unverviking Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 This guy I work with has had 5 Subarus over the last 15-16 years or so. He's not really computer literate, so he's not on "club" member, I thought I'd post his story... He had an 01 OBW 5MT, at about 105k his headgasket started leaking. Took it to the local dealer (prior to the "slime" recall for that MY) and they quoted him $4500 to replace the head gaskets, etc. He was mad, said no, trade the car and got the 04 that he is currently driving. Then he found out (from me) about the MY01 recall with the radiator "slime" and them extending the warranty to 100k on the motor. He was now furious with Subaru. About 2 years ago the local dealer owner called him at home and asked what they had done wrong, he was a loyal customer, and he hadn't been in for 2 years. He told her the story, she sent him a $1000 check, the difference in trade between a running and his having a bad motor. He was pleased, but still a bit leery... He had returned with some regularity, but not as often as before. Now to the current story. He's nearing 100k again, and noticed coolant smell from under the hood. He called the service manager, he assured him that the HG issue was fixed in 04 and that any troubles are very rare. Asked him to stop by with the car so he can check it personally. He did, both HG's were shot. He was again furious and let it out on the service manager and the owner. They asked him for a few days to make some calls. The next day, they Service Manager called, asked him to drop off the car, SOA was covering the entire HG job in full. He was shocked... He drove the car in, took home a loaner and picked up his car a few day later. The only thing he had to pay for was a timing belt. The SM called him during the job, suggested that it be replaced, just had to pay for the part. Just wanted to share this with all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderhound Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Incredible. If my parents had been taken care of this way on the recurring failing fuel injectors on their 02 obw they might not have switched to Honda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAS83Brumby Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 I have had 11 subarus over the past 7 years and I am still searching for a good subaru service department. I have finally found a good parts department at the local subaru dealership, and I try and do all of the work my self, unless it is under warranty. There still are small problems, but subarus ROCK:banana: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
211 Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 He had an 01 OBW 5MT, at about 105k his headgasket started leaking. Took it to the local dealer (prior to the "slime" recall for that MY) and they quoted him $4500 to replace the head gaskets, etc. can someone explain this "MY01 Slime recall" and all these HG horror stories? Does MY stand for Model-Year? I have a 2000 OBW, just rolled over 70k. Is there anything recall related to be concerned about? The guy I bought it from just had the 60,000mi maintenance service done on it, and according to the records they added that special Subaru coolant additive. Is this the "slime" everyone's referring to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schlit Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 can someone explain this "MY01 Slime recall" and all these HG horror stories?Does MY stand for Model-Year? I have a 2000 OBW, just rolled over 70k. Is there anything recall related to be concerned about? The guy I bought it from just had the 60,000mi maintenance service done on it, and according to the records they added that special Subaru coolant additive. Is this the "slime" everyone's referring to? Yes, the "slime" is a stop leak coolant additive that will temporarily patch the problem long enough for the complimentary 100k warranty to run out. And it applies to your vehicle. Normal warranty is 60k, but if you put it in, they give you till 100k. My advice, get the paperwork from Subaru stating the stop leak was put in and go somewhere else to get it flushed out and replaced without it. If the HG is going to fail, you want it to do it before 100k so your'e not stuck with a failure at 120,000k. IMHO If Subaru really valued it's customers it wouldnt require the additive. Check out http://home.comcast.net/~skipnospam/guestlog.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 This guy I work with has had 5 Subarus over the last 15-16 years or so. He's not really computer literate, so he's not on "club" member, I thought I'd post his story... He had an 01 OBW 5MT, at about 105k his headgasket started leaking. Took it to the local dealer (prior to the "slime" recall for that MY) and they quoted him $4500 to replace the head gaskets, etc. He was mad, said no, trade the car and got the 04 that he is currently driving. Then he found out (from me) about the MY01 recall with the radiator "slime" and them extending the warranty to 100k on the motor. He was now furious with Subaru. About 2 years ago the local dealer owner called him at home and asked what they had done wrong, he was a loyal customer, and he hadn't been in for 2 years. He told her the story, she sent him a $1000 check, the difference in trade between a running and his having a bad motor. He was pleased, but still a bit leery... He had returned with some regularity, but not as often as before. Now to the current story. He's nearing 100k again, and noticed coolant smell from under the hood. He called the service manager, he assured him that the HG issue was fixed in 04 and that any troubles are very rare. Asked him to stop by with the car so he can check it personally. He did, both HG's were shot. He was again furious and let it out on the service manager and the owner. They asked him for a few days to make some calls. The next day, they Service Manager called, asked him to drop off the car, SOA was covering the entire HG job in full. He was shocked... He drove the car in, took home a loaner and picked up his car a few day later. The only thing he had to pay for was a timing belt. The SM called him during the job, suggested that it be replaced, just had to pay for the part. Just wanted to share this with all... Ive been noticing a trend with Subaru dealers and Major repairs like HG or Transmission. From what i've seen , espeicially with the HG, it's really up to the dealer to "sell" the repair to subaru. The better dealers seem to be able to get the HG's done for total cost, while the weaker ones come up with the "lets make a deal" numbers. It almost seems to be subaru has told the dealers "convince us". Some dealers are great at it, some of them don't want to be bothered. If this dealer had been mine, I would by every car from him as long as he owned the dealership. This guy is golden. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unverviking Posted April 4, 2007 Author Share Posted April 4, 2007 can someone explain this "MY01 Slime recall" and all these HG horror stories?Does MY stand for Model-Year? I have a 2000 OBW, just rolled over 70k. Is there anything recall related to be concerned about? The guy I bought it from just had the 60,000mi maintenance service done on it, and according to the records they added that special Subaru coolant additive. Is this the "slime" everyone's referring to? MY = Model Year Slime = Special Coolant Additive If my memory serves me correctly, the recall covered MY 00 and 01 for sure. I know that there was split year, not sure if it was 99 or 02... They extended the warranty on the motor until 100k, not sure if that only applied to the original owner. But anytime a coolant flush was done, that "slime" had to be included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unverviking Posted April 4, 2007 Author Share Posted April 4, 2007 If this dealer had been mine, I would by every car from him as long as he owned the dealership. This guy is golden. nipper Here's the thing, they claim to be the "largest" volume dealer in the NE US, and they are female owned... She has a great business philosophy, take care of the customer, the right way. My alternator went at about 60k, I hollered about it, they got SOA to cover half... When my wife took it in, she was unable to drop off, had to wait, they told her 1 hour. At 90 minutes, the owner went thru the full waiting area, asked if anyone was waiting longer than when was promised, my wife spoke up, 5 min later she was handed her keys and paperwork by the owner herself. She still had to pay the other half, but was escorted to the cashier by the owner. Not sure if I can drop the name or not, maybe a moderator can clarify... Don't want to upset anyone. I've heard from another long time Sube owner I work with that they were on vacation in Maine, they saw an OBW with Maine Tags and this dealers trim around it. They asked the owners where thery were originally from in Rochester, they replied, we're life long Mainers and love Subaru's and only buy them in Rochester. We fly in, get picked up at the airport and drive it home. Even with the airfare we still paid less than buying from the locals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 That's customer care Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 IMO, that's one of the major problems with owning a Subaru, extremely inconsistent dealer performance. Your Subaru is only as good as your local dealer. Many owners on this board take their cars to independent repair shops due to poor dealer performance. I wouldn't make too much of the fact that a particular dealer is female owned, I have found that customer service is more a function of an individual's attitude rather than their sex. Attempted Thread Hijack: Should a dealer require that a Subaru owner have all maintenance done in the dealer's shop before he or she "goes the extra mile" on an out of warranty repair? I have a friend with a Toyota. The paint started peeling off the car just outside of the warranty period. In essence, the dealer told my friend, "I've never seen you in here for an oil change, so get lost". The right move? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtsmiths Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 The paint started peeling off the car just outside of the warranty period. In essence, the dealer told my friend, "I've never seen you in here for an oil change, so get lost". The right move? Totally unrelated, two words ... Zone Rep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Attempted Thread Hijack: Should a dealer require that a Subaru owner have all maintenance done in the dealer's shop before he or she "goes the extra mile" on an out of warranty repair? I have a friend with a Toyota. The paint started peeling off the car just outside of the warranty period. In essence, the dealer told my friend, "I've never seen you in here for an oil change, so get lost". The right move? Zone Rep, better BBB, State attorney General, State DMV, and any other number of agencies that are available in the state to consumers. Toyota is trying to be #1, they won't like hearing this at all. No you dont have to go to the dealer for maint. You just have to prove the car was maintaned. And on something like paint, it doesnt matter where the oil changes were done. Did the mgr tell her this or the dealership owner. Also your freind should tell all her freinds not to go to him, and she should tell the dealership the same. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 That's a great story Unverviking. It would be nice to know what dealership this is. They would love to have this kind of story to be repeated about their service. That's almost better than advertising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unverviking Posted April 6, 2007 Author Share Posted April 6, 2007 That's a great story Unverviking. It would be nice to know what dealership this is. They would love to have this kind of story to be repeated about their service. That's almost better than advertising. Since I've not heard anything negative about posting the dealer name, I will. Van Bortel Subaru in Victor NY. It is a suburb about 20 miles or so Southeast of Rochester. Almost to Canandaigua. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene J Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 We had a harmonic balancer go bad at 80,000 which ate the front of the engine. SOA paid for the parts. We paid for the labor. Since it was no longer of warranted I was happy. We have to travel 60 miles one way for a good dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knelson Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 If my memory serves me correctly, the recall covered MY 00 and 01 for sure. I know that there was split year, not sure if it was 99 or 02... It covered my 99 Forester. Grrrrr... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hondasucks Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 I've had great results from John and Phils's Subaru-Toyota-Scion in Corvallis, (These guys don't give you blank stares when you say you need a timing belt for an EA82), and I've had the best luck at dealers that have Subarus and one or two other makes of cars. The dealer here in Albany, Mark Thomas Motors, does Chrysler/Jeep stuff, Hyundai, Subaru, and they just bought the local Buick/Pontiac dealer. I've not had the best luck getting much for my Subaru there, since they have one parts department for DC/Subaru/Hyundai and another downtown for Buick and Pontiac, and they don't have a large stock of stuff (Basic stuff for EJ engines like oil filters they have, but everything else darn near you have to order, and they want 20% more for stuff than J&P even if they do have it in stock...) They're very helpful with Dodge stuff but you go in there for a timing belt for an 87 GL they're like what make is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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