Whiteout FR-S Towed into Dealership

[ruskymx]

On Saturday, there was a Whiteout FR-S that came in on a tow truck. My first though was about the idle issue and maybe it was stalling, etc. I spoke with the tow truck driver briefly and he said there was transmission issues. It wasn't shifting into gear, especially into reverse like it should. I first though that maybe the driver jammed it into reverse without using the collar and broke something. I was wrong....way wrong.

I had to go to the parts department this morning and I was talking with the guys back there and they informed me of what happened. The original dealer's service department did a half-assed PDI and never checked the trans fluid. Apparently, it left the factory empty! It was bone dry when our tech checked it out! It only has 600 miles on it too, but I guess that's pretty good to last that long with no oil. My dealership was not the original dealer FYI. I'm going to see if I can find out who it was and maybe do some bus driving over a competitor.

I'll admit though, it makes me a little nervous because I rushed one of our techs through my PDI because it came in near the end of the day.

Update (since I didn't finish my post all at once, I grabbed a pic in the mean time of the offending dealership):



There were quite a few mistakes here. First the factory that built the transmission, then the Subie plant, and finally the dealer. Parts department told me the transmission is just shy of $6,300!

BTW, I would make them take that sticker off for sure.

Ruskymx

[Hawaiian]

Il would kill the dealer just for that sticker alone.

[Chewie4299]

Originally Posted by Hawaiian

Il would kill the dealer just for that sticker alone.

I don't mind repping a good dealer for a while after a car purchase if they were pleasant and the experience was good. I will ultimately remove it. This all relies on the decal being subtle.... yea that one is disgusting.

On my Jeep my buying experience was shit. I never once set foot back in that particular dealership in 6 years of driving the Jeep. The day after I bought it I power washed my car and was pleasantly surprised when their decal ripped right off with a little high pressure water.

[thill]

If I was the car owner I would demand a brand new car. Getting a brand new transmission at 600 miles makes me wonder what else could have been overlooked...

[Chewie4299]

Originally Posted by thill

If I was the car owner I would demand a brand new car. Getting a brand new transmission at 600 miles makes me wonder what else could have been overlooked...

If you were the owner would you want to wait X months for a new car? I'd have the new dealer do a full inspection to ensure that nothing else was missed. Get the tranny replaced at the expense of the original dealer.

Dealer #2 will hopefully see an opportunity to make a really good customer by taking care of someone where dealer #1 dropped the ball.

[Hawaiian]

Some of those dealer stickers are impossible to remove. I gouged the clearcoat on my last car (it was a city beater so I didn't care).

That being said I don't mind repping the dealer I got my FR-S from. They hid my keys so the porters and pdi guys didn't get in to it (it was their first one), kept it off the showroom floor, didn't drill the front bumper without me even asking, sold it for msrp with no addons, got me a lower apr, they even power wash it for me whenever I want.

The list goes on, but it was one of the best dealer experiences I've had. To return the favor I carry a few business cards for my salesperson around and hand them out when people ask about the car. I even posted that they had a car in on the regional section to help both my dealer, and the community.

[ZmZMWagon]

The owner should request an extended warranty + perks......

[ruskymx]

Originally Posted by Chewie4299

If you were the owner would you want to wait X months for a new car? I'd have the new dealer do a full inspection to ensure that nothing else was missed. Get the tranny replaced at the expense of the original dealer.

Dealer #2 will hopefully see an opportunity to make a really good customer by taking care of someone where dealer #1 dropped the ball.

The manual transmissions are very hard to get in my area too. For the month of July, my region is bringing in around 110 manuals (all colors) for 135 dealers.

I'm curious to find out why they had the car towed to my dealership instead of the original. I'm guessing they may live closer to us, but bought the car at the other place because they had what they wanted.

Ruskymx

[alyon]

Damn. Makes me want to check my fluids. The techs had to rush mine also and I am still getting a little burning smell every once in a while (at 1k miles now).

[feldy]

How do you even check the trans fluid there is no dipstick for it.

[csaba]

Originally Posted by feldy

How do you even check the trans fluid there is no dipstick for it.

There is a fill up hole and when its full oil will spil out of it . Just like the differential fill up

[ruskymx]

You will need to get under the car and not just on ramps because it should be level. I'm guessing that it's going to be similar to other manual transmissions that I have owned. There is usually a "fill" plug on the side of the tranny. Remove the plug and if the oil level is at or close to that level, it's good. If you can stick your finger in and not feel any oil, then it's low.

Ruskymx

[Hanakuso]

Yikes. Makes me what to check mine now.

[vividracing]

Just be careful that you remove the FILL plug and not the DRAIN plug lol. The fill plug is higher, and usually on the side of the transmission.

[Jeff Lange]

No dealer is going to pull the plug and check the trans fluid level on a brand new car that arrives from the factory, sorry. Maybe I shouldn't say no dealer, but almost no dealer. It's just not something that happens. I see no wrongdoing on the part of the dealership, only at the factory.

You check for visible leaks and you confirm operation, but you don't go pulling out plugs to check the levels of fluids in the diff and/or transmission, etc.

Jeff

[ayau]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lange

No dealer is going to pull the plug and check the trans fluid level on a brand new car that arrives from the factory, sorry. Maybe I shouldn't say no dealer, but almost no dealer. It's just not something that happens. I see no wrongdoing on the part of the dealership, only at the factory.

You check for visible leaks and you confirm operation, but you don't go pulling out plugs to check the levels of fluids in the diff and/or transmission, etc.

Jeff

that's what i thought. i don't think the pdi says specifically to check for transmission fluid either.

[Jeff Lange]

Originally Posted by Chewie4299

Get the tranny replaced at the expense of the original dealer.

This is a warranty issue not a dealer issue, the first dealer did nothing wrong, they won't be paying a bill.

Originally Posted by Chewie4299

Dealer #2 will hopefully see an opportunity to make a really good customer by taking care of someone where dealer #1 dropped the ball.

Again, dealer #1 didn't screw anything up, and while the customer may feel they did (potentially, I don't know), in reality they really didn't. Well at least not related to the transmission.

Originally Posted by ruskymx

I'm curious to find out why they had the car towed to my dealership instead of the original. I'm guessing they may live closer to us, but bought the car at the other place because they had what they wanted.

Or the car just broke down closer to your dealership.

Jeff

[mattles]

still sounds like a shit PDI. I bet if you drive a trans with oil itll sound/feel NOT GOOD, which then would warrant a peek into the case to check leaks/fluid level... common sense even though its not in writing on the PDI.

[Jeff Lange]

I agree, but it may/probably did have some gear oil, enough to drive fine until it was overheating. It's hard to say without hearing exact details.

Jeff

[sbxjap]

c'mon guys... you're giving me nightmares already. I have less than 200miles on my BRZ.

But if this happened... I'd go ballistic on everyone, at fault or not. I hope this turns out okay though...

[Mpowered]

This is a reminder to all to check their fluids.

[mattles]

Originally Posted by sbxjap

c'mon guys... you're giving me nightmares already. I have less than 200miles on my BRZ.

But if this happened... I'd go ballistic on everyone, at fault or not. I hope this turns out okay though...

heh, well realistically the odds of a car coming from the factory entirely missing a certain fluid is very low. Considering the car has to be driven onto a boat or truck and then back off again, its in the best interest of everyone that it leave its plant of origin in full operating condition. Sadly the car in the OP was doomed before it even got to the dealership or into the customer's hands.