Hello everyone! I ‘ve been reading posts on here for a couple of years now, and gotten quite a bit of useful information… Thank you all!
Well, now it’s time for me to make my own contribution! Hopefully this will help many others with transmission problems!
I purchased my WRX in April 2002… and loved it! Unfortunately the transmission, I did not feel the same way about. Always hard to shift, would grind going into 5th, and would sometimes grind when 1st gear was selected from a stop! As the miles increased, the transmission got noisier (gear whine) Until at 14000 miles it got really noisy, and reverse would no longer stay ingaged! I took it back to the dealer, and they fixed it (sort of) under warranty. The day I picked it up, I drove it home and noticed loud rattling and a whistling sound (like a boost leak)… Took it back to the dealer and was told the tech forgot to tighten the shifter linkage all the way; the whistling was a mystery, even after one additional visit to the dealer! Well, I looked at it myself; Took the IC off and re installed it tightening everything well… Problem solved!
OK, roughly 7000 more miles go by. I was on my way to work, merging on the highway in 3rd gear; when I shifted in to 4th at about 70mph, all hell broke loose! It felt as if the shifter went in a void between 2nd and 4th, and started grinding! I had to come to a complete stop and forcibly move the shifter out of that position! After, this 3rd anf 4th gear would no longer work! Took it to the dealer, and dropped it off. 2 days later, I was called by them and told that I needed to sign a work order saying the repair wan probably not going to be covered under warranty, because it was the second time the transmission had been damaged! By this point, they hadn’t even looked at the car! I was pissed, and didn’t know what to do. I called SOA, and was told the same thing by them. As a matter of fact, the decision came from them!
I read the whole warranty booklet, and reviewed all the paperwork I signed when I bought the car… Nowhere was it written that the tranny warranty would only work once.
I decided to call Better Business Bureau, and file a claim with them. This is a free service too, so I figured I can’t go wrong! Once all the information was filed with BBB, SOA wrote them a letter saying the same thing they had told me…. They would not guarantee warranty service. At this point the next option with BBB was to file for an “informal hearing” with SOA, a mediator, and myself! The day after SOA was contacted by BBB to schedule for this, I was called by SOA, and told that they would now fix the car, under warranty with no questions asked! Needless to say, I was a happy man on that day. Keep in mind that this is a free service! A good alternative to the lawyer thing.
The contact information for BBB is 800-955-5100.
You can file a claim over the phone… It’s easy!
I do apologize for this long post, but I felt the need to tell the whole story. I hope it helps many more people on here.

 

Yeah... I said lawsuit because it was the easiest thing to say!
But the way I saw it, once you sign that piece of paper, they can say anything they want regarding the problem with the car!
I truly hate SOA right now, and I want as many people as possible to understand they too have this option!