Those who read regularly may know that I wrote about some problems regarding the lights on my 2001 OBW occasionally dimming a bit, even without the compressor kicking in. Also, I got a brief flash on the alternator light, but only occasionally, just once or twice a day for a fraction of a second. This went on for months. Whenever the alternator light went on, the brake warning light also went on. Since the car has 53k, my dealer said that if it turned out to be an alternator, I would have to foot the bill myself, around $450.00.
Well, I went to my dealer, Bill Rapp Subaru, in Syracuse, New York and had a calm and honest discussion with the service advisor. I shared with him that in the past twelve cars I had never replaced an original alternator under 90,000 miles and I asked him if these Subaru alternators were failing on a larger level than just mine.
We really didn't have to get into the conversation too deeply because he told me he was going to put an alternator in the car and "talk to SOA" (Subaru of America) about my situation. The end of the story is that I drove away with a new alternator and SOA foot the bill thanks to the help of my service advisor.
A few days later I returned to thank him for the good service and I asked him about the excessive wind noise by the tweeter, which I have also written about in this newsgroup. Again, this attentive advisor took the car for 45 minutes, and gave it back to me with the wind noice ENTIRELY gone. Again, no charge.
What I am getting at is this: This Subaru has not been a trouble free car by any means, but this dealer has been so responsive to all of the problems both in and out of warantee that it does make it a car from hell as some people can have when dealing with an ornery dealer. The buying experience was easy and not stressfull. When the head gasket blew, they took the car in right away and had it back to me in a few hours. They are always courteous respectful and helpful. A good dealer is reason enough to becoming a repeat customer.
This is one good dealer!
Fred