Warranty Work: Recomended Dealer

[Tahoe C5]

Driving home from the SCCA Banquet last night my 2005 LGT lost power and made a deep whistling sound. The whistle increased in pitch with throttle w/o any change in RPM's. The car drove home w/limited power and no CEL indication. There were no fluid leakage upon inspection. It's under warranty, so do I go to Reno or Carson City for repair?

[cody]

I would steer clear of Lithia service. Bad personal experiences there, myself.

[Tahoe C5]

Thanks, that's what I keep hearing.

[Dean]

Carson isn't the greatest either, but possibly less worse.

[bigrobwoot]

Originally Posted by Dean

Carson isn't the greatest either, but possibly less worse.

They always tried to "upsell" and get me to let them "fix" something not covered by warranty. Don't fall for it

[Kevin M]

Yeah, but everybody does that.

[Tahoe C5]

Dealer is stalling on commitment to warranty. The issue now seems to be whether or not the "turbo screen has been cleaned/replaced" WTF??? Does the STI have a "banjo bolt with a turbo screen". The Legacy forum has 52 pages of posts about failed stock turbos, and the 2005 VF40 turbo seems to be the worst.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by Tahoe C5

Dealer is stalling on commitment to warranty. The issue now seems to be whether or not the "turbo screen has been cleaned/replaced" WTF??? Does the STI have a "banjo bolt with a turbo screen". The Legacy forum has 52 pages of posts about failed stock turbos, and the 2005 VF40 turbo seems to be the worst.

I would call SOA and point the dealer and SOA to that thread.

Words like class action, recall and lawsuit should be used liberally while talking to either. I can't remember who orders recalls, but if you do, mention them as well.

Do you have service records? If it was done at a dealership, then they should have done all scheduled maintenance. CARFAX may have those records at least of when it hit dealerships if any.

Be the squeaky wheel.

[Tahoe C5]

Issue is finally fixed under a "good will" warranty, after repeated emails, faxes and phone calls to SOA (Thanks Dean). They won't replace the turbo again under warranty as is the case with many fellow Legacy owners who reported a second failure around 70,000 miles. The good newws is that it didn't cost me anything and there are reports of owners who have 90,000+ miles w/no problems. I think I'm going to sell the car, even though I love driving it. Just not happy with the "banjo bolt turbo screen" issue.

[Kevin M]

Just remove the little screen, problem solved.

[Dean]

I was going to say, fix/upgrade/replace the turbo now that it is good. heck, sell the new one and upgrade!!!

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Kevin M

Just remove the little screen, problem solved.

+1

What's the point of a filter screen that destroys the turbo when it does its job of filtering out debris? I'd rather the debris go through the bearings if it means having to replace the turbo every 100,000 miles instead of every 30,000.

And, so nice of Subaru to warranty their products under a "good will" clause rather than under a "we stand behind our product" clause. It's a known issue... they should be replacing turbos for the life of the vehicle regardless of the mileage if this were done out of "good will".

[cody]

Vote with you wallet, that's the only way they'll learn.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Tahoe C5

I think I'm going to sell the car, even though I love driving it. Just not happy with the "banjo bolt turbo screen" issue.

My GF will trade you straight up for her Saab 9-3.

[knucklesplitter]

A friend with an 09 Impreza 2.5i took it into Hohl in CC because of the dreaded steering wheel shake while braking at only 13k miles. I think they could have denied the warranty claim on the technicality that the brakes are a wear item, but they didn't. They resurfaced the rotors under warranty without hesitation.

[Kevin M]

That's cool. But I hope you introduced the concept of pad deposits and how to avoid them to your friend after that.

[Tahoe C5]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

A friend with an 09 Impreza 2.5i took it into Hohl in CC because of the dreaded steering wheel shake while braking at only 13k miles. I think they could have denied the warranty claim on the technicality that the brakes are a wear item, but they didn't. They resurfaced the rotors under warranty without hesitation.

The service manager at Hohl was actually OK to deal with once he realized that I wasn't going to go away quietly, I credit him with bolstering my plea to SOA.

[knucklesplitter]

Originally Posted by Kevin M

That's cool. But I hope you introduced the concept of pad deposits and how to avoid them to your friend after that.

She doesn't push the car hard at all. It's just a commuter and trip car, and most of the miles were highway. I don't exactly know how it happened. When I tried to explain pad deposits I got the "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy" stare.

[Kevin M]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

She doesn't push the car hard at all. It's just a commuter and trip car, and most of the miles were highway. I don't exactly know how it happened. When I tried to explain pad deposits I got the "But Brawndo's got electrolytes" stare.

I know how that goes. You can lead a horse, and all that.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

She doesn't push the car hard at all. It's just a commuter and trip car, and most of the miles were highway. I don't exactly know how it happened. When I tried to explain pad deposits I got the "But Brawndo's got electrolytes" stare.

Commuting is the easiest way to cause pad deposits. The brakes need a good long stomping every now and again to stay fresh, which rarely happens if all you do is drive the same route day after day.

[knucklesplitter]

Originally Posted by sperry

Commuting is the easiest way to cause pad deposits. The brakes need a good long stomping every now and again to stay fresh, which rarely happens if all you do is drive the same route day after day.

I did not know that.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

I did not know that.

Yep, and most people never bother to bed street pads which is part of why. The one spot where they actually come to a stop on an offramp or something where there is some heat is the only place where pad material gets laid down and then it just keeps building in that spot.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Dean

Yep, and most people never bother to bed street pads which is part of why. The one spot where they actually come to a stop on an offramp or something where there is some heat is the only place where pad material gets laid down and then it just keeps building in that spot.

Stop and go driving on the freeway is the worst offender IMO. With all that stopping, you tend to come to rest at the grippiest spot on the rotors, which adds more and more deposits to the same spot on the rotor.

My Dad went through like 4 sets of rotors on his T-Bird in the first year of ownership due to his stop and go commute from San Ramon to Fremont everyday. When Ford stopped replacing the brakes under warranty, he just stop worrying about the brake shudder and ignored it. When I got the car years later, I went out and hammered on the brakes, and wouldn't you know it, the shuddering went away and never came back because I never drove the car stop and go.

I'm actually noticing a spot on the brakes on my truck, since I've only been driving it around town. But I expect they'll clean right up the next time I have to tow anything.

[Dean]

Agreed. Stop an go is extreme city driving. All it takes is that first build up spot either way...

If you have a slight build up, a good bedding can break it down. This time of year it takes a good long even brake drag to get them warm and then some good hard almost stops. 50-5ish.