24hr test drive

[BVM]

While my wife and I were back in the US, we stopped by the Subaru dealer we purchased our WRX from. My wife is in the market for an SUV, she wants the Volvo XC90, and I dont! So I thought I might be able to convince her the Tribeca would be better (and cheaper).
So they let us have a nice fully loaded DVD/NAV model for the 24hr test drive. What can I say... its very well appointed and the interior is much better than one would expect from Subaru. I was impressed and I HATE SUV's. So we return the Tribeca the next day and I inform the dealer that we would buy it if, and this is a BIG if... Subaru didnt void our warranty when we had it shipped to RAF Lakenheath, UK. I explained that SOA said our warranty was voided on our then new WRX once we relocated here. The MGR said he would give us a call in a few hrs.... 2 weeks later and we never received that call. Guess SOA said no.
Nice car, thanks SOA... for taking care of our Military.... Missed that sale.

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[Porter]

You need to contact Subaru directly for information on this... the warranty is not "voided" in general by taking the vehicle out of the country.

What it means is that your warranty is invalid or "void" outside the country. I.e. Subaru UK should not be expected to pay for warranty repairs on a vehicle that they did not sell. You have to remember that it's not a Fuji Heavy warranty, it's an SoA warranty.

Subaru should set up a program for military personnel if they have not already. They may actually have something set up for this type of situation but the dealers are unaware of it. You will need to talk to Subaru directly to find out this information.

The other issue you will run into in the UK is hostility on the part of the dealer network towards vehicles not EU type approved. "Grey market" vehicles have been a huge problem for the UK dealer network in terms of their business model and also in terms of chargebacks against warranty claims on vehicles that are not warrantied by Subaru UK. This was a huge problem in the mid-90s during the heyday of Japan-market grey import vehicles in the UK.

The dealer network there may view your vehicle as a "grey import" when in reality it is a US market vehicle that is being used temporarily in their country. You need to make a clear distinction on that, I know in many cases the dealers there will refuse to do service on grey market vehicles entirely.

Like I said before though, call SoA directly for more information on getting service work done while in the UK.

1-800-SUBARU3


[edit] Just realized you are still in the UK... you will need to look up SoA's contact info on www.subaru.com and call their Cherry Hill, NJ office.

[BVM]

Tried all that.. spent 6 months going at it with SOA only to have them tell me they would let me take my WRX to a UK dealer to have the CC recall fixed! LOL they suck. Nothing I tried worked. And believe me, I hounded them.

[JNUTZ]

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