I feel lucky to work at a reputable Subaru dealership. I see no cheating or trying to milk money out of the customer, but people trying to fix cars. Some customers may say otherwise, but there are two sides to a story.. here are some of ours:
Customer #1: (Lastweek) The puddle is deeper than it looks, driving into it may put water in your engine and computer and the insurance may totlal it. Customer #2: (Lastweek) The puddle is deeper than it looks, driving into it may put water in your engine and Subaru dosn't pay for this. I realise the car only has 4000 miles on it. Being the car is brand new, getting a new long block will take some time; we have to order it from Japan. Customer #3: (Lastweek) I realise that our brakejob was priced expensive, and you did it cheaper at home. But the tools we use are expensive, and jacking it by the oil pan is not suggested, you may put a big hole in it and into the oil pickup screen. This part will have to be ordered too- Customer #4: (Lastyear) I know your a 20 year man, and dumping the clutch on a WRX may seem like the thing to do, but 1st gear dosn't desinigrate like that on its own. No there isn't a known weakness in the WRX transmissions. If you plan to treat it like a race car, get a STI, that transmission is about bulletproof. (I don't recall the resalution to this case) Customer #5: (Lastyear) Do you know customer #4? OK, 3 way split, you play
1/3, the dealership 1/3 and Subaru 1/3. Customer #5: (Lastyear, 1 month later) Stiff to shift now? Lets look at it. Wow, look at all the wear on the edges of those new gears; As the Subaru evaluater says "This kid needs a sponcer, and Subaru isn't it." (this one went to court; we as a shop never heard the final answer) Tuner Customer #6-7-8: Modifacations to the car can and will void the warrenty. If we see mods, such as ECU Modifacations, Cat removal, o2 sensors bypassed, we don't wonder why the check engine light is on. Its our job to fix the cars as they were made from the factory. There is an entire TSB covering engine mods and warrenty. Customer #9: (Lastyear) Your engine is bad, knocking. The car has 28,000 miles on it. Can you prove you have had the oil changed? While 3000 is the standard, 7000 is what the manufacture suggests, so show us proof of 4 oil changes, thats all. Why don't you wish for us to see the recept of the oil change at Jiffie Lube? Does it say something like "No oil on stick" on it? (I think we split the cost on this repair too)IF you have regular service done at a shop, expect them to go farther to help you. A example: A 90k service done, and about a month later the car returns due to a transmission noise. The oil level was good, the diff bearing went bad. We did a 3way split with this customer for the repair. When the service manager is discussing a case with the Subaru people, he will let them know the service history of the cosomer, this often can influance the decisions. Last week a car came in after having the timing belt was done at another shop, noting the heads were leaking, but it is over milage on the engine, but not years. Altho this car has not been in our shop befor, it was agreed that we will put the coolant additive/sealant in and wait 6 months. If the leak persists, then 50/50 or 1/3 split on the cost.
Gee Whiz: Don't post on the internet how you trashed your car and Subaru has to pay for it (LOL) Honest people read the internet and may send everything you wrote to the service managers in your area. The Tech or Service manager may even be reading the bullitenboard....