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SOA Warranty Problems & Questions

140 messages,  Last post on Feb 26, 2008 at 12:18 PM

You are in the Subaru Legacy & Outback Forum.

What is this discussion about? Subaru Outback, Subaru SVX, Car Warranties

Messages Page 1 of 14

#1 of 140 SOA Warranty problems by bogey5

Feb 03, 2007 (11:50 am)

I have a 2006 Outback with 18,500 miles. The first 7,800 were driven by a Subaru employee (factory car). A week and a half ago in anticipation of an 800 mile round trip I checked all the car's fluids. All were fine with the exception of front differential. I added 1.3 quarts of mfg. specified gear oil.
 
Arrived at destination with front end noise. Took the car to the nearest Subaru dealer who confirmed noise but said it would take them a week to fix it. Called the selling dealer who said DO NOT DRIVE call Subaru 800 number.
 
After discussion back and forth, SOA told me to get a quote to flat bed the car home 388 miles at 3.00/mi. Said they would pay if warantable repair.
 
Called the local dealer to say that I would leave the car with them and would retrieve after repair. Was told that they could not fix it in a timely manner so I should take SOA up on their offer to pay for transportation.
 
Transported the car to the selling dealer (even though there were four other Subaru dealers in the area where the car was located.) Without ever looking at the car he said that it would be $1,500. And they had no idea why SOA would authorize that expensive a tow.
 
Selling dealer called to say that the car had bad bearings in differential they were on order and car would be done the next day. Servise manager called back to say that the first call was a mistake. The co. rep had determined that the gear oil was wrong and they would not cover repair.
 
More than a week later the car sits at the dealership and I'm not feeling a lot of love from Subaru or the selling dealer.
 
Any thoughts?

#2 of 140 Re: SOA Warranty problems [bogey5] by fibber2

Feb 03, 2007 (8:31 pm)

Replying to: bogey5 (Feb 03, 2007 11:50 am)
We are going to need to crawl thru this for more details before passing judgement.
 
I have an older OBW, so things might have changed depending on what tranny you have (4 or 5 spd auto, 5 spd manual). Making an assumption that you have the 4 spd auto, a full fill of the front differential after a complete drain is around 1.25 qts, IIRC, of 80w-90 gear oil. This is the little dipstick back along the firewall.
 
If you put 1.3 qts in, then either it was completely empty to begin with, or it is now grossly overfilled. Also (assuming same front diffy as I have), did you use the correct gear oil?
 
What did the dealer that confirmed the noise say it was?
Why did the selling dealer say it would cost $1500, when the drivetrain is covered by a 5yr/60k warranty?
Did you get a rejection from the area rep with an explanation in writing, clearly stating their findings and reason for rejection?
 
Steve

#3 of 140 Re: SOA Warranty problems [fibber2] by paisan

Feb 03, 2007 (8:51 pm)

Replying to: fibber2 (Feb 03, 2007 8:31 pm)
I'm going to have to agree with Steve, something doesn't sound right here at all. Need more details before we can help you.
 
-mike

#4 of 140 SOA Waranty problem by bogey5

Feb 04, 2007 (11:45 am)

Went for oil change at an oil change store and was advised that Subaru recommends changing front and rear differential oil at 15,000 miles. They did not change the diff. oil. Until then I wasn't aware that the car had a front diff. So I went looking for it. When I found it I pulled the dipstick three times to find just a trace of fluid on the bottom. I bought api gl-5 80w-90 gear oil as recommended by the spec's and put some in, checked the stick, put in more and checked. Back and forth checking the stick and putting in oil until it was full.
 
Prior to that I had had no noise or trouble with the car. There was no leakage before or after from the diff.
 
I took the car to the closest available dealer in the other city and was told it would take them at least a week.
 
Dealer to first inspect it said it was warranty and based on that assessment I finally agreed to have it transported.
 
If in fact the diff was empty, why was it empty? There was not and is not now any indication of any leakage.
 
I own a my04 OBW too and my son owns an older Legacy. I've had no problem with the 04 but it came from another dealer.
 
I hate to be cynical but I'm wondering if the factory rep looked at the $900. transportation charge on top of the $1,500. repair and decided that it was too much.
 
Additionally others have suggested that the $1,500 is retail and SOA wouldn't reimburse the dealer that much or as quickly as he can get my check. From the very beginning when I called him from 400 miles away I had a sense by the way he talked that he was predisposed not to find a warrantable problem.
 
I cannot tell you how much I am hoping that I am off base and that we can work out a solution because I am now concerned about warranty coverage on both OBW's and don't want to face a similar dilemma in the future.

#5 of 140 SOA Warranty problems by bogey5

Feb 04, 2007 (12:16 pm)

Forgot to mention that it's a four speed automatic. Basic 2.5.
 
Have not received an official rejection letter from the Co. it was verbal from the service manager. If cannot resolve it I will ask for a lot of documents including a copy of the 152 point check.

#6 of 140 I take it you filled the Diffy and not the ATF? by paisan

Feb 04, 2007 (5:14 pm)

It is often the case that the AT stick is pulled rather than the diffy stick when filling the front diffy. The Front diffy is also integrated into the trans housing so it can be an internal leak, instead of one you might see readily.
 
As for the tow home, I'm still not sure why they would agree to it, as the contracts clearly state that it is to be fixed at the closest dealer.
 
Also if your diffy was low, and it was under warranty, why didn't you bring it to your local dealer when you noticed the problem? That is an indication that there was a consumption or leak associated with the front diffy.
 
-mike

#7 of 140 Filled the diffy.... by bogey5

Feb 04, 2007 (9:07 pm)

...after I found the location down next to the firewall on the opposite side from the AT. After filling it I checked it the next day and it remained full. After detecting the noise after the trip (about 500 miles)I had an oil change place check all the fluids (AT, oil, front and rear differentials)and they were all full and clean Then I called the nearest local dealer.
 
Took the car to the dealer at 8:30 a.m. the next morning. They again checked all of the fluids and drove the car. I cannot say if they opened the differential. They didn't say and I wasn't in the shop to observe but told me it would take a week to fix. I can't imagine that they could diagnose a problem that would take a week to fix without some kind of detailed investigation. Their invoice indicated that they had confirmed the noise, confirmed that there was no problem with fluids and it was a warranty claim. They also said that they believed that I "might" (a qualified might)be able to drive it home and then have the selling dealer fix it.
 
I reported earlier the selling dealer's response. DO NOT DRIVE IT because we won't warranty it.
 
I don't believe I'm being unreasonable but it's quite evident to me that there were a number of mistakes made,maybe the selling dealer was going to replace the fluid under the "152 point pre-sale prep" and forgot to refill. Maybe Subaru never put it in in the first place, perhaps the first dealer should have agreed to keep the car and repair it. Perhaps I should have insisted. Perhaps I should have taken it to the selling dealer rather than adding fluid myself.
 
I think there needs to be some inherent reasonableness in this whole situation. If the first dealer had said it will take a week, we'll give you a loaner it's inconvenient but we'll do the best we can. So be it. Or if Subaru had said we'll pay for transportation because we want your car back with the selling dealer warranty or not. Again, so be it. But this is strange.

#8 of 140 I dunno, but by paisan

Feb 04, 2007 (9:15 pm)

Some of the blame may lie with you in that upon discovery of the low fluid, you should have brought it to the closest dealer for repair, or at least to check it out. I never mess around with warranty work. At the very least I would have left it with the dealer that originally diagnosed the problem, as that's how the warranty works. I also don't believe you are entitled to a loaner car under the factory warranty.
 
-mike

#9 of 140 Re: Filled the diffy.... [bogey5] by paisan

Feb 04, 2007 (9:17 pm)

Replying to: bogey5 (Feb 04, 2007 9:07 pm)
...after I found the location down next to the firewall on the opposite side from the AT. After filling it I checked it the next day and it remained full. After detecting the noise after the trip (about 500 miles)I had an oil change place check all the fluids (AT, oil, front and rear differentials)and they were all full and clean Then I called the nearest local dealer.
 
How did you know th fluid was "clean" unless they did a drain and fill, I belive the diffys have a magnetic plug that will collect any metal shavings so the fluid will likely look "clear" even if you sheared off a piece of the diffy.
 
-mike

#10 of 140 as reported by the dealer by bogey5

Feb 05, 2007 (5:01 am)

quoting the dealer invoice, "all fluids were checked and no problems were found."
 
I don't know what a dealer does to come to that analysis.
 
And I did try to leave the car with them. There response was that they didn't want to turn away business but they didn't think they could fix it in a reasonable time and I should take Subaru up on their offer to reimburse towing.

Messages Page 1 of 14

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