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  #31  
Old 08-30-2004, 12:06 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by simonton
thanks for all ur help with this..

i'll just take it in. Unfortunately the "mechanic" that worked on the car before who turned out to be a bit of a dooshbag is the service manager. He later mentioned that he isnt even a mechanic. How that worked out i really dont know. The last few times i talked to him it seems that maybe i just caught him on a bad day. At least i can only hope.
Okay, let me see if I've got this right...you took your car to a Subaru dealership and the Service Manager - who isn't even a mechanic - worked on your car? Might I suggest you call the regional or district Subaru office and have a little chat with them before you go any farther with things?
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  #32  
Old 08-30-2004, 12:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by gl1674
... they have to witness the problem before they can fix it.
True, but they had two bleepin' months to "witness" the problem.

Two months without a car, parts in the back seat, attitude from the service writer, out thousands (I'm sure), and the car's still screwed-up?! Simonton, if I were you, I wouldn't attempt ANY repairs; you're liable to give Subaru (or this wonderful dealership) an excuse to void your warranty. What I would do is contact a Subaru regional office and relate to them this whole sorry tale, firmly but with all due courtesy, and say exactly what they need to do to remedy the situation. At the dealership of your choice. Today.

dcb
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  #33  
Old 08-30-2004, 07:46 PM
simonton
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Thanks for your understanding here. I appreciate it. I probably should call the regional office. How exactly would i contact them?

I think that you're right in that i shouldnt mess with this myself. I am just in fear of losing the car again. I finally get it back after months of waiting... you can all understand how it is to be without this car -- I've just been avoiding sending it back. The thought of being away from it again is sickening.

I've had a hell of a time with the mechanics I've dealt with. The first guy sat on the car for months because it was a warranty job and never even found parts. So I did have to pour thousands into a dealer fix, and the service manager there was a *****. I'd say at least he got the job done, but ****; he didn't! I tried taking the car to another subaru, but was told that the warranty repair must be done where the original work was done. But this is not what the other subaru "mechanic" told me... I think the guys i talked to at this other dealer just didnt want to deal with it. I'm tired of getting jacked around by lazy ****in...... nevermind. If you really want to hear my whole sad story just click here.
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  #34  
Old 08-31-2004, 04:40 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by simonton
Thanks for your understanding here. I appreciate it. I probably should call the regional office. How exactly would i contact them?

I think that you're right in that i shouldnt mess with this myself. I am just in fear of losing the car again. I finally get it back after months of waiting... you can all understand how it is to be without this car -- I've just been avoiding sending it back. The thought of being away from it again is sickening.

I've had a hell of a time with the mechanics I've dealt with. The first guy sat on the car for months because it was a warranty job and never even found parts. So I did have to pour thousands into a dealer fix, and the service manager there was a *****. I'd say at least he got the job done, but ****; he didn't! I tried taking the car to another subaru, but was told that the warranty repair must be done where the original work was done. But this is not what the other subaru "mechanic" told me... I think the guys i talked to at this other dealer just didnt want to deal with it. I'm tired of getting jacked around by lazy ****in...... nevermind. If you really want to hear my whole sad story just click here.
Man... I've read all your posts regarding your fiasco with that Subaru dealer. That's crazy! My SVX has been at Chaplin's Subaru for almost 4 weeks now. Several times they've called me for an "update", and it's always the same story...

The first week they told me that their tech was going to tear the transmission apart so he could decide if it would be cheaper to put a remanufactured one in instead of fixing the original. Then a week later, I get a call saying the same thing again... Only this time they added "there was a code stating the TPS was bad so the tech thinks that may fix the problems"...

I thought to myself "how can this tech assume such a thing when even reverse is crapping out on me.. TPS would only affect up/downshifting" but I didn't say anything, hoping he'd realize it soon enough. Well they tell me because they have to order the part it will be another week or so before they can even tell if that fixed the problems.

Then a week later another call, stating what I suspected all along "it fixed the downshifting problems but not the reverse engangement problem"... grrrr... so the tech decides he's *NOW* going to tear the transmission apart. 3 weeks after the fact!!!

And this on top of the fact that both front axles need to be replaced, along with the powersteering pump. This whole time I assumed he had at least started working on those items... But just yesterday I get a new call and they inform me that "the tech has decided a remanufactured transmission will be cheaper, so we called your warranty company but they said they need to send someone to inspect the work and give the 'go ahead'"... I didn't care to ask how much longer on that item, because I already know it'll be at least 2 more weeks easily, but I did ask them about the axles, powersteering pump, and a couple other misc items... and she says "Oh, we haven't started work on those because we wanted to wait til the bulk of the items were identified so your warranty company can give approval on all of them..."!!!!

My car's been gone for almost a full month, and they haven't even started work on the smaller items????

Are we the only 2 people in this board with such bad luck having Subaru dealers work on our cars?

I'm afraid of the outcome of my situation, after reading yours. What if after all this crap, they do a bad job and the tranny falls to pieces? Or any of the other repaired items.

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  #35  
Old 08-31-2004, 07:04 PM
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I feel your pain eddie; That sounds just about as bad as what I went through. If i were you I'd tell the mechanic to put in a manual. That's what I'm going to try to do, but unfortunately i just spent around 5 thousand on the auto. If i can get my money back I'm definately going to get the manual... but as for you; I'd screw the auto trans and get a manual before its too late. Putting in the manual apparantly is even cheaper than replacing the auto. Even if you need to take it away from the subaru dealer, I hear its worth it!
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  #36  
Old 08-31-2004, 08:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by simonton
I feel your pain eddie; That sounds just about as bad as what I went through. If i were you I'd tell the mechanic to put in a manual. That's what I'm going to try to do, but unfortunately i just spent around 5 thousand on the auto. If i can get my money back I'm definately going to get the manual... but as for you; I'd screw the auto trans and get a manual before its too late. Putting in the manual apparantly is even cheaper than replacing the auto. Even if you need to take it away from the subaru dealer, I hear its worth it!
That would be awesome if I could... Unfortunately, this is extended warranty work and they will only replace with stock parts. That, and the fact that a manual would require custom work that would not be covered by warranty labor.

Has anyone ever attempted this through a warranty? I know I'll get pushback if I tried, but it would be good to know if anyone's ever been successful.
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  #37  
Old 09-01-2004, 06:54 AM
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Quote:
Originally posted by simonton
...but unfortunately i just spent around 5 thousand on the auto.
I know it's easy for me to sit here and say, "go after 'em." Fact is, complaining about unsatisfactory goods or services is one of my least favorite things to do. Often, over five or ten or maybe even one hundred bucks, I'll grin and bear it, rather than make a fuss.

But if I'd just blown five grand and had nothing to show for it, I'd camp-out on the doorstep of the home office, if necessary, to get some satisfaction. I'm not talking about going postal; don't lose your temper, don't rant and rave, but most importantly, do not concede.

Quote:
Originally posted by EddieSVX
My car's been gone for almost a full month, and they haven't even started work on the smaller items????
In my opinion, this is inexcusable, and your should collect what's left of your poor car and take it elsewhere (and owe these folks nothing).

dcb

Last edited by dcarrb; 09-01-2004 at 07:04 AM.
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  #38  
Old 09-01-2004, 12:24 PM
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So a little update from today. The Subaru dealer called me to inform me that the warranty company will *NOT* approve a remanufactured transmission, and instead, has decided to pickup my transmission themselves and ship it to a third-party shop to have it rebuilt!!!!

Several things wrong with this picture:

1) The Subaru tech had already aknowledge the fact that the remanufactured tranny would be a newer unit with all updates necessary for more efficient cooling (it would've been a series manufactured around 97 I guess, my car's a 92). He was pushing for the reman'd because he wanted me to get an updated unit.

2) Subaru provides a 2 year warranty on their reman'd trannies. I would've had peace of mind for the next 2 years.

3) My car would've been in the shop for a couple of weeks, instead of another month.

Of course, it all boils down to the warranty company taking a lesser loss, but this is pretty disappointing. My car's been gone for almost a month, and on top of that they only approved 5 days of rental, which I already used up at the beginning of the dilemma.

So I'm making payments on a car that I can't drive for 2 months, have no alternate transportation, and the bad transmission is not going to be replaced by a more reliable unit.

Oh and here's the kicker... The warranty company won't approve the other parts being ordered, yet... They want to wait til God knows what. So once my transmission comes back, then they will decide on approving the ordering of the axles, powersteering pump, etc...!!!

National Warranty Corporation, if anyone wondered. So far they've handled this in what I consider a very inefficient way, time-wise.
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  #39  
Old 09-01-2004, 02:35 PM
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They're having my transmission shipped to TRC Transmission, Inc. down in Chatsworth, CA.

My car's at Chaplin's Subaru in Bellevue, WA... 1130 miles away. SIGH

Has anyone ever heard of TRC Transmission, and know if they do good work? I'm so worried now that my transmission is going to crap out on me again.
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  #40  
Old 09-01-2004, 02:48 PM
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You purchased a third-party warranty on your car? Seems the warranty company is really muddying the waters for you. Are they going to pay for the transmission replacement in full?

Good luck.

dcb
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  #41  
Old 09-01-2004, 02:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by dcarrb
You purchased a third-party warranty on your car? Seems the warranty company is really muddying the waters for you. Are they going to pay for the transmission replacement in full?

Good luck.

dcb
They cover the rebuild and labor. The only thing I have to pay is the initial diagnostic costs from the dealer to determine the problems with the vehicle. That will be around the $250 ~ $400 mark (I'll know when all it's done).

According to the dealer, although waiting for approval on all the items, the axles, powersteering, driver side window switch, and the TPS (already installed) are all fully covered by the warranty.

All in all, I'm disappointed at the timeframe and how things seem like they could've been done more promptly. I do think I got my money's worth, though. The transmission rebuild price alone exceeds what I paid for the extended warranty coverage.

I'm just worried that the place they're taking the transmission to won't do a good job on the rebuild. I'm just really hoping my concern is vain. I checked out their website, and they seem to have been around for a while. Actually there's 2 sites, both seem to be the same company just different locations:

http://www.trctransmission.com (Chatsworth, CA)

http://www.trctransmissions.com (Visalia, CA)

I just want my car back. It's been much too long. I miss it like crazy, and I'm tired of riding on the passenger seat of my girlfriend's Mustang... It messes with my pride.
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  #42  
Old 09-02-2004, 07:19 AM
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I'm curious about your extended-service warranty because I seriously considered buying one for my SVX, even before I found the car, fearing all the transmission horror stories I'd read. Priced several plans and ultimately decided to roll the dice instead. Keep us informed.

dcb
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