[u000gbk]

Does anyone know of or have experience with another Subaru dealer close to the West Chester, PA area who is a bit more "reasonable" to deal with regarding mods. & warranty repairs on an STi?

[heavyweightboxer]

You might have better luck with Becker Subaru, in Allentown. I have never needed warranty work, as of yet, but they have never given me any problems. I am modded and I get my car inspected there, and have never had any problem. Maybe worth a shot. Hope this helps.

[Flycaster]

Originally Posted by BruceChapman

nope.

Think I could prevail upon them to give me a new short-block, or new synchros? Heh, heh. One look under either of our hoods now, and I think they'd just laugh.

[Neanderthal Racing]

Originally Posted by Flycaster

One look under either of our hoods now, and I think they'd just laugh.

we're going to get a chance to find out if youre right. i've got an airbag light on so i think i'll drive the beast down to the dealer and see if they'll fix the last remaining piece of original equipment on the car. i'll play it with a straight face all the way out to the parking lot..."what do you mean youre not covering it?"

i'll have to bring a camera so i can document the look on his face.

[u000gbk]

OK ... Here is the latest on the continuing story ...
I wrote SOA. They wrote me back and seemed somewhat understanding ... until they spoke with the dealer. They then called me and said they are backing the dealer ... they are denying me any warranty repair work until I return the car to a fully stock condition. They also claimed that I "modded the engine" by changing the exhaust and intake and that the transmission was connected to the engine, therefore not able to be repaired until the "engine" was returned to stock condition. What a load of crap !!! After I return it to stock, then they will check / fix it. When I mentioned the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act to SOA and the fact that the burden of proof was on the dealer to PROVE that the exhaust and intake mods. caused the issues I was having with my transmission, they didn't budge on their story.
I have decided to try another dealer who seems more willing to work with me. I hope when I go to the new dealer I don't have the same isssue with SOA if they contact them for warranty approval.
Does any one know the process for a dealer to do a warranty repair? Does the dealer have to call SOA to "authorize" a repair or can they do it themselves and get paid by SOA?

[Pitcherman]

As far as i know the dealer has to look at the problem then contact SOA to see if it will be warrantied.

[u000gbk]

I went to another dealer ... one a bit easier to deal with. He was ready to correct the issue until he looked up my VIN on SOA's System and then said he (or any other dealer, now) can't do anything until it is returned to stock because the 1st dealer called Subaru and put a report officially into SOA's database about my mods. on my vehicle. So it looks like I have to return my car to stock before I can get it fixed under warrranty. Once it is fixed, I can then put the mods back on. Seems like a waste of my time and money but it is cheaper than buying a new transmission. The 2nd dealer said that with this on my record, the only way to clear it is to return it to stock ... SOA will most likely send a rep. to take pictures and verify it really is returned to stock before they will authorize a repair ... all because the original dealer reported it to SOA. Needless to say, I will never buy another car from my original dealer again nor ever give them any future business. They did not have to call SOA. They had not even gotten to the point of determining the issue or if it was covered. There must be a "kick-back" or something in it for the dealer to behave this way.

[Neanderthal Racing]

they are violating federal law. from ben's sticky on warranties:

Legally, a vehicle manufacturer cannot void the warranty on a vehicle due to an aftermarket part unless they can prove that the aftermarket part caused or contributed to the failure in the vehicle (per the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. 2302(C)).
If your vehicle manufacturer fails to honor emission/warranty claims, contact EPA at (202) 260-2080 or www.epa.gov. If federal warranty protection is denied, contact the FTC at (202) 326-3128 or www.ftc.gov.

also, cancel your extended warranty and get your unused money back or credited to your payment book.

[pj_sti]

had this same issue with 26+k miles.

i was reluctant at first to bring it over to the dealership, but they've been good to me (CARR Subaru).

they checked it out, replicated it (grinds 4th to 5th at anywhere above 3k rpm), and they looked at it.

4th and 5th synchros replaced under warranty.

the car has a couple of mods to it - stg2 reflash, invidia catback, sti pinks and group-n top mounts, kartboy ss and bushings.

so far, no more gear grind *cross fingers*.

[BurnsWRC]

Originally Posted by u000gbk

Just curious if anyone out there has noticed that their STi 'grinds' when going into 5th gear at high RPS (over 5500-6500) combined with shifting quickly. I want to know if this is a typical characteristic of the 6 speed trans. or if this is unique to my car. If I shift more slowly ... no issues. Only happens when shifting fast. Almost like the syncro rings for 5th gear are deficient compared to the ones used for 1st thru 4th gear shifts ... 1st thru 4th shifts perfectly with no grind ever noticed ... this issue only happens when going into 5th. I have noticed this since I got the car (08/2003). It now has about 16,000 miles on it and it hasn't changed since day one. If this is not a typical characteristic of the transmission, do you think Subaru would replace the entire transmission "under warranty" or are my chances somewhat slim on this ???
Please comment ...Speed-Shift "grind" from 4th to 5th gear

You might want to check out my link on the matter. Im sure that not everyone has had it this bad but this is just an example at what an incompetant dealership can do to ure car.....this is on a fully STOCK STi.

http://iwsti.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34674

[ride_the_pony69]

My 4th gear syncro was going out. That is what one of the tech reps said after they did a ride along with me. No questions asked they just replaced the syncro under my warrenty. I currently have 23,800 miles on my car.

[u000gbk]

OK all, here is the latest in the SOA warranty saga I have been dealing with ...
I went through all the trouble of putting my car completely back to stock, just so I could get the 4th to 5th "syncro grind" issue looked at under warranty and to get the "blemish" removed from my car's record at SOA.
I went to the "friendly" dealer I mentioned prior since I will never again set foot in Concordville Subaru on Rt. 202 in PA. They had to get authorization from SOA and then had to validate with SOA that the car was in fact "returned to stock condition". After this was all done, they proceeded to check into my concern. After 3 tries they still had not duplicated the "4th to 5th grind" issue I had complained about. I offered to drive a mechanic myself so I could show him the problem and they refused to let me, saying, and I quote "they were not comfortable with me driving at illegal speeds on PA roads. It was unsafe to let an employee in the car under these conditions". So I asked how they determined the issue because they had to get the car to at least 75 or 80 mph to shift out at an RPM that would manifest the grind. They never answered this question ... just told me that they could not get it to do it, that they had tried 3 times and that was what they were reporting back to SOA, to close the open warranty item.
So, in summary, I had done all this for nothing and to top it all off, they never cleared my record ... just augmented it saying, that they had found no evidence of any after-market parts ... CURRENTLY installed. They would not erase the fact that they had recorded them as being there once before.

So here is the plan ... return the car back to it's "modded" state (next week-end), gaining back the 85hp I lost while it was 'stock'. Today, I cancelled my extended SOA warranty since I will never be able to use it and I'll get a nice refund of some money too (approx. 75% of the purchase cost). I'll bank it and use it to pay for any repairs if and whenever needed. I am replacing the gear oil in the trans. with Redline Shockproof, Superlight Gear Oil, 70W75 Synthetic (recommended by Cobb Tuning) because it often cures this issue as long as it is caught early in the life of the transmission (< 20K miles).

The lesson learned here is ... whatever you do, choose your dealer very carefully ! Be sure you know what their warranty 'stance' is regarding mods. and just how "friendly" they are with SOA, BEFORE buying a car from them !!!

[salisburyv]

unfortunately if you had the warrenty built into the note it goes to the bank. this is the first time i've heard of a dealer "black flagging" a vehicle. no doubt they are jerks. Believe it or not their are a few mod friendly dealers out there...I work for one..if we can get it done under warrenty we will find a way. No....relating to any kind of tranny grind...stock or moded cars...we have to get the customer to approve the tear down of the tranny to find the failed part. if teeth are missing or stripped...SOA deems that abuse and they will not pay( they request all the old parts back for inspection, and will not warranty abuse) . I've 3 instances recently with wrx trannys...2 were warranty( bad syncronizer cones,and bearings) 1 was not(chipped gears on first and second driven gears) i cant hide those, especially since subaru writes the check for the repair and if there is a part on there that shouldn be they wont pay the claim to the dealer. But alot of people put their car to stock when bringing in for warranty work. And by they way...we can tell...(new bolts on down pipe, turbo, no heatshields...etc.) But like I said if I can warranty it for "my people" I do. You just need to find the right dealer and the right service manager that will work for you. And their are loop holes in the Magnusson moss act...read it close. The final recouse is your states Dealer commision. the dealer has to answer in writing within 30 days and defend their position. If they cant they either fix it or risk losing their license to sell or repair cars. Hope this helps!! Peace

[suren27]

I have like 23k on mine... and I took it into the dealership for this problem two weeks ago... they are replacing synchros under warranty, car is stg2 and has been ecutekd by them as well (mspt/metric subaru on long island, huntington to be exact). I had a 1-2 grind, high rpm shifts and 4-5 speed shift as addressed in this topic. Well see how it is when I get it back... i have the short shifter option when i bought the car... and once i get it back im also adding the kartboy to it.. so lets see how it goes

oh -- and also i saw my tranny, the synchros were barely worn.. i dont know why it did it... but my tranny after 23k and driving it hard ... but only like 4-5 launches ever never went to the track... had almost no wear... so its a good sign of how much this car can take

[whiplash306]

I'm sorry this has happened to you. You are the 2nd person here recently that has just been plagued with serious problems concerning Subaru's warranty dealings...Although this is a bit besides the point at the this stage of the game, I might suggest to all that before you even purchase a car from a dealer, if you intend to modify it in even the slightest of ways, find out their stance on mods and warranty work. I did...before I signed on "the line", told them the few mods I wanted to perform and asked them their stance on that. I have had ZERO problems from them thus far!....I wish you luck and hope this all turns out in your favor!