P
Phil
5 month old Legacy a/c problem needs $700 fix not covered by warranty.
Selling dealer charged me $100 to tell me that!
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 problem occurred a couple of months ago when both the climate control
panel and the 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 report this to the dealer immediately as I did not really
need the a/c at this time of the 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 condenser 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?
Selling dealer charged me $100 to tell me that!
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 problem occurred a couple of months ago when both the climate control
panel and the 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 report this to the dealer immediately as I did not really
need the a/c at this time of the 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 condenser 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?