Sitting in my car after arriving home tonight in the middle of a storm here in Brisbane I noticed water running around the bottom of the A pillar at the front, behind the dash and then re-appearing near the drivers side kick panel and into the drivers footwell under the carpet. I then noticed the roof in that area (drivers a pillar) was quite soaked.
Further investigation shows one of the drain tubes was not reconnected above the driver between the two right hand side drains on the sunroofs and water has been pouring out into the roof lining since the last work was done in the roof area in about April (replaced the roof rail under warranty due to a crack in the middle support). The car has had a lot of work done in it's 18 month life in the roof area for rattles including a roof lining replacement.
The car is parked in the driveway at home on a slight downhill slope so when it was parked at home and it was raining it was draining under the carpet which wasn't noticeable as there is a floor mat in place over the top and it's only really been the last month when we've had any real rain since the last repair. It's parked undercover at work during the days.
I relocated the car before finding the problem to level it out and the water started draining down inside the b pillar (noticed as a wet patch appeared on a small part of the roof lining.
I had noticed a very slight smell in the car over the last few weeks but there was nothing to indicate a leak as when I came out in the morning the sun had been on it and any wet patches on the roof lining were not visible so it probably would have gone on for a while longer yet had it not been pouring so much when I arrived home and had I not put the umbrella in the back.
I rang the Subaru dealer before I found the problem and I'm taking it in tomorrow for them to look at but as the problem is now the incompetence of one of their staff and I assume not covered by Subaru under warranty (although I'm sure they will claim it through Subaru) I'm inclined to take it to another Subaru dealer and ask them to put it in writing that I brought the car in on this date and that upon inspection drainage hose xyz was not connected.
At this point in time I have
- A damaged roof lining that has water in it over the last 6 months
- Some surface rust on a bracket that holds on the front of the roof rail
- Water damage to the a pillar and it's wiring
- Possible but unlikely water damage under the dash as it appears to have gone straight down but there is some kind of computer in that kick panel area that could have suffered some damage to the connectors
- Stuffed carpet in the drivers footwell which is discolored and weakened and with the lining underneath that has fallen to pieces
- Stuffed floormat as the lining and part of the mat had soaked in water at times
- Possible damage to the drivers seatbelt area (which also houses a sensor for the side air bag and the seat belt pretensioner)
My main concern is long term damage and problems once the car is out of warranty due to the hidden leak and as the dealer is responsible that may try and say there is no damage to xyz and it doesn't need replacing.
As far as I'm concerned the dealer should be and I will be pushing for
- Replacing the roof lining
- Replacing the a pillar lining
- Replacing the carpet and underlay in the car
- Replace bracket above lining showing rust
Provide a written report and guarantee there is no damage to the set belt, set belt pretensioner, side air bag sensor, computer in the drivers footwell and other areas and accept responsibility for any failure of these modules that can be attributed to any kind of water damage.
I don't believe what I am asking is unreasonable at all, this is a $58,000 car on road and it's only 18 months old. The car is a 2003 Subaru Outback H6 Luxury. The dealer at this point will be un-named but are a largish Brisbane Subaru Dealer.
Any advice is welcome as I plan to tackle this situation tomorrow and demand it be sorted out. They already indicated it could be up to a week before I get the car back but with the roof lining and carpets to replace probably longer.
They claim to have no spare loan cars but we'll see what they come up with tomorrow, the salesman said they would help me out if I got stuck for a car but so far has not come good on his promise but we'll see what they do this time given the circumstances. Whilst I'll try and be reasonable over this I'm very pissed off at the whole thing because of some idiot who didn't check his work and missed something REALLY basic.
Looking at the pipe there is no way that it could have come loose because it goes between two connections and requires you to bend the pipe in the middle to get it to come loose so without the roof lining out there would be no way to do this.
Regards Matthew