I'd like to share with you my story about Subaru customer service.

[Pat]

Stu, I haven't shared this until now, but I feel you're entirely missing the point, and making some very incorrect assumptions. Because you're pushing it so far, I thought you should know several times I have earned nationally-recognized awards for service. I know a thing or two about how to work with people in a service relationship. Anyone here that knows me personally will back this up. Drop it already.
I did what the dealer told me to do. I followed their instructions. Clearly they don't have a clue how to run a business. But I didn't know they didn't have the parts, let alone a proper diagnosis, when they told me to leave them my car. A reasonable person would assume they know how to fix the problem, and had the necessary parts to do so.

[Pat]

I got my car back today and it is running trouble-free. The dealer replaced the clutch disc. They showed me the clutch disc they took out of the car. Every spring in it was significantly loose and rattling around.
After a bit of e-research, I learned possible causes for this are:
Clutch disc installed improperly
Transmission misalignment
Abusive upshifting/downshifting
Worn or missing pilot bearing/bushing

Knowing that the problem started at the time I had the transmission replaced by AutoNation Subaru, it is very likely their mechanic caused the damage. Funny, as I told the GM their I was very concerned about the quality of the mechanic's work in the past, yet he assured me the guy was top-notch.

So there it is. Problem solved. Hopefully this is the end of the saga. I kind of expect something else to go wrong with it, as I have not even driven it ten miles yet since the new clutch disc installation, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Thanks for following along, guys. It's been frustrating, but certainly entertaining, too.

[bdbx18]

Great to hear that it ended well. But take this from someone who is at the much older end of the demographics in this forum. Breath deeply and lower your expectations as you will (a) accomplish the same if not more by being nice and calm and (b) you'll live longer.

In my experiences, I have had some appalling situations but as one with 'limited' funds, I don't have the luxury to just fire one, hire another, start from scratch and redo entire jobs, pick costlier options, have multiple cars, homes, laptops just for the contingency, hire a personal cook, driver, assistant, private doctor ... you get my drift.

For the most part, I have had absurdity with contractors, solar people that shows up 5 days before the actual day to start work, estimates-gone-wild like the pool contractor whose work ended up $7k grand more than the original, Nissan mechanic that did not tighten the oil filter after a service, masonry people who wants to be paid in full 50% into the job, carpentry guy that took off before finishing a job and after being paid beyond the job progress and much, much more.

Yes, customer service sucks and proper communications are almost non-existent. So one can hit it hard and address it directly with the higher-ups or just go around it like going someplace else.

That said, I did have to return an brand new X5 3.0 after a week that was drifting to the left. The dealer swapped out suspension parts to no avail so they ended up giving me a good incentive and I exchanged it for another X5. Not much drama and I drove off with an X5 4.4 with more options for about the same price.

At 38k, my BRZ has never been to a dealer yet. I will, however, take it to a local auto shop for that personal touch and to avoid the big box nonsense.