Picture this.... my 4 week old, 2300 mile STi8+ppp goes back to a subaru dealer to have some wheel balancing and tracking sorted (after 2 wheel rebalances there was still some vibes) for the day.

It has a SECS monitor fitted, I reset peak values before I leave it with them.

Get back in the car, SECS cable hanging free, I plug it in, to find peak speed at 95mph and peak revs at 7304.

Now whilst I apreciate the car has no problems with this (a little high on the revs... hohum).... I have problems with the fact that the cable was unplugged in what I can only assume was an attempt for the SECS unit to forget the peak values, which it didn't (doubt there was another reason for them to use the ecu socket when doing a 4 wheel align/swapping wheels/tyres).

Taking it up to those speeds might aid them to find out where the vibes start-finish, but 7k+ revs... I think not

What would you do? and does the secs make up peak values when powered off (I doubt it somehow). The more I think about it the more it winds me up.

Richie.

 

For a start I wouldn't have a dealer do the balance and wheel alignment after getting it wrong twice before.

No need IMO to run the car at all after alignment and balance.

I'd go back, speak nicely to the Dealer Principal, show him the read out and ask for an explanation.

(how thick must some of these "technicians" be. Surely they should have disconnected the secs before the test drive...)

D

 

well, apart from the fact they did that to your car i doubt they have a private track so 95mph is over the speed limit by a fair bit!

wonder what would happen if your car was caught on camera doing 95 then you got a letter - how would the dealer handle that!!

 

revs sound a bit excessive ... but, hey the guy was probably having some fun. it's built for it and if he didn't break it, and the wheel problems sorted then eveyone's happy ... sort of

most of us would never know.

 

.. the wheels were balanced at two different places.... it turns out that its either a dodgy tyre/set of tyres, or a dodgy wheel/set of wheels.... as it was fine when std 17's were put on there.

Richie.

 

I'd put it in writing, and ask politely why then felt it necessary to break the speed limit by over 25 (or 35!) mph on public roads, and why they had to rev the engine quite so hard... Mention that this would be a mandatory court appearance for the driver.

Put it in writing, and address the manager of the dealership personally.

I think the garage is well out of order for this, and that unless you do something, it will continue.

Nick.

 

i know some people will say, so what - no damage has been done etc. but for me it is the principle of the thing, they had NO reason to drive your car at all and even if they did those revs/speeds are not acceptable. As mentioned above I would put this in writing to your dealer, referring to the blatant attempt to disconnect the unit to clear the readings.

 

Thanks for the replies folks... I have spoken to the owner of the dealership, awaiting a phonecall back.

Its not so much the speed/revs but the fact that they tried to cover it up - sly and devious. I am really contemplating using a different dealer from now on, even after 3yrs and between my brother and I, 100k in cars.

Not happy,

Richie.

 

Agree with and supplement chiark - put it in writing, and ask for a written explanation. They'll give you any crap over the phone, they will be extremely cautious in writing, as you could, for example, send a copy to IM and ask what they think about a dealership doing this.

 

Oh yeah, what private road was this 93mph on? Better get assurance from them that any speeding ticket that comes through for that period, THEY will admit to!!

 

give 'em hell [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] load of **** & pi$$ takin i'd go in person give 'em a load of loud shyte & demand sum form of sweetner of goodbye all future business (which they woodnt get anyway!)
Si (never leaves car with any1 unattended if i'm payin 4 it i wana c wots being dun!!! )

 

Tell them you have just received a NIP in the post for that day at 95 mph and you want to know what they plan to do about it..

 

When did the wheel vibration occur? If it was at 90mph-ish then they may have been doing you a favour in trying to make sure it was cured after 2 failed attempts. The revs may be a bit excessive but I bet you revved the nuts of thier demo car, we all do (well except me of course ).

If you have been happy with the servicing upto now then just have a quiet word with the service manager, just to let him know that you're aware of potential abuse. Hopefully he'll be more attentive the next time.

F

 

Still waiting for them to call me back... oh the joy. I took one of the servicing chaps out in it that morning so they were aware of the speed/vibes/tracking issues from the outset.

Richie.

 

Have they rung yet?

 

I rang them in the end... great eh?

They said it was necessary for the testing to check the pull of the car under acceleration... and with the PPP the revs whip round so fast. They also said that something was beeping so they unplugged the SECS... now the secs boost alarm is set at 22.9psi... and their max was 21.3psi so I doubt that somehow..... the alarm was no doubt the shift light set at 6800.

They also said that they dont abuse/thrash customers cars etc... hmmm, 7304 revs and 95mph seems a tad high for a pootle up the road to see if there are any vibrations.

Nothing more I can say to them really. Contemplating getting the car sorted with them, then waving goodbye and finding a new dealership to look after my car.

I'm just too soft

Richie.

 

I would still put somthing in writing if i was you with regard potential speeding ticket and the fact that they won't be taking your money any more.

 

My rb5 had a 18mile road test at tileys
but what can i do about it

 

That is very poor. I once had a similar problem with one of my Porsches. I had arranged to trade a Boxster in for a 911 and they wanted the car early so they could swap over the tracker.

So, they sent one of their service staff to collect it, who drove to the end of my road, turned left and then once out of view floored it up to the junction at the top of the road - on a stone cold engine. Since it had a Hayward & Scott full system on it I heard it all.

Being somewhat aggreived I waited an hour and then called Navtrack and got a printout of it's journey. It wasn't very impressive reading - much like yours.

So, I emailed the dealer principal and expressed my displeasure. To be fair they were very good about it, assured me they had reprimanded the person in question (I believe them too) and I got a set of tyres out of it (which for a 911 isn't exactly cheap!). Ever since the service manager has been collecting my cars personally. But then this is Porsche and their customer service is second to none.

The answer they've given you is wholly unacceptable IMO. I would put your aggreivance in writing to the dealer principal and then vote with your wallet and go somewhere else. There was probably no harm done, but that isn't the point is it. They don't deserve your business any longer.

Tim.

 

A set of boots - good work

 

definately write to them. 95mph is ILLEGAL and totally unneccessary. so, they have to break the law to test their cars? what a load of crap.

the wheels are balanced on the machine and that works 100% unless they don't do that correctly.

 

got to watchdog?
I'm sure they would like to get their teeth into this
Either that or give me their address, and I'll sort out the rest
astraboy.

 

I woudn't be soft with them Ritchie. There is no way they can justify driving your car like that, the excuse for the over revving is sheer nonsense. That is the real nub of the affair. They were driving your car beyond the limits and if your engine blew and you said you had accidentally revved it to that they would renege on the warranty immediately. I would be tempted to write to the head person at Subaru and tell him what you think about it all. They are just fobbing you off.

Les

 

Tell them that you have the print out and are going to report them to the police for speeding (assuming you can prove when they had it of course). Even if the police can't do anything this time you can bet they will keep an eye on them for an easy chance at a conviction.

Offer them the opportunity to replace your oil and plugs before the police visit just in case they caused excessive wear to anything. Also a free geometry check would be nice as you wonder if they made things worse by abusing your car. Also inform IM and any head office they may have.

 

... very grim

Had exacly the same problem 'bout 6 months ago. My RA went in (to a main dealer) to have it's undeseal checked and touched up. Dropped the car off, noted the mileage and reset my boost gauge. Picked up the car two days later to find a peak boost recall of 1.5bar !!!!!! ... initially they said it hadn't even left the car park <grrr> !! ..... eventually, I got a sort of apology in a we didn't really do anything wrong kind of way !!!

Anybody know a good servicing agent near Cambridge ??


Cheers

Adam

 

Redlining a cold engine would be what was p1ssing me off, testing the wheel balancing upto 100mph is fair enough.

 

If you have a tracker get the printout since that is firm evidence of what speeds they were doing and on what roads. The SECS is pretty accurate but they could fob you off saying you can't prove it was them who set the peak readings, tracker will give exact times etc.

One reason I'm glad my tracker does telematics, I can instantly check the car's movements from a computer.

 

Paul - that's pretty useful. Do all trackers do this?

 

"All this seems like a massive over-reaction to me, the high revs could be due to blipping the throttle by accident "

errrr - doubful, its not like they are not driving cars like this reguarly.

"As for balancing the wheels do you know for certain that the wheels were in contact with tarmac when this speed was recorded"

they have already admitted to driving the car!

"Reading some of these posts it seems like many of you should have bought diesels with tachos fitted rather than rally replicas."

thats not the point, i think you'll find its called respect...
they are supposed to be a professional outfit.

you paid for it = you get to thrash it, thats your choice.

you seem to be forgetting the dealership "don't give a toss" attitude here.

thats the bottom line.

Weava

 

yep i appreciate most cant afford it but it's this kinda disrespect that means if they did that 2 my car they'd get a slap since i'd be sat along side 'em!!!
Si (u tucha my baby i tucha yer face lol)