Canadian car died when I was in the states
 

I live in Canada and two weeks ago I was in West Virigina with my car, I drove 700km to WV with no issue but suddenly while driving at 35MPH my car started making chunking noises.

Initial inspection from the local dealership was "the car doesn't have oil and it's seized". I change all my oil every 6000km and the car has less than 20000km on it.

After 2 weeks of no further updates, I contacted the tech every day, the tech emailed me:

... they are requiring your authorization in tear down to determine the exact point of failure. Once a point of failure is determined in the engine, Subaru will send an inspector out to verify. Subaru will then contact me on their decision on any warranty coverages. To remove the engine and tear it down, we would need $1200.00 USD in payment up front. If Subaru would cover this claim under warranty, your money could then be refunded. If the failure would be denied, the teardown and repairs would be your responsibility ...

Partially redacted to preserve personal information and off-topic stuff.

I'm not planning on paying them $1200 which can be held against me for the rest of the warranty payment because I heard Subaru does not honor their warranty very well. It also just sounds like a scare tactic to drop my claim.

What's my next step here? I'm gonna be calling SOA tomorrow and I'm even willing to hire a lawyer if that's financially on my side.

Thanks.

What year is your BRZ? You say that you changed the oil every 6000km... but you made no mention of checking the oil level regularly between changes... did you check it regularly? Were your oil changes done by you or the dealership? Hopefully you kept all receipts either way that it was done. It certainly won’t hurt to contact SOA, but don’t be surprised if they agree with the dealership’s request to pay for a tear down and be reimbursed if they find that the engine failure was not your fault.

What year is your car?
If you only have 20k on the clock it's it's a warranty issue.
If you didn't have an oil leak something else might be the problem

I would call Subaru of America just to get the ball rolling. As for the $1200 pre charge I wouldn't agree with that. Maybe $500 to get stuff going. But a grand? Fuck that.

Do you have receipts? When was the last oil change mileage wise before the failure. If you had "no oil" and did the oil changes yourself and don't have receipts will make it harder.

need more info..year? Stock? Mods? Did you just have the spring recall done?

@dank was saying in another thread that he was doing a lot of burnouts and donuts with the stock tires. I'll say again that the 0w20 spec oil is not the best choice for such car usage independently of model year etc.

If you ran it dry, its likely on you.

If you had noted oil consumption issues it the vehicles history, then you have a better ground to stand on for a warranty claim.

International warranty claims can be a bitch even when the failure is clearly a legit issue. As soon as the water muddies it gets nasty. Remember that SoA and SoC are two totally different companies even though both sell the same things from the same parent. This whole thing can become a mess in a hurry.

With all the useless electronics in modern car, how hard could it be for manufacturer to install an oil level sensor/switch? Car companies can't resonably expect people to check the oil level at each gas fill. I bet most "regular" people don't even know how to check oil level. Not to mention with modern engine the oil always stay clear and super thin (0w20), so it's basically impossible to read on the dipstick.

Is the easiest thing in the world to check your oil. There is a low pressure light but if you see it then it is already too late. To put a level indicator would be useless anyway since level changes dramatically at different stages the engine running. It takes one minute to check your oil so who cares what the little old lady driving the Buick does?

You mean that old lady that just blasted by me in her Regal GS?

What? This is literally part of owning a car and maintaining it. When I fill up I pop my fuel door and my hood. Start fueling, move around and check oil level. I'm done checking oil way before my fuel stops being pumped. This is a poor excuse to not check your oil.

No kidding. It might as well be the "You've got none left you can refill and skip your next oil change" light from my experience with children who drive older cars and don't bother doing what Dad asks them to do.

Yep, the old days. Ask the filling station attendant to put two dollars worth of regular in it and add a quart of 30 weight oil. Yes, I know my tires are bald, but they still hold air.


:iono:


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