Subaru trying to deny my warranty please help!

[Jordan Silveira]

Moderators: I don't mean to SPAM this topic I am just not sure exactly where to post it and feel having it in numerous areas of the forums will help get the most feedback. Thank you!


Hey there FT86 family,

Admittedly, I have been holding back from writing this because I feel like an idiot for even finding myself in this predicament and more so, because I undoubtedly expect some people to doubt my story that I know as truth. Not to mention, the internet is full of those who take joy in watching others pitfalls. Anyways, here it goes. I am looking for any help, support, advice, or knowledge that can help me get out of this situation as intact as possible. I have been in major stress since Monday and figure it’s worth taking a shot seeing what type of responses this post will garner.


I bought a 2016 BRZ Series.Hyperblue for 2,000 off MSRP from Subaru of Glendale with 193 miles on it. I was told the car would still maintain all factory and manufacturer warranties (which still seems to be the case). However, I was sold the car as used. I was told the car was an unwind vehicle and while being asked to keep this information quiet, the car was purchased by a salesman in order to hit the monthly sales quota and then unwound. Unfortunately, upon purchasing the car something with this story seemed to be shifty as from what I know now, that all may be true but there also seems to be an owner who purchased the car in late January. Anyways, I dismissed it because the car ran perfectly and rest assured, I had manufacturer warranties if anything was seriously wrong. With that said, I had driven the car with absolutely no issues for three months until I took the car to be tinted and upon picking up my car, the car failed to start. I tried everything from forum searching, to attempting to jump start the car, and to no avail, nothing worked. The vehicle had full electricity from alarms, stereo, lights, etc. However, the engine would not turn over (crank). The steering wheel was locked and I was being shown a blinking immobilizer light on my cluster. In conjunction with this, when I would press on the clutch it would recognize my key fob was in range (per the light on the cluster). Finally, I gave up and had the car towed to Puente Hills Subaru {PHS} (Subaru Roadside wouldn’t assist so Geico was my only option and they towed the car to the nearest dealer).


From this point, I initially received a call from a service advisor at PHS stating that my ECU was producing readings (ignition count, etc.) with all values indicating “0”. He then told me he had not seen anything like this and that despite the unusual circumstance he would keep “prodding”. However, before he let me go he asked if I had ever “tuned or flashed” my car. I told him no because to my knowledge the vehicle never had been. I know at the very least I for sure did nothing of the sort. The next day I received a call from the Service Manager at PHS asking me for a full detailed history of the car and I gladly obliged telling him everything from the time I bought it up until it arrived on their lot. At that point, he told me he noticed the tint stickers saying the windows should not be rolled down and I confirmed the car head been tinted the day it stopped working. He then told me either I or the tint shop was being dishonest (insinuating I was lying) and that according to him my car had been “flashed or tuned” with a “2015 STi profile using a COBB Accessport”. He then proceeded to tell me that was the reason my car would not start because the ECU was locked up with a profile it didn’t recognize. After staunchly denying his allegations, he told me he had already spoken with a Subaru of America technician to have my car flagged as modified for this alleged “flash or tune”. He then told me I had two options, to find this accessport that my car was married to, or pay for a new ECU as my warranty would be denied for this repair and more than likely any other future engine or powertrain problems should they arise.


I then went to the place where my car was tinted and sat with the owner for upwards of an hour and a half watching surveillance footage of my car from the time I dropped it off to the moment the car was towed away. During this time, I could find no time where foul play could be insinuated. Moreover, I called the service manager who wrongly accused me and told him what I was currently doing and that I would like some proof of his alleged claims. He told me that he could do so as soon as I decided to pay for the service or towed the car off of their lot. He then told me he had “9 minutes to get to a meeting across the street” the moment myself or the owner of the tint shop wanted to speak with him. All he did was reaffirm his allegations that my car was tuned with the aforementioned “2015 STi profile using the COBB accessport”. He also claimed that this would have had to been done to the car right before it’s mechanical/electrical failure based on his ECU readings printout of all zero’s for the values listed. Later in the day, the service manager called me to tell me that he was mistaken in his allegations regarding the “2015 STi profile/COBB Accessport” but that he remained steadfast in his claims that my car was “tuned or flashed” but that upon further research with a Subaru of America technician my car was producing these zero readings with the profile of a 2015 BRZ and that the calibration ID’s and numbers were not matching the VIN of the vehicle. He then told me he found two previous owners on the history of the car prior to me (an owner who originally purchased the car in late January, and “one of those Glendale names” (WOW prejudice much?!?!). I told him I had no idea and never did anything he was claiming. He told me frankly it didn’t matter what I was claiming because he had proof saying otherwise and regardless of whether or not I did it, the “tune/flash” whenever it occurred would still allow denial of my warranty repair and a “flagging” of my vehicle for future servicing needs. I then was asked by the same guy to deliver my second key as he was going to try and make the car operate/run with the current profile system of a 2015 BRZ. I then obliged and gave him the key and during my time there he showed me a printout of my vehicle and readings with values of “0” while also showing me what it would otherwise look like by comparing my readings with other customer’s readings of the day. He even went so far to tell me that he had seen so many people come in pleading for mercy and bailout and that Subaru of America would even sometimes provide up to 75% of the repair costs if they would just come clean on the alleged modifications. I told him I had nothing to come clean about because I honestly did nothing to the vehicle. He then told me he would be rich if he had a dime for every time someone lied to his face about modifying their vehicle. He then told me he would try his best to get the car working on its current situation but couldn’t guarantee me anything because of the alleged “tune/flash”.


I then opened up a case with Subaru of America detailing the aforementioned events for the gross lack of professionalism, wrongful persecution despite my staunch denial of his allegations, amongst many other issues. I was then told they would look into the matter and within the next day I received a call from the Service Manager asking if his conversation with a Subaru of America regarding my displeasure of the case was accurate and I told him yes. He then told me to come pick my car up and tow it away indicating he was refusing service to my car from here on out. I called SoA and they told me they gave absolutely no directive for such measures to refuse service but that all authorized Subaru Retailers were independently owned and could do as they wished regarding service but that they would note this on my case and further investigate. The story goes on and on but rather than elaborate on an already longer series of events than most will even read through, as it currently stands my car is still in PHS’s service lot and starting next week SoA will be sending a warranty/district rep to inspect and investigate all the findings and determine if whether or not my car will be covered by warranty for this repair and going forward if indeed the Service Manager’s allegations are true.


In short, I am wondering if any of you who have stuck around long enough to read this would have any idea if any of his allegations are even possible, if you have any advice to save me from what seems to be the inevitable consequences for something I did not do, or any other further information/comments.


Thank you so much,


Jordan

[Attrm]

Hey man,

I'm no mechanic here but I read your story and it seems that you really got screwed over Btw while I was doing research on Subaru in socal, I heard puente hills was shady af. Maybe it could be a lemon car??Anyway, here's a free bump and hopefully you get this situation solved.

[continuecrushing]

keep fighting this.

Plus, the way cobb works you wouldn't even be able to flash our car, let alone with an STi tune.

KEEP BUGGING THE HELL OUT OF THEM.
KEEP BUGGING THE HELL OUT OF THEM.
KEEP BUGGING THE HELL OUT OF THEM.

Call other dealers, SOA etc etc. Be a pain for them.

[Who8myrice]

Something is not right.
How can brz/Frs with sti tune even work for few days ?.
And dealership was able to pin point the ecu flash and something you knew nothing about.
Sorry but I am going to side with dealership in this one. Next time get the right tune brah.

[shiumai]

Good luck OP - keep us posted. What has Subaru of Glendale said about this?

[Jordan Silveira]

I have tried contacting Subaru of Glendale but to no avail they won't put me on the phone with A) the guy who sold me the car, B) the Sales Manager, or C) the Service Manager, so I have left voicemails. I obviously haven't gone there because transportation at the moment is limited to say the least.

As for bugging them believe me I have! And believe me I will! I wouldn't go through a whole week of no car, no work, no pay, endless calls, endless documenting, stress, etc. if I had any guilt in this. If you've never been wrongfully accused and persecuted for it in such a way as I am now then naturally I don't expect much understanding or sympathy but I will not go down easy on this.

As for siding with the dealership everyone is entitled to their own opinion but from my perspective, based on the initial service advisor telling me he hadn't seen anything like this, then the service manager finding an ever so convenient way to blame it on me so I have to pay for the repair (flash/tune) by just replacing the whole ECU. Then as soon as I've been treated poorly and they find out I have opened up a case with corporate, they refuse service. This is a clear sign they are trying to wash their hands of my car, myself, etc. If for nothing else, this shows how horrible of a dealer PHS is. Shouldn't they be trying to help each step of the way to figure it out and keep their name in the clear? For the sake of customer satisfaction and quality assurance? It's just ridiculous.

[Razzamatazz]

damn if glendale wasn't so far out for me i'd pick you up and drive you around myself! That's really fucked up, and im going to side with others here and say don't stop fighting this one. Dealerships absolutely suck, and honestly if it weren't warranty related / free I would never ever in a million years take my car there for any type of service or repair. This might be a little far out, but you could try giving Subaru Irvine a call. I've had so-so luck with their service department. Their communication blows and they work at a snails pace, but they did replace my rear diff under warranty with no questions asked so that was nice. They also seem to like modded cars to an extent, the tech was admiring a few of the things I'd done to my BRZ and wasn't at all talking about voiding warranty or flagging the vehicle or anything like that. Just don't get the European lady, she's a real hard ass. I realize it's a haul out there, but at the very worst a call will net you nothing new to go with but at the best it could fix your problems!

[Jordan Silveira]

Originally Posted by Razzamatazz

damn if glendale wasn't so far out for me i'd pick you up and drive you around myself! That's really fucked up, and im going to side with others here and say don't stop fighting this one. Dealerships absolutely suck, and honestly if it weren't warranty related / free I would never ever in a million years take my car there for any type of service or repair. This might be a little far out, but you could try giving Subaru Irvine a call. I've had so-so luck with their service department. Their communication blows and they work at a snails pace, but they did replace my rear diff under warranty with no questions asked so that was nice. They also seem to like modded cars to an extent, the tech was admiring a few of the things I'd done to my BRZ and wasn't at all talking about voiding warranty or flagging the vehicle or anything like that. Just don't get the European lady, she's a real hard ass. I realize it's a haul out there, but at the very worst a call will net you nothing new to go with but at the best it could fix your problems!

Definitely! At this point I am willing to try whatever needs to be done to get back on the road again with my warranty in place. I appreciate the help and will definitely look into Subaru of Irvine. Thank you @Razzamatazz

[geezerbrzeezer]

Well written/detailed - and I feel for you.

You need to follow this one up the chain, as painstaking as that may be. You'll get results - this is not as hopeless as you are imagining.

Consider a consultation with a good attorney - it could be money well spent.

Any TV news consumer advocacy personalities in your area? Businesses hate bad press, and it's amazing what they'll do to rectify uncomfortable situations to save their butts.

It would be interesting to speak with the two "previous owners" to elicit clues.

Good luck sir.

[Jordan Silveira]

Originally Posted by geezerbrzeezer

Well written/detailed - and I feel for you.

You need to follow this one up the chain, as painstaking as that may be. You'll get results - this is not as hopeless as you are imagining.

Consider a consultation with a good attorney - it could be money well spent.

Any TV news consumer advocacy personalities in your area? Businesses hate bad press, and it's amazing what they'll do to rectify uncomfortable situations to save their butts.

It would be interesting to speak with the two "previous owners" to elicit clues.

Good luck sir.

Thank you so much. I am going to try and do all I can to get this rectified. I am looking to getting the car moved to Glendale as soon as possible.

[Jordan Silveira]

Mods please close this thread. I am going to try and consolidate this issue/topic into the Subaru BRZ general forum. Thank You!