ComplaintsforPatriot Subaru

• Initial Complaint

  11/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I purchased a new *** from this dealership along with a prepaid service contract. I traded the *** to another dealer for a RAM in April of 2023. I went to Patriot Subaru to cancel the service contract and receive a prorated refund early / mid April 2023. I had paid for the contract out of pocket as opposed to financing if memory serves me right. Regardless, the dealer was supposed to send me a check and sent it to ********** instead. ***** never received a check. I have been trying to get Patriot Subaru to cancel the original check and issue me a new one for the past 7 months to no avail. I've been told that once ***** sends the check back to them, they'll issue me a new check. I dont understand why they can't stop payment on the check that was sent to the bank in error. The refund was in the ball park of either $1100 or $1300. I have been to the dealer in person (spoke to ***** at time of canceling the plan and again several months later in person). I was in contact with ***** at the beginning but he has since left the dealer. I've spoken with ***** / ***** (don't know which). I'm told "I'll look into this" and NEVER get a return call. I have a voicemail saved from ******************* in May 2023 and contact / email from the ******** support team. I can provide telephone records of my calls to the dealer as well

  

  Business response

  11/21/2023

  The money has already been refunded, with our apologies, and we took full responsibility for the delays. The claim was internally not processed correctly, 
  and lay dormant. Weve not had one like this before, and it was presented to the team as an unacceptable mistake.  Sincerely, Patriot Subaru

  Customer response

  11/21/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. 
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  10/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Purchased a used 2015 Subaru Forester with ****** miles from them for over $20,000 in 2018.Fast forward to now, the car has ******* miles and the *** transmission failed. We current owe a large some on the vehicle.In July 2017 subaru informed current owners of issues with cvt failures and that they would be increasing the "warranty" on them from 6 years ****** miles to 10 years ******* miles.If a vehicle was outside of 10 years or ******* miles were given until july 31st 2018.We purchased the car a couple months later. At no time during the purchase process did Patriot Subaru inform us of the information above. They also did not want to come down on the price of the vehicle because it was suppose to be a clean, safe, reliable car for many years.In researching further, the *** failure issue can come about with NO WARNING, and could also cause surging, increases or decreases in speed, complete power loss, etc. The *** transmission design is flawed and no system was created to provide a warning the way a check engine light or brake failure do.Patriot Subaru knew this and purposely withheld that information. My most recent interaction with them i was told they wouldn't do anything because i didn't purchased extended warranties. Perhaps if they had been ethical and informed me of the issues experienced by others with Subaru *** i would have, or they might have mentioned things i could watch out for, or better preventative actions.This vehicle could have literally killed my family, and so far Patriot subaru wants to place the blame on me and Subaru America.Both Patriot Subaru and Subaru America are culpable in their negligence and purposely withholding information.They owe it to us in every way to make the situation right.

  

  Business response

  10/31/2022

  ***************************,  we are sorry that you are experiencing a problem with your Subaru.  Unfortunately much of the information that our Service Manager, *****************, provided to you via e-mail, did not make it into your complaint.  With your complaint, we are now compelled to present these facts in this forum.

  When you purchased your **************** 2018, it had ****** miles.  At that time, since the vehicle had over ****** miles, the vehicles original manufacturers warranty had already expired.  You mentioned in your review that we did not tell you about the warranty information on your vehicle.  We have a document that you signed that says otherwise. You were told that the vehicles warranties had expired and there was no coverage remaining on the original  warranty from Subaru. We understand that unexpected costs that arise for repairs can be frustrating as well as costly.  This is why we always recommend and provide our customers an opportunity to minimize their risk by purchasing an extended warranty.   Unfortunately, when you purchased your vehicle, you declined all extended warranty coverage extended to you against our recommendation.  We have a signed copy by both parties if you have misplaced yours.
  

  Warranties provided by the manufacturer cover the owner against mechanical defects in either parts or workmanship.  They do not cover repairs stemming from lack of maintenance or abuse.  When you e-mailed our Service Manager regarding your vehicle and explained your situation, he began his research.  At this point, your vehicle now had ******* miles on it. As you mentioned, the original warranty had already expired, the Subaru CVT transmission extension to ******* miles had also expired.   He found that when you purchased your vehicle, you had declined the extended warranty coverage that would prevent this situation.  The next step for us to help would be to collect service records showing the routine maintenance such as transmission fluid replacement had been done at the recommended intervals.  This would indicate that you had done your part in maintaining the vehicle.  We would then present that information to Subaru to see if there is any out of warranty-goodwill assistance that Subaru would be willing to extend based on a good service history.  Unfortunately, since you didnt perform any routine maintenance at our facility,  we do not have any records in our system that would show you were performing the recommended services that help prevent this type of damage.  It is not required that you service with us.  So in this case, we would need you to provide the records from wherever you serviced the vehicle so we could provide those to Subaru. 
  

  Our Service Manager explained that if you provided copies of any routine maintenance, he would contact Subaru and go to bat for you.  Unfortunately this is when you became very verbally defensive and threatened to ruin our reputation using online resources. We can only assume this is because you did not have any of the maintenance performed that might have prevented the issue in your vehicle.   Again, this is speculation on our part and we would be happy to continue to try to help.  However, without any routine maintenance service records, at ******* miles, it will be very difficult for us to convince Subaru this was a defect in the product and not a lack of maintenance.

  We hope that provides all the information needed to move forward. Please remember that if a car is not properly serviced and maintained, the responsibility of safety shifts to the operator.

  Sincerely,

  Patriot Subaru
  

  Customer response

  10/31/2022

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

   As I stated, Patriot subaru had knowledge that the *** had severe issues. Enough so that subaru almost doubled its warranty.This was NOT disclosed and is completely unethical. We were only told the warranty was for 10 years or ******* miles, not WHY.If you had a **** ***** on your lot would you not tell a customer of fire danger? Than they they could take action outside of the norm.Had i been told, i could have exceeded any manufacturer maintenance. We also brought the vehicle in on 6/11/2020 for a recall, and noise check/loud when slowing. At the time i thought perhaps brakes, now it was obviously the transmission as the vehicle had not been driven much in the last several years.And had began to lose power/get up and go. With a normal transmission car that would mean spark plugs and fuel system. With a *** that means your about to need a new ************** Patriot or Subaru never disclosed.At that time Patriot could have disclosed *** issues and said we should really change the trans oil. This did not happen.Both Patriot and Subaru are also ignoring the fact that many ***s failed who followed all service guidelines. Many have failed in the first ****** miles.
  
  Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
  
  FAQ
  
  Regards,

  ********

   

   

  

  Business response

  11/02/2022

  ********,
  Subaru of *******, as well as any manufacturer in ***************** will issue warranty extensions on certain vehicles as a matter of goodwill to customers.  Your vehicle for example, has five warranty extensions since the original manufacturer's production date. The latest for example was issued in September of 2022 regarding the battery.  Notifications are sent directly to the consumer from the manufacturer.  This information can be looked up by any dealer, at any time and is updated constantly.  As long as the routine scheduled preventative maintenance is performed, those components are covered for the duration of the warranty extension period.  Once this extension has expired, the only coverage available would be an extended warranty purchased by the customer or goodwill assistance from the manufacturer.  During this last visit, when you brought your vehicle in for a brake squeal concern, ************** noticed some slight noise coming from within the transmission even though the vehicle is still completely functional.  Our Service Manager reached out to Subaru on your behalf as there is no longer any warranty coverage from the manufacturer.  They stated they already extended goodwill assistance to you on your vehicle on October 7th of 2019.  Your vehicle had a faulty clock spring assembly that failed at ****** miles.  This was over ****** miles outside of warranty, but was covered as a one-time goodwill by Subaru.  During this call by our Service Manager, Subaru said that due to the lack of maintenance records on the vehicle and the fact that they had already provided good will repairs outside of warranty, they were not willing to offer additional assistance at this time.   As we have mentioned before, if you are able to provide us with the maintenance records requested by Subaru, we would be happy to forward them and seek additional help.  Without any further documentation, we are unable to assist any further.  The repair work you requested on September 27th at our facility has been completed over 30 days and the vehicle has not been picked up.  If the vehicle is not removed from the lot, by November 4, 2022,  it will be towed to an impound lot where towing and storage charges could be assessed at your expense.
  Tell us why here...

  Customer response

  11/03/2022

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  1. It took over a month for us to be informed that Patriot and Subaru would not provide any assistance. So providing 1 DAY to arrange for the car to be towed away is again further proof of unethical conduct.

   

  2.Notification was never provided to us regarding *** issue's in writing or verbally, as we purchased the vehicle after the program had been issued. Once again, the reason why was also NEVER disclosed to us.

   

  3. Our visit to Patriot Subaru 2 years ago: No Transmission issue was communicated to us. Nor any strong recommendation to flush the trans oil.

   

  4. Maintenance is not at fault for the failure of the *** transmission. The failure is a result of lack of communication from Patriot and Subaru, and the result of inferior engineering and design. The vehicle purchase price was based on a value of a reliable vehicle that would last. A **** ***** would not cost the same as another safer reliable vehicle.

   

  
  Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
  
  FAQ
  
  Regards,

  ********

   

   

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