Dealer says (Subaru says) GT/XT/turbo cars can't use reman axles?

Has anyone else heard from a dealer/Subaru that Subaru's OEM reman axles should not be used on turbo models?

 

I have an '05 Outback XT with ~79k miles. Last May I replaced the passenger side axle (boot tore months before and I kept driving it until it got super crunchy) with an OEM reman from the dealer ($180, 12mo warranty) and less than 2mo later the boot tore on it as well. Annoyed by how long it lasted, I decided to just keep driving it until it was crunchy as well.

 

I bought a reman axle from NAPA (they said it was a Cardone; ~$65, lifetime warranty) and swapped out the failed OEM reman.

 

I took the OEM reman axle back to the dealership (this is the first time I've ever warrantied a dealer part and was pretty skeptical I was going to get anything out of it) and part of the warranty process was to take my VIN to confirm it was the right part. Their printed parts book said the turbo cars could not use the reman axles, _however_ in their computer system was a note added (by someone at the dealership) to use the reman axles for those models. They called someone at Subaru to sort it out and were told reman axles could not be used (though I'd interpret that to be "reman axles will not be warrantied in turbo models").

 

The dealer/parts offered to replace the broken axle with a brand new one (they had many remans in stock, but no new ones, so I suspect service has been fixing cars with remans all this time) as they felt selling me the reman in the first place was their error. I think they would have also given me another reman (w/o warranty) if I'd insisted, or just flat out refunded my money.

 

My driver side boot tore a month ago (this will be the second time it has gone; the axle was replaced by a local shop and I don't know where the reman came from), and I just planned to put NAPA axles into it in the future, but will swap it with the new OEM axle instead. I've always had a preconception that OEM was better than aftermarket, but at the rate these things are failing, I'd rather spend 1/3rd the amount for an axle that may or may not last longer, and has a lifetime warranty.

Im sure its a $$ thing - they make more on a new one vs. a re-man , maybe ?

I replaced the left front axle back in Aug 2010 with a $80.00 100% new axle from Advance Auto Parts, they got it from Autoparts International, there lable was on the box too.

 

It works great.

 

 

Why did you take your 05 to the dealership ?

 

Find a good local repair shop and build a relationship with them. You'll get much better customer service.

 

I have been using the same mechanic and local shops for all most 30 years. The same shops my father used.

I replaced the left front axle back in Aug 2010 with a $80.00 100% new axle from Advance Auto Parts, they got it from Autoparts International, there lable was on the box too.

 

...

 

Why did you take your 05 to the dealership ?

 

Find a good local repair shop and build a relationship with them. You'll get much better customer service.

 

I'm sure the aftermarket (Cardone) axle I used will be fine... at least it is a huge improvement over the noisy-in-a-straight-line CV joint that I was driving on.

 

The dealership was only the parts department. I'm actually astounded that they offered to give me a new axle (~2.5x the price of the OEM reman), and didn't try to give me the run around that they couldn't warranty it.

 

In searching for postings on axles over the last few months on the various Subie forums, I found plenty of debates over the quality/value of OEM vs. aftermarket vs. reman (OEM and aftermarket), but never any mention that GT/XT owners were told they couldn't use OEM remans. In my case I'm certain the failure was in the boot before the CV joint, but I'm curious if there is really a quality/tolerance difference with the OEM reman axles that should keep you from using them on a GT/XT (and one that is beyond stock power).

fyi i have the 42$ cardone axel from rock auto no core charge.

been running it for at least 4 months now.

In an automatic Subaru the aftermarket axles are known to cause a vibration at idle and under some light throttle situations. It is a common enough problem it is known, and many shops won't use reman'd axles for that reason. I had this problem in my Outback XT, new Subaru OEM axles up front solved the problem.

 

It is more of an annoyance though, the aftermarket axles still work fine for most.

^ vibration at idle? axels?

^^ya I hear ya, it is a phenomenon and solution found through trail and error. I wouldn't have believed until I had my axles swapped out for OEM either! It did the trick though, Subaru shop claimed they have seen this many times before and a number of others over on the Outback boards confirm the same. I don't think anyone knows what the root cause is.

^ i suppose it could be some slack in the tri-pot.

The first time I ever replaced axles on a car was my old '92 Nissan Maxima. On that one I actually replaced the boots and repacked the joints with grease myself. I wonder if this is not the best route to take with the GT, as these cars seem temperamental when it comes to axles. Replacing and repacking assumes of course that the cv joints haven't been ruined by driving a lot of miles with a torn boot.

The first time I ever replaced axles on a car was my old '92 Nissan Maxima. On that one I actually replaced the boots and repacked the joints with grease myself. I wonder if this is not the best route to take with the GT, as these cars seem temperamental when it comes to axles. Replacing and repacking assumes of course that the cv joints haven't been ruined by driving a lot of miles with a torn boot.

 

 

My left front has been in there since Sept 4 2010 at 130,720 miles, got it from Advance auto parts, $80.00

Has anyone else heard from a dealer/Subaru that Subaru's OEM reman axles should not be used on turbo models?

 

I have an '05 Outback XT with ~79k miles. Last May I replaced the passenger side axle (boot tore months before and I kept driving it until it got super crunchy) with an OEM reman from the dealer ($180, 12mo warranty) and less than 2mo later the boot tore on it as well. Annoyed by how long it lasted, I decided to just keep driving it until it was crunchy as well.

 

I bought a reman axle from NAPA (they said it was a Cardone; ~$65, lifetime warranty) and swapped out the failed OEM reman.

 

I took the OEM reman axle back to the dealership (this is the first time I've ever warrantied a dealer part and was pretty skeptical I was going to get anything out of it) and part of the warranty process was to take my VIN to confirm it was the right part. Their printed parts book said the turbo cars could not use the reman axles, _however_ in their computer system was a note added (by someone at the dealership) to use the reman axles for those models. They called someone at Subaru to sort it out and were told reman axles could not be used (though I'd interpret that to be "reman axles will not be warrantied in turbo models").

 

The dealer/parts offered to replace the broken axle with a brand new one (they had many remans in stock, but no new ones, so I suspect service has been fixing cars with remans all this time) as they felt selling me the reman in the first place was their error. I think they would have also given me another reman (w/o warranty) if I'd insisted, or just flat out refunded my money.

 

My driver side boot tore a month ago (this will be the second time it has gone; the axle was replaced by a local shop and I don't know where the reman came from), and I just planned to put NAPA axles into it in the future, but will swap it with the new OEM axle instead. I've always had a preconception that OEM was better than aftermarket, but at the rate these things are failing, I'd rather spend 1/3rd the amount for an axle that may or may not last longer, and has a lifetime warranty.

 

I just learned about this recently. I have an 05 OBXT 5MT and both my front axles have been replaced w/ Subaru remans. The drivers side I've had in for about 13k miles and have even done a track day without any problems (althought the axle seal is leaking). The wierd thing is the remans are OK for use on the H6 Outbacks which have about the same power and torque as the turbos. I'd be very interested if someone can tell me what the difference is from the turbo axle versus n/a.

^ as far as i know all the legacyies 2.5i 2.5gt and 3.0r auto and mt are the same axle on the fronts

SOA used to have the reman axles listed to include turbo models, but the latest list I downloaded specifically says non-turbo on all the listings. Must have been a problem for those models.

well dont tell any one that i run the cheap ones

Having been in automotive aftermarket for the past almost 30 years, I have to say that the axle remanufacturers (Cardone, USA, OEPlus, etc.) would not reman these axles if there were inherent problems. I've repped several reman companies and can never remember any kind of Subaru specific issue and I would guess that at least 100K axles over the past 10 years.

 

I'll do some checking on several sites to see if they have any issues listed because if there is one, they will not want to reman these anymore. I'll report later on as to what I find.

Subaru doesn't list who rebuilds their axles, but I believe it is A1/Cardone.