follow ft86club on our blog, twitter or facebook.
FT86CLUB
Ft86Club
Delicious Tuning
Register Garage Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community - FT86CLUB > 1st Gens: Scion FR-S / Toyota 86 / Subaru BRZ > Scion FR-S / Toyota 86 GT86 General Forum

Scion FR-S / Toyota 86 GT86 General Forum The place to start for the Scion FR-S / Toyota 86 | GT86


User Tag List

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 06-25-2016, 01:59 AM   #1
Jordan Silveira
Senior Member
 
Jordan Silveira's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Drives: 2016 Subaru Series.HyperBlue #631
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 500
Thanks: 310
Thanked 191 Times in 130 Posts
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Subaru trying to deny my warranty please help!

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
__________________
Jordan Silveira is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Jordan Silveira For This Useful Post:
Vic4uf (06-27-2016)
Old 06-25-2016, 02:14 AM   #2
finch1750
Undisputed El Presidente
 
finch1750's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Drives: Zenki 37J ZN6
Location: Stockton, CA
Posts: 11,570
Thanks: 9,382
Thanked 9,397 Times in 5,261 Posts
Mentioned: 374 Post(s)
Tagged: 33 Thread(s)
Tell SoA the full story and see what they do? Take it back to the original dealer that sold you the car cuz if they did something shady I feel they would be morenlikely to just fix it
__________________

"Just like how a strut bar somehow enables you to corner 20MPH faster around a cloverleaf on-ramp, when the reality is, you can do it already but you just don't have to balls to do it." - CSG David
finch1750 is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to finch1750 For This Useful Post:
Tectoniic (06-25-2016)
Old 06-25-2016, 02:22 AM   #3
ndsleep612
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Drives: Thee Argento Cricket
Location: Somewhere far away
Posts: 165
Thanks: 101
Thanked 29 Times in 23 Posts
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
First rule of thumb: Did you even check the CarFax record on the car before you purchased it? Sounds like the car's been to the mustang ranch and back before you purchased it.
ndsleep612 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-25-2016, 02:25 AM   #4
Impureclient
Banned
 
Join Date: May 2015
Drives: 2015 FR-S
Location: NPR, Florida
Posts: 2,404
Thanks: 1,802
Thanked 2,903 Times in 1,282 Posts
Mentioned: 25 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Pretty sure this is what the popcorn smilie was created for. What a mess. Sounds like unless the original dealer takes responsibility for this, you are screwed and going to pay.
Is it possible to see when exactly it was flashed since they are claiming it was. If it wasn't in your possession when it happened, would that make a difference?

Also, ndsleep612, are you referring to the World Famous Mustang Ranch in Sparks, NV? That's the first thing in Google that came up.
Impureclient is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-25-2016, 02:42 AM   #5
turtlefeeder
Senior Member
 
turtlefeeder's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Drives: UltraMFrS
Location: OC
Posts: 701
Thanks: 204
Thanked 135 Times in 100 Posts
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Soo.. Imho better start taking picture inside your hood in detail of as much bolt as you can find, to prove you had nothing changed in there that wasn't oem to even need a Ecu tune/flash since this seem like it might turn into something big. I don't think it's your doing either because why a tune on a stock car it's running fine on stock tune? Almost makes no sense, the only thing that come to mind is one of the previous owner already tinkered with it, than return to stock without reflash ecu to stock map (most likely second owner. If it were the first than the 2nd owner would have this trouble) so now the cars jacked 😕 for the third owner,you. If this goes to court and I hope it's covered by SoA for your sake, it is your job to prove them wrong.. so they can get their shit straight lol

Good luck fighting this on man, interested to see what'll happen with PHS

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk
turtlefeeder is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-25-2016, 03:03 AM   #6
mav1178
Senior Member
 
mav1178's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Drives: 2005 Toyota Camry
Location: 91745
Posts: 6,562
Thanks: 493
Thanked 6,092 Times in 3,029 Posts
Mentioned: 95 Post(s)
Tagged: 3 Thread(s)
Read my post in your duplicate thread in the BRZ section.
mav1178 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-25-2016, 02:32 PM   #7
FR-S 264
Senior Member
 
FR-S 264's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Drives: 2016 RS 2.0 Manual
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 202
Thanks: 184
Thanked 144 Times in 86 Posts
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
The DMV in California is very strict and pro consumer. A phone call to them is a good idea...they have an investigation department. The original dealer lied to you about the history on the car. That is a big no no. You have a strong case, but you will have to do the footwork because as you have learned, the dealer has demonstrated they will try to blow you off. The DMV angle will get results.
FR-S 264 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-25-2016, 02:39 PM   #8
Packofcrows
hey you, yeah you <3
 
Packofcrows's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Drives: 2014 37J FR-S
Location: Monterey County, CA
Posts: 2,713
Thanks: 905
Thanked 1,257 Times in 809 Posts
Mentioned: 38 Post(s)
Tagged: 3 Thread(s)
Call SoA. Deal with them first. They have great customer support so far ime (well...Toyota).
__________________
Got my TRD wheels and TRD louvers. Thanks!!!

Last edited by Packofcrows; 06-25-2016 at 02:59 PM.
Packofcrows is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Packofcrows For This Useful Post:
AyeItsStevie (06-29-2016)
Old 06-25-2016, 02:45 PM   #9
Jordan Silveira
Senior Member
 
Jordan Silveira's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Drives: 2016 Subaru Series.HyperBlue #631
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 500
Thanks: 310
Thanked 191 Times in 130 Posts
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
@frs 264 I will definitely look into this route as well! Thank you so much! Believe me I plan on involving the BBB as well assuming it gets that far

@Packofcrows I am definitely trying that at the moment but sadly they are going to send a warranty rep to speak with the service manager who is wrongfully accusing and as I have found out, I get no say in the matter. Nothing quite like being convicted without a fair trial.
__________________
Jordan Silveira is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-25-2016, 03:04 PM   #10
RichardsFRS
Senior Member
 
RichardsFRS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Drives: 2013 Pearl White 6MT
Location: Gainesville Ga
Posts: 938
Thanks: 5
Thanked 356 Times in 246 Posts
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Your advisor sounds like an ass. I would have gotten carfax. Usually will tell you whether it's a sound investment. Only thing that makes sense here. Some bought car brand new, did the ricerboy garag tune on it and scrwed it up. Stop paying on it and dealership repod it and gave you some shit story to unload it. Dealers can't be trusted. You need to know what your looking at before you go in. On average dealers are dumbasses about cars and they will lie their ass off to sell one. And they hate car fax. From my small knowledge base of computer tuning, your screwed because you have to have orinal tune. With that you'd have no problem, just flash back
__________________
Back from bancation in Banopolis where I laid on the beach with a beer between my legs. I at night and ate at sun rise
RichardsFRS is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to RichardsFRS For This Useful Post:
Jordan Silveira (06-25-2016)
Old 06-25-2016, 03:06 PM   #11
FR-S 264
Senior Member
 
FR-S 264's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Drives: 2016 RS 2.0 Manual
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 202
Thanks: 184
Thanked 144 Times in 86 Posts
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jordan Silveira View Post
@frs 264 I will definitely look into this route as well! Thank you so much! Believe me I plan on involving the BBB as well assuming it gets that far

@Packofcrows I am definitely trying that at the moment but sadly they are going to send a warranty rep to speak with the service manager who is wrongfully accusing and as I have found out, I get no say in the matter. Nothing quite like being convicted without a fair trial.
I've been in the business for decades...BBB doesn't scare dealers like the DMV does!
FR-S 264 is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to FR-S 264 For This Useful Post:
Jordan Silveira (06-25-2016)
Old 06-25-2016, 04:57 PM   #12
billwot
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Drives: '11 Cayman , '14 Camry, '11 Tacoma
Location: Eastern NC
Posts: 509
Thanks: 57
Thanked 396 Times in 198 Posts
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Subaru trying to deny my warranty

A small, but very significant correction...

Subaru (the manufcturer) is not "trying to deny..." your warranty, Puente Hills Subaru , a dealership, is apparently trying to deny you warranty coverage.

SofA will help you resolve this issue.
billwot is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to billwot For This Useful Post:
FR-S 264 (06-25-2016), Jordan Silveira (06-25-2016), lantsalot (07-13-2016)
Old 06-25-2016, 06:31 PM   #13
Jordan Silveira
Senior Member
 
Jordan Silveira's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Drives: 2016 Subaru Series.HyperBlue #631
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 500
Thanks: 310
Thanked 191 Times in 130 Posts
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by billwot View Post
Subaru trying to deny my warranty

A small, but very significant correction...

Subaru (the manufcturer) is not "trying to deny..." your warranty, Puente Hills Subaru , a dealership, is apparently trying to deny you warranty coverage.

SofA will help you resolve this issue.
Correct. I should have been more specific. May I ask why you feel so confident in Subaru of America? I mean I sure hope they would do all in their power to help me but as of now they seem to only care if what the service manager says is true and if it indeed allows them to avoid paying for a fix. Both of which are a direct disadvantage to me. I would prefer they ask me for more details, looking into Glendale, etc.
__________________
Jordan Silveira is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-25-2016, 08:01 PM   #14
billwot
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Drives: '11 Cayman , '14 Camry, '11 Tacoma
Location: Eastern NC
Posts: 509
Thanks: 57
Thanked 396 Times in 198 Posts
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
e
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jordan Silveira View Post
Correct. I should have been more specific. May I ask why you feel so confident in Subaru of America? I mean I sure hope they would do all in their power to help me but as of now they seem to only care if what the service manager says is true and if it indeed allows them to avoid paying for a fix. Both of which are a direct disadvantage to me. I would prefer they ask me for more details, looking into Glendale, etc.
t

SofA "...care(s) if what the service manager says is true" because that's the issue that will determine whether or not Subaru (and it's dealer network) have a legal responsibility to resolve your issue.

I have owned a lot of cars over a lot of years, and have generally found warranty repairs to be done cheerfully with little question. On 2 occasions where I had issues with a dealership, the factory rep promptly intervened and instructed the dealership to do the work.

Some years ago, I spun a rod bearing on a car that was 3000 miles out of warranty. The factory voluntarily provided the parts, and the dealership only charged me the labor. On another occasion, I had a water pump fail on a trip, on a Sunday. I had a local garage tow me in and replace the water pump with an aftermarket part. I took the bills to my local dealership and they forwarded them to the factory rep. The factory refunded all costs, including the tow.

Manufacturers have a big stake in maintaining their reputation for quality and reliability. They have a whole network of staff people who's major responsibility is to insure that dealerships play fair.
billwot is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to billwot For This Useful Post:
Dadhawk (06-29-2016), FR-S 264 (06-25-2016), gtslow (06-26-2016), Jeff Lange (06-27-2016), Jordan Silveira (06-25-2016), lantsalot (07-13-2016), scary alien (06-28-2016), Tcoat (06-27-2016)
 
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Subaru trying to deny my warranty please help! Jordan Silveira BRZ First-Gen (2012+) -- General Topics 173 08-02-2016 07:28 PM
Subaru trying to deny my warranty please help! Jordan Silveira Issues | Warranty | Recalls / TSB 21 06-30-2016 09:30 PM
Subaru gold plus ext. warranty MObrz5 Northern California 9 04-10-2014 04:08 PM
Subaru Warranty Question Sovran BRZ First-Gen (2012+) -- General Topics 3 06-04-2012 11:59 AM
Scion Warranty +1yr vs Subaru.. MarkRacerX Scion FR-S / Toyota 86 GT86 General Forum 13 04-24-2012 10:01 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:56 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.

Garage vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.