MY 2004 WRX WON'T DRIVE STRAIGHT!!! and it is the dealerships fault.

I bought my car back in October and after a week of owning the car, I noticed that the passenger side sideskirt had scratches all over it from being curbed. It was there before I bought the car but I didn't notice it until after a week of driving it. It never occurred to me to look under a brand new car for damage.

Of course I was pissed about it but there was really nothing I could do about it. The dealership where I bought the car is in another state and I had planned on getting the painted sideskirts anyways. Plus, the dealership would have just said that I curbed it after I bought it so I just let it slide and got the painted sideskirts. Problem solved. WRONG!!!

After driving the car for about 600 miles I noticed the car starting to get out of alignment. I took the car to my local Subaru dealer which is not the same one I bought it at. They said that my wheels weren't balanced and the tires weren't inflated correctly. Well this didn't fix the problem but I drove the car for a few thousand miles because I simply don't have time to go to the dealership all the time. I also had to drive to Tennessee, Kansas, and Texas. Plus I commute to work about 50 miles a day. I took the car back to them at around 3000 miles but the dealer still said everything seemed fine.

Around 4000 miles I bought new wheels and tires for the car. The car still needed an alignment. I didn't get time to take the car in until around 8000 miles which was only about 2 months. At 8000 miles my local Subaru dealer aligned the car under warrenty since this was the 3rd time I had mentioned the problem. So now the car is aligned. NOPE!!! Still the car would not go straight. I have to hold the steering wheel to the left to drive in a straight line and if the wheel is straight then the car moves to the right. This was on March 31st.

So today, I decided to take the car back to the dealer I bought it from and have them look at it. The car now has about 8700 miles. I made a a special trip to my neighboring state to the dealership the car came from. I told them that the car had been aligned at my local Subaru dealer 2 weeks before and gave them the specs from that alignment. I told them about the scratched sideskirt from when I bought the car and told them that I thought something has been bent ever since I bought the car from them.

After waiting at the dealer for 4 hours they say that my car is ready and that all it needed was an alignment and wheel balance. ummmm...right. Plus they charge me $120. The service manager said that SOA said that I can not get another free alignment since I had already had one at the other Subaru dealer. I bite my tongue and go ahead, pay and leave.

Of course I leave and don't even get around the block before noticing that the car is still not aligned and seems worse than before. I pull in a parking lot to calm myself because I am pretty pissed at this point. While I'm sitting there I notice that there is an extra car key in my center console. Seeing this key made me think of the key to my wheel locks. I look in my glovebox and the wheel lock key is not there. I get out and search the car and I can't find it. Now I am furious.

I go back to the dealer and ask for my wheel lock key. The service manager can't find it and the mechanic that worked on the car had left on his lunch break. I told the service manager that I would be in town for a few more hours and to give me a call when the key is found. I then ask about the extra car key that was in my center console. He says that the mechanic had locked my keys in the car and had to have another one made. WTF!!! Are these guys retarded?

I tell the service manager that my car is still not driving straight and ask if he checked to see if anything looked bent. He said I would have to set another appointment to have this checked. He also said that the steering wheel probably was just misaligned. I remind him that I drove 2 hours from another state to get the problem fixed and that I would have to let him know if I would come back to have the "steering wheel realigned". I held my cool the entire time but I dropped the clutch at 5500 rpms for the first time since I've owned the car while leaving the dealership. I know I shouldn't take my hate out on my car but it did make me feel better.

I go and meet a friend for lunch and get to vent with him about the whole ordeal. The dealership calls me while I'm eating to tell me that they found my wheel lock key and that I could come and get it. I finish lunch, go get my key, and head home pissed the entire way because I still can't point my steering wheel straight.

 

Anyways, tomorrow I am going to set up an appointment with my local Subaru dealer to have the "steering" looked at since they seem to be a little more competent. I think the control arm is bent but I can't really tell from simply looking at it. The service manager at my local dealership seems to be a nice guy and he knows that I have had problems with the alignment ever since I got the car.

This will be the 4th time to take the car in for the same problem so I am now beginning to wonder if this falls under the lemon law. I looked at some sites tonight about lemon laws and it actually says if the problem is not solved within 4 trips for service then it qualifies. The problem is that it is really just my word against the dealership I bought the car from. I know I did not curb the car but I can't prove that the dealership did and they would definitely not admit to it. If my local dealership is unable to fix the problem then I will be taking it up with SOA.

Does anyone have any advice for me? Why are dealerships such crooks? Well, I know the answer to that last question but this really sucks. This is my first Subaru to own and I love everything else about the car but if SOA does not help me resolve this problem then....ummmmm.....well.....I'll see what Audi can do for me....argh....I love my Suby too much...please SOA, make me proud. Pruuuoud!

 

Sorry to hear of you problems man. When they aligned your car did they bother to check your "toe settings"? My toe settings was really off when I went to get my car aligned after I lowered it. I hope you get it fix soon so you can get back to enjoying the car.

 

No offense, but an audi is just an expensive VW and to be honest with you.. their quality of work on the service vehicles = lower than subaru. At least around here. We have all have issues; I've beaten the living hell out of my car, every day since august 02 and I've run into a $|=|itload of difficulties.. therefore I do not go around telling everyone to do so.. but hear me out.

Running a dealership is a lucrative business, at private dealerships, the main source of income is cars, not the people coming back for the service. When I worked at a private dealer.. there were guys there that let leaks etc go un-announced. However, I got let go because I was continually **** and 100% detailed about the customers vehicle; most dealerships (and the service manager at the private dealership I worked at) usually let most things slide.. because usually the dealership has to pay out of pocket first, and then go to the higher ups to be reimburst.. UNLESS its some huge, gigantic issue, such as a tranny or rear end or something.

I've personally taken apart the front end and rear end of my '02 wagon.. and let me tell you that thing was a pita to put back to 'perfection'. I had a few bushing issues etc.

I know this sounds completely out of line.. but did you check to see if the rim was bent at all.. the slightest bend can and will effect the alignment of a vehicle. I seriously suggest going to a tire shop who's main cause is giving a customer the ability to roll down the road in a straight line :-P.

Other than that, honestly, I know most people would say, "no way d00d j00 are soo, like wrong yo!"; however stick to the dealer for major services (only if you cant do it yourself) and for everything else go elsewhere and/or take care of it yourself. I have probably 100,000$ worth of tools from the past 6 years and I've worked on everything from a Yugo to a Delorean. All I can say is that you, once again, got screwed over; however you might not have gone about it as tactfully as you could (i.e. go to a pro-alignment shop/tire shop, instead of the dealer -- plus hey, you usually don't even need an appointment for those places ).

Just my .02.. sorry for rambling.. but.. those are just my ideas and hey if you got 3 hours or so on a weekend and are mechanically inclined.. go nuts.. it takes a pretty short time to take apart the front and rear end.

Have a good one,and good luck; too bad you aren't local; if you were I'd be more than willing to help you check some things.

-G

 

I was kidding about the Audi. I really want a BMW...I was kidding about that too. Honestly I can't think of another car I would want over my WRX.

I used to work at a dealership as well so I know that they are all crooks but in the end they still don't want SOA to have to solve the problem because it makes them look bad.

The rims are fine. I have this problem with both my stock rims and tires and my aftermarket SSRs and Falkens.

Trust me, I only go to the dealer if I have too. The only reason I am going for this is because I've had the problem ever since I bought the car. I would go to a pro-alignment shop but I don't have one in my area. I live in Northwest Arkansas.
But still an alignment is an alignment and the car has now had 2 from 2 different places in the past 2 weeks. So it is obviously not an alignment problem. Something is broken.
I plan on getting coilovers for the car but I'd like to wait until I get them before I start taking stuff apart. Plus I don't have a garage right now.
Thanks for the offer.

 

Yes they checked the toe. I'm still on stock suspension. I'm taking the car to my local Suby dealer on Tuesday. If they can't figure out the problem then I will be notifying SOA.

 

sorry to hear about your woes did you try carfaxing your car? at the worst your car was involved in an accident. . .

if u need any help i work at a subaru dealership in hawaii

u can direct any questions u might have to
greg@kaneohesubaru.com
or u can just pm me

aloha,
hope everything works out.

 

You might check out the Better Business Bureau website (www.bbb.com). You can file a complaint and they will help open communication between you and the dealer(s) for resolution. They also have lemon laws by state documented on their site.

 

if you think trying to get your car fixed is a hassle, just wait till you try and pursue a lemon law case. I *almost* went that route with an RSX that had some issues, but it was such a PITA it was easier to get the damn thing fixed, drive it a while, and trade it in.

also, my car had some crappy steering, it would constantly feel out of alignment and wander a little. I kept getting it re aligned. i invested in some good steering rack bushings and it went away.

 

Yeah, I checked the car fax before I bought the car. I bought the car new so wouldn't it be illegal for a dealer to sell a repaired car saying it was new?

Anyways, thanks for offering to help.

 

I got the car repaired finally.
My local Subaru dealership did the repairs for free under my warranty.

The local service manager said that the steering was not aligned on the car and that the car had definitely hit something hard enough to make this happen. He knows that I've had problems with the car ever since I got it.

He told me that I probably should call SOA and complain about the other dealership. The way I see it, the other dealership where I purchased the car owes me money for the alignment and tire balance that they did. Plus they owe me 4 hours of my life back from waiting at the dealer, 3 hours of driving time spent to drive to them, and the gas it took to drive there.

I don't understand how a dealership like my local dealer can have such a great service dept that helped me fix a car that they didn't even sell me but the dealer where I bought the car charges me for something that they did.

The important thing is that the car is fixed and the steering is no longer bothering me. Now I can order my Accessport and TEIN Coilovers. I've been holding off to make sure the car was ok before I started spending money on mods for it.

 

my bad, i misunderstood about the mileage when u got it.
glad u fixed the problem!

remember now- as soon as the mods go in- the headache can only get bigger if you make a warranty claim! just a forewarning. . .

happy modding!
:banana:

 

since you commute so much i would avoid modding until after your warranty expires.

i had a similar problem and it was the actual steering wheel (can you say Pre-Delivery checklist). yeah, my AC also didnt work and a few other thigns were bunk. I just posted the letter I wrote to SOA on another thread in Maintenance and Warranty (posted by SonicSuby) if you want to entertain yourself

 

I don't care if something goes wrong with the car because of a mod I've done. I'll fix that myself.
But I won't be returning to a dealership every again if I can help it. If I can't help it then I'll just take what mods I have off.

I don't plan on doing that much to my car anyways because the WRX is so sexy stock even.

dub2w - I read your letter to SOA. I am pretty sure if that had happened to me then I would be running back to Honda. Sucks that you had to deal with that.

 

yeah, it was a bummer. but such is life, so i am gonna forget about it and enjoy my car... thankfully the car is more fun than my experience with the dealership