This is aggravating

Sorry guys, I'm really pissed and don't know where to go, I took my Legacy in to Rafferty Subaru for the airbag recall and they destroyed my gauge mount, cracked my coby, disconnected my gauge, dug up my dash around the coby, scratched the top of the dash. They actually gave me my car back and acted like everything was fine and said they don't replace aftermarket parts. The service manager acted as if I purposely destroyed my dash until I told him I took pictures right before pulling my car in. After sending him the pictures he said I should send him the bill for the gauge mount and he'll take care of everything when I bring the car back with the new mount.

 

Dropped my car off told them please don't break anything else. Got my car back, gauge reinstalled, scratch on top of the dash fixed, put the light on on my phone and low and behold they dug up more of the dash around the coby with additional scratches that were not there before. They also did not reimburse me for the mount. Service advisor had no response. Emailed the service manager send him more pictures again and told him to compare them to the last ones I sent no response. Called Subaru of America, nothing they can do, they can only document because the dealership is privately owned. My last effort will be to contact the General Manager, or does anyone have any advice. I have all the pictures and email correspondence with the service manager. I get that my car is old but my interior was in mint condition before I took my car to the dealership.

Edited November 3, 2020 by eldrego

Buy a used dash with less or no damage, take the loss and move on.

Why should I take the loss? I took my car there for an airbag recall. My car should be given back to me exactly as I brought it in.

Sure it is frustrating but it could always be worse. I might be too laid back of a person to be able to sympathize with you. I do hope you reach your desired resolution.

I hope you have photos of what it did look like before. Then you can tell them that either they fix it or you'll go for legal action, small claims court.

Maybe call some local news station. They might be interested to have a story from ongoing Takata recalls and the fallout. Would be cheaper than lawyer as a start.

I hope you have photos of what it did look like before. Then you can tell them that either they fix it or you'll go for legal action, small claims court.

 

Yea, I have 3 sets of pictures. First set is at the dealership right before I dropped the car off. Second set is after the they completed the recall and third is after they fixed the gauge.

If I were in your shoes, I would send them a certified letter detailing what has transpired until now and give them one last chance to make this right.

Advise if you do hear from them within ( you pick how long) , that you see no alternative, but to hire a lawyer, billing them for lawyer and court costs, seeking triple damages as is your right.

CC SOA and go from there.

Meanwhile get the cost of a NEW dashboard, and installation costs including your mods.

 

O.

Pics?

Definitely go after these idiots, stay on them, threaten law suit, negative reviews on their website, etc. Reviews and the internet are your friend.

 

Great job on the pic's, hopefully they are dated.

 

Kevin Edgar I wouldn't consider you laid back, I'd consider you, oops I almost said it!

I emailed the General Manager via forwarding my conversation with the service manager and explained my entire experience. He did not reply but the service manager emailed me asking for time stamped pictures which I sent to him, thank god my Note 8 even has my location on the images, placing me right smack dab in their parking lot. We'll see what happens now.

Sounds like you are doing the right thing. My recommendation would be as above, stay on them but try to stay civil and pleasant (not saying you haven't been).

 

As someone who has been customer facing for my entire adult life I can't stress it enough, people are way more willing to correct their mistake and work with you to make things right if you are nice, pleasant but still firm. Avoid name calling, degrading etc. At the end of the day whoever is going to reimburse you is just like us trying to get paid and keep their job while they pick up the pieces of another rando worker who fucked up.

 

Good luck hope they make it right.

Do you have another dealership near you? I have like 10+ around me within a 50 radius, but I know its not the case for everyone. Bring it to another dealership if you can and see what they say, get a quote on repairing everything. The dashboard is like 500 dollars alone, I wouldn't want to eat that for someone destroying my shit. But I do know law takes a damn long time, so you might as well get it fixed at another Subaru dealership, that way it's all documented in their system as well, basically try and get pressure from a more reputable dealership. Ask them how they would have dealt with the situation etc. Hopefully you have one thats stand up and decent close by.

Man, yet another example which makes me cringe at the thought of bringing my car to a dealership for that recall..

its either that or run the risk of shrapnel to the face.... oh boy, love the options lol

If possible I highly suggest removing as many parts your self before bringing it in. If they don't have to remove it then it's hard for them to cause damage in that area. I looked at the service manual to see what was required to be removed to get the passenger airbag out and followed some of it. From what I recall it actually says the entire dash has to be removed. But I know in my case the mechanic just lifted the dash on the passenger side and slid it in. I have the whole procedure recorded.

 

When I went in, I had my cubby removed and everything on the passenger side behind the glove box, including the glove box of course. The only thing he removed was the radio. So you could leave that out also if you wanted.

 

Sorry this doesn't help the OP but for anyone that still has to get it done, hopefully this is helpful advice.

If possible I highly suggest removing as many parts your self before bringing it in.

 

 

That is my plan.

Man, yet another example which makes me cringe at the thought of bringing my car to a dealership for that recall..

 

FWIW, Wilsonville Subaru did a great job for my car and even properly re-applied my noise-deadening foam at the corners of the dash (stupid Subaru rattles). The car's fobs failed to work after the recall and they reset the immobilizer to fix the car all for free. At this point, I think a lot of techs are mentally done with doing the Takata recalls and don't give a shit. I did mine the day I found out that my car had the recall.

Service manager agreed to fixing the scratches, told me to tape around all the scratches, I just used painters tape around the coby and sharpied arrows to the spots. He still didn't respond to my email about being reimbursed for the mount, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. I'm super nervous about leaving my car there again.

That is my plan.

 

I'd suggest taking pictures, make sure the flash is on, if they have a drive in service area, I'd say do it there and get an employee in some of the shots or make sure they're timestamped but looks like most phones geotag anyway so you should be good, make sure the pictures are close up.

its either that or run the risk of shrapnel to the face.... oh boy, love the options lol

 

call around. The "boss" fix replaces the airbag thru the glovebox and takes 15 minutes. The "f u over" fix removes the dashboard.

 

Mine was done while you wait. Waiting consisted of high pressure sales to encourage me to sell my wagon at a huge discount. Their best offer was below blue book because modified.

Subaru did its techs dirty by releasing the latest round of air bag updates all at once. Dealer said >200,000 notices went out at same time. My local dealer has a 6 month backlog and gives loaners for an oil change.

I'm curious as to why you haven't posted any pics here of what the damage looks like, like when you first got the car back

thats good to know, when i get my car back on the road, i will make sure I ask that question! "How will you replace the airbag?" If they say they gotta remove the dash, i'm just going to turn around and go to another dealership.

call around. The "boss" fix replaces the airbag thru the glovebox and takes 15 minutes. The "f u over" fix removes the dashboard.

 

Mine was done while you wait. Waiting consisted of high pressure sales to encourage me to sell my wagon at a huge discount. Their best offer was below blue book because modified.

 

I did not know this was possible. That's really good to know.