Help me, my WRX has 26K miles on it and I have to replace the A/C condenser for $528.00.

Has anybody else had this problem? Please post your answer.

Subaru won't honor the warranty saying the damage is caused by "physical damage".

Yes, of course it's caused by physical damage - have you seen how exposed the condenser is on an impreza? It sits under the lower front bumper deflecting every rock in the road.

This is a poor manufacture design and I'm not happy about replacing this and having it sitting vulnerable to every pebble in the road. It's bound to break again!

 

When I went to turn on my A/C it didn't work so I took it to the dealer who put green die in the Freeon and it sprayed out the small hole in the condenser.

It was not one specific pebble/rock incident that I can recall that broke the A/C condenser and that’s my concern.

Take a look at your condenser today, I bet you have hundreds of little dents caused by pebbles on the road. I drive on the Pennsylvania Turnpike a few times a week at average speeds of 75 MPH. The Turnpike has a lot of trucks throwing up the usual rocks and pebbles.

My complaint with Subaru is that there is no grill protecting the condenser. Why didn't they put it up higher or behind the radiator?

My fear is that I'll replace the condenser for $500 and another pebble on the turnpike will take it out.

FYI - I'm still fighting this with Subaru and I wanted to see if this happens often.

 

I used to live in PA near the turn pike.. the store I worked at..Non-Subaru store,,, saw cars that would come in with damage to condensers from the PA turnpike...Plus knocked off tranny pans from PA turnpike,,,Holes in oil pans from PA turnpike.. and even once a cracked block ... anyways they were never covered by warranty but were always covered by the persons insureance as long as you deductable is low... just say ya hit something in the road and claim on insurance... hopefully you got a 100 or 50 deduct... think of it like this.. Why would Subaru cover damage to a winshield from a rock?.. same thing as condenser even though its exposed... also get a screen in front of it PA turnpike SUX

 

Catdogr,

I'm in agreement with you about the PA Turnpike being a hazard filled obstacle course, but I disagree with Subaru not covering the condenser.

Here's why: Subaru has placed their condenser so exposed that I now have to build my own grill/screen to protect it. That's a design flaw. My WRX has 26K miles on it, and the bottom of the old condenser is practically worthless (without the hole) because it's so dented from hundreds of pebbles. It has to have lost much of its cooling effectiveness with all the dents.

Subaru placed the condenser in a bad spot, they could have: 1) put it behind the radiator, 2) put it up higher then 14 inches off the ground, or 3) built a grill around it.

$500 is too much $ for a part that's sitting open to road hazards.

I'll let you know how I make out with my argument with Subaru.