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Electrical
Name: Chris S. Make And Model: 2000 Impreza RS Time Out Of Use: 1 Day Problem And Likely Cause: O2 sensor blown Reason Given For Denial: Dirty fuel filter Your Story: First thing one morning I get a Check Engine light. My brain says: "Dammit, another O2 sensor." So, long story short, I schedule for as early as possible, which is at 8am 2 days later. We'd planned to leave at 4am for a long trip home, but oh well. I go in and tell them what's up. A technician comes in from Service and basically tells me that this is your fourth O2 sensor and that isn't normal... you shouldn't have to do that... there must be another problem... maybe your fuel filter is dirty." All reasonable things to say, but the issue at hand is STILL that this is a KNOWN recall problem, so... what's the problem, here, buddy? THEN he tells me he's going to charge me $130 for a new sensor, plus 1/2 hour's labor. Right. Furious, I tell him to back the car out, I'll go home with the bad one. I go to get my keys and they charged me $26.50 for a half-hour's diagnostic time. WHAT? I already KNEW what was wrong! Plus, they tried to keep the O2 sensor recall sheet that SOA mailed out to we EJ25 owners, which I handed to them when I got there as proof that this shouldn't be at any cost. Fed up, I paid and left. I went home, and called up good old SOA. I talk with this great guy named Phil Rode, who tells me I'm completely correct, and he'll call the dealership and get back to me. He does, 5 minutes later, tells me they'll see me again today --it WILL be free-- and I'll get my $26.50 back (Which I did, along with a new, free O2 sensor). Chalk another one up to the informed consumer (and to i-Club, of course!). So, Phil will be getting a thank-you letter from me. I'll stick a NESIC "spotted" card in there for good measure. Once in awhile, these come out well at the very end. Make: 2000 Impreza 2.5RS Mileage: 35K at the time of the incident Time Out Of Use: None Problem And Likely Cause: Check engine light / Front O2 sensor Reason Given For Denial: Modified intake, headers, and exhaust, "voids your warranty for that" Modifications: K&N cone filter intake, Borla headers, stock exhaust. Your Story: I used to get a lot of Check Engine lights for PO420 (catalyst below threshold), so I bought an OBD-II scanner. The scanner also pointed out a Check Engine light condition for the front O2 sensor being slow (don't remember the code, though). I mentioned this to the dealer, and told him that I had heard of a recall for certain Imprezas concerning the O2 sensor. They said that my warranty was void because of my aftermarket parts, that they were causing the Check Engine light. A few months later, I heard from a friend that there was a new recall for the ECU. I mentioned this to my local dealer, and the service manager told me that he hadn't heard of any such thing. After researching a little bit, I called 1-800-SUBARU-3 to ask them if my car was affected by this recall. They told me that my ECU didn't need re-flashing, but there WAS a recall for my O2 sensor. They gave me a campaign number to tell to the dealer. I called the dealer right away, and explained things to the service manager. Once he seemed to realize that I was willing to go to SOA Regional, he seemed to be both more helpful (to avoid trouble) and more indignant (because I'm a possible troublemaker now) at the same time. He told me that he was familiar with the TSB (though it's not a full-blown recall) and that he would have to wait for the parts to arrive. I told him I'd call him back in a few weeks. As of today, the parts have arrived, but I haven't gotten around to making an appointment yet. Everyone at this dealership has been very helpful, except for the service manager. I still go there to buy oil filters and most parts that can be purchased from the dealership, even though Pep Boys has them for cheaper. I feel for him a little (the service manager); he's got to run a business and make a profit, I can understand that. But I still don't appreciate being treated like some sort of street-racer Fast And Furious wannabe. Every time I go in there, he'll make some comment about how "Subaru doesn't build race-cars." There must be 5 WRC posters hanging in the parts department, but I guess he doesn't consider rallying as being equal to the Winston Cup. Make: 2002 subaru outback sport Mileage: 25000 Time Out Of Use: None Problem And Likely Cause: Broken dome light switch due to bad design Modifications: None Submitted For Warranty Work (Yes/No): Yes Reason Given For Denial: They said something hit the light and broke it. Your Story: One day the switch flew off when I was turning the light. I put it back on, but it just pushed the thing it was attached to further up. They said it would be $50 to get a new switch, so I took it apart and fixed it myself. It still doesnt work quite right. Make: 2002 Impreza WRX Mileage: approx 8,700 Time Out Of Use: 0 Problem And Likely Cause: Intermittent oil temp gauge in OEM add-on gauge package. It's a bad design, in which the sensor is on the oil drain plug, which perplexes monkeys, and appears to be susceptible to damage during oil changes. Modifications: None Submitted For Warranty Work (Yes/No): Yes Reason Given For Denial: Result of cheap quick lube oil change Your Story: They said to demand the "Express Lube" place pay for repairs. Make: 2002 Impreza WRX Mileage: at time 36000ish Time Out Of Use: car 1 day, window 2 weeks Problem and Likely Cause: Front driver window would not wind down - originally diagnosed as a bad motor Modifications: none Submitted For Warranty Work: yes Your Story: Driver's power window stopped working. After two weeks of waiting for the dealer to order and get a part and then schedule an appointment it turned out to be a loose connector. Make: 2002 Impreza WRX Mileage: 15K when noticed, 20K when reported Time Out Of Use: none Problem and Likely Cause: Fog lights flicker when headlights are on and fog lights are off. Happens intermittently over bumps (e.g. freeway expansion joints) Modifications: none Submitted For Warranty Work: Yes, but the dealer couldn't replicate the problem and therefore could not diagnose it. Your Story: When this happens, I can hear the switch or a relay clicking. The sound comes from the vicinity of the fog light switch and sounds exactly like the switch being toggled on and off. Makes me think that the switch is defective. The annoying thing is that it appears as if I'm flashing my lights at the car ahead of me. Must drive with fog lights on whenever headlights are on. Make: 02 WRX Mileage: around 13.5k Time Out Of Use: couple hours Problem And Likely Cause: Low beam headlights do not work, although high beams work. Probably a dirty or bad connection. Modifications: Aftermarket hyper-white bulbs, GFB blow off valve, Apex'i N-1 Catback, intake silencer removal. Submitted For Warranty Work (Yes/No): Yes Reason Given For Denial: The installation of aftermarket bulbs caused damage to the wiring harness. Whole harness must be replaced. Not covered under warranty because the bulbs are an aftermarket part. Your Story: I take my car to the dealership (Sierra Subaru in Monrovia, CA) to have them take care of my headlight situation while I'm off at school. After coming back from school, the guy taking care of the service desk tells me that the mechanics believe that the cause of the problem is a shorted harness, due to the fact that the aftermarket headlights heat up the wires. His suggestion is to buy a new harness (estmated cost is $650 for the harness, $490 for labor). My friend and I thought "this is ridiculous, they probably just saw the color of the headlights and came up with that solution. They probably didn't even take a serious detailed look at my problem. Let's just try to figure it out ourselves." So, we take it back to his house, screw around with the wiring. We cleaned out all the leads and pop my stock bulbs back into place. Now everything is up and running properly. I'm a little disappointed at the conduct of the service area people. At least I don't have to shell out a grand to fix a problem that can be done with some rags and a little help and patience. Make: 2002 Impreza WRX Time Out Of Use: Repair Problem and Likely Cause: The autodiming rearview mirror was failing. Not all of the surface of the mirror still dimmed. Modifications: none Submitted For Warranty Work: yes Your Story: The full surface of the mirror no longer dimmed. Part replaced by dealer. Make: 2002 WRX Mileage: 48000 Time Out Of Use: N/A Problem And Likely Cause: Modifications: HKS cat back Injen Cold air intake Submitted For Warranty Work (Yes/No): Yes Reason Given For Denial: Over revving Your Story: My check engine light comes on every time I rev my car past 6k RPM. I have taken it to the dealership 4 times and everytime it was the cam postion sensor. They said that revving my car to 6k RPM is abuse therefore it will not be fixed. My friend bought his WRX the same time as me and has the same problem as well. I have tried multiple dealerships and get the same answer. I talked to SOA and they also gave me the same answer. I guess Subaru is happy with selling customers junk. The WRX was a great hyped up car. It's too bad that quality control will ruin their buisness. And you can't use the lemon law when they state that you have abused the car. The dealership as well as SOA stick together on this. Make: 2002 WRX Wagon Mileage: 4500 Time Out Of Use: So far 1 week Problem And Likely Cause: Headlight on drivers side is dim or off completely. Repaired harness two times already. Modifications: Nothing to the headlight system Submitted For Warranty Work (Yes/No): Yes Reason Given For Denial: Covered under warranty although it took 3 months to order the harness! Your Story: I'm going to try to lemon the car if this happens again. |