BLOWN VF-52's

Yeah, the dealership has ruled those two causes out. I have no other choice but to believe them.

You do have another choice. Make them prove it. Especially if they are going to try to deny warranty coverage on the part.

Let us know what happens.

Sounds like your car got towed to an amazing dealership, one of the ones that makes me think twice about ever buying a Subaru again.

Way too many times have heard of people just getting owned by a dealership, Subaru seems to be very hit and miss with the customer service you receive at each dealership.

Well, you're absolutely right. The lady i was talking to through SOA told me that the turbo failed because it wasn't "suited" for my car (whatever that means). She had a hard time actually describing the real physical cause of the failure. I've been told what car this turbo is suited for about 100 times. I've been left feeling that I know more about these cars than the idiots that work on them.

 

This is the actual quote of what the Subaru shop manager said:

Me: "Well, throughout this whole ordeal, nobody has actually given me a reason as to why the turbo failed."

Shop Manager: "Defective turbo. How about that?"

 

Now that I think about it, it seems like he said that just to shut me up. I'm driving there this afternoon to go knock some heads.

Good luck.

To those bashing the dealership, I'm a bit confused. What do you expect them to do here? Dealership service centers don't provide warranties, they just do analysis and work which is then covered under SOA's warranty (or other if applicable). If there were some sort of warranty on the VF52 (which there's nothing like that I've ever heard of), all they would be doing is submitting the findings and the cost of parts/labor back to SOA.

When you put an aftermarket part on a car, SOA doesn't warranty it. If it breaks, that sucks, because you get to replace it. The dealership service center MIGHT be kind enough to replace the thing for you since they were the ones who installed it, but if it's truly just a defective part, I doubt they'll lift a finger.

You could try to get in touch with IHI over the ordeal, since they are responsible for manufacturing a faulty turbo. Not much to be said past that though.

Shouldnt the turbo itself have its own warranty? You shouldnt have to get it covered by the vehicle warranty.

Call the BBB and let them take some heat.

Worse comes to worse, get the thing rebuilt by deadbolt and then take it to a real shop for install..

good luck man

If it's a defective turbo, get it in writing ASAP.

Parts are covered by their own warranty when supplied by the OEM. If the shop manager or whomever wants to say defective turbo, then get it in writing and ask for a replacement part for free.

Then get the hell away from that dealership and get someone else to install the new one and make sure to flush your system properly, prime the turbo, and check the banjo bolt (in case the turbo did more than just crap out).

Joe

If it's a defective turbo, get it in writing ASAP.

 

Parts are covered by their own warranty when supplied by the OEM. If the shop manager or whomever wants to say defective turbo, then get it in writing and ask for a replacement part for free.

 

Then get the hell away from that dealership and get someone else to install the new one and make sure to flush your system properly, prime the turbo, and check the banjo bolt (in case the turbo did more than just crap out).

 

Joe

See this is what my understanding was. An OEM replacement turbo or any OEM turbo would have some form of part warranty (even if it was something like 3 months/3000 miles) I can't imagine there is no warranty whatsoever on an OEM part.

Worse comes to worse, get the thing rebuilt by deadbolt and then take it to a real shop for install..

Deadbolt doesn't exist anymore.

Did you get them to put any of this implied warranty that they told you would be honored in writing? The VF52 from SOA would have a 1 year warranty when installed on a car that comes with one OEM, but definitely not on a car that came with a different turbo.

I don't fault you for holding the service center responsible for lying to you. But that should be the part you're trying to push, not the others, since I have a feeling they have documents that explain those points to the opposite.

Don't do that, yet. My .02.

First off, you can't trust a word they say (Nor should you have, as you should have their promises in writing). So I'll assume for this post that it's not in writing somewhere.

Get documentation of the parts warranty

Get documentation of their warranty on labor

Get documentation that the service manager said it was a defective turbo.

Present the dealership with their requirements, in writing, that the part is defective and is covered under subaru's parts warranty, that the labor should be covered under their labor warranty (maybe that's posted in the shop somewhere)?

Those things are OUTSIDE of the vehicle warranty and it should not matter that the part isn't matched to the car. They supplied the part and installed it. If it's a defective part supplied by them, and they put that in writing, then the onus is on the dealership to provide a new working part and the labor necessary to un-install the defective one and re-install the new one.

If they balk at that, then you can go ape shit.

Until then, it just sounds like they tried to get your vehicle warranty to cover it, which it shouldn't cover.

Joe

Did you get them to put any of this implied warranty that they told you would be honored in writing? The VF52 from SOA would have a 1 year warranty when installed on a car that comes with one OEM, but definitely not on a car that came with a different turbo.

 

I don't fault you for holding the service center responsible for lying to you. But that should be the part you're trying to push, not the others, since I have a feeling they have documents that explain those points to the opposite.

I agree with this, but what I'd say is that he needs to get the "defective turbo" part in writing ASAP.

He can nail them with that. If instead they write down "Turbo not suited for car and only installed by customer's request" then he's screwed.

But if they commit that the part was defective, he's probably covered at the end of the day.

Joe

turbo isn't meant for the car. They will use that against you.

Also, you're not running stock EM but an aftermarket tune. They can point out that the tune may have caused an issue that may have resulted in the failure (maybe an overboost).

I'd ask them for the turbo back. If you can prove oil starvation and they installed it you may have a leg to stand on with the dealership, not SoA.

Pretty sure there are warranties attached to the VF52 if you buy it through the stealership, as I'm understanding you did, so it should be replaced...or else they are being d bags.

I bash the dealerships because either A: You can go in and they will understand you spent money there, etc and help you out through the process or B: They can fight literally everything possible because they don't care if you ever by a car again or not, as long as they save a bit of money on replacing a turbo.

I've been to both types, but as far as Subaru ownership, I've run into a lot more dealerships that give you more shit then they really need to, I've found a few that actually care about you as the customer and do whatever they can to help ya out.

No more speculation is needed. The facts are there and that's that. I'm thinking of bringing my laptop with me and showing them this thread. Just so they know that I'm just button presses away from smearing their name all over the internet. I'll join NASIOC and whatever else I can just to make them sweat.

And they can sue you for defamation of character. Best bet, get the turbo warrantied from whoever you bought it from and go from there.