BRZ held hostage by dealer b/c of FaceBook Posts tracking it.
 

What an ordeal she had! This took place in Canada.

http://jalopnik.com/subaru-dealer-ho...ing-1795828438

As much as I want to advocate for the consumer, I always say one thing: if you want to track, race, or otherwise drive the crap out of your car beyond normal street driving limits, be prepared to pay for everything wrong out of pocket.

If you don't want to, be aware of limitations of warranty. At the end of the day, a smart dealer will work with you in good faith on reasonable claims, while some others (like the one in the article) will give you the shaft.

But, how much can you pay out of pocket? That's up to each person to decide.

-alex

Also posted here:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119244

It's interesting because the Twins are advertised to take to the track so it's an interesting debate. The 2017 even has a Track Mode.

Didn't see that, thanks!

They never said if there were any performance mods that "could have" caused the pump to fail. Mind you I am hard pressed to guess what mod could even be accused of causing it anyway.


This supports all the times several of us have told guys to delete threads that even if totally innocent could be interpreted as misuse. The dealers can and will hunt you down if they decide they want to fight. Be careful what you say.

Yup, basically the owner of the car sucks at negotiating her position on mods vs warranty.

-alex

People Facebook every friggen thing.

I think the owner should have been more discrete, especially when relying on the dealership service.

No lie, when I had my SRT8 Challenger, a kid (he was less than 21 I think) posted a video on the forum of him doing burnouts and donuts.

A week later, he fishtails the car into a sidwalk...a few of us pointed out that he should delete that "old video" of him hooning and almost "beaching the whale" then. (Edit the FIRST ACCIDENT happened 6 months before the video...the second accident...which had a thread pulled down happened after)

I refer wrecking a Challenger on a sidewalk as "Beaching the whale".

Wrecking a Mustang is just called "Cars and coffee".

Anyway here is a link to that old thread...

http://www.challengertalk.com/forums...esp-off-94081/

Awesome, after looking I found the old thread and video...

http://www.challengertalk.com/forums...de-sac-102070/

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5CRsbwH8I8"]2013 Challenger R/T drifting around a cul-de-sac - YouTube[/ame]

I am not trying to rip on the guy, but...yes your social median and youtube posts can be used against you.

EDIT:

Oh wow, the wreck happened FIRST, then the video of burnouts...

He also has a thread about the car grinding into 2nd gear...

There was probably a 20 minute discussion of this very topic during the First86 event in Long Beach with the head honchos of Scion. The question was directly asked if turning the nannies off and using the car on the track would invalidate warranty coverage.

The answer was "no", at least not more that doing something stupid on the street would. If you abuse the car, it could be used but it was specifically said that autocross use of the car would not be used to deny service.

Now, if you have modified the crap out of it, whether you do or don't track it, that could raise issues.

Whether it's true or not in practice the intent seemed to be they wanted people to use it for the way they advertised it.

Ya, I don't want to know what you had for lunch...oh wait...nevermind.

The disclaimer is there in the warranty to be legal protection in case it went to court.

In practice, this is at the discretion of the dealer, and to a lesser extent the regional case manager for corporate.

I keep saying it over and over again, "avoid the word 'void'" and "build a good relationship with the dealer" if you want them to bend the rules for you.

I tracked my BRZ but I never once asked a dealer to warranty anything that could give them pause when it came to claim. The two things I warrantied (tail light condensation and oil seepage from front timing cover after 10k miles before I went on track) were both no-brainers. The third one was ticking axle after I lowered the car, but the dealer just did it without asking too many questions since I was not expecting it to be covered.

-alex

I recall a few ads from Toyota with 4 tires in the trunk and a jack and a tool box. Been a while since I saw it but I think it said something about weekend at the track or something like that.

Have you ever worked at a large company where one end of the company doesn't work or coordinate with the other end?

This is basically the marketing and legal departments on opposite ends of the messaging spectrum.

-alex

This kind of shit really makes me mad, and not much does. Sue the fuckers is my advice.

I've had some weird conversations with Subaru central but my dealer always goes to bat for me. The idea that the dealer is trying to hide behind the weasel words in the warranty just brings down the red mist.

And yes, WTF? Subaru actually promotes track use of this car. Jeez us we just do not need Subaru acting like some fucking insurance company pointing to weasel words about abuse. These cars are built to be bulletproof and they just are. Subaru should be ecstatic somebody actually broke one.

How many of these cars are they expecting to sell anyway?

I think this owner needs a friend who's a lawyer to go down to the dealership and start talking loudly about how much they are going to sue for , right there on the showroom floor.

Think that doesn't work? Think again.

It didn't work for her:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nati...e90481452.html

Well not our fault. If that's an improper ad they are at fault. They need to say no tracking the car specifically (non competitive), but they have the clause for competitive only.

2017 Marketing Captions say "...force to be reckoned with on the track and the streets" and "When on the racetrack" There's no asterisk pointing to tracking as not covered under warranty, just competition

https://www.toyota.com/86/

Again, it goes back to what you do "on the track" just like "on the street". There is very little done on the track that would invalidate aspects of your warranty you couldn't do on the street if you are doing non-competitive tracking.

While there are always exceptions, dealers don't go looking for a reason to invalidate your warranty outside what is obvious when you bring your car in to them. Why would the dealer want to turn down work they could legitimately get paid for (by the factory)?

In fact, I've had dealers (Honda, GM, Toyota) go out of their way to try and get repairs approved.

The witch-hunt that was part of the original article here is an exception and really came after what had become an adversarial situation (rightly or wrongly) but I don't think it is the norm.

So I just contacted Toyota Corporate about using the car on the track as it's advertised. At first she told me that "the car is only meant for street use". Clearly she didn't know about the FRS or 86 specifically by the sound of her voice which is understandable. I explained to her since 2013 the car has been advertised for Street and Track. She said but it's main purpose is for use on the street. I stated then why did they advertise that you can take it to the track without mention possibility of warranty items not being covered. She seemed stumped and said "well the dealership service manager makes the ultimate decision". They have my cell number and I think I will be getting a call back. I'll keep you updated. But for now, Toyota said the dealers decision is final.

and yes I have too much time on my hands today...

Here they go again with "void your warranty" talk. The dealership can deny service, not outright void your warranty right?

I saw the initial post of this on the Vancouver subaru club facebook page, didn't know which dealership it was until now. While that is not the same location I bought my car, it is the same dealership...

Sure hope I don't run into any BS like this if I ever have a warranty issue.

Glad she got her car fixed and back without extra charges. Proof here that you can fight the dealership and win if you are persistent.

It says the AE86 was a force to be reckoned with" These are nit an AE86.
It says " born on the track, BRED for the streets"
Id does say racetrack though.

Sorry, the judgment of a trial is final, unless you want to appeal to the SCOTUS.

You can't modify your car and then track it and claim under warranty. The warranty covers the car as built by Subaru. Any modification risks voiding the warranty, and generally in Canada does void the warranty, and certainly would if the modification affects the stresses the car is subjected to on a track.

Lol. Warranty. I jokingly asked if I could buy my FRS without one. I wish they let me bc my car hasn't seen a dealership since I bought it. I wouldn't trust them to work on it anyway.

Someone said it already but if you track your car you need to be prepared for the consequences. Plain and simple. Every component on a car is being stressed more on the track than they would be on the street. On a track you are wide open for 20-30 mins and putting forces on the car that simply does not qualify as normal street use.

If you can spend $350-600 a day on track events, you should be able to cover repairs.

Lol, what a PR nightmare. How to sink your dealership 101.
This service manager seems like a big douche. "I race Mclarens and Porches...." yeah sure buddy.
You're working as a service manager at a Subaru dealership....

I dealt with a service manager with a similar attitude.
A few months later I received a call from the new service manager asking that I kindly give them another chance (which I didn't).

Also, the whole argument that a car sees more wear and tear on the track then on the street is debatable.
I've seen drivers on mountain runs make a typical day on track look like my granny on a Sunday outing.

"Hit the rumble strip" hahaha they have clearly never seen one of these.

http://www.ajc.com/rf/image_large/Pu...ages/grate.jpg