Subaru

Everything Was okay until yesterday, the pick up day! The day you should expect will be a great experience picking up the new car. When we arrived the employees we dealt with to get to this day were amazing with us, great customer service! We then signed (SIGNED) all the paperwork to finalize everything, they get our car keys and went with us around our (new to be) car to show us all the specifications, functions, etc... Until one of the employees came to us and said we wouldn't be able to get the car! (When the keys and paperwork was already in our hands).

Continue to explain due to a problem that our car was having (since day one we stepped on Subaru) they would need to review with the mechanics to know if the market price would have to change or how much would be to fix (which in the employees words could be up to 10k) - we were looking for cars for months, all the dealers first question was about this problem with the computer in the car which doesn't affect the car engine performance at all - and all of them also said, we can't give you a market price for the trade in until we know how much it is to fix this problem, and JUST THEN start a contract. However at Subaru was different, one of the staffs saw the problem, went to next door to ask what would be the market price, and came with 30k WHICH WE SIGNED IN THE CONTRACT. The employee said they would understand if we didn't want to follow with the contract after knowing how much the cost would be.

This morning my partner received a call saying that the problem was going to be 3.1k to fix, and possibly more to pay for repairs if it wasn't the cause, my partner needed to pay it upfront as they couldn't put in the contract due to all the arrangements already done. My partner decided to walk away from the car deal as the employee explained to myself and my partner yesterday that it's understandable, which my partner wanted to get his car back, to fix the issues (yesterday we didn't pick up the new car, we had to leave ours there, and get a loan car which they gave us a near empty tank car which my partner had to put fuel in), and this same employee then said that "it's a little bit more challenging than that" to break the contract now after mentioning we can back out of the deal due to the inconvenience.

So now, we are currently without our old car, without our new car and without knowing what is going to happen. I also remember really well, during our first paperwork signing that one of the employees said that the market price for our car would change ONLY if we had an accident during the period of waiting for the new car or something that WAS NOT reported at that day happened to the car. The experience my partner and I encountered with the experience customer manager was terrible, Unprofessional, disrespectful, careless, not trustworthy, non loyal to the contract we signed. We were in contact with SUBARU City for at least 2 and a half months, since day one they knew everything about our trade in car, and their employee wanted to do all this in the minute of the key handling. Congratulations, you ruined what should be an amazing experience for a couple.

I called the corporate office and it has been over two weeks with no resolution in sight. A week ago I try to remote start before I left to work. The STARLINK system would not connect. When I went out to the car to start it. The dashboard and ignition lights were blinking and it would not start. I had it towed to the dealership, they gave us a small dirty loaner car and yesterday, a week later, they called to say it was fixed and ready to be picked up. We made the trip there to find that it was not true, the vehicle was not ready as the STARLINK was still not working. We're back in the loaner vehicle, it's the next day and we have not received another call about the status of our car. This car is two months old and it's their top of the line SUV. Do I have a lemon? More to come.

On Monday I went to the branch and asked for details. I was surprised to learn that they didn't get any inquiries. So I asked for what my rate would be for new car financing. I was offered 2.39.(I have email proof of this). To add to that - Even the refinance rate which I checked with BoFa was 3.49 and Credit Union offer me 2.99 (I have proof of this as well). Over a 72 month term that would have translated to an additional $1500 in interest. To gain business, I have to believe the finance manager blatantly lied that they had checked with all the banks including Chase and based on my credit score this is the best they can offer. I did reach out to finance department and customer relations. But once the sale is done, they seem not bothered to even respond.

2. I was charged document and fees and told the title and registration will be taken care and I will get the refund for my 2019 subaru crosstrek from DMV once the transfer the title from me. I have paid $725 for 5 years registration just in April 2020 so had the prorated refund of 4.5 years to be refunded. 2 months fast forward, I checked even as of today on AZ DMV portal. They have not even notified the car as sale per my DMV website and Title was still under my and the credit union's name (have taken the printscreen of the same too). And I have not got the refund either as of today.

I was also not provided the price which I had agreed to for which after speaking the dealership person said they will speak with the GM and get back to me. Again the Finance guy provided misinformation on cost of ownership stating that it includes the interest I would be paying which doesn't seem to be true. I followed up few times since but they never got back on this. I had sent a detailed note on this as well. For any concerns/arbitration - Dealership had asked me not to reach outside till I have discussed my concerns with dealership. I have been patient enough thus far, but as I have not heard back on any resolution/remediation from the dealership I am writing this review. Based on all the above points I have to believe Subaru Finance has been provided false information and unethical practices to get my business.

Other things I don’t like include the auto-shutdown at stops. I had to turn it off because it caused a hesitation and was annoying. And the drivers manual is a mess — 550 pages with supplements and I can’t find how to, for example, dim the dash lights. It seems there’s never one spot that fully describes a function. Pages referring to other pages, referring to other pages that eventually come full circle. And the index is almost useless. Think “dashboard light dimmer” is there? Nope. This is only one function for which I find Google much more helpful.

At night all the speedometer lights and tachometer turn on red and can be seen easily but forget it during the day. I have vision issues and wear contacts so this sure doesn’t help. If I could have spent more for the higher option vehicle I would have now but was trying not to have a car payment still after I unexpectedly lost my other car and stay within my insurance payout. I may have to trade this in For the higher option later if I continue to like the rest of the car, we will see. I think Subaru needs to change this basic safety issue on its base models!! On Google there were other people who had complained about this. I noticed now too. I have only had this car 2 weeks and wish I would have test drive longer as I didn’t notice in the short test drive.

Well, I was lied to by the first rep who was taking care of that back in January, let me call again with this new info and see what they would be able to do for me. And so I did. I was told by this new rep that this TSB expired in June of 2019 (which I was not even mentioned or told about) and basically said, "Good luck, that isn't our problem to deal with." I can't drive my car without having any drivability issues and I am currently looking at my options because I can't afford a $2000-3000 bill for a problem I didn't do. Honestly, I am beyond upset with how Subaru handled this and wish they let their customers know when there is issues that have to be looked at before just kicking us to the curb. I've been a loyal customer for 10 years but this will be my last Subaru I ever own.