Charges for warranty assessment

[paulh]

My 05 Legacy is less than 6 months old with 5000 miles has several problems which either Subaru cannot fix or are not covered by warranty. The most recent roblem occurred a couple of months ago when both the climate control panel and he radio panel would not light up or function, but after 40 miles they came on again and everything worked except that the a/c was not very cold. I did not eport this to the dealer immediately as I did not really need the a/c at this time of he year and also wanted to see if the problem reoccurred or fixed itself. It now seems that this had nothing to do with the a/c quitting so I can only look forward to a similar outage.

 

I took the car into the dealer today and was told by the service adviser that as the compressor was not switching on the system was probably low on refrigerant which meant that I had a leak somewhere, and that it was most likely that the ondenser had rock damage. If that was the case then it would not be covered under warranty. The only way to find out if the a/c could be fixed under warranty was to book it in and have a mechanic check it out.

 

To evaluate that there would be a charge of $100+. I did not have much choice, but told him if there was external damage I wanted to see it as I had not been doing any offroading or anything like that. I went to wait in the reception area. I then get a call from the cashier who tells me the car is ready and so is the bill. I was very surprised as the service advisor had not spoken to me and informed me what had been found. The bill was for just evaluating and estimating a repair cost . I had no choice but to pay under protest. I then went to see the service advisor who told me that rock damage had been found and that it was therefore not under warranty and apart from that if I wanted it fixed it would take a week to get the part in. I reminded him that I had wanted to see where it was leaking from before it came out of the shop. He took me out to the car, which was then in the pickup area, and pointed to the condenser fins which had a dirty film on them caused by leaking refrigerant which had attracted a thin film of dirt. There were no holes or dents visible but logically there had to have been a pinprick somewhere on the tubing for a leak to have occurred.

 

Of course I am unhappy that it is not a warranty item, but the way it was handled was like "twisting the knife" as it were. Not only was the problem not fixed I had to pay over $100 just to find out whether it was a warranty item, and not only that, the service advisor did not even have the courtesy or professionalism to come and tell me what their determination was. Simply issuing a bill and having the cashier call me to pay and pick up the car is not the way to go. This is the third car I have bought from that dealer and believe me it is the last.

 

Following this, I took the car to another dealer across town for their evaluation. They called me into the shop where they had the car on the ramp and showed me the oily film on the condenser and pointed out that it was not near a weld so would probably not be covered under warranty but Subaru of America would have to make the final decision if I wanted to take it up with them. They told me that they could replace it straight away but I would have to pay up front, and that would not prevent me from claimining from Subaru afterwards. - Fair enough, no complaints about the way tis dealer handled it.

 

I told them I would think about it, as I would also look into the

possibility of having the condenser repaired, but if that was not possible

would return to their dealership for any further work. I should mention that

this dealer did not charge me for the evaluation either. I will never return

to my original selling dealer again for anything!

 

I feel that if there is a small hole in the condenser without any major obvious damage etc., then the tubing material is inadequate and / or the positioning of the condenser needs revising. This should not happen under normal circumstances and in such a short period of time. I am having to live with a gear shifting problem as Subaru tell me it is not designed to be downshifted (incredible but true, I even have it in writing), but I cannot live without a/c in the summer. My previous Subaru, a WRX was plagued with a/c problems from the start, the main issue never being resolved. A high pressure hose fitting failed in less than three years and yet it still cost me $400 to have Subaru fix that. I thought I just got a bad car and would be luckier next time around!

 

When I got home, I sprayed the condenser with household cleaner and hosed

off the dirt, and then ran my finger along the tubes and felt a small nick in the tube. Although any hole there is too small to see, even on a magnified photo I just took, I have no doubt that is where the leak is. The selling dealer could have done that in five minutes and then told me it was outside the warranty. At least I would not have been out another $100+.

 

If you had a similar experience, would you feel the same as me in having to pay for a warranty determination, and if so how would you handle the situation?

[warteaufmich]

I should mention that

this dealer did not charge me for the evaluation either. I will never return

to my original selling dealer again for anything!

 

Contact Subaru of America and try to get your $100 back from the 1st dealer.

 

Subaru of America, Inc.

National Customer Service Center

Subaru Plaza, PO Box 6000

2235 Route 70 West

Cherry Hill, NJ 08002

856-488-8500

Toll free: 1-800-782-2783

Fax: 856-488-0485

 

You might have some luck - I don't think one dealer should be arbitrarily charging for a service that another dealer doesn't charge for.

 

Complaining to American Honda Consumer Affairs worked out great for me when a Honda dealer charged me $200 for work they did that I felt should be covered under an extended emissions warranty - and if it wasn't, I told them to let me know so that I could do the repair myself to avoid the labor charge. They didn't mention the $80 diagnostic fee until after they diagnosed the problem, and by that time it was in for a penny, in for a pound so I couldn't backpedal and do the repair myself (without spending $80 and having nothing to show for it). I quoted the service bulletin to everyone up to the service manager at the dealer, they all insisted that because the CEL wasn't on, the service wasn't covered (the problem was them interpreting an "and" between bulleted items in a list in the bulletin, where as it was pretty clear to me that it was an implied "or"). I faxed a letter and invoice to AHCA and the same week I got a call from them saying that I would get my money back, and they would educate the dealer about the service bulletin.

 

My point being, it doesn't hurt to try, and my experience

is that auto manufacturers' consumer affairs departments do try to do right by the customer.

[mwiener2]

Find out if your insurance will cover it. Same thing as a windsheild being taken out by a rock.

[gt_ltd]

what's the name of the first dealer?

[NatesGr8]

a similar thing happened to me with honda. i had my car in the get he cv boots checked out b/c i knew one of them had torn. if it failed b/c of a defect or a clamp fell off they would have covered the inspection and repair under warrenty, but since it was a 'road hazard' that caused the tear they would not cover the repair or inspection. they tried to charge me something like 150 bucks, and i told them no way i was paying that. before the inspection they did not tell me i would be charged so i had no idea. so on my bill they just wrote 'refused to pay' , i got my keys back and drove to another dealership, which i knew was easier to deal with, and they replaced the boot under warrenty.

[paulh]

what's the name of the first dealer?

 

First dealer was Power Subaru in Scottsdale where I had bought the car.

[paulh]

Since posting, I contacted Subaru who have agreed to fix it under warranty.

I have to agree that if it was caused by external damage then my only argument concerns the placement and thickness of metal tubes that carry the refrigerant. So I concede that this claim is in a gray area, and therefore SOA did not have to agree to fix it. I feel it only fair to

post this followup. I shall be putting some bugnet or similar screening in front of the new condenser, and would advise others to do the same.

I am still firmly of the opinion that Power Subrau in Scottsdale did not handle the situation in either a professional or courteous way, and that a charge should not have been imposed for a warranty determination. Needless to state I shall not be returning

there for anything. After buying three cars from them I think it was real tacky of them.

[jerseyglock]

I believed its for windshield only.

 

Find out if your insurance will cover it. Same thing as a windsheild being taken out by a rock.