You break it, you buy it - seen Autoweek today?
 

Page 6, Autoweek, July 5

Whether abuse or autocrossing, most auto makers are not covering it...

"...even though Subaru pops for a one-year SCCA membership for every interested WRX buyer, and in its marketing materials appears to encourage owners to enter their cars in autocross events, the company says autocrossing is racing, and racing can void warranty coverage...."

Hey all. Just thought I would share, I just picked up an 04 WRX, and then my father-in-law shared this cherry article with me. I got the one-year with the SCCA with my new java black pearl baby, but now I'm not so sure I want to send it in.

Check out the article. It's a little creepy - talks about how Mitsu denied warranty coverage for an EVO owner because they saw his name in the autocross stats. Big brother is watching... and not even the trunk monkeys can save us.

Regards,
Jenne

Sorry about the kinda-repost...

See also: [url]https://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62429[/url]

yeah read that, yup we all know here how "aggresive" SOA can be with their warranty, Im over my warranty anyways so whutevuh:(

Well, I'm not over my warranty yet.

Besides that, there's no point to buying a new car for the warranty if there really isn't one.

I think it's atrocious. And I can't believe you are all taking it lying down. That is, until [i]you're[/i] the one getting screwed by SOA.

You guys care more about some half-wit from Ohio's new FSM than an outrage in corporate policy's clothing? This is a little scary.

This has been said before...."You gotta pay if you want to play."

If you are so worried about the warranty then don't mod or race your car. Just because SOA gives you a free year SCCA membership with your new car purchase doesn't mean jack.

[QUOTE=jenne313]Well, I'm not over my warranty yet.

Besides that, there's no point to buying a new car for the warranty if there really isn't one.

I think it's atrocious. And I can't believe you are all taking it lying down. That is, until [i]you're[/i] the one getting screwed by SOA.

You guys care more about some half-wit from Ohio's new FSM than an outrage in corporate policy's clothing? This is a little scary.[/QUOTE]

Um, you are buying a new car with a warrenty, it's your choice if you want to race the car or not, they're your choices. If you break a part because you race it's all your fault, yes we drive performance cars but our cars are not race cars, expect things to break don't whine over it. As said before you gotta pay to play.

[QUOTE=jenne313]Besides that, there's no point to buying a new car for the warranty if there really isn't one.[/QUOTE]

There is most certainly a warranty. If you autocross your car and the window stops working, SOA will fix it. They fixed mine. SOA installed a new clutch, flywheel, throwout bearing and related parts for me when I had around 20K miles on the car because the first one would shudder when cold.
Breaking first or second gear may not be covered if it is the result of a drop clutch launch or banging second gear extremely hard. Remember, you are driving an awd car that makes 217 pounds of torque at 4K rpm. If you bang into second gear and don't break the tires loose, all that shock gets absorbed in your drivetrain, and those little gears which keep our cars affordable are the weak link.
If you break a gear, you are likely going to have a fight on your hands no matter what for the following reasons:
- There are a lot of inexperienced drivers who own a WRX (they're affordable, remember)
- There are many people who show no mechanical sympathy whatsoever when trying to get the last tenth of a second drag racing these cars
- There are many stories of folks doing power mods, breaking their transmissions, then putting the car back to stock in an attempt to defraud SOA.
- Subaru is in business to make money, not subsidize young aspiring racers.

Cliff's notes: Get your free SCCA membership. If you choose to autocross or do high performance driving school on a race track, focus on being smooth and the speed will come. By doing this, you likely won't have to worry about being denied warranty work, because you aren't going to break anything. Plus you will be a better, faster driver.

[QUOTE=esracer]If you break a part because you race it's all your fault, yes we drive performance cars but our cars are not race cars, expect things to break don't whine over it. As said before you gotta pay to play.[/QUOTE]

There's one fatal flaw in that argument - and that is that Subaru has been giving out SCCA memberships to people who buy WRXes. In other words, they are paying US to play, then denying us warranty coverage if we take them up on it. THAT is a problem. Also, it's pretty hypocritical of Subaru to position the WRX like they do (ever seen the TV ads?) and then deny coverage if you do anything like what they show in the ad.

So saying "you break it by racing then it's your fault" isn't really good enough when by all appearances Subaru is actively encouraging us to race the WRX. The ads, the rally footage, the free SCCA membership.

It's a problem, and both Subaru and Mitsubishi are doing it. The answer should be "manufacture parts for your cars that can actually stand up to being driven hard", not "don't drive our cars hard despite the fact that they're marketed as performance cars".

^^^^

Completely agree! Yes, if you dump the clutch or do something really dumb, then yes you should fix it yourself. But I think that you should be able to drive your car hard. Banging the gear into second should be okay. If you break a gear in second, then there is something really wrong with the car. I really don't care that its awd, they should make a transmission that can hold up to the abuse. I've been lucky enough do have nothing go wrong yet.

They make the transmission well enough that drivers who dont do stupid stuff can mod and still keep their stock tranny. The [b]only[/b] people who have problems with their transmissions are either those who 1) Pop the clutch 2) Have extremely high HP cars on the stock tranny 3) Have a mechanically defective transmission

I agree with the warranty claims and SCCA membership thing. It's bs, but hopefully most dealers won't be asses about it.

I think that all people are getting the wrong idea about the SCCA membership. Subaru is just saying that if you gonna race, do it safely. They do not force WRX owners to race but they know it is very possible. Face it a lot of WRX owners race their cars, just because it's not sanctioned dosen't mean that it's not hard on them. I think that someone at SOA said" hey instead of letting all these people get killed or wreck thier cars why don't we provide some sort of a safe environment for them to race". Also, it you mod your car, and you decide to beat it, you should be able to afford anthing YOU break. If you can't then you shouldn't be modding. Subaru will fix valid warranty claims. It's just the perception difference between subaru and joe driver that determine what is valid or not.

The one-year free SCCA membership is only a marketing tool and even though Subaru of America's own [i]Drive Performance[/i] Magazine extolled the virtues of competing in SCCA autocross we have to remember that the magazine editors are not the same people who handle warranty authorization for Subaru. It would be nice if this contradiction didn't exist.

I never sent in my SCCA application. It's perfectly safe to do so because [i]until one competes[/i] in an autocross there is no violation of the terms of the warranty. I always had concerns about autocrossing and my warranty so I've never tried it in this car.

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"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush[/color][/size]

How many dealers do you think cehck to see if the car have been autocrossed? Anyone here sign up and race it with or without problems?

Finally, people start talking.

Actually, I've been autocrossing for several years, just never with a new car. I prefer to race my FR cars because it actually tests my skill. AWD cars are ringers for autox, they let me get away with TOO MUCH. LOL

I still think it's bull****.

Regards,
Jenne

[QUOTE=wrx10404]Subaru is just saying that if you gonna race, do it safely. [/QUOTE]

Well this is the problem. If Subaru finds out you have been racing your car they will deny you any kind of warranty coverage. On the one hand they encourage you to race, on the other they refuse warranty repairs citing abuse. This is what I have a problem with. Granted Mitsubishi is even worse with what they've been doing - they scan SCCA results and blacklist anybody they can match up to a VIN - but Subaru is still in the wrong for taking this attitude.