What would you say an acceptable response time is for service on someone bringing a new car (8 months) in because the engine quit to the dealer from which they purchased the vehicle from. Im not talking about resolution here, just first reply after leaving the dealer after explaining why it was sitting in their lot when they arrived.
A lot of variables to consider here.... Personally, I'd expect them to look at it right away and have a reply within the hour. There is no right or wrong answer here, just opinions.
I would think a day or two or three because their service department could be booked solid with other paying customers.
That sort of thing should elicit an almost immediate response. Did you leave information as to what happened and where/when? Have you tried calling and asking what the status is?
I would expect contact right quick, as with just about any service provider. Talk to me and let me know it's going to be a while if you're in the weeds.
In agreement over here. Timeline rundown so far.. stopped into the service center @ 8:30 the morning after it was dropped by the roadside assist. tower. Service contact there pretty much wanted to confirm my contact number and send me on my way after telling me the disclaimer, 'costs are yours if it is found to be not covered by warranty'. I asked if he wanted to know what happened and he didn't seem to, as he didn't take any notes and pretty much glassed over when I gave him the account of what happened. He said they were busy and would try and get it in in a couple days. Yesterday @ 5:00 pm i was in the neighborhood and stopped in, found someone who said they hadn't started on it yet. As of now, not a peep from them for 5 days.
I know you were all on the edge of your seats waiting for the update... Just for your consideration, the timeframe. Day 0: Sunday Night. Roadside Assistance, quite responsive btw, helps me off the side of the road and drops at dealer. Day 1: Monday morning 0830. Im in there, saying hi thats my new WRX w/ just over 7k that I bought from you that shat the pan last night. They're busy and will try and get in in 'in a few days' Day 4: While in the neighborhood, I stop in and ask about my vehicle, was told no one has had a chance to look at it. Day 7: Get a call finally, saying. 'we will try and get in 'in a couple days'.. At this point I am offered a loaner. Day 12: Today,.. had not yet heard back about if it was out of gas or if it had gremlins so, decided to call in and see what flavor of smoke will be blown up my arse today. Todays' flavor is, " We had to order you a new short block, we will need to keep your vehicle for two weeks to a month" me. "you mean, another two weeks or a month" them. "errr,.. um yes. from when we ordered the parts" The service 'agent' did state that he didnt want to over promise the repair time, but wanted to allow the mechanic to take his time and do the repair to the best of his ability. He would call me when he had news.
O.k I did not read through all of this but Have you thought of calling the sales manager and tell him your concerns??? Being a new car and all.
have. but kind of read enough regarding 'the knock' on the NASOIC forums to understand that this is going to be a strictly service issue. From all accounts, there is no new car that arises out of this scenario. Not sure of what else a sales mgr could do for me aside from give me some 'condolences',.. give me some $$ back? BRZ loaner? Maybe I'll give it a shot, being out the car for 6 weeks is kinda BS..
"...shat the pan...", "...new short block...", "...the knock...", "...NASIOC..." I think there is some part to this story that has been left out. Just my suspicious mind at work.
It depends on how available the part is. Any good tech that works at a dealership can usually have a short block done in 2 days max. I am speaking from experience. The last short block i did at my work i think it was just over a day. It should have not taken 12 days to get a response back on what they are doing with your car, it should have taken (without an appointment) a couple days and maybe a couple more to get approval for such a big job. We just ordered a short block on wednesday and it came in on friday.
I would expect more prompt service from a place that you purchased a newer car from, or at least more of a concrete answer then I am just not sure. Seems a little unprofessional. However, I do understand that auto shops do probably get backed up with the amount of work that comes flocking in. Also with the availability of parts really can put a set back on a car. You should not be left out in the dark though as to when your car may be fixed. Just my two cents, but what do I know I am just an IT guy.
IDK if its here or not (tonka subaru) but If we're swamped, and all of our master techs are working on large jobs, we flat out cant bring more work into the shop if we dont have the room. PM me what dealer it is, I might be able to help.
Got a message yesterday saying that the part was in. Called back to confirm that this was going to be covered under warranty and got the confirmation that it was. Asked about what had happened, and my service contact said only that there was metal in the pan and at that point, Subaru authorized a short block replacement prior to any further tear down. I did call Subaru at the 1 week mark to say I had not really heard anything from my dealer/service center and they started up a case. Not sure if they linked the service from the dealer to my 800-subaru call/email and expedited the short block replacement, but glad they didn't have to spend the extra time doing a diagnosis on it before moving forward. I googled the symptoms after it was towed in and some of the top hits were NASOIC forum posts. Those and a couple youtube clips with some familiar sounds kinda spelled out what had happened. Thanks for the input, without having much of a reference, 'reasonable' timeframes and demands are a little abstract. Dont want to be a dick at the dealer, but a week in the dark had me a little salty.
It takes about 5 days maximum (usually 3 business days) to get a shortblock, if it is indeed in stock at our facing warehouse.
I did ask about other parts that would have been affected by metal in the mix there, and he said there would be further inspections and im guessing probably some more parts ordered. Im not too up on how much could have been affected by this, but guessing at least oil feed lines, oil pump, oil cooler, anything with 'oil' in the part name basically. Any tips/things to ask or look for would be much appreciated.
On a job like this we'd replace a MINIMUM of a shortblock, turbo, oil cooler. Maybe even oil pan. Sometimes even heads/cams.
No definitive word yet on what caused it, heads went out for repair sometime last week.. Thanks for all the input, One question. When DMV states that, upon reselling, you must disclose if your vehicle has been rebuilt. This is going to be a rebuild of a magnitude that would require such a disclosure correct? Engine, heads, etc?
No, when you see that statement it applies to the fact that a car has been deemed totaled by insurance due to damage to the car(accident, flood, ect and not mechanical work).
Like AWDImprezaL stated when a shop is busy sometime they just can't physically look at something and start working on it until they get to it based on the workload and customers that were already scheduled before your car showed up, regardless to whether you have a "new" car or not(7k miles isn't new in my opinion, 2 days old then still new). My dad works at a repair shop, granted it is a pretty specialized shop they are always very busy. Typically have 25-30 vehicles on the lot and have 5 full time mechanics with room for ~6 vehicles in the shop. Sometimes you can push a vehicle out of the shop while waiting for parts, or machine work and sometimes you can't(like having the cab off of the truck) When the average job take 3 days, it often can be 2+ weeks before they even look at a customer's vehicle. Its just the world. Dealerships in the oilfield up here are often 2+ months out for diesel work.
Captains log, no car date #38 Got a call, "your engine is back in the car, but I would like permission for the tech to drive it to test it out" "ok,. sure" "he'll probably put 80 miles on it, and then we'll get back and then wash it so you should have it back friday" 80 miles? seriously.. does this tech also live 30 miles from the shop? I could see spending a bit of time testing it out, but 80 miles.. whatever.
You mean they dont just filter out the metal shards from whatever undisclosed cylinder 3 component failed and call it a day? At least, I'd even say that every student in the engine repair class at whatever vo-tech it ended up at should take a turn at a basic oil change as well.
lol nothing bad can be said about having fresh, clean oil. Especially during break in. Even though its a new motor, still will be "dirty" as well as can get some debris in the oil from the break in process.
just picked up the car after 40 days. official diagnosis was #3 rod bearing failure. they replaced short block, cylinder heads and camshafts for major components. Understand that the dealer dealt with it as fast as they could but man, that was hard to swallow. Thanks for the constructive input and helping keep some perspective on it. Will have to take the Oil type thread advice into consideration I think..
