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Old 12-09-2009, 09:15 PM   #1
brianha42
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Member Sales Rating: (4)
 
Member#: 193148
Join Date: Oct 2008
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Vehicle:
2010 Legacy GT
Graphite Gray Metallic

Thumbs down Eastside Subaru, WA

Dealership: Bruce Titus Eastside Subaru
City/State: Kirkland, WA

Experience Report:
My second subaru was purchased here. It is a 2006 WRB WRX Wagon with 34,200 miles and I forget the exact price but I think it was $19,600. The exterior and interior were in great condition with 1 minor nick on a plastic bit between the driver and passenger windows. I took it for a nice lengthy drive with one of the salesmen who was able to answer all my questions and provided me with a free carfax report. I looked under the hood and things looked nice and clean. When I tried to get a decent price the used sales manager wouldn't budge after week so I ended up taking the car at what he wanted -$1000 without some kind of extended warranty. After owning the car for a week I started to hear a ticking coming from the engine bay. I took it into the dealership with the suggestion of a tensior failure and they said they could not reproduce the issue. After 3 weeks when I had time I took it back again when it was making the same noise and a tech was able to identify the issue. I made a service appointment and they confirmed that it was a bad throwout bearing. Now here is where I start to become unsatisfied as a customer, I should not have to bring the car back for 2 diagnoses so soon after I buy it, let alone 2 times for the same issue. They should have tried harder to reproduce it I don't know what exactly they did during their diagnoses because I gave them exact reproduction steps the first time I took it in; "the ticking happens when I have been driving for a while and my foot is not pressing the clutch, when clutch is depressed the noise goes away". Next the service manager calls me while my car is in the service appointment to notify me that the throwout bearing is bad, the clutch pedal is stiff, and will most likely be going out within one year so replacement is imminent. Then he offers to do a clutch replacement for $1,280. He said that they would not cover the replacement because the car was out of time coverage on the 36,000 mile warranty. Keep in mind I'd had the car for less than 1 month so there was no way this was my fault and therefore a pre-existing issue with the car when they got it and either they had not identified it during inspection or had identified it and turned the other cheek. Either way my solution was to call around to some local shops and got quoted for around $850 to not only replace the clutch with OEM parts but also do transmission fluid flush.

Pros: Exterior and interior of the car are nice, free oil changes for life on the car after purchase. I have another suby.

Cons: Pushy used sales manager, unwilling to meet my expected price of the vehicle which was $18,400 I offered $17,200 to begin with on a car that they had online for $20,600. Basically straight up denied that there was anything wrong with my car during a service appointment diagnoses then when they repro'd the problem tried to make me pay for it after I owned the car for less than a month. Replacing a clutch less than a month after purchase on my own dollar is unacceptable to me and I will not be taking my car here for service as this shows a lack of workmanship from the techs at this dealership that this issue was not identified during inspection. The fact that they tried to sell me a new clutch with installation for $1280 is ridiculous as well, although most dealership rates and part prices are. I will not buy a car from here again nor would I suggest it to anyone else.

Overall Conclusion: If you decide you like a car on their lot have a THOROUGH inspection done by an independent mechanic before you buy. Also since their location is in an area where some people do have very high incomes make it a point that you aren't bill gates and you expect a reasonable price based on kelly blue book or edmunds suggested dealership price not based on the local economy. A few months after my purchase a friend told me a story of his dad looking at a high end sports car there and then taking it to a mechanic who said the suspension was toast. I wish I would have known this sooner because then I would have done the same thing.
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Last edited by brianha42; 12-09-2009 at 09:21 PM.
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Old 12-17-2009, 03:58 PM   #2
hhcchen
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Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 35619
Join Date: Apr 2003
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Bellevue
Vehicle:
09 impreza 2.5i
silver

Default

sorry to hear that...
i also bought a car from them, but it's new though,
no problem so far. (knock on wood)

i guess you do need to be extra careful with any used car purchase.
also, i wonder if your situation can be apply for any lemon law?

anyway, i bought the car from them also because of their free life oil change, otherwise the sales person in chaplin claimed they can beat any price.

free oil change... i wonder how free it will still be for major services...
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Old 12-18-2009, 03:58 PM   #3
bataleonkush
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Member#: 222616
Join Date: Sep 2009
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BRIANHA42 is completely right, Bruce Titus Eastside Subaru is not an honest business, here's my experience.

In 2006 I purchased a new impreza 2.5i from what is now Bruce Titus (it was under different ownership at the time of purchase). For the last 3 years / 75,000 miles the car has treated me great. Just a few months ago i noticed a faint but present knocking in my engine, immediately after hearing this i checked the oil to find it was a little light (i'm guessing between one and two quarts). The last time I'd gone to the dealership, Toby, who works in customer service, had told me to book an apointment for a new timing belt, as it needs to be done every 75,000 (i later found this to be false). Upon hearing the knock i made an appointment to get a new timing belt and to have the oil leak addressed. I was told my tensioner was the cause of the leak, and after taking 800 dollars from me i was on my way.
All was well until a few weeks ago when i was driving to Stevens Pass. When i was only a few miles from the resort my motor went from quietly running to knocking like a sonofabitch (not even 5k after the leak was "fixed"). After parking i checked my dipstick only to find it was completely dry, keep in mind my oil pressure light never notified me of a thing. So back to the dealership it went.
They confirmed what i already knew, there was hardly any oil and plenty of rod knock to go around. I have the extended warranty so i assumed all would be well, wrong! I had to give permission for my motor to be torn apart so the claims inspector could come inspect. For over a week, while we waited on the inspector, i sat with no transportation because Bruce Titus only has 4 loaner cars at their kirkland branch, and none at any of their sister companies. Eventually my claim was accepted, and when it was i was given a rental car (it was actually the subaru loaner, but a rental in the sense that they charged my extended warranty people 30 bucks a day for it).
Warranty only covered an overhaul of my motor, which after your motors been sounding like a rage against the machine concert, you don't want, you want a new motor at that point. I told them to order a new short block and said i'd cover the difference. Upon ordering the short block (on a Friday) i was told i would have the car back by next Friday, this didn't happen. I got a call the Monday after to hear that my cars ready. When i got to the shop i spoke with the service manager again, apparently my car had been ready on Friday but nobody had called me. This is aggravating because whatever wasn't spent from my rental car fund would go toward the principle. Because they didn't call, i had to drive that rental for a few more days, which worked out to an extra 90 bucks out of pocket.
To sum it all up. What bothers me isn't that i had to pay 1850 towards a new motor. Its that they left me with no car for over a week. They also provided faulty info that caused me to get a new timing belt 30,000 prematurely. I called the head HR lady with Bruce Titus, a lady named Chantel, she listened to my story, said shed look into the delays etc. she never called me back. This is a poorly run business and i would stronly urge everyone on here, all your friends, family, etc DONT SHOP BRUCE TITUS.
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Old 12-18-2009, 05:01 PM   #4
hhcchen
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Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 35619
Join Date: Apr 2003
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Bellevue
Vehicle:
09 impreza 2.5i
silver

Default

wow...
another bad story.
now i start to feel bad about them and wondering if they actually did oil change or not since it's free...
bataleonkush, can you address your complaint to SOA (Subaru of America) instead?

Last edited by hhcchen; 12-18-2009 at 05:42 PM.
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Old 12-18-2009, 05:35 PM   #5
bataleonkush
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Member#: 222616
Join Date: Sep 2009
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guess i'm not hip to the forum lingo, SOA?
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Old 12-18-2009, 07:15 PM   #6
sodomojo
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Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 105481
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: WA
Vehicle:
05 LGT Wagon

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Quote:
Originally Posted by bataleonkush View Post
guess i'm not hip to the forum lingo, SOA?
Subaru of America
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Old 12-21-2009, 01:52 PM   #7
Outkast007
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Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 187848
Join Date: Aug 2008
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Bellingham, WA
Vehicle:
2013 BRZ
Black

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My advise, if you want a perfect car, buy new. Save money, buy a used car, get a used item hence the "Sold As IS" that was mostly on the vehicle.
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Old 12-23-2009, 11:10 AM   #8
Kid Icarus
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Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 217036
Join Date: Jul 2009
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Seattle, WA
Vehicle:
2007 Impreza 2.5i SE
Urban Gray Metallic

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I have not heard good things about Eastside Subaru. I was hoping that it would improve once the Rainier Autogroup went under and sold to Titus but it appears to be the same in most every way :/
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Old 12-25-2009, 02:57 AM   #9
bani111
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Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 117850
Join Date: Jun 2006
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Redmond
Vehicle:
2019 Stinger
SWP

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looks like nothing changed since i went there in 2007.
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Old 01-14-2010, 10:05 PM   #10
altron32
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Member#: 162264
Join Date: Oct 2007
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Vehicle:
1990 Legacy L
misty dawn

Default

im not trying to protect or spread good words about my place of work, eastside subaru, but the allocations being spread around here are not true in there entirety.

bataleonkush, my coworker who works in the stall next to me worked on your car and replaced the short block due to the spun rod bearing, the reason we replaced the block is due to the cost of rebuilding over new short block, surprisingly the new block is cheaper so your extended warranty company will choose the cheaper route.
now the loaner car problem has many issues, first we have 12 loaners total, most of the time only 2-4 on hand, we schedule our major services with free loaner cars due to our policy of "if your bill is over 500$ u get a free loaner," so every day we have about 6-10 majors come through all getting loaners, thuse not having few to none when u droped off your car. our amount of loaner cars is controlled by SOA.

if i remember the extended warranty company U have was slow about coming out to inspect the damage.
vary common, since we deal with multiple ones on a weekly basis, some are quick some are not. then u have to wait about a day plus for them to authorize the repair, and provide u with a loaner car. all ending in about a week wait, then ordering parts, etc.

now, why your car was not given too u on that Friday is beyond me, our service writers are good, but not perfect, Toby is vary good at his job and usually doesn't mess things up, like telling you you need a t-belt at 75k.

thats all i have to say at this time, i feal the flames under my seat right now for what i wrote down, but do not care at the least.......just dont want people miss informed.






PS: please do not contact me privately about my job, or my place of business in person or via PM's about this thread.
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Old 01-15-2010, 11:43 AM   #11
JasonLHall
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Member Sales Rating: (23)
 
Member#: 111318
Join Date: Mar 2006
Chapter/Region: NWIC
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I can only speak to this dealership prior to Bruce Titus taking over.

I started taking my car to their shop for regular maintenance after a series of bad experiences at other dealerships and had ZERO issues with them. In fact, their maintenance department treated me so well, I purchased my wife's 09 Forester from them again with ZERO issues and even after changing owners the maintenance department has treated us extremely well with the Forester.
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Old 12-31-2015, 11:54 AM   #12
SamF
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Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 437131
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Seattle, WA
Vehicle:
2003 Impreza WRX

Default Good service experience

I have no experience with their sales side, but I recently went in to the service dept. for an alignment and was quite happy with the experience and the work performed.
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Old 01-23-2016, 04:03 AM   #13
SeatownSubie
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Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 413645
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Seattle
Vehicle:
2011 WRX Limited
Silver

Default

[quote=altron32;29410470]im not trying to protect or spread good words about my place of work, eastside subaru, but the allocations being spread around here are not true in there entirety.

bataleonkush, my coworker who works in the stall next to me worked on your car and replaced the short block due to the spun rod bearing, the reason we replaced the block is due to the cost of rebuilding over new short block, surprisingly the new block is cheaper so your extended warranty company will choose the cheaper route.
now the loaner car problem has many issues, first we have 12 loaners total, most of the time only 2-4 on hand, we schedule our major services with free loaner cars due to our policy of "if your bill is over 500$ u get a free loaner," so every day we have about 6-10 majors come through all getting loaners, thuse not having few to none when u droped off your car. our amount of loaner cars is controlled by SOA.

if i remember the extended warranty company U have was slow about coming out to inspect the damage.
vary common, since we deal with multiple ones on a weekly basis, some are quick some are not. then u have to wait about a day plus for them to authorize the repair, and provide u with a loaner car. all ending in about a week wait, then ordering parts, etc.

Well I have heard shady things after I did business with them but. I had a very similar issue! Had to replace clutch on own dime after 1 month . Purchased the car with 30k miles and they said there was a new clutch installed recently (bull $#it). Fast forward a year or so, I injured my clutch knee (tore some ligaments) and was trying to trade for a different automatic car because shifting is now painful.
I go to another brand dealership after talking to them on the phone and negotiate 20k trade in for my 2011 with now 39k miles. Go there look at a few options and then talk numbers. They run the carfax of my car and say it was in an accident 2 years before I purchased it with multiple airbags deployed. My jaw hit the floor. I saw the carfax the scum salesman showed me at eastside and there were 0 incidents.no accidents. 100% clean. I even had a shop check it out before I got it and it looked good. I was livid. What I saw was not the carfax this guy is showing me. I shook his hand and left completely pissed. Now I'm left with a car no one wants and is extremely painful for me to drive. Don't really know what to do.
Won't be doing business with them anytime soon.
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Old 07-19-2017, 03:28 PM   #14
hhcchen
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Member#: 35619
Join Date: Apr 2003
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Bellevue
Vehicle:
09 impreza 2.5i
silver

Default

ok, need to rant, before my thought process is gone...
took my car yesterday for an oil change,
and since I didn't do my major maintenance there, I was expecting to pay for the oil change, on top of that, paid extra $10 for tire rotation...
today, in the mail, a coupon showed up with half price of their original price with free tire rotation.
so we called back to see if they can honor the coupon since it's less than 24 hours between I receive coupon and oil change.
They refused to honor it.
Oh, well...
they'll be expecting a really bad review from me... because they also most likely dented my hood... twice... even I had no exact evidence.
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Old 07-26-2017, 02:59 AM   #15
CoyoteNoir
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Join Date: Apr 2016
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Seattle
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Yeah, I bought my WRX here, and went here for warranty service. The sales guys were cool and worked with me to make the deal.

However, the pilot bearing was making strange noises at 26K miles on a car I bought at 24K miles. Took it in twice for them to figure out the noise, both times "cannot reproduce", even though I explained the exact steps to reproduce it. I ended up giving up on the warranty altogether and built the engine.

Probably should've just bought the STi at the dealer down the street and said **** the warranty. After all, that's what I ended up doing anyway.
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Old 09-06-2017, 06:56 PM   #16
hhcchen
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Member#: 35619
Join Date: Apr 2003
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Bellevue
Vehicle:
09 impreza 2.5i
silver

Default

ok... I am very mad...
they don't even send me a survey about the service...
I thought every service I get to evaluate them...
suspicious...!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by hhcchen View Post
ok, need to rant, before my thought process is gone...
took my car yesterday for an oil change,
and since I didn't do my major maintenance there, I was expecting to pay for the oil change, on top of that, paid extra $10 for tire rotation...
today, in the mail, a coupon showed up with half price of their original price with free tire rotation.
so we called back to see if they can honor the coupon since it's less than 24 hours between I receive coupon and oil change.
They refused to honor it.
Oh, well...
they'll be expecting a really bad review from me... because they also most likely dented my hood... twice... even I had no exact evidence.
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