Darn near it.
Some of y'all remember that I bought a new 2016 WRX in March of this year. In late June, it started making a screeching noise under full throttle/full turbo boost conditions, so I took it in to Darrell Waltrip Subaru in Franklin, TN. (suburb of Nashville). The noise sounds similar to a an idler pulley bearing that's about to seize. It comes on around 3-4000 RPM at an estimated 85-100% throttle.
I had the service writer go for a ride with me to listen to the noise. He initially brushed off my concern about the noise, saying that he was pretty sure that was a normal noise for the car, but promised to have a mechanic listen to it. I assured him that it was not normal, and that the car had only just started making that noise (car had 6500 miles on the odometer when I took it in).
After almost a week, I got a voicemail from the service writer, saying that the mechanic listened to it and said that the noise was normal. After I called back and again assured them that it was not normal, they listened to it again and then agreed that no, the noise was not normal. After a couple of weeks, they called and told me it was fixed - that it was a loose connection on the air intake tube. I drove the 25 miles to the dealer, picked the car up, only to realize halfway home that it was still making the same squealing, screeching noise under boost.
I took the car back. Didn't hear back from them for a while until they called and left a voicemail saying that they had exhausted all options and couldn't find the problem. They suggested that I come and get the car and keep driving it until whatever component was making the noise failed. Essentially, "we give up". That was on July 28 - the car had been there for a month at that point.
I refused to take the car back, which caused some exasperation on the part of the service writer. I told him I had to have the car fixed - that it was a brand-new car with less than 7000 miles, and that I wasn't going to put up with a loud squealing noise. I suggested that they have a troubleshooter from Subaru of America come and take a look at it. They dragged their feet. I called the service manager, who brushed me off quickly, promising to call me back. He never called me back.
Fast forward to last week - I finally lost patience and called Subaru of America on Wednesday. They promised to look into the situation and scheduled a callback on Friday. I didn't hear from them until Monday, at which point the dealer had called and said they'd tracked the problem down to the turbocharger and had a new unit on order. SOA promised to get back with me to arrange some sort of compensation for my trouble. The dealer leaves me a voicemail Wed. and says he estimates that the car will be ready Friday (today). Not having heard anything, I call at 4:30 and ask if the car will be ready. Service writer says the turbo's not bad after all, but that a stud was missing, apparently from the factory (possibly one of the studs that holds the hot section to the exhaust manifold - unfortunately I was in a hurry and didn't get the exact detail). They say the metal gasket has failed at that point, causing a woodwind-reed-like effect, making the noise. Said they checked the play in the bearings in the turbo and they're OK, so they're not going to change the turbo after all.
So, we'll see if this fixes it. Latest estimate is that he thinks the car will be ready around the middle of next week, maybe Tuesday. That would be the 27th, 2 days shy of 3 months.
I feel like they've put me on the back burner - both Darrell Waltrip Subaru and Subaru of America. They've dragged their feet on purpose because they didn't want to take the time to troubleshoot a problem, and were irritated with me because I wouldn't take the car back and live with what they perceive to be an insignificant issue. Meanwhile, I've made 3 monthly payments on the car, not to mention insurance, and, I also just sank $600 into a trailer hitch and bicycle carrier that I haven't been able to use.
So, I feel like they owe me something out of this deal. The question is, what sort of compensation should I ask for? I've had friends and family suggest that I ask to have them take care of a few of my payments. A friend from work (who had to have the engine in his stock 2014 WRX replaced due to piston ring land failure) suggested that I ask to have the factory warranty extended. That doesn't sound like a bad idea to me - frankly I've lost confidence in the car, especially after all the stories I've heard of engine failures.
I've been Mr. Nice Guy up to this point - not once have I lost my temper with them. But my patience is about to run out.
Some of y'all remember that I bought a new 2016 WRX in March of this year. In late June, it started making a screeching noise under full throttle/full turbo boost conditions, so I took it in to Darrell Waltrip Subaru in Franklin, TN. (suburb of Nashville). The noise sounds similar to a an idler pulley bearing that's about to seize. It comes on around 3-4000 RPM at an estimated 85-100% throttle.
I had the service writer go for a ride with me to listen to the noise. He initially brushed off my concern about the noise, saying that he was pretty sure that was a normal noise for the car, but promised to have a mechanic listen to it. I assured him that it was not normal, and that the car had only just started making that noise (car had 6500 miles on the odometer when I took it in).
After almost a week, I got a voicemail from the service writer, saying that the mechanic listened to it and said that the noise was normal. After I called back and again assured them that it was not normal, they listened to it again and then agreed that no, the noise was not normal. After a couple of weeks, they called and told me it was fixed - that it was a loose connection on the air intake tube. I drove the 25 miles to the dealer, picked the car up, only to realize halfway home that it was still making the same squealing, screeching noise under boost.
I took the car back. Didn't hear back from them for a while until they called and left a voicemail saying that they had exhausted all options and couldn't find the problem. They suggested that I come and get the car and keep driving it until whatever component was making the noise failed. Essentially, "we give up". That was on July 28 - the car had been there for a month at that point.
I refused to take the car back, which caused some exasperation on the part of the service writer. I told him I had to have the car fixed - that it was a brand-new car with less than 7000 miles, and that I wasn't going to put up with a loud squealing noise. I suggested that they have a troubleshooter from Subaru of America come and take a look at it. They dragged their feet. I called the service manager, who brushed me off quickly, promising to call me back. He never called me back.
Fast forward to last week - I finally lost patience and called Subaru of America on Wednesday. They promised to look into the situation and scheduled a callback on Friday. I didn't hear from them until Monday, at which point the dealer had called and said they'd tracked the problem down to the turbocharger and had a new unit on order. SOA promised to get back with me to arrange some sort of compensation for my trouble. The dealer leaves me a voicemail Wed. and says he estimates that the car will be ready Friday (today). Not having heard anything, I call at 4:30 and ask if the car will be ready. Service writer says the turbo's not bad after all, but that a stud was missing, apparently from the factory (possibly one of the studs that holds the hot section to the exhaust manifold - unfortunately I was in a hurry and didn't get the exact detail). They say the metal gasket has failed at that point, causing a woodwind-reed-like effect, making the noise. Said they checked the play in the bearings in the turbo and they're OK, so they're not going to change the turbo after all.
So, we'll see if this fixes it. Latest estimate is that he thinks the car will be ready around the middle of next week, maybe Tuesday. That would be the 27th, 2 days shy of 3 months.
I feel like they've put me on the back burner - both Darrell Waltrip Subaru and Subaru of America. They've dragged their feet on purpose because they didn't want to take the time to troubleshoot a problem, and were irritated with me because I wouldn't take the car back and live with what they perceive to be an insignificant issue. Meanwhile, I've made 3 monthly payments on the car, not to mention insurance, and, I also just sank $600 into a trailer hitch and bicycle carrier that I haven't been able to use.
So, I feel like they owe me something out of this deal. The question is, what sort of compensation should I ask for? I've had friends and family suggest that I ask to have them take care of a few of my payments. A friend from work (who had to have the engine in his stock 2014 WRX replaced due to piston ring land failure) suggested that I ask to have the factory warranty extended. That doesn't sound like a bad idea to me - frankly I've lost confidence in the car, especially after all the stories I've heard of engine failures.
I've been Mr. Nice Guy up to this point - not once have I lost my temper with them. But my patience is about to run out.
