Dealer advice in the Sacramento area for purchasing an STi
10-13-2004, 09:31 AM
#16
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Sacramento, Ca
Posts: 166
Car Info: MY04 Silver STi
Originally Posted by sonicsuby
Yeah, they got a new service manager at Maita right after I sent a letter to SOA informing them of some shady practices by the Maita and Senator service departments. Those guys pissed me off.
BAN: the sales guy who recently started posting works for Autowest.
BAN: the sales guy who recently started posting works for Autowest.
10-13-2004, 10:09 AM
#17
Dirty Redhead
iTrader: (10)
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Commuting? I don't know what that means anymore.
Posts: 7,204
Car Info: 05 WRX Wagon (Crystal Gray)
Hey Drew,
If you want a STI I work the Internet department at Autowest and I will sell you one for a few hundred over invoice if I have one on the lot that you want.
And yes I am a spy, Bond, James Bond.
If you want a STI I work the Internet department at Autowest and I will sell you one for a few hundred over invoice if I have one on the lot that you want.
And yes I am a spy, Bond, James Bond.
10-13-2004, 10:16 AM
#18
Token Toyota Mod
iTrader: (50)
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Posts: 52,306
Car Info: Something german
Originally Posted by ericdared81
Hey Drew,
If you want a STI I work the Internet department at Autowest and I will sell you one for a few hundred over invoice if I have one on the lot that you want.
And yes I am a spy, Bond, James Bond.
If you want a STI I work the Internet department at Autowest and I will sell you one for a few hundred over invoice if I have one on the lot that you want.
And yes I am a spy, Bond, James Bond.
*calls to hire trained ninja assassins*
10-13-2004, 10:23 AM
#21
VIP Member
iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Funtown
Posts: 25,095
Car Info: A limousine with a chauffer
I'll post the short version and link you to the long one.
In August '03 I was in an accident in my car. The timing cover got cracked in the accident, so the body shop who was doing the repair on my car sent it over to Senator Subaru for the repairs. About 9 months later, my good friends at S-Squared noticed an odd sound coming from the front of my engine bay and advised I take the car in for warranty service.
I took the car in to Maita since they are close to home (closer than Autowest anyway) to have them look at it. First thing that happened was the incredibly unfriendly person working the desk in the service department told me I had to authorize an $89.99 diag fee in case the car wasn't covered under warranty. I found this odd - there was an older guy (maybe 30s) in the service department checking in his WRX at the exact same time as me for a warranty repair and he didn't have to authorize the charge. I do have wheels/suspension work done, so maybe that's where the charge came from. Whatever, being profiled is fun.
I get a rental, leave my car and go home to sleep (I was working nights). Maita calls me that afternoon saying they checked out my car and found that the problem was coming from the timing belt rubbing against the timing cover. They could tell that my timing cover had been replaced at some point, and whoever did the work did it incorrectly. They said this would NOT be a warranty issue and that I would have to pay for the charges. I said no big deal, my insurance company was liable for the repairs since this was obviously related to my accident. I called the insurance company and they said they needed a couple days to review and they would get back to me Monday (I called on Friday). On Monday I had the parts ordered and my insurance company authorized the charges (btw, 21st Century Insurance kicks ***).
Tuesday the body shop called me trying to find out what the deal was with my repair. See, my insurance company called them and said that Senator would be paying for my repairs since they bungled the first repair. In the process of telling my body shop what had gone on, the guy there gets another call, comes back on and says "hey, no worries, looks like your car is being covered under Subaru warranty". Me =
.
I guess that the shop foreman from Senator headed on over to Maita to meet with their foreman and service manager. During the meeting, they decided that the issue I was having was a common WRX issue and that Senator was not at fault (obviously they didn't know how many friends I have that are WRX owners and don't have this issue). In fact, Senator claimed they had never even touched the timing cover on my car, and I think they even tried to claim they never worked on it. So Maita warrantied the repair. Because Maita originally didn't want to cover the car under warranty, I lost about 3 days getting my insurance company to approve the charges (they didn't take too long, it was over the weekend and they needed to review the request). SOA only covers a rental car for 4 days or something, and I had the car for 7 days (hey look at that, three days too long). The result - I was out $100 for the additional days of rental car.
So I went in to talk with the service manager. I figured since he hooked up his buddies at Senator, and in the process cost me $100, that he would be understanding and take care of me too, you know, since I'm the customer and all. Boy was I wrong. He told me that he did me a favor by covering my car under warranty, and that I should be thanking him and be happy that I only had to pay $100 (I guess he forgot my insurance company would have paid for EVERYTHING, including the rental car for the entire time I had it). He was extremely rude.
So I got documentation from my body shop proving without a doubt that Senator had replaced my timing cover (all parts) and realigned my timing belt (kids, if you're gonna lie, tie up your loose ends) and I crafted a scathing letter to SOA alledging that Senator and Maita Subaru were taking care of each other at SOAs expense. On review, SOA agreed with me and said they'd "handle the personnel issues privately", which I figured meant "slap on wrist".
The next mailer I got from Maita had a new service managers name on it.
Here's the full thread I made at the time this was all happening: Clicky.
In August '03 I was in an accident in my car. The timing cover got cracked in the accident, so the body shop who was doing the repair on my car sent it over to Senator Subaru for the repairs. About 9 months later, my good friends at S-Squared noticed an odd sound coming from the front of my engine bay and advised I take the car in for warranty service.
I took the car in to Maita since they are close to home (closer than Autowest anyway) to have them look at it. First thing that happened was the incredibly unfriendly person working the desk in the service department told me I had to authorize an $89.99 diag fee in case the car wasn't covered under warranty. I found this odd - there was an older guy (maybe 30s) in the service department checking in his WRX at the exact same time as me for a warranty repair and he didn't have to authorize the charge. I do have wheels/suspension work done, so maybe that's where the charge came from. Whatever, being profiled is fun.
I get a rental, leave my car and go home to sleep (I was working nights). Maita calls me that afternoon saying they checked out my car and found that the problem was coming from the timing belt rubbing against the timing cover. They could tell that my timing cover had been replaced at some point, and whoever did the work did it incorrectly. They said this would NOT be a warranty issue and that I would have to pay for the charges. I said no big deal, my insurance company was liable for the repairs since this was obviously related to my accident. I called the insurance company and they said they needed a couple days to review and they would get back to me Monday (I called on Friday). On Monday I had the parts ordered and my insurance company authorized the charges (btw, 21st Century Insurance kicks ***).
Tuesday the body shop called me trying to find out what the deal was with my repair. See, my insurance company called them and said that Senator would be paying for my repairs since they bungled the first repair. In the process of telling my body shop what had gone on, the guy there gets another call, comes back on and says "hey, no worries, looks like your car is being covered under Subaru warranty". Me =
.I guess that the shop foreman from Senator headed on over to Maita to meet with their foreman and service manager. During the meeting, they decided that the issue I was having was a common WRX issue and that Senator was not at fault (obviously they didn't know how many friends I have that are WRX owners and don't have this issue). In fact, Senator claimed they had never even touched the timing cover on my car, and I think they even tried to claim they never worked on it. So Maita warrantied the repair. Because Maita originally didn't want to cover the car under warranty, I lost about 3 days getting my insurance company to approve the charges (they didn't take too long, it was over the weekend and they needed to review the request). SOA only covers a rental car for 4 days or something, and I had the car for 7 days (hey look at that, three days too long). The result - I was out $100 for the additional days of rental car.
So I went in to talk with the service manager. I figured since he hooked up his buddies at Senator, and in the process cost me $100, that he would be understanding and take care of me too, you know, since I'm the customer and all. Boy was I wrong. He told me that he did me a favor by covering my car under warranty, and that I should be thanking him and be happy that I only had to pay $100 (I guess he forgot my insurance company would have paid for EVERYTHING, including the rental car for the entire time I had it). He was extremely rude.
So I got documentation from my body shop proving without a doubt that Senator had replaced my timing cover (all parts) and realigned my timing belt (kids, if you're gonna lie, tie up your loose ends) and I crafted a scathing letter to SOA alledging that Senator and Maita Subaru were taking care of each other at SOAs expense. On review, SOA agreed with me and said they'd "handle the personnel issues privately", which I figured meant "slap on wrist".
The next mailer I got from Maita had a new service managers name on it.
Here's the full thread I made at the time this was all happening: Clicky.
Last edited by nachomc; 10-13-2004 at 10:27 AM.
10-13-2004, 10:25 AM
#22
VIP Member
iTrader: (6)
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: pew, pew, pew!!!
Posts: 17,617
Car Info: nonplussed
Originally Posted by ericdared81
Hey Drew,
If you want a STI I work the Internet department at Autowest and I will sell you one for a few hundred over invoice if I have one on the lot that you want.
And yes I am a spy, Bond, James Bond.
If you want a STI I work the Internet department at Autowest and I will sell you one for a few hundred over invoice if I have one on the lot that you want.
And yes I am a spy, Bond, James Bond.
10-13-2004, 10:27 AM
#24
BanHammer™
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Wagonmafia Propaganda Lieutenant
Posts: 47,588
Car Info: 2001 Forester RS2 SPEC-F
Originally Posted by ericdared81
Hey Drew,
If you want a STI I work the Internet department at Autowest and I will sell you one for a few hundred if I have one on the lot that you want.
And yes I am a spy, Bond, James Bond.
If you want a STI I work the Internet department at Autowest and I will sell you one for a few hundred if I have one on the lot that you want.
And yes I am a spy, Bond, James Bond.
FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS ???? I WILL TAKE 2 !!!
10-13-2004, 10:29 AM
#25
Dirty Redhead
iTrader: (10)
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Commuting? I don't know what that means anymore.
Posts: 7,204
Car Info: 05 WRX Wagon (Crystal Gray)
you don't have to worry about me though because I'm still working on my shoe throwing technique
"who throws a shoe, honestly that really hurt"
"who throws a shoe, honestly that really hurt"
10-13-2004, 10:37 AM
#30
Dirty Redhead
iTrader: (10)
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Commuting? I don't know what that means anymore.
Posts: 7,204
Car Info: 05 WRX Wagon (Crystal Gray)
sonicsuby can have one for a "few" hundred OVER.
Yeah I messed up on the last one let it go.
I am not an animal!! (all the time)
Yeah I messed up on the last one let it go.
I am not an animal!! (all the time)