Subaru Service

Hard to leave any more than 1 star if they don’t even answer the phone

Always exceptional service

I went in Newcastle subaru service for a major servicing. I am a new driver and a new owner of a 2008 Subaru Tribeca. I honestly told them that i know nothing about what is included on servicing and i believed that the car company’s own servicing will be perfect because they know their vehicle. I dropped my car that day 12 pm and went to collect 4pm. They said it will take couple more minutes. I casually asked if general wash was included and the guy at the front said it does include a general wash so we were waiting for them to finish everything. After 30-40 minutes the guy showed me a list of services performed and replacement which i paid and we left. On our way home i saw spiderwebs on my side mirrors and i looked around my car to find it unwashed. I called them back immediately and they said come tomorrow at 2 pm for that. It was ok with me and we went back the next day exactly 2pm. At first they said we still have one car so can take 30 minutes more and the wash will take only 20 minutes, so we waited, but out of nowhere the service manager came to us saying there are 4-5 cars so come back around 4 pm. I was pretty angry at this stage because i booked an appointment a day before and they didn’t finished their work yesterday which made us come the next day and now the service manager is saying that the car wash is actually a complementary service they are providing to us. He repeatedly said that the car wash is just a complementary service as if i was getting something done free and i have to do it on their own time. Well nobody is taking anything free, the fact that i paid handsomely the previous day is proof of it and if they had not mentioned the car wash was includes we wouldn’t have come at the first place. After a discussion they said they will do the car wash and they took. After 15 minutes they brought the car and said it was done where i could still see the spiderwebs on the side mirror and the car looked the same. The Service manager told me he himself did the cleaning. It was a such waste of time and i felt insulted. So we left and we are no going back.

Good customer service

I purchased a 2016 Subaru Forester in February 2019. It had full log book dealership servicing at Glendale before I purchased it, and I continued servicing it at Newcastle. The first time it was serviced by Newcastle I noticed the warning lights came on- and reported an unusual smell. I was informed by their department that the O2 sensor would get blocked by one of their sprays they used when servicing- they reset the computer system which reset the light and all was good. The car drove brilliantly, and I was happy about my purchase.The next service, at around 37,000 km the same thing occurred. Nothing to worry about I thought. I drove to Tweed Heads, and the warning light returned- no cruise control, no hill control, no PC assistance anywhere. Crick's Subaru were brilliant to work with- extremely forthright and honest with their appraisal of the situation, including sending photos. They determined that the rocker gasket was leaking oil onto the O2 sensor, and this was a long standing issue and it was easily identified.Returning to Newcastle City Subaru, they informed me the issue was out of warranty, repairs would cost around $1500.00 including parts and labour. The car required removal of engine, and would be off the road for a week.I sought another mechanics advice. He indicated yes the engine needed to be removed, parts would cost around $200, and labour around $1200. He also pointed out that the same repair had been completed on the other side of the engine- evidenced by the different colour of caulking used. Please remember that only Subaru dealerships had serviced the vehicle- and that Newcastle and Glendale are owned by the same subsidiary.Naturally I was apprehensive- given that this was apparently a long standing issue that was easily identified, but this department had failed to identify it, not once but several times. In fact, the Glendale branch of this company had already rectified the other 1/2 of the engine, I had more concern about quality of repairs and workmanship.I did contact Subaru Australia via email on their help line- no return contact, The Newcastle City service manager advised lack of return calls was due to a medical issue of one of his employees- I have no way of knowing if this is true. However Newcastle City advised that they had requested Subaru Australia for advice- Subsequently there was an offer for free parts, which I accepted.The work was completed a day earlier than predicted, and the car was returned washed which I did appreciate.After the repair I received an email from Newcastle City Subaru asking for feedback. I rated them very poorly, as I have been very disappointed, and lacked faith in their competence. I asked to be contacted, but not by their service manager (Ashley)- The automated response indicated I would receive contact within 3 working days. Over a week later another feedback survey was received- but this time from Christian Dinsdale Manager of Subaru Australia. I responded to this survey today- again quite negative reviews. 3 hours later and unsurprisingly I had response from Lauren - Ashley's underling. Lauren is enquiring if I am satisfied with my recent service. No mention of the failures leading up to need for $1300 of work on a car with less than 40k on the clock.So is my situation a result of deliberate malfeasance, or incompetence?