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Old 09-18-2020, 05:52 PM   #1
Carmelo_Dc5
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Default Engine blown/rod knock at only 40k miles

Sup guys im very dissapointed in how subaru has been handling my situation. I purchased my 2014 wrx hatch with 31k miles back in feb 2019.
Two weeks ago i was driving and as i accelerrated i heard a loud knocking noise from engine, then my car stalled. After that it wouldnt run for more than 5 min and i had to get the car towed. I had someone check it out and told me i had a rod knock which caused engine failure and i would need to get the engine rebuilt.

I contacted subaru for their warranty because the car only has 40k miles. They told me they couldnt help me because the warranty is 5 years or 60k which ever comes first. And although 5 years would end in 2019 im under 60k at only 40k miles. Ive spoke to many reps and they would not help me with my situation because they kept mentioning the warranty. One finally submitted a case and said i would have to take it to a subaru dealership to get it checked, but would not gurantee any help, and they would not pay for the tow, or the diasgnositic check to see the issue first.

So i have to pay for the diagnosis? Even if they deny helping me? I should recieve full help because the only mods i have is cob intake and invidia exhaust i have not done any engine mods ortubo mods etc...

What sucks is the car is financed and i owe so much and im stuck with a car w blown motor ***128534;. Can anyone here help me? Or find an ambassador that can help me even more? Because this is outrageous that i cant recieve help for a new car and i dont have 8k for a rebuild. I already still owe 15k financing.....
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Old 09-18-2020, 07:54 PM   #2
cdska
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Isn't there a lawsuit for this? Call SoA
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Old 09-18-2020, 08:16 PM   #3
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Isn't there a lawsuit for this? Call SoA
I called subaru of america and they said they can do nothing about it since the 5 year 60k warranty expired. I explained mines is at 40k but since were in 2020 and the car is 3014 its past 5 years. Which i find its bull****
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Old 09-18-2020, 08:39 PM   #4
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You bought a used car that’s now out of warranty. Why would you expect anything?
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Old 09-18-2020, 09:37 PM   #5
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So it's out of warranty, and you're mad that it's not covered? That's...how warranties work, they cover within the term limits and not outside of them. Guess you should've gotten and extended warranty?

Which they'd probably deny anyways, since you have engine mods.
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Old 09-19-2020, 12:19 AM   #6
Carmelo_Dc5
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Originally Posted by JP Chestnut View Post
You bought a used car that’s now out of warranty. Why would you expect anything?
I would have thought they'd be more lenient because its under 60k despite it passing the 5 year mark by one year. It just sucks that theres nothing that can be done at all
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Old 09-19-2020, 12:20 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by GalaxyWide View Post
So it's out of warranty, and you're mad that it's not covered? That's...how warranties work, they cover within the term limits and not outside of them. Guess you should've gotten and extended warranty?

Which they'd probably deny anyways, since you have engine mods.
They would have denied just by having the cobb intake?
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Old 09-19-2020, 08:51 AM   #8
JP Chestnut
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Originally Posted by Carmelo_Dc5 View Post
I would have thought they'd be more lenient because its under 60k despite it passing the 5 year mark by one year. It just sucks that theres nothing that can be done at all
Had you bought it new and done all service through a single dealer, they might have. Unfortunately, you don't know what was done to that car prior to your ownership and neither does the dealer who would be on the hook for a good will warranty.

It does suck though.
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Old 09-19-2020, 12:56 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by JP Chestnut View Post
Had you bought it new and done all service through a single dealer, they might have. Unfortunately, you don't know what was done to that car prior to your ownership and neither does the dealer who would be on the hook for a good will warranty.

It does suck though.
Makes sense, literally anything mechanical is just new oem clutch, invidia exhaust and cobb intake. Yeah bro it sucks bc i have now a car with blown engine which i still owe financed smh.
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Old 09-21-2020, 11:11 PM   #10
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SoA really just told you to go pound sand? That doesn't sound right - there actually was a class action suit for the 12-17 WRX and STi, but you had to apply to be considered in class back in May of 2019 - not sure if you can still file (it is the Salcedo settlement - basically, reimbursement for the repair or, if it hasn't failed, the warranty was extended to 8 years, 100k miles)

My car had a spun bearing back in March/April of last year - I was out of warranty (by time, still under 60k miles) - when I called SoA, they opened a case and then essentially covered the cost of the block (not the labor) which I thought was pretty nice considering I was out of the 5/60. I did have to provide my maintenance records/receipts for the oil changes I have done over the life of the car (I bought it new, and am pretty anal about maintaining records) - another person over on LegacyGT.com went through the same with a 2010 LGT and had a similar experience with them. One thing they want is for the car to be diagnosed at a dealership, I think - so yeah, if I didn't have them do anything, I would have been out the cost to diagnose (which is fair - they don't work for free)

Anyway - I have always found SoA to be helpful with questions, and in the case of the engine, with goodwilling things, too. Maybe with a used car and unknown maintenance history, they felt they couldn't cover anything? When I called, I explained my situation and they came forward with the offer after a week or so - I didn't demand anything or anything like that, which I think helps as well. - I reached out and basically asked if anything could be done to help me, then let them do the rest.
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Old 09-22-2020, 08:14 AM   #11
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SoA really just told you to go pound sand? That doesn't sound right - there actually was a class action suit for the 12-17 WRX and STi, but you had to apply to be considered in class back in May of 2019 - not sure if you can still file (it is the Salcedo settlement - basically, reimbursement for the repair or, if it hasn't failed, the warranty was extended to 8 years, 100k miles)

My car had a spun bearing back in March/April of last year - I was out of warranty (by time, still under 60k miles) - when I called SoA, they opened a case and then essentially covered the cost of the block (not the labor) which I thought was pretty nice considering I was out of the 5/60. I did have to provide my maintenance records/receipts for the oil changes I have done over the life of the car (I bought it new, and am pretty anal about maintaining records) - another person over on LegacyGT.com went through the same with a 2010 LGT and had a similar experience with them. One thing they want is for the car to be diagnosed at a dealership, I think - so yeah, if I didn't have them do anything, I would have been out the cost to diagnose (which is fair - they don't work for free)

Anyway - I have always found SoA to be helpful with questions, and in the case of the engine, with goodwilling things, too. Maybe with a used car and unknown maintenance history, they felt they couldn't cover anything? When I called, I explained my situation and they came forward with the offer after a week or so - I didn't demand anything or anything like that, which I think helps as well. - I reached out and basically asked if anything could be done to help me, then let them do the rest.
Thats exactly the way i approached it, they said best they could do was take it do a dealership and have it diagnosed but i would have to pay for the towing which is ok i guess but also pay for the diagnosis and they said its not guarantee they would help fix the car. So basically id waste money towing and getting it diagnosed for nothing in the end? They said theyd open a case but it there were iffy a out getting the car fixed so basically in the end they said id be screwed w them and id have to deal with the car on my own. Very unhelpful. I get it 5 years is up but damn man its Only 40k
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Old 09-22-2020, 08:50 AM   #12
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I checked the lawsuit and from subaru, it says you dont need to send in the form to have the warranty extended for the 8 years that its automatically applied to the 12-17 vehicles. Is this true? Saw it straight from soa subarus form
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Old 09-22-2020, 08:56 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by Carmelo_Dc5 View Post
I checked the lawsuit and from subaru, it says you dont need to send in the form to have the warranty extended for the 8 years that its automatically applied to the 12-17 vehicles. Is this true? Saw it straight from soa subarus form
That’s correct. It’s also correct that they won’t cover your failure without complete and perfect maintenance records.
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Old 09-22-2020, 09:29 AM   #14
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Maintenance records for most dealers is not just your personal log. Its recpts also. If you use the carfax site, you can log your self maintenance and upload scans or pics of your recpts. It stays for life with the carfax records. I would also take pics of dash and show miles.
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Old 09-22-2020, 10:21 AM   #15
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That’s correct. It’s also correct that they won’t cover your failure without complete and perfect maintenance records.
Ive never serviced the car at a subaru dealership. Ive had the car for a year and half and only have gotten the clutch and oil change done once each at reputable tune shops in my area and i have receipt.
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Old 09-22-2020, 10:23 AM   #16
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Also the thing is it says it will reimburse for costs of repairs, i dont have that money on me id think they would straight up pay for the costs etc.
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Old 09-22-2020, 10:34 AM   #17
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Ive never serviced the car at a subaru dealership. Ive had the car for a year and half and only have gotten the clutch and oil change done once each at reputable tune shops in my area and i have receipt.
You could have perfect records but it wouldn't matter unless you have access to the records of the previous owner. Like I said previously, if your car was 100% stock and dealer serviced from new (especially at the dealer you're trying to get warranty out of) you would be in a very different spot that you are now.
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Old 09-22-2020, 10:35 AM   #18
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You could have perfect records but it wouldn't matter unless you have access to the records of the previous owner. Like I said previously, if your car was 100% stock and dealer serviced from new (especially at the dealer you're trying to get warranty out of) you would be in a very different spot that you are now.
But that sucks it would apply if i only serviced through subaru , i guess im still stuck in this situation
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Old 09-22-2020, 10:55 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by Carmelo_Dc5 View Post
But that sucks it would apply if i only serviced through subaru , i guess im still stuck in this situation
Or if you kept good records and only bought cars with good previous records. Lots of people shop for used cars that way.

The nice thing about dealer service is that it goes into the system so you don’t need to keep every scrap of evidence.
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Old 09-23-2020, 11:02 PM   #20
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That's correct. It's also correct that they won't cover your failure without complete and perfect maintenance records.
I'd say they don't need to be perfect, but they do need to be reasonably complete - I had my database, plus around 75% of the receipts, and did all my own maintenance. I always use Subaru filters bought from either the dealership I got the car or one of the online dealerships - so I had all of that. I think what kills you with a used car is not having the documentation prior to purchasing the car. They want to see that the oil is changed regularly, and without documentation, you are sort of out of luck.

If they do goodwill part or all of the repair, at least for me, the $ was credited directly to the dealership, so I didn't have to pay that portion and then get reimbursed, it was just deducted from the final bill.

What really sucks for folks with a Legacy GT or Forester XT of the vintage covered by the class action suit is that even though all the internals are the same parts (same part numbers and everything) since they aren't a WRX or STi, they aren't included - what stinks is in the settlement agreement, they say what is included, and then list every vehicle not included - the Legacy GT and Forester XT aren't listed in either list (every other trim level of the Legacy and Forester is listed in the excluded vehicles, just not vehicles with the EJ25T engine...) - I tried to get included, got declined, appealed, then declined again...
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Old 09-23-2020, 11:15 PM   #21
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Thats exactly the way i approached it, they said best they could do was take it do a dealership and have it diagnosed but i would have to pay for the towing which is ok i guess but also pay for the diagnosis and they said its not guarantee they would help fix the car. So basically id waste money towing and getting it diagnosed for nothing in the end? They said theyd open a case but it there were iffy a out getting the car fixed so basically in the end they said id be screwed w them and id have to deal with the car on my own. Very unhelpful. I get it 5 years is up but damn man its Only 40k
Is the car all pulled apart, or is it still intact? You could always just drive it to the dealership if it's intact if the cost of a tow is prohibitive... (driving with a spun bearing is a bad idea - the shortblock is done, but you may be able to save the heads/turbo) don't think of the diagnosis as a waste - it's a gamble - you're paying the diagnosis fee the dealer charges (at the dealership here, it was $125) - given the mileage and the warranty extension, I'd be surprised if they don't at least help a little. Just keep in mind that if you have a really loud knocking sound, there's probably a lot of debris in the system, and a good chance the car will need more than just a shortblock, so the repair cost could be very substantial - a used engine might be a less expensive (albeit more risky) solution
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Old 11-02-2020, 10:27 AM   #22
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So question. Has anyone heard SOA tell you that they could not provide you the car owner, with the determination investigation regarding the denial of a warranty claim? Seems like the words internal and proprietary regarding the reason for denying a replacement engine is unfair to the consumer. It is my car.....
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Old 11-02-2020, 12:33 PM   #23
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So question. Has anyone heard SOA tell you that they could not provide you the car owner, with the determination investigation regarding the denial of a warranty claim? Seems like the words internal and proprietary regarding the reason for denying a replacement engine is unfair to the consumer. It is my car.....
That sounds like BS. I would get a lawyer to draft a formal request for an explanation of the denial of coverage finding.
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Old 11-02-2020, 12:49 PM   #24
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That sounds like BS. I would get a lawyer to draft a formal request for an explanation of the denial of coverage finding.
I have a letter on the way to SOA from an attorney. And unfortunately am having a Consumer Protection Lawyer review all the emails between SOA and I. He was in initial agreement when I first spoke with him. Just waiting on him to go over retainers and how he operates. I'd much rather SOA just step up and admit they sold me a performance vehicle and I broke it asking it to perform . Doesn't seem too far fetched. It has a cat back exhaust and that's ALL I have messed with.
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Old 11-26-2020, 05:30 PM   #25
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So hey guys i ended up doing a full rebuild with a 2016 sti block. So just got it back driving under 3500 rpm for a couple of weeks. Only thing is the check engine, cruise and traction are on. I did a relearn/ clear codes through the access port. Lights went off then came back on after an hour of driving. How can i get them to go away? The car is fine. I have a cobb intake. Im assuming i have to do an i take remap flash again?
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