WTF - Engine rebuild 4 months out of warranty...

[nico]

Hey all,

I've owned my MY07 3.0RB 6sp wagon for about 18 months now. I'm 2nd owner & bought it from a Subaru dealer in Sydney.

I took the car in to Subaru for 62.5k service 2 Thursdays ago (it's only done 57k but was due a couple of weeks ago). I mentioned a slight ticking sound to the guy when I dropped it. He called me later that morning saying that the engine requires a full rebuild which he estimates at around $5-6000 which I'm responsible as the cars out of warranty.

I obviously disputed this with them as the cars warranty only expired in January & it has been regularly serviced at all 12.5k intervals. On a couple of occasions It's gone to 8-9 month interval. 1 before I owned it & 1 after. They said that these extra months are what wholly contributed to the engine damage & that if I'd serviced i at 6 months this wouldn't have occurrred.

I know the 3.0 can be heavy on oil & I do check & top up every second week or so. But for them to say that it is reasonable for a 3yr old car to need a full engine rebuild simply because It's gone past the 6 month interval a couple of times seems extreme to me. Does this sound reasonable to you guys?

I spoke to the service manager who agreed to submit a "goodwill warranty claim" to Subaru Australia. This was over a week ago & although he assured me he'd call me the next day I havent heard, or been able to get hold of him, ever since. I called in there on Friday (of course the manager was out) but some other pleb told me that there would be no "goodwill" given by Subaru as they also belive that I am fully responsible for the damage due to not servicing at the month intervals

I've owned a 2.5 liberty in the past & always serviced it at the scheduled K's & it never missed a beat. I've also owned a 20yo commodoore which was more reliable than this!

I'd be interested tio hear any thoughts / recommendations from other 3.0 owners. Particularly any of you who also service your can in line with the k's & may have gone past the 6 months on 1 or 2 occasions. In the meantime i'm gonna try to pin this service manager down later today.

Will let you know how that goes...

[Spec B Wgn]

sad to hear ...dont get angry thats for sure , as that could make life more difficult for you..

If its definately a no warranty job, then perhaps try to get a compromise on the job..

ie ;;you pay for the parts they can pay for the labour or something similar..

hope it works out ok..

Q

[teK--]

I believe it's a case where more info is needed, i.e. strip the engine down and find out the actual fault before determining what the cause is. I.e. are there clogged oil galleries or oil pickup, is there sludging of oil, or extreme amounts of wear in some areas which are not indicative of an engine of the mileage. All of these suggest lubrication was dire at some point. On the other hand if none of these conditions exist and the engine is not modified then perhaps it is a manufacturing issue, which was just unlucky to have revealed itself outside of warranty.

To look at missing a 6 month interval and using that as a scapegoat is easy, and at the same time I am not surprised they are not willing to investigate further since the car is out of manufacturer's warranty. Statutory warranty however may cover it if it is a defect but it will require some commitment from you in terms of having the engine opened up and further investigation (at your cost, at least initially anyway).

The hard choice you have to make is if you have Subaru open up the engine (more chance of them coming to the party if a genuine manufacturing fault exists), or go to an independent engine builder (less chance of Subaru coming to the party in which case you should be prepared for a case before the tribunal). The first option will cost you a lot more if there is no defect found, (or if they decide there is no defect found) and you then have to do more running around. The second option is cheaper if no defect is found but will require more running around if a defect is found.

[phatz]

Sorry to hear mate,

I've had my car for just over a year now and had 6 months warranty from the dealer.. about a month or two ago i started getting a knocking sound on cold starts.. turns out it is most likely the big end bearing

It does suck, but I guess this sort of stuff happens when buying second hand cars... even with a full service history etc.. we all know how easy they are to fraud!

All the best for you, hope you get it sorted out.

[swingn]

Sorry to hear about all this mate... I wouldn't wish this to anyone, especially when I've had my fair share of warranty claims in the past... Nothing as major as this, but they caused me enough headaches I can assure you.

Good luck with it all... I've heard of people getting looked after Subaru really well even outside of warranty, so one can only hope you fall into this group

Sadly, these things happen & this could be the reason why the 2nd hand car market is so dead at the moment. People (Especially those that aren't into mods etc) would rather have the new car with uber warranty etc. Personally, if your getting this much issue from the dealership so far, chances are you are going to get stuck with the bill.

[Woodduck]

Thats shit mate. Similar thing happened to me. My engine light comes on and it starts to ping. They cleaned out all the oil lines etc under warratny even though my car was a couple months out of warranty. But when it came to the point where they need to take apart the bottom end, its no longer "their problem" and I will havto pay. Annoying!

[bombers18]

I know the feeling.

I bought my car (2nd owner) on basis of flawless service history, with services done every 5K at Subaru dealership.
Just before the next scheduled service, (110K) a ticking noise and you guessed it, big-end bearing problem.
Even though it was 4 months out of warranty, a bit of negotiation and Subaru came to the party and installed a new short motor with me stumping up $1K for labour costs.

Not a bad deal given the cost of the motor was approx $4.5-$5K.

Keep hassling them, especially when there's a very real chance that it's a recognised problem with the model/engine.

Cheers
H

[THERB3]

Can I ask a question, what other problem did the car give you other than the ticking noise ?

Was the ticking noise always there or only on start ups ?

[bombers18]

ticking sound was only apparent on start up - never got the chance to hear it much more as car went in for service (and then rebuild) 2 days later.
Just got to keep an eye on oil usage at all times.
Cheers, H

[nico]

My noise seems to be only after engine has warmed up & gets progressively louder until it sounds like a sick diesel. But funny it still drives sweet as & I'd never know there was anything wrong unless it was making that noise.

Haven't gotten much further with Subaru as yet. They've really dug there heels in & have been bumping me between the dealer & Subaru Australia.

bombers18, been trying to PM you but don't think it's working. All messages just going to outbox (appologies if you have 5 identical PM's from me!)

I did mention your case to them & they've asked if I can supply a VIN so that they can look into it. Any chance you can PM me your VIN? It would help me out A LOT! I know you might think that's a bit dodge on a forum, but if you're more comfortable you can email it to me at nickh@activedisplay.com.au or even text it to 0414 179 080.

Also, can you tell me if you ever went beyound the 6 month service interval? Would be great if you did, because this is what they're really pinning me for.

I've been promised that the Subaru regional service manager is calling me in the morning so let's hope he's reasonable...

Cheers, Nick

[Digital]

bombers18, been trying to PM you but don't think it's working. All messages just going to outbox (appologies if you have 5 identical PM's from me!)

i feel like this should be my motto or signature tag line lol

FYI messages stay in your Outbox until the recipient actually reads it!

just lettin ya know, good luck with the car btw!

[nico]

Update:

Taking it back there on Monday where the NSW service manager from Subaru Australia will be aurally diagnosing problem & if necessary cracking it open. I'm a little concerned as if this happens & my engine's on their bench in pieces I can only see it ending 1 way ie. them saying its not a manufacturer defect & that they're not gonna help, leaving me over a barrel.

Anyway, will cross that bridge if/when I come to it...

PS. They are gonna help me out with a loan car in the mean time (I just hope it's not an auto n/a Imreza)

[teK--]

A loan car for a car that is out of warranty without a man. defect being confirmed yet, that is the first I have heard of this happening . Perhaps it's a sign of things to come as they must at least have an inkling it is their issue otherwise they would not extend such generosity.

Are you going to leave the car there overnight? It's probably best so the DSM can hear the engine from a cold start.

[nico]

Just got email from branch service manager stating that I'll be charged $33 per day for loan car (usual cost is $66), so not as generous as 1st thought.

Car only makes noise after it's warmed up so no real need for him to hear from cold (hoping this means not big arse bearing after all, as others have said knocking usually worse when cold).

[subarugt]

which dealer and service center did you go to?
Yes this is lame none cars should be broken that easy specially only at that kms. You can submit a complaint to consumer affair. also contact today tonight or current affair to complaint about it.