to have them carry out the work its going to cost me over 2k and if I don’t decide I want them to do it is going to cost me £200 x 2 plus VAT to get it back on the road. So I am going to be £400+ out of pocket for nothing.

Gutted.

Jamesemt

I'd get it sent to a specialist and get a 6 speed for that £2k...

StickyMicky

reverseing and ramming it into first in a 4wd car

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

If you feel they're trying it on then take them to the small claims court. You really have nothing to loose as they will most certainly pay out rather than spend money on sending a solicitor into the court.

Do an online search for 'Small claims court' it's an effective way of dealing with companies like this..!

PS it's not going to cost you anything, that's how the SCC works.

PPS what was the dealers opinion on the fault, maybe you could send
their report into the court with your application..?

Trap2Terrorist

iTrader: (3)

There is a small charge for taking someone to a SCC - about £10 for every £100 claimed. Although if you win, you can claim back your costs.

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Pay by cheque. Then cancel it.

Belmondo

The best bit is you don't even have a clutch cable! So how the **** they checked it and said it was OK is anyones guess!

EddScott

There would be no chance in hell I would hand over a penny. As far as I would be concerned the reasons to not complete the work should have been mentioned before the gearbox was taken apart.

At the very least, I would demand they put the box back in FOC as is. I would then take it to a specialist. What were the issues of getting it into reverse? I thought that Impreza reverse wasn't syncro anyway.

My car hates going into reverse and needs a couple of clutch pumps to get it in. It also makes a clicking noise in reverse. A Subaru mechanic said it was probably a tooth missing of the little reverse idle gear. I've never found any metal shard in the oil and its done it all the 2 years I've had - I'm 95% sure that why the last owner sold it as he was scared off by the dealer £thousands to repair bill.

Scoob99

iTrader: (1)

As Belmondo said do these prats really know what they are doing and did they get your permission to strip the car down??? If not they will have to put it right, Also if you bought the car with 30,000 miles on it and took it in for the 37500 mile service it is down to the dealer where you bought the car from to point out to you that the car may have missed a service or was late for one.
Cheers
Colin

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

Just what I thought They have a hydraulic clutch

Jonty

Totally agree.

Initially I thought your servicing frequency might have hiccup'd but before 12 months and/or at the next 7,500 is spot-on. It's my oppinion therefore that the dealer is now liable.

For any work where a warranty company will be involved, dealers typically check _before_ starting anything major and consult with the customer, especially if the warranty doesn't cover the work. To simply go ahead and now stop because they didn't establish who was going to pay is extremely poor service... unless you signed anything which clearly gave Subaru permission to go ahead no matter what..?

Jonts.

Jonty

Replying to my own post here.

Having thought about it, I think emphasis should be placed on what was originally agreed by Subaru and yourself, although the whole thing might get very colourful with, "He said, they said, you said, she said..." and so on.

If Subaru simply said "give it to us and we'll fix it" then a huge amount of responsibility is now on them -- they can't make promises and then suddenly retract when it's too late. Given the nature of the work, perhaps they should have consulted with the warranty company very carefully before getting the tool-kit out.

On the other hand, if *you* asked Subaru to "just fix it please" then there's more emphasis on you, however, if you didn't maintain from the start that you'd simply be footing the bill then Subaru either should have been more cautious and aware of the pitfall or simply now put things back together and call it quits.

Keep us posted.

Jonts.

AER-SCOOBY

Update…..

I have had the car back, but had to pay under protest this was the advice given to me by Trading Standards. The bill dropped from £475 to £281, as soon as I mentioned I had been to trading standards. The dealers General Manager then sat down with me to have a chat.

I discussed a couple of things with him regarding what has been posted on here and about the warranty company. He looked through the warranty agreement and picked up it was void from the beginning as it has not been stamped by the dealer where I purchased the car.

So back to Trading Standards I go…

I will keep you all posted.

Thanks for posts guys/girls

Jonty

Oh crikey, sorry to read about this. Out of interest, was it a Subaru Proven used vehicle that you purchased or another dealer with an external warranty..? Either way, hopefully you'll have some paperwork from the time of purchase which details that a warranty was part of the package... then you should just be able to go back and get it stamped before taking matters up with the warranty company again.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Jonts.