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Sixth try to fix the driver's seat under warranty!


erikras

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I bought my '09 Legacy 2.5i SE in May of '09. After a couple of months it developed the proverbial squeaky/creaky seat issue. I took the car in for it's first oil change in July and had them take a look at it. They said they couldn't reproduce the problem. The problem slowly got worse so I had them take another look in September when I took it in to have my remote starter programmed. Same story. "Looks and sounds good to us."

 

Fast forward to June 2010. Enough is a enough. Took the car in and they diagnosed it as a "bad spring in the lower seat assembly." They placed the part on order. Took the car in the following week to have it installed. When I arrived to pick it up a few hours later (they gave me a loaner) I noticed deep gouges in the B-pillar trim and door sill. Worse yet, there were scratches in the pain near the door sill and outside of the B-pillar. So they ordered the two trim pieces and scheduled an appointment at their body shop. Got the car back last Wednesday. All was good.

 

So today I'm driving to work and suddenly a hear a nasty groan/creak/vibration from the lower seat. It was as if something let loose. I'm 5'9" and 180lbs. My ass is nowhere near fat enough to break a car seat! So now it's a new noise everytime I shift my weight in the car. On my lunch break I called the dealer and spoke with the woman in charge of customer service. She promised she'd talk to the service manager and get back to me by the end of the day. She broke that promise. I finally got a hold of someone at Subaru of America this evening after 40 minutes on hold. He was extremely friendly and made me an appointment at the dealer so I could drop it off at my convenience after work on Thursday and they'd have a loaner waiting for me.

 

I'm done. This is going to be the sixth and final chance they get. Ohio's lemon law allows for three attempts to repair a problem. (Especially with a safety related item like a seat.) I'm going to make it very clear to the dealer than if I hear a single peep out of the lower seat, the next time they see that car, they will be refunding me the full purchase price.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I believe it is a pretty common issue in 08-09 legacy to have squeaky chairs. I remember many members on this forum complaining about the chair and there were no solid fix on it. Though your problem seem more serious than just tiny squeaky sounds. Good luck on the repair, I hope you got it fixed. :)
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Yes, this goes far beyond the typical Legacy squeaky seat issue. When I first got the car, it had a slight squeak when moving around in the seat. Kind of sounded like it was just one of the springs or the cushion. Not a big deal. I had mentioned it once to the dealer when I was in for the first oil change then let it go.

 

Over time the seat seemed to develop a new squeak/creak. It sounded much more mechanical. When I took it in this past June, the dealer did find that the lower frame had excessive play and replaced it. That fixed it for a whole two weeks. The replacement seat frame developed a new noise. This time I would describe it as being much more "mechanical" like something is definitely moving under there whenever my weight shifts to the right. (i.e. taking a hard left turn.)

 

When the car was in for the sixth time, Subaru of America had actually sent one of their techs/engineers to the dealer. Supposedly three people drove the car and could not replicate the problem. However, they didn't exactly put much effort into finding it. They only drove the car a total of 5.2 miles. That's a whopping 1.7miles per person! When I picked up the car, it creaked once pulling out of the dealer parking lot and again getting off the freeway near my house. Go figure.

 

This week the dealer's service manager called me to follow up. His idea was scheduling a time for me to drive along with the regional service manager from Subaru in the car. I told him I'd call back in a week or two once the problem gets worse and is even more noticeable. And, man, is has it gotten worse this week! Where it used to happen once every few miles, now it happens a half dozen times in my 3.8 mile drive to work.

 

At this point I figure the root cause is one of three things:

1- I have horrible luck and just got a second bad lower seat frame.

2- Either the seat back frame or the mounts on the floor of the car are out of spec and causing the lower frame to bind.

3- Subaru just has crappy seats.

 

Sad thing is, I love my car. It's been 100% other than the stupid seat. That said, I refuse to have to live with this problem until this car is paid off in four years. If it takes Subaru buying this thing back to fix the problem, then so be it. :(

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I feel the same way. Had my seat replaced and it's already back to a squeaking and creaking mess. Very annoying. At this point I'm out of my 36k warranty and didn't get a chance to have it replaced again. Not sure if it is worth replacing again either as the first replacement was only quiet for a week or 2.. I'm also 5'9 and about 180lbs. Not large enough to destroy a car seat in a couple weeks of use.
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I feel the same way. Had my seat replaced and it's already back to a squeaking and creaking mess. Very annoying. At this point I'm out of my 36k warranty and didn't get a chance to have it replaced again. Not sure if it is worth replacing again either as the first replacement was only quiet for a week or 2.. I'm also 5'9 and about 180lbs. Not large enough to destroy a car seat in a couple weeks of use.

 

Anybody know a good class action lawsuit attorney? Just kidding. But really, given the number of people having problems with the '08 and '09 seats, it'd be nice if they stood behind their product.

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My first 09 Outback had a squeaky seat from day one. Every time I brought it in, they said it was "normal". That car was back and forth to the dealer a dozen or more times for a random stalling issue within the 5 months I owned it, for a total of almost 20 days. Rather than lemon law the car, they cut me a sweet deal on an 09 OBXT and bought the car back. The OBXT has no seat squeak issue, but it does have a persistent sunroof rattle. It's been to the dealer 4 times now for that one.
[URL="http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/proper-flip-key-interesti-159894.html"]Flip Key Development Thread[/URL] "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." - E. Hubbard
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My first 09 Outback had a squeaky seat from day one. Every time I brought it in, they said it was "normal". That car was back and forth to the dealer a dozen or more times for a random stalling issue within the 5 months I owned it, for a total of almost 20 days. Rather than lemon law the car, they cut me a sweet deal on an 09 OBXT and bought the car back. The OBXT has no seat squeak issue, but it does have a persistent sunroof rattle. It's been to the dealer 4 times now for that one.

 

Just curious how you went about getting them to buy back the car? Did you get Subaru involved? Or was it just between you and the dealer?

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Sorry to hear you have had so many problems with the seat issue. I had the same problem with my 09 Legacy. I went to the dealer and told them about the squeaky seat. The service writer was well aware of the seat problem and ordered a new bottom frame for my seat and replaced it under warranty. I think there is a TSB on this but I am not sure. So far my seat is still squeak free. (knock on wood)
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I went through Subaru and the dealer. It took a while. I ended up paying a few more dollars for the OBXT, but it was SIGNIFICANTLY reduced in price. Well below invoice.

 

Keep in mind, you've had your car for more than a year. I had mine less than a week before my first issues arose (and they were MUCH greater safety issues than a squeaky seat). I owned the car for less than 5 months.

 

You might want to check the statue of limitations on the Ohio lemon law. In MD, you have 12 months. No more. If OH is the same, then you've lost a major bargaining chip. You can still lemon the car (since you have documented issues), but it'll take longer and Subaru may not play nice (Lemon records hurt their business, which worked to my advantage I guess).

[URL="http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/proper-flip-key-interesti-159894.html"]Flip Key Development Thread[/URL] "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." - E. Hubbard
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I went through Subaru and the dealer. It took a while. I ended up paying a few more dollars for the OBXT, but it was SIGNIFICANTLY reduced in price. Well below invoice.

 

Keep in mind, you've had your car for more than a year. I had mine less than a week before my first issues arose (and they were MUCH greater safety issues than a squeaky seat). I owned the car for less than 5 months.

 

You might want to check the statue of limitations on the Ohio lemon law. In MD, you have 12 months. No more. If OH is the same, then you've lost a major bargaining chip. You can still lemon the car (since you have documented issues), but it'll take longer and Subaru may not play nice (Lemon records hurt their business, which worked to my advantage I guess).

 

Thanks for the reply. I agree that my issues are not nearly as bad as yours were. Ohio does limit our Lemon Law to problems that occur within the first 12 months of ownership. My problem did within the first 5 months and I have paperwork from the dealer stating this. It's my understanding that as long as the dealer was made aware of the problem and given a chance to fix or diagnose it within the first 12 months, then you're covered. I may casually remind them of this when I take it in the seventh time. I've been patient and played nice long enough.

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Hello all,

I have read through some of these posts, and let me tell you I had the same exact problem with the squeaky "seat." I have a 2010 LGT, and have been to the dealer twice for this exact issue. It would squeak all the way to the dealer, then when the tech would sit in it with me, it wouldnt squeak! I couldnt believe it. So twice they looked at it and found nothing wrong.

So the other day I was driving, squeaking my way down the street, and I had to take my seatbelt off for something real quick, and when I removed it, the squeak went away!!

It was the seatbelt harness all along! I has a little play in it, and sure enough, all I had to do was tighten the bolt at the base of the harness, use some clear odorless lube in the internals, and squeak gone!!

 

Come to find out the passengers side was doing the same thing.

 

Problem fixed!

 

This was my experience, I was certain it was the seat all along, infact, I was prepared to take both seats out and rip them apart to find the squeak. The squeak on your car could be the seat, but check out the seatbelt harness (where you clip it in lol)

 

Good luck!

Kevin

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  • 2 weeks later...

Any follow-up to this, I have brought my car in now 4 times for this same seat problem, they first told me nothing was wrong, then the 2nd time replaced one set of seat rails, and on the 3rd replaced another set, now on my 4th time they say they cannot duplicate the problem, though I have no problem doing it.

 

Just put a new fuc*ing seat in it already. I live in massachusetts and definately have documentation showing that they have made an attempt to fix the problem within the first year and failed twice. Now it has been over a year since I have bought the car, but the problem is still there?

 

If they don't fix it, should I just call Subaru of America, and let them know that I plan on filing a lemon law claim?

habitual derail-er
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^ I have the same issue... I brought the car in a while ago and the tech said that he adjusted the rails of the seat. It solved the problem for a couple of weeks.

 

It came back. It was fine for a while but now it is really bad. Driving me nuts. I actually brought the car to the dealer and left it with them for over a week (for a whole bunch of things, including the seat). They didn't even look at the seat.

 

I talked to to the Service Manager and he said there is no way they'd replace the seat. He said they'd take apart the entire seat and try to isolate the problem before replacing it. So now I have to bring the car back and leave it with them again for them to figure it out.

 

I feel like just taking the seat apart myself and fixing it.

If you don't vote Trump, out, you're a bigot who hates america.
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Since my last post on 8/20, the problem has gotten significantly worse. I took a vacation day this past Friday and headed down to the dealer. The head service adviser went for a ride with me and heard the noise. In the two miles that we drove, I heard it at least four or five times. He heard it twice. Later that afternoon he called me and said he received "authorization" from SOA to replace the lower frame again. They got the part in yesterday and I made an appointment to drop the car off on September 13. They're providing me with a loaner for the fourth time.

 

I no longer deal with the normal receptionists when I call to make appointments. The dealer's business manager has taken a personal interest in my situation. She's been nothing but pleasant to deal with. I explained to her than this IS A SAFETY CONCERN and if this next frame fails, there goes their three attempts under Ohio's Lemon Law. With that said, I suggested they spend a little extra time making sure the seat frame isn't the root cause of the problem. We'll see what happens when I get the car back after the repair two weeks from now.

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^ Saftey concern? I feel your frustration but come on, play down the drama.

 

The original seat was just a squeak. This one is horrendous and FAR more than anything anyone on this forum has described. Something is definitely loose or there is excessive play in the frame.

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So after taking some more time at the dealer this morning with the service manager, and taking him for a ride, and duplicating the problem exactly, he said he will ride with the tech personally, however since they already replaced both sets of seat rails previously, and have "tightened and lubed everything" as well, I wonder what there fix will be this time, hopefully a new seat.
habitual derail-er
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  • 2 weeks later...

Got the car back from the dealer yesterday. The R.O. states that they replaced the lower seat frame again. Although, I do question this. The front part of the rails looked awfully dirty and there was some dog hair in the grease of the rails. (My dog's hair.) The technician's notes stated that they found a quarter between the rail and carpet. (As if this was causing all the problems! BS!) I've only driven the car to work and back. In that 12 miles I've already heard the seat squeak once. Admittedly, it sounded more like the cushion or springs than the rails like before. We'll see.

 

Additionally, the bolt head of the front left bolt doesn't completely cover the bolt hole where there seat bolts to the floor. I can actually get my finger nail in there. Are those holes that drastically oversized? Or did they try grinding the hole open to try and align the seat? If any of you could take a look at yours, I'd greatly appreciate it!

 

I spoke with a consumer interest attorney yesterday. She said that my car falls within Ohio's lemon law without a doubt. She said it's awfully difficult to get a car bought back for minor rattles. However, my saving grace is that one of my repair orders actually has "Found excessive movement in the seat frame" in the technician's comments. As I replied to "nemo" in the my last post, this is more than just a squeak.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just thought I'd post a quick update...

 

It's now been 16 days since the dealer last replaced the seat frame again. As expected, the noise is getting progressively worse. Upon Subaru's request, I took the car in to a different dealer. The shop foreman and service manage rode around the block with me. All three of us heard the noises, but in the end they couldn't find anything wrong that would be causing seat frames to fail so quickly.

 

At this point I'm thoroughly convinced (at least in my own mind) that the frame isn't bolting to the floor pan squarely. Not sure what else would be causing seat frames to repeatedly fail in less that two weeks.

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So, I finally got mine fixed, they replaced the entire lower assembly of the seat, they had previously replaced both sets of rails. Have they stuck an entire new seat in the car yet? Have them do that, and if there is still a problem you will know that it is the mount to the car.
habitual derail-er
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i never removed the seat in my car but do these have plastic covered line up pins that go into the floor? that can be another cause of a seat squeek. If thats not the case then they should just swap seats with another car in the lot and just drive it for a day or two with your permission ofcoarse to see if its even the seat itself and if it is then just replace the whole seat assembly instead of just trying to replace the frame. btw seat work is a pain in the ass. you can't rush those things or you will have things like scratched door sills, etc
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09_Red_GT,

I tried convincing the dealer to replace the entire seat. They refused and said Subaru would not authorize it. So they just stuck another seat frame in the car which lasted two weeks. Big surprise!

 

liljonson,

I know from experience that you can't rush these things. However, the tech at the dealer did not and tried slipping his f$ckup past me. They scratched the pain and destroyed the door sill trim plastic and lower B-pillar trim.

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Well tell them to replace the lower assembly of the seat then, if there unwilling to do so, get a loaner from them, and just keep it until it is fixed. Even if you have to go back to the dealer multiple times and ride in the car with them just to keep pointing it out, they will eventually replace the seat.

 

Pain in the ass, but worth doing to get the problem fixed.

habitual derail-er
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Well tell them to replace the lower assembly of the seat then, if there unwilling to do so, get a loaner from them, and just keep it until it is fixed. Even if you have to go back to the dealer multiple times and ride in the car with them just to keep pointing it out, they will eventually replace the seat.

 

Pain in the ass, but worth doing to get the problem fixed.

 

Trust me, I've tried. I've rode around with a few people from the dealerships. Subaru promised to send out their regional service manager the last time the car was in and they failed to meet that promise. They wouldn't even return my calls half the time.

 

I'm not in a position to be posting the details on the internet, but Subaru is now dealing with my attorney. That's all I can say. Enough is enough!

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