RS Grant

Right, a few of you will know what sort of problems I had at the beginning of the year with buying the Scoob, then just after I got the Scoob, the wee accident in it and other things both car and non-car related.

BUT it seems that luck is still reluctant to shine on me!!

Coming home in early hours of Saturday morning, admittedly, I was pressing on.. Country road, nobody about, good conditions etc..

Car stuttered, and wouldnt pull.. this was at 60mph+++.. Thing was that the turbo was still spinning as it was dumping when I let off, but there seemed to be no power there.

I drove it slowly until I got to a stretch of street lights where I stopped and looked under the bonnet for anything obvious. (I'm not a mechanic and anything slightly technical would be invisible to me )

Couldnt see anything, gave the car a wee rev and thick grey smoke came out the exhaust and also a bit came out of the intercooler , smelt like something was on fire....... Which I think indicates an oil problem??

Anyway, turned car off and it let out a massive bang (backfire) from the exhaust.

Called Subaru Assistance and organised a recovery truck to come get me.

Guy arrived, turned car on to drive it onto the back of his truck?! But by this time it was throwing out huge amounts of white smoke, which indicates a problem to do with water??

It was idling so rough that the whole car was shaking.. Sounded like it was running a cylinder down, or at least thats what the guy said, I couldnt really hear anything. Was too busy getting over the shock of my car being on the back of a recovery truck...........

Anyway, car was taken to Town and County Subaru, in Perth. Got a car (Ford Focus) organised through my warranty company for the first 48hrs. Then the dealership have extended this for 5 working days, however on the phone today they said that on Saturday I would have to give back the hire car.

This wouldnt be a big problem if the car was going to be away til middle of next week, I could put up with commuting differently or organising a car to borrow for a couple of days. But they have said that they are taking the engine out because it will need to be stripped down and he said that they might manage that on Monday, so its looking like it will be away for about 3 weeks he said...

Instead of offering me a courtesy car, of which they have none, they said that I would be liable for the costs of hiring another car and that because it wasnt warranty on a new car then they cannot cover the cost for me...

He also said that it would be 2 weeks until he could give me ac ourtesy car, so when I said to book me in for one, he said he couldnt because he would be turning away servicing jobs because I would be tieing up one of his courtesy cars.

My questions are:

1 - Any ideas what the problem could have been with my car??

2 - Can they refuse me a Courtesy Car??

3 - When I bought my car, I was told it was a full, no quibble warranty, so I expect the same treatment as someone who has bought a brand new Subaru, am I wrong to expect this??

4 - Can they refuse to cover the cost of hiring me a car if they cannot supply a courtesy car??

5 - What do I do from here....... I have never been in this situation and I need some help.


Thankyou for reading all the above. Please feel free to post your opinions, ideas and advice as I am totally lost!!


Cheers,
Grant

bluenosewrx

iTrader: (2)

jesuus mate,sorry to hear this,don't know much about it but you should be entitled to a courtesy car.shame you couldn't rewind to dec,eh.all the best anyway.....blunose.

Johnny50

Sh*t Grant..
You should just give up mate...
Do you not still have the RS you can use ?

Why not post the problems up in General Tech..or Drivetrain...
Bound to get an answer tonight from there..

Gimme a shout if you need anything bud.

RS Grant

Yeah Johnny...

Still got the RS in the garage, needs to be taken to AVA to be set-up and generally a good service before I would be happy to drive it daily again.

Thanks for the offer mate, if you want we can just transfer your car over to my insurance for the duration........... oh, you got your new bits on it now ay, even better!! lol

Seriously considering giving up mate, seems like the odds arent in my favour when it comes to cars...

I have posted up in General Tech. so I will see what ideas come back from that, however if anyone has any ideas please post on here too!!

Hey Bluenose, long time no see!! You dont know how much I wish I could start 2004 again mate... lol

Cheers,
Grant

AlanG

From what you say it sounds like water is the problem.
Grey/white smoke's the indicator of this.

Now what has caused the problem is curious. You say water was coming out of the intercooler. Did a water hose go underneath the intercooler causing your engine to overheat? or has a headgasket gone which caused overheating?

Time will tell. I wouldn't like to just replace the headgasket(s) without finding out the cause first.

Without seeing it, i would say it's the former.

simon higgins

Grant . i baught my scooby from them and ive a had nothing but problems with it.Every time went there with a problem it was the weather or something out of there controle. I no longer take the car to them. if u want to know more send me a pm and i will tell u the rest.simon h. ps hope it gets sorted out asap !

p1doc

i presume your warranty will either be a 1 year"bought from garage " warranty or real extended subaru warranty-either way check the small print
wear or tear is generally excluded so if they feel inclined you could be coughing up big money for engine build!
i think i saw your car at a recent dundee meet-aftermarket dumpvalve-if so warranty invalid,same for any other engine modifications as per the small print in the warranty or i am thinking of the wrong guy?
good luck martin

scoobylav

Feel for you Grant.
1. Sorry not a mechanic - but white smoke = water IMHO
2. Yes they can refuse you a courtesy car
3. Depends on what the warranty covered - some warrantys are not worth the paper they are written on.
4. Dependant on warranty possibly but they may well be under no obligation to provide any sort of other transport
5. I would ask them to let you know exactly what they intend to do and a price before they do anything to the car. Also question what your warranty does actually cover.

Hope you get sorted Grant - keep us informed.

Ian

T-uk

agree with this fully. if the warranty is a third party company , dealer may remove the engine for inspection. assessor comes along and voids it for what ever reason , mods , serviced by miles rather than date or wear are the usual and then you have to pick up the tab


if your car has full history get the dealer to put it into writing that you will not get charged before they do anything. if they will not cover you I would try a decent independent such as Automotive Services Dunfermline

Ciaran

iTrader: (16)

sorry to hear that mate i think u need to give up and buy a push bike might have more luck that way!