A Story About My Subaru Dealership

On Thursday July 7th 2011 I had taken my car in because I had a vibration in the steering wheel when braking (I figured it was my front rotors) They charged me 49.95 plus tax for diagnostic fee. They then charged me another 49.95 to turn the rotors. At which time they then informed me that the back bushings on my control arms were shot and needed to be replaced. Total bill was 550.00 after tax.

I picked up my car at the end of the day, paid the bill, and left the dealership. I directly took it out onto the highway to do some high speed stops to see if they fixed it. As i reached 105kmph (62mph ish) a vibration was felt in the steering wheel (not when breaking this time) I ignored that and did a few stops and it looked like they fixed the original problem, however now I have a vibration at high speeds. I took it back on Monday and they charged me 90.00 to balance the tires and they said that my back wheel was bent.

At this point I am frustrated at the dealership and I went and picked it up. Today I was on my way to get the rim fixed at Winnipeg Wheel Works. On my way there again on the highway I have a worse vibration in the steering wheel at only 80Kmph (after Subaru’s wheel balancing the vibration is worse???) So i pull in to Winnipeg Wheel Works, they repair the rim while I wait, and re-balance all the rims / tires. At this point they said that a bake wheel being bent would not cause the vibration in the steering wheel, however the front wheels were horribly out of balance. I did a road test and now there is no vibration at all.

So the conclusion is that the Subaru dealer charged me 90 bucks to not balance my rims properly. Now I am trying to get my money back but the Subaru dealer says it wasn’t there fault, and that I must have hit a pot hole between yesterday and today that unbalanced all 4 wheels.

That is my story.

Thanks for reading

The Subaru dealers around here do not have a tire balancer nor can they mount tires to rims. FWIW

The lesson here is...stop taking your car to the stealership unless they are covering all the cost.

 

Most every Legacy out there has torn rear LCA bushings. I had my local mechanic install AVO's.

 

I hope you have learned to deal with that wheel shop from now on for your tire and wheel needs. Even ask them who they recommend for normal maintenance.

Yeah I should have looked into the AVO's....

 

Oh well, they wont see another penny from me.

Your car is out of warranty, so you don't and shouldn't go back there unless for a recall or something. Just take it to Midas or any good independent shops around you. Also don't believe everything they say that is wrong with it. They are just trying to steal your money and tell to fix something when it's perfectly fine. So how do you know they even replaced your Bushings? Always get a 2nd opinion unless you know this is what's wrong or needs to be replaced! The vibration at 60mph is because they didn't balance your tire's at all. Just like your Bushings. They didn't fix or do anything but take your money. One last thing I always do is watch them fix your car. Don't go and sit down and read a magazine like those other people at dealerships! You'll never know if they fixed your car or not!

Premier Subaru in CT did a recall on the rear hub bearing. Well when doing this they broke the emergency brake on that side. Said it was all the rust. Literally the pad came off. Brakes were perfect before I took it there. Then wanted to charge me $270 to change both sides. They are designed to brake things especially in todays economy. Business is slow.