HELP! Specialist needed in Hudson Valley, NY.

Hey guys. I'm a total lurker, so please excuse my lack of posts.

My Wife has an 05 LGT wagon. On her way back to Philadelphia from the family vacation home in Woodstock, NY her car "broke down". We had it towed to Colonial Subaru in Kingston. They called her this morning with the news that the turbo failed and blew debris into the oil. Long story short, new turbo and short block, $5700. Any advice? The car is there, but I obviously don't know the dealership and would rather get it to a solid dude.

Situation: My wife is 8 months pregnant, has my 4.5 year old with her and is staying there until things get into play. I am currently in the Bahamas until Friday for work. This is a terrible feeling for me, as I'm so far away and she is beside herself between the lack of car, hormones, and the $$$ cost and just called me in tears.

Any help would be very, very much appreciated. The wifi here is super dodgy and I am about to break internet rule #1 and toss my cell number up here. Please post here or text me if you have any recommendations. I have read many posts and I have total faith that I'm dealing with serious heads here. I'll be checking back all day. Many thanks, guys.

-Jeremy

Sorry for the trouble that you are having. This thread may get more views if it is moved to a different forum than the Photos one. The mods may have a better idea as to where it may belong better.

X

You are the man, and I am an ass. Hahaha

I clicked wrong. Appreciate the heads up, Mods, please delete. Thanks!

They should be able to move it no problem. Maybe PM one of the mods?

X

5700 parts and labor? if so that's not too bad

Click "Thread Tools" and under the 'Moderation Tools' click move thread.

Step 1.) Get a rental car for your wife. She doesn't need to be dealing with being 8 months pregnant away from home with a 4.5 year old. Get them a way home ASAP.

Step 2.) Decide if you want to keep the car and repair it, or sell if off and get a new car. Not sure what trade in will be with a crapped out motor, probably not very good. You may find that your wife is no longer confident in the car and will demand a new one anyway.

Step 3.) Depending on decision in step 2, either arrange for car to be transported to a local dealer or shop for repair, or to have the car sold. Maybe the dealer it is at would buy it from you in current condition?

Step 4.) Pony up $$$ for repairs and get car up to snuff, or get a new car using some of the proceeds from the sold LGT wagon.

Right now step 1 is most important. Focus on that first.

All of what Penguin just said.

Get your wife and kid home now. As soon as possible.

Only about half of that $5700 is in parts. Phone the dealer and work out a trade. Suggest book value for trade on the car minus half of the repair. Apply that on a brand new car of choice they have on the lot (maybe a new Outback or an XV?). Negotiate that over the phone, have them prep the paperwork, and fed-ex it to your wife (who should be home by Tomorrow). Have her fill it all out, and overnight it back. It should get there Thursday or Friday.

Change your flight and have the dealership pick you up from the airport.

Drive your new car home.

Think about it. You're looking at a $5700 repair bill on an 8 year old car with a near-bursting wife and a near-5 year old. Keep that in mind before you make any decision...

What they said... get your family home!

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I wasn't very clear, she went back to the vaca home, which is quite comfortable and we have family nearby. She rented a car and got home the next day and is using my car until I get home and figure out what we are going to do. Everyone is fine, just now have to get on top of towing it back to home where I have an easier chance of getting it to a trusted shop for a second look at it. Then we're gonna weigh out what Penguin said, sell it or fix it. Trying to find out if she got the extended warranty, as it only has about 85k on it.

Thanks again for the thoughts. Can't wait to get home.

You can always rent a uhaul with a towing ramp, nut not sure how much you would spend and the time it would take to tow it back.

X

I see this is still in the pics thread. Sorry guys
UPDATE:
We just got back from NY last night, picked up my wife's car. I had it towed from the dealership she had it towed to initially, who's service dept has a questionable reputation according to her cousin who lives up there and towed to one that he recommended. He said the place is stellar (Ruge's Subaru, Rhineback, NY). With a $5700 estimate before tax quote from the 1st place, I figured I had little to lose. So I get a call from the 2nd shop last Friday... they said, "no short block needed, everything is fine, just replace the turbo, don't understand why you were told that". While still rather expensive, I just had them do it. I factored in towing to an indy shop down my way (Philadelphia), time without a car, etc., it was definitely the right thing to do.
In the end, it was $2400 after tax. I spoke to the mechanic who did the repair when I picked it up and asked if he thought the original shop would be as forthcoming as they were, if they discovered that the car didn't need the short block, like they had said. He told me that reading the paperwork that the first shop left with the car, it appeared as though they were ready to order all of the parts and just go ahead with the full deal. Essentially, the prognosis that they offered us was a full engine teardown and block/ turbo replacement. He shook his head and said it's not cool what they were about to get away with and were essentially "guessing". I can't tell you, $2400 never sounded so palatable. I just saved my ass a $3k reaming by taking my wife's cousins advice. She drove it 150 miles home flawlessly. They were ready to pull the trigger. I feel very lucky and I am so pissed off at the 1st shop.

Ruge's Subaru is the best! Besides the above, they were really great guys, very nice to us, kept us informed and have a beautiful shop. The 1st shop's service guy made my wife feel like an asshole. I would have paid more to have them not get the job anyway after she told me how condescendingly he spoke to her.

Thanks for all of the input. We have our bad ass wagon back to handle baby duty.

$2400 for a turbo install? yikes.

The reason Subaru told you that you needed a new shortblock is because when these turbos let go, they can sends chunks of metal into the engine. If this happened the engine is toast.

Did your indy indicate that any parts of the turbo were broken off...such as the blades on the compressor? For your sake I hope they did a thorough evaluation of everything.