Kendall Subaru of Fairbanks

Not really thrilled to find the brake smoking after brake work at Kendall. They seem to have set or adjusted the hand brake so that it doesn't fully release. work at Kendall. They seem to have set or adjusted the hand brake so that it doesn't fully release. More

Untrustworthy Service Department I had an unfortunate first experience with Kendall Subaru of Fairbanks that has left me with the impression that their service department is not I had an unfortunate first experience with Kendall Subaru of Fairbanks that has left me with the impression that their service department is not trustworthy. In January 2020, I received a letter from Subaru corporate notifying me of a Takata Airbag Inflator safety recall on my passenger side. I called Kendall Subaru of Fairbanks shortly afterwards, initially was told by the service advisor that there were NO open recalls on my vehicle, and had to convince them that the letter I received was legitimate. I was then scheduled for the earliest available appointment of May 13, 2020. Due to safety concerns that the service was scheduled almost four months out, I asked to be placed on a call-back list for any earlier appointments. I was never contacted prior to the scheduled service date. Today, May 13, 2020, I brought my 2011 Subaru Outback in for the safety recall service. Upon pickup, I was recommended by their service advisor, David Bolt, to have my power steering, brake fluid, transmission fluid, and front/rear differential fluids changed because they were dirty. When I notified Mr. Bolt that I had many of the aforementioned fluids changed within the last two weeks, he quickly backtracked that the recommendations were being made because of my Outback's current mileage. Mr. Bolt then proceeded to direct me to the incorrect vehicle in the parking lot. Upon finding my vehicle on the other side of the building, I noticed that a figurine of sentimental value that had been on my dashboard that morning was missing. I searched in my glove box, middle console, underneath the seats, and underneath all floor mats to no avail before notifying Mr. Bolt. Mr. Bolt assured me "this is something that happens all the time" as he attempted to personally locate the figurine in my vehicle without success. Upon giving my recommendation that they have all customers remove personal items from the dash for similar repairs and verbalizing my exacerbation, Mr. Bolt walked away from me back into the dealership. I feel like I now have legitimate trust concerns with their service department. After my experience I spoke with their service manager, Michael, over the phone about my concerns with the missing figurine, the inappropriate recommendations from his service staff, and my lack of trust that the airbag inflator repair was even performed. Even after that conversation, I feel obligated to take my Outback to a third party shop to ensure that the passenger air bag inflator was replaced. I cannot recommend enough that you steer clear of Kendall Subaru of Fairbank's Service Department. More

Terrible experience after terrible experience The end of November 2016 I received a notice from Subaru that my 2013 Outback had a recall for the windshield wiper motor. Shortly after that my driv The end of November 2016 I received a notice from Subaru that my 2013 Outback had a recall for the windshield wiper motor. Shortly after that my driver side windshield wiper stopped working altogether, I assumed that the motor went out. On December 4th I called Kendall Subaru (they are the only Subaru dealer in Fairbanks, I didn't actually buy my Subaru there) to schedule an appointment to have the recalled wiper motor replaced. I explained that the wiper was currently not working and I needed it fixed as soon as possible as it's the only vehicle we have that my daughter's car seat can go in and I didn't feel comfortable driving in Fairbanks Alaska (in the snow) without a working windshield wiper. The scheduling lady told me the soonest available appointment was January 4, 2017. I asked if I could get on any kind of cancellation list and she said no. I asked if I went and had it fixed elsewhere if Subaru would reimburse me, she said no. I scheduled the appointment and meanwhile drove for a month without a driver side wiper. We had multiple snow storms during this time, I ended up missing a good friends wedding in Anchorage because I didn't want to drive without a wiper. On Wednesday, January 4th I took in my vehicle and they told me they were pretty backed up so it would probably be two days, so they gave me a rental to drive until it was done. I didn't hear anything at all until the following Monday when the service dept. called me. They asked if I got an email over the weekend (they had sent it to my husbands old email account), I informed them I did not. The man then explained that the recalled part still hadn't come in and if we wanted to keep the rental vehicle while they waited for the part we would have to have them do work on the vehicle. He then explained about $550 worth of work they could do, I told them I didn't want them to do any of it, but would rather have had the part I took it in for fixed. I returned the rental vehicle and asked if I could schedule an appointment for when the part should be in. The service manager said he had no idea when the part would be in so I would just have to call in. A week went by without any contact. My husband called and asked to speak to the general manager, they wouldn't let him but had them talk to one of the GM's assistants, Lesky. She was very helpful and had us come in the next day to get it looked at. We were there for five minutes and a mechanic tightened up some stuff in the wiper and it started working again (turns out it wasn't the wiper motor, really simple fix). Which also revealed that they never even tried to fix the wiper when it was in the shop before. We left and were told that the parts department would call us as soon as the recalled part comes in. About a week and a half went by until we got a call from the parts dept. saying the part was in. So I called Lesky directly and had her schedule us in for two days later. Lesky called the morning of our appointment and said they actually didn't have the part. It is currently February 3rd and we still haven't heard a thing. I don't know if there is a possibility for this story to have a happy ending..I guess we'll see. Overall, a terrible experience. Sorry for the novel. More

Don't buy a new Subaru if you want a reliable vehicle. In October of 2016, my husband and I purchased a 2017 Subaru from Kendall. Their sales team was really great. Jesse was our salesman, he was helpful a In October of 2016, my husband and I purchased a 2017 Subaru from Kendall. Their sales team was really great. Jesse was our salesman, he was helpful and informative. In November 2016, we started having issues with the vehicle and the check engine light coming on. After having it towed in twice now because of the vehicles inability to start, we are still having the issues with the vehicle. The Vehicle meets all of the "requirements" for it to be considered a "lemon" in the state of Alaska. It has been taken in 3 times for the same issues and after the 3rd time the issue was still not resolved.The final "diagnoses" for the car was that there needed to be an computer update that is not available yet. The issue is causing the vehicle to not start. The vehicle will randomly decide to start. Over the phone on 24Jan2017 we were instructed by David in the service department to come and pick up the vehicle and keep it inside the garage until the computer update is available. At this time they do not have an ETA for the computer system update. So i am supposed to make monthly payments on a vehicle that I cannot drive. They did not want to provide us with a rental vehicle. They said that they would pay for 1 day and if the vehicle had to be kept longer that we would have to pay for the rental, even though it was not our fault for the vehicles inability to start. Subaru ended up paying for the 3 additional days that they had the vehicle. Jermaine from Subaru told us in December 2016, that the vehicle is not cut out for the temperatures we experience here. We purchased the vehicle in Fairbanks Alaska. Not Anchorage or in the lower 48. We were told by Micheal Buske, Kendall's service manager, that they are not only having this issue with our vehicle, but consumers that purchased a subaru in the last 3-5 years are also having this same issue. They are selling military members and other consumers here in fairbanks vehicles that are not dependable and not fit or safe to drive in the environment here in Alaska. We decided to purchase the WRX from Kendall because we had a great experience with them when we purchased our 2016 Honda. Which does preforms flawlessly in the harsh winters here. Their sales team is awesome, I wouldn't say the same about their service department. More