Spoke with dealership about going in for my recall work...
 

So I've kept an eagle eye on all the threads and have read all your guys' failures and read through the procedure to perform the recall, and I went in to my local Subaru dealership and spoke with the people there. My main objective was to schedule my recall, but speak with a manager to get some sort of warranty on the engine post-recall, in light of all the failures happening.

1st girl I spoke to didn't know there was a recall on any of their cars, 2nd guy said he knows about the recalls and will answer any question. This is many back-and-forths after asking to speak with a higher up to better understand the situation before putting my car in, they avoided it at all costs for some reason. 2nd guy denies any engine failures on Subarus anywhere lol.

So 2nd guy says "Yep bring the car in and I'd recommend paying for an oil change since they'll already be working on the car." I say, "Well the oil will already be changed, all the fluids will since the car needs to be drained before pulling the engine." He goes, "Oh yeah of course the engine gets pulled, but all the oil gets put into a bucket and then put back in afterwards". I stared at him for about 10 seconds, waiting for him to say he was joking.. he was not. Is that a thing? I know a lot about cars, not everything though, but that has to be the most idiotic thing ever said right? Putting dirty oil BACK into the car? With the same gaskets and filter placed back on? I told him thanks for his help and left.

Can someone clear this up, because in my eyes, you should not be leaving dirty oil in a bucket for 6+ hours, then putting it back in the engine.

Procedure calls for new oil, but NOT a new filter. Page 3 shows oil, as an additional material needed.

Also on page 34:
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/201...8V772-6522.pdf

I mean, if the pan is clean that it's sitting in, and it's likely covered so airborne contaminants won't be falling in, it's fine.. but that's pretty cheap to re-use the oil, just change it. Why not ask another dealership if there's one around what they would do?
To be totally fair, the oil sitting in a clean bucket for 6+ hours is no different than it sitting in your oil pan for 6+ hours.

I agree, I don't like it. It's not bad though, as long as the pan they use is clean.

Not unusual at all as silly as it sounds. If the oil/transmission fluid/coolant was good and didn't need changing before other work was done why would it need to be changed afterward? In this particular case I would pay the extra to have the filter changed but even that won't help if they really muck up the sealant application.

Interesting, I'm glad I didn't say anything rude to him for saying that then.. It definitely is silly putting used oil and filters back on the car for a recall THEY issued.. Anyways I've come to the conclusion I don't want them touching my car, so I won't be taking part in the recall. I'll most likely have traded in my 2013 for a newer one before it hits 60,000km anyways.

Its common practice to drain and refill oils in many industries. It happens all the time in my world, but when you deal with stuff that gets 40 gallons of coolant, 20g gallons of engine oil or 100s of gallons of hydraulics, you see why it is not just tossed.

I would however, suggest paying for a new filter since they are taking everything apart and putting new oil. May as well start fresh!

If it were me, I'd be going to a different dealer...

I'd be more concerned with the cleanliness of the buckets used than the reused oil but if mine was I'd just pay em to use all new stuff a lil extra.

22R

Oil is covered, the filter is not.

In all honesty, the service manager or adviser most likely has no idea what the recall involves. Springs blah blah might blow up blah blah deny everything blah blah document all aftermarket parts blah blah.

They aren't there to fix cars or explain what is being fixed. They're there to portray the company in a professional manner and make sure the shit rolls down hill.

Get a meeting with the shop foreman. If the foreman walks in wearing khakis, ask for a team lead instead. Read the Toyota recall instructions. The Subaru instructions are cut down x5 assuming the techs know their way around a Subaru engine. 8 pages to remove a Toyota engine, vs "remove the engine" in Subaru.

lol wow, thats why i take my toys to legitimate reputable tune shops like brentuning even if its just for normal maintenance or checkups. lol, dealerships smh. ads on craigslist: "dealership maintained!!"

"dealership maintained" is the biggest red flag you could have on a car haha, I agree

If the techs dispense oil from a pump hanging from the ceiling, bet they don't bother draining oil into a bucket to save for later. Normal procedure for oil change drains it into the oil drain and refills it with new oil, why do things differently for a recall? Service advisors often don't know what's involved so don't take their word for much.