Terrible Subaru Dealership Experience with Forester XT

[DenverSubaruDriver70]

I owned a WRX Wagon from 2005-2018. In 2018 I bought a brand-new 2018 Subaru Forester XT. Not the same and not a manual drive but it has turbo for driving in Colorado. I had consistent issues getting the WRX serviced at dealerships and am now having the same problem with the Forester XT. I bought an extended warranty with both vehicles and without the ability to receive proper service from dealerships, those warranties are worthless. I want to ask if anyone else is experiencing the same customer service issues with Subaru dealerships. I took the XT to a dealer for an oil change and tire rotation and then it was noticeably shaking at speeds of 60mph and higher so I called and waited a long time for a follow-up appointment. When I got there, I was told they were too busy to look at the car (one guy even waved papers in my face to rudely make his point) and I was treated really poorly in the process. I am a minority female and I can't imagine I am alone in feeling that way. Please let me know if you've experienced the same. I currently do not drive this car and plan to have a real mechanic thoroughly check it out and then sell it. It's hardly been used from the time I purchased it (it has low mileage). Wanted to be a Subaru Forester enthusiast but can't be. I look forward to hearing what other Forester owners have to say on this subject.

 

[eastvt]

We have a 2014 Forester. The dealer we bought it from was good, at the time. We also got the extended warranty, which was in fact a really good thing with this car and that dealer. The service manager inspired trust, exuded competence, and he was there for years.

BUT all good things must pass. The dealership changed hands. The service dept stayed the same for a while. But then everyone left and the policies changed. I was there yesterday. Besides not getting any kind of feeling of competence, the policy is that they charge for diagnostics. What this meant yesterday was they charged $270 for diagnostics and didn't fix anything, and the next step is to bring it in again for over $500 of diagnostics -- and then the next step is to start repairs. So about $800 of diagnostics before anything starts to get fixed. (Diagnosing noise in transmission). This seems out of line with my long experience of getting cars fixed. This is Dan O' Brien Subaru in Claremont NH.

Will not go back there.

This summer the AC was cutting out in hot weather so we took it into White River Junction (VT) Subaru. Had an appt and left it there for the entire day of the appt, and asked for an oil change as well. At the end of the day they hadn't looked at it. "We're so backed up. We've got some engines that just aren't going back together the right way." Made another appt. They changed the oil but didn't look at the AC. Meanwhile it was a bad heat wave. Will not take it back there. (Subaru's fix for this particular AC problem was to change the AC compressor at a cost of around $1000. This is a known issue, which is fixable by removing a shim to close the gap (which has worn) between the compressor plates. I fixed this myself with a $15 tool in 15 minutes or so.

Subaru made the only small-ish SUV with a manual transmission -- I'm not sure if that's still the case. We really like manual transmissions (also in our model year the automatic transmission was a really bad nightmare, it turns out).

Definitely not enthusiastic about getting another Subaru based on our local dealers/service department.

 

[DenverSubaruDriver70]

I am so sorry that you had a bad dealer experience both in NH and VT. I think Subaru of America needs to take poor dealer service experiences seriously and make it right for Subaru owners as well as tell these dealers to do a better job. Subaru's marketing materials would have you believe they are respectful to all people and that they do a great job at dealerships but that hasn't been mine or your experience (and many others). I know there is a labor shortage but there is no excuse for ripping people off or refusing to service a car when a person has an appointment. I can't believe you were charged for diagnostics and that you had also left your car for a full day at another dealership and they didn't look at it. Subaru has to get their act together and do better! I agree the manual transmission they had in the WRX wagon was great (and I think the Forester used to come as a manual). I wish you luck with your 2014 Forester! You deserve better service than what you received.

 

[JimTheMechanic]

I owned a WRX Wagon from 2005-2018. In 2018 I bought a brand-new 2018 Subaru Forester XT. Not the same and not a manual drive but it has turbo for driving in Colorado. I had consistent issues getting the WRX serviced at dealerships and am now having the same problem with the Forester XT. I bought an extended warranty with both vehicles and without the ability to receive proper service from dealerships, those warranties are worthless. I want to ask if anyone else is experiencing the same customer service issues with Subaru dealerships. I took the XT to a dealer for an oil change and tire rotation and then it was noticeably shaking at speeds of 60mph and higher so I called and waited a long time for a follow-up appointment. When I got there, I was told they were too busy to look at the car (one guy even waved papers in my face to rudely make his point) and I was treated really poorly in the process. I am a minority female and I can't imagine I am alone in feeling that way. Please let me know if you've experienced the same. I currently do not drive this car and plan to have a real mechanic thoroughly check it out and then sell it. It's hardly been used from the time I purchased it (it has low mileage). Wanted to be a Subaru Forester enthusiast but can't be. I look forward to hearing what other Forester owners have to say on this subject.

Dealerships Mechanics most are lazy
Only want easy money's
Easy work
Dont get dirty
Covid time make thise worst

am
JimTheMechanic@
Yah00