4 weeks for a Head Gasket?!?
Registered User
iTrader: (12)
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 7,225
From: SF Bay Area - Peninsula
Car Info: 04 psm wrx sedan
Glad you got a loaner. Talk to them, mention that you don't understand what took so long and that you would like to understand. I know it sucks to be without a car. It's not just that it's a somewhat rare car that they do not get as much, but also because of that, not a lot of the parts are going to be in stock. Since your car was already there when the problem was discovered, they could not order up all the parts ahead of time for the appointment, etc.
I hope you get it back soon.
Different car/different situation/probably different shop. How long it takes one shop to work on an EJ25 in one specific situation has nothing to do with what a Subaru Dealer takes to do work on an EZ36 in another different situation. You have no idea what it takes to do a HG on an EZ36, what parts were replaced and what was on back-order or in short supply, what the shop's schedule was like, what factors really made it take this long, etc etc etc.
Didn't mean it like that. It says a lot that the dealer's service center has one senior tech allowed to work on the EZ36. It's probably a bit more involved, to say the least, than an EJ25. Plus, since they do not do the job as often, parts are not on-hand. Etc.
General Pimpin'
iTrader: (7)
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 23,019
From: Knee deep in beer. subabrew crew, ca.
Car Info: MY04 aspen wrx wagon.
"He says it's covered under the power train warranty and they'll give me a loaner car for the duration of the repair."
WTF are you complaining about? You got a free rental car. You get to rack up miles on a car that does not belong to you while the one that does belong to you is getting repaired under warranty.
Who cares. I'd be happy about it if it was me.
4 weeks would be a problem if you were paying for a rental. But you're not.
WTF are you complaining about? You got a free rental car. You get to rack up miles on a car that does not belong to you while the one that does belong to you is getting repaired under warranty.
Who cares. I'd be happy about it if it was me.
4 weeks would be a problem if you were paying for a rental. But you're not.
General Pimpin'
iTrader: (7)
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 23,019
From: Knee deep in beer. subabrew crew, ca.
Car Info: MY04 aspen wrx wagon.
What's up gabe! Good to see you are still in a subie haha
That black 07 sedan you saw when we met at tanforan just had the hg/timing belt service done (including sending the heads to the machine shop) in two days, so regardless the job should have been done even if only one tech can work on it
Good luck with your situation
That black 07 sedan you saw when we met at tanforan just had the hg/timing belt service done (including sending the heads to the machine shop) in two days, so regardless the job should have been done even if only one tech can work on it
Good luck with your situation
My guess is something went wrong. Either SOA is raising a stink and the dealership is going back and forth with them to get them to pay it. Or the tech is in over his head. Or whatever.
I wouldn't be surprised to read in a few weeks that there's a new long block in that car.
General Pimpin'
iTrader: (7)
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 23,019
From: Knee deep in beer. subabrew crew, ca.
Car Info: MY04 aspen wrx wagon.
why?
so you're telling me that he should pay a tow truck to pick the car up and take it to another shop and pay them to repair it... having no clue wtf state the car is in right now?
No other shop or dealership is going to touch that thing with a 10 foot pole right now unless it's to put a new motor in it and start from scratch.
Warranty repair. Free rental.
Too much stress in this life to stress on this one. Let it go is what I say. If the loaner isn't what you need then tell them to get you one that is... i.e. another tribeca or something like it. Even if they have to call up enterprise and rent one for you. THat might light a fire under them.
I'd be irate if I was paying for it... but this isht is free 99.
so you're telling me that he should pay a tow truck to pick the car up and take it to another shop and pay them to repair it... having no clue wtf state the car is in right now?
No other shop or dealership is going to touch that thing with a 10 foot pole right now unless it's to put a new motor in it and start from scratch.
Warranty repair. Free rental.
Too much stress in this life to stress on this one. Let it go is what I say. If the loaner isn't what you need then tell them to get you one that is... i.e. another tribeca or something like it. Even if they have to call up enterprise and rent one for you. THat might light a fire under them.
I'd be irate if I was paying for it... but this isht is free 99.
Why would you say that? I wouldn't be asking if this were an EJ but even then, one back-ordered part or a machine-shop delay or an unknown quantity of other things not related to the vehicle could have happened to legitimately cause delays. Maybe I am just confused.
Thread Starter
Registered User
iTrader: (19)
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,824
From: 650
Car Info: '14 Odyssey & '13 Prius
I got the car back last Friday. But I returned it today because its leaking oil, not a lot but there's definitely oil stains in my garage. Also, the AC was not blowing cold which was never a problem before I left the car with them.
I did get a loaner again, this time a '14 Forester 2.5 with the CVT. My first experience with the new FB25 engines and I really like the powerband. It's quite peppy and could be even nicer if it was in the BRZ.
I did get a loaner again, this time a '14 Forester 2.5 with the CVT. My first experience with the new FB25 engines and I really like the powerband. It's quite peppy and could be even nicer if it was in the BRZ.
Last edited by Giibo; Mar 24, 2014 at 08:13 PM.
Registered User
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,532
From: The Town / Oakland
Car Info: Black On Black Wingless 05 STI
This sounds like what I went through with Fairfield Subaru for my Headgasket replacement.
Long story short, it took about 4 if not 5 weeks to get the whole thing completed. On their end it was do to the fact they only had one tech and a bunch of work in flight. I was pissed to say the least because I was quoted an estimation that every other shop (Subaru related) gave me, which was about 5 solid days to do the work (including machining at machine shop). That also included timing belt and gaskets/ a bunch of other items since the engine was coming out.
I ended up complaining directly to Subaru about it, they didn't do much if anything to be honest. They took the complaint and that was that, I don't think they notified the dealer.
However, I did get some money taken off the total work. It ended up being cheaper than any other location because of this but overall I was not a happy customer at all! Had the expectation been setup front, I would be totally OK with that! Commonsense, to me, would be knowing you have one tech and a ton of work, not to tell a customer their car would be back in unrealistic time frames. I felt like I got the run around each and everyday....
I too have a small leak, at the VC, and I'm sending the car back into them to fix it (under warranty). Hoping that don't take a month!
Long story short, it took about 4 if not 5 weeks to get the whole thing completed. On their end it was do to the fact they only had one tech and a bunch of work in flight. I was pissed to say the least because I was quoted an estimation that every other shop (Subaru related) gave me, which was about 5 solid days to do the work (including machining at machine shop). That also included timing belt and gaskets/ a bunch of other items since the engine was coming out.
I ended up complaining directly to Subaru about it, they didn't do much if anything to be honest. They took the complaint and that was that, I don't think they notified the dealer.
However, I did get some money taken off the total work. It ended up being cheaper than any other location because of this but overall I was not a happy customer at all! Had the expectation been setup front, I would be totally OK with that! Commonsense, to me, would be knowing you have one tech and a ton of work, not to tell a customer their car would be back in unrealistic time frames. I felt like I got the run around each and everyday....
I too have a small leak, at the VC, and I'm sending the car back into them to fix it (under warranty). Hoping that don't take a month!
General Pimpin'
iTrader: (7)
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 23,019
From: Knee deep in beer. subabrew crew, ca.
Car Info: MY04 aspen wrx wagon.
Send the heads to the machine shop to get checked out. Few more days. 1 day for reassembly. 1 day to straighten out the bugs.
Call it 7 business days. 2-3 weeks seems reasonable.
Could be less depending on your relationship with said machine shop and the condition of the heads... as well as availability of parts. Could be a bit longer if you have to wait or need to wait on parts.
I'm not complaining either way. Keep the damn thing for a year if you want as long as I have a free loaner. LOL!
I wouldn't be tripping is my point.
I got the car back last Friday. But I returned it today because its leaking oil, not a lot but there's definitely oil stains in my garage. Also, the AC was not blowing cold which was never a problem before I left the car with them.
I did get a loaner again, this time a '14 Forester 2.5 with the CVT. My first experience with the new FB25 engines and I really like the powerband. It's quite peppy and could be even nicer if it was in the BRZ.
I did get a loaner again, this time a '14 Forester 2.5 with the CVT. My first experience with the new FB25 engines and I really like the powerband. It's quite peppy and could be even nicer if it was in the BRZ.
This sounds like what I went through with Fairfield Subaru for my Headgasket replacement.
Long story short, it took about 4 if not 5 weeks to get the whole thing completed. On their end it was do to the fact they only had one tech and a bunch of work in flight. I was pissed to say the least because I was quoted an estimation that every other shop (Subaru related) gave me, which was about 5 solid days to do the work (including machining at machine shop). That also included timing belt and gaskets/ a bunch of other items since the engine was coming out.
I ended up complaining directly to Subaru about it, they didn't do much if anything to be honest. They took the complaint and that was that, I don't think they notified the dealer.
However, I did get some money taken off the total work. It ended up being cheaper than any other location because of this but overall I was not a happy customer at all! Had the expectation been setup front, I would be totally OK with that! Commonsense, to me, would be knowing you have one tech and a ton of work, not to tell a customer their car would be back in unrealistic time frames. I felt like I got the run around each and everyday....
I too have a small leak, at the VC, and I'm sending the car back into them to fix it (under warranty). Hoping that don't take a month!
Long story short, it took about 4 if not 5 weeks to get the whole thing completed. On their end it was do to the fact they only had one tech and a bunch of work in flight. I was pissed to say the least because I was quoted an estimation that every other shop (Subaru related) gave me, which was about 5 solid days to do the work (including machining at machine shop). That also included timing belt and gaskets/ a bunch of other items since the engine was coming out.
I ended up complaining directly to Subaru about it, they didn't do much if anything to be honest. They took the complaint and that was that, I don't think they notified the dealer.
However, I did get some money taken off the total work. It ended up being cheaper than any other location because of this but overall I was not a happy customer at all! Had the expectation been setup front, I would be totally OK with that! Commonsense, to me, would be knowing you have one tech and a ton of work, not to tell a customer their car would be back in unrealistic time frames. I felt like I got the run around each and everyday....
I too have a small leak, at the VC, and I'm sending the car back into them to fix it (under warranty). Hoping that don't take a month!
1 day to diagnose and tear it down.
Send the heads to the machine shop to get checked out. Few more days. 1 day for reassembly. 1 day to straighten out the bugs.
Call it 7 business days. 2-3 weeks seems reasonable.
Could be less depending on your relationship with said machine shop and the condition of the heads... as well as availability of parts. Could be a bit longer if you have to wait or need to wait on parts.
Send the heads to the machine shop to get checked out. Few more days. 1 day for reassembly. 1 day to straighten out the bugs.
Call it 7 business days. 2-3 weeks seems reasonable.
Could be less depending on your relationship with said machine shop and the condition of the heads... as well as availability of parts. Could be a bit longer if you have to wait or need to wait on parts.
Not really. I always tell them to take their time, because I would hate to have problems to deal with just because my knowledge-free opinion told me I should have my car back faster than normal. Sometimes things take a LOOOOOOOONG time. It's up to the owner how to handle and/or mitigate that.
Registered User
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,532
From: The Town / Oakland
Car Info: Black On Black Wingless 05 STI
If 4-5 Weeks is normal, so be it, but at the very least from an Customer Experience, you let the customer know that
Like I mentioned, I don't care, set the expectation up front that it is a 5 Week Job, then so be it! If that slips, you contact the customer and explain. In my case it was setup up front that the turn around was a week. Also in my case their communication and customer service was HORRIBLE, I'm talking absolutely horrible.
Let me explain further:
I had to physically walk into the dealer to get updates on where things were. Again, totally avoided by setting realistic expectations and providing frequent updates. At the end of my **** storm, I had the service manager calling me daily with updates. And once again this was only because I physically walked in several times and at the end demanded such information! "Give me daily status updates, EVEN if you didn't touch the car." I should also mention this was after calling several times, getting no return on phone calls, and after 3 weeks of the car being in the shop!
In the end, the job was done but the level of my effort/time to get updates and continually hound them was unacceptable. A customer shouldn't have to go to such extremes to get information.
Additionally, far as staying on top of them, I am doing just that. That is all I can do in my case, the work is under warranty and rather than shelling out more money and going else where, I'm leaving it up to them to fix things.
If I could turn back with Doc and Marty in the DeLorean DMC-12... I would have passed my business else where for sure but I opt'd their location since it was in walking distance of my past residents.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Heedz
NorCal Classifieds
5
Feb 28, 2013 12:56 AM
mirraflair
New Aftermarket Car Parts For Sale
4
Sep 24, 2005 01:43 PM
mirraflair
Mid-Atlantic
2
Sep 10, 2005 09:55 PM
