Service Nightmare

So I am a believer of the old saying if you want something done right you need to do it yourself... well my experience with my local Subaru dealer reinforced this last Friday. This was the first time I had brought my LGT to the dealer since I bought it, have about 21,500 miles and had done all maintenance myself up to this point, but figured Id try them for a "simple" oil change as well as replace my driving lights... both had burned out.

 

They did the lights fine (so far no problems). But the oil change, I cannot

Really understand how they could have possible messed up so bad! This was an

Important service for me as I am planning on driving across the US in two weeks. Anyhow was driving it around for a couple days and kept noticing

Burning oil smell as well as burning rubber...? With the engine cold, I

Checked the oil and it was Way Way too full, well over the full line and the

Notch above it, checked a few times to make sure. They must have put in over

5 quarts... So this prompted me to check the filter... Not only was it a

Crappy aftermarket Napa filter, but it was leaking ALL over the place! When

I took the filter off the rubber gasket had cooked onto the area where the

Filter meets up. I was so pissed! I cannot believe they would have done such a shoty job. Now that I have fixed it its perfect, no burning oil or rubber smell. Its like the kid they had doing it had never done an oil change on a

LGT before... Kinda scary in my opinion.

 

Well thanks for letting me rant.

 

John D

John....out of three total oil changes and two done at my dealer, they struck out too. First time they didn't clean up the oil that dripped on the lower cover...it accumulated in my concrete driveway. Second time (last month), they overfilled with 5 quarts as well. Next time around, I am doing it myself.

A lot of dealers have also been installing the wrong oil filter on the car which causes the leaking oil.

Maybe the kid thought it was a 3.0 LGT but you would think the IC would give it away when he popped the hood... oh well its right now. They did do the lights under warrantee though.

I think that was their reasoning for using the aftermarket filter, but I have been using the little black filters (bought a case of them this summer) and have never had any problems. Thats what I used to replace the Napa one they put on there, and no leaks...

...Its like the kid they had doing it had never done an oil change on a

LGT before... Kinda scary in my opinion.

 

Well thanks for letting me rant.

 

John D

 

John, How about posting the name of the dealership so others can avoid having the same problem? If thy can't even get a simple oil change right, who would want to trust them for any major work? If they are an authorized Subaru dealership, it's surprising that they would use a Napa filter instead of the OEM part.

Hmmm, this seems to be a common problem. Even a highly touted Subaru dealership here overfilled (I'd estimate a full 5 quarts was put in, as stated on the invoice).

 

Doesn't anyone check the dipstick (i.e. the service techs)? Maybe not, as it's notoriously difficult to read, especially when overfull even a little. Mine was reading up to the twist in the dipstick.

 

I ended up siphoning out about 0.7 quart.

It was a Subaru dealer in St. Johnsbury Vermont, first time I had ever been there... I talked to them today, and the Service guy said they used the aftermarket filter becasue Subaru had sent out a note to all dealers there were problems with the oem filter leaking? He did not know what to say about the overfill of oil, other than sorry, and he would try and find the person that did the change so it would not happen again... I doubt he was even really concerned or cared what I had to say...

Yeah, there were reports of a batch or three of filters that would leak. They were recalled, and replaced with filters of the same part number.

same thing happened to me with the overfill at my first oil change. Brought it back, they replaced it to spec, and gave me two oil changes for free. I have to check and see what filter they used.

 

X

yes, there was a recall on Subaru Oil filters...we actually went a day or so without any filters while some where being overnighted. the ones we had were to be removed immediately from the shelf and not sold.

 

A lot of dealers will use a non subaru filter because of cost. Most dealers do not make any money (lose some in some cases) on just an oil change --hence trying to upsell everything. The price of the subaru filter is considerably higher than an aftermarket one.

 

The Techs feel that the Subaru one is the best way to go on the Turbo engines, but say it does not make the difference on the NA cars like it may on the turbo ones.

Hmmm, this seems to be a common problem. Even a highly touted Subaru dealership here overfilled (I'd estimate a full 5 quarts was put in, as stated on the invoice).

 

Doesn't anyone check the dipstick (i.e. the service techs)? Maybe not, as it's notoriously difficult to read, especially when overfull even a little. Mine was reading up to the twist in the dipstick.

 

I ended up siphoning out about 0.7 quart.

I've changed the oil 3 times on my car so far and put in 5 quarts of oil each time without it being over filled.

I've changed the oil 3 times on my car so far and put in 5 quarts of oil each time without it being over filled.

 

There doesn't seem to be a consistent answer to the actual oil capacity of the 2.5L turbo. The manual says one thing, and people have widely varying experience, from a low of 4 quarts to a high of 5.

 

I figure there should be 4 to 4.3 in the pan, and a variable amount that prefills the oil filter. Since the oil filter part number has changed at least once, with changes in physical size, perhaps this contributes to some of the capacity diff.

 

When mine was overfilled, it was such that I couldn't get an oil level reading (once it's past the twist, it's basically pointless trying to read it).

 

You'd think dealerships would have this down pat and hit the fill mark exactly each time.

This just affirms that I should continue to change my own oil.

haha...yep ^

 

i just put in about 4.5

yeah, same problem with my oil change done at the dealer. the oil reads to the twist. also when i took delivery of the car the tranny was overfilled and the coolant way too low

This just affirms that I should continue to change my own oil.

 

+1

 

Always do your own oil change. Most dealerships won't do anything if they mess up, other than try to defend their techs.

+1 on doing your own oil change. I'm a total newb at it but with the help of a friend managed to do 2 already

 

In any case I would think underfilling by a bit would be safer than overfilling. It's not a hard job to change the oil. Why the incompetence?