Lithia Reno Subaru

Bought my 06' Impreza in September 06. The car works great, but I have had problems with the service dept. Initially everything seemed fine getting routine oil changes through the dealership. This year great, but I have had problems with the service dept. Initially everything seemed fine getting routine oil changes through the dealership. This year I had an engine light come on, and I took it in to Lithia to get it checked. They said it was a bad charcoal filter and that it would need to be replaced. I was unfortunately out of my manufacturer's warranty be 2 months, but I did have an extended warranty from when I purchased the car. It seems that this extended warranty has a $200 deductible to even use. I know that no one ever explained this to me when I purchased the vehicle. The extended warranty was $800 when I bought it. I opted for a smaller one for 6 years 80k miles. I am sure that it is in the fine print somewhere and I failed to read it. Their words, "If anything ever goes wrong, all you have to do it bring it in and it's covered." Now I have come up on my 30k miles maintenance to remain in warranty. I made an appointment to have this and my alignment checked. The 30k maintenance and alignment came up at $1290. I almost thought the service rep was joking. Looking around online, I see that anything over $500 is highway robbery. The list of services they were giving me was about 8 items. Off the top of my head...3 filters, 3 fluid changes, and some inspections. Their price is an embarrassment. Needless to say, I will be having my maintenance done elsewhere. The unfortunate part is that their service center is always busy. It took very little research on my part to see that they are a terrible shop. Hopefully others will do the same and go elsewhere. The BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU gave them an F! More

Just bought the car from them 3 weeks ago. Took it in because the engine has a slight stumble to it. Instead of actually coming to look at the car in the parking lot the mechanic refused to leave his des because the engine has a slight stumble to it. Instead of actually coming to look at the car in the parking lot the mechanic refused to leave his desk and instead just gave me a list of excuses for why the engine might be running a bit rough such as the A/C kicking on (in winter!?!) or maybe I bought bad gas (I am careful not to). Generally he was very dismissive, completely UNHELPFUL and did not even take the time to look at the car! More

A few months ago, I replaced the thermostat and coolant on a 2000 Subaru Outback. There is a long-term factory bulletin for leaking head gaskets. The factory fix is a few ounces of "conditioner" aka stop on a 2000 Subaru Outback. There is a long-term factory bulletin for leaking head gaskets. The factory fix is a few ounces of "conditioner" aka stop-leak. I ignored the factory recommendation to replace the conditioner, and after a few months the head gasket began leaking. I brought the car in to Lithia Subaru in Reno. They asked me if I had replaced the coolant. They suggested I purchase a bottle of conditioner and put it in the radiator. They checked the car for leaks and found the drain plug on the radiator was not tight. They found no other leaks. A few days later, I checked again and found a drop of coolant coming off near the cylinder head. I brought the car back in the next day and was adamant they replace the head gasket. They put the car on the rack twice that day and after letting it run for quite a while, kept checking it every few minutes. They saw no leaks. The next morning when I got the car, they asked me if I would show them where it was leaking. They put it back on the rack and I watched them remove the splash pan. It had, indeed, stopped leaking. The bottom line is they went beyond what they really needed to appease me, and in spite of how hard I was on them, they kept a professional attitude. I also saw how competant they are. I recommend their service department. More

My mother took her subaru in to have fog lights installed. She asked them to check it out while they were working on it. They told her the car was unsafe to drive. They charged her $1,400 for bra installed. She asked them to check it out while they were working on it. They told her the car was unsafe to drive. They charged her $1,400 for brake work and routine maintanence. The worst part is I helped her buy the car just before this and all the fluids were changed and the brakes checked out fine. A complete safety check was performed and the car was %100. They did work that did not need to be done, or had just been done. I called the service manager and he insisted all the work needed to be done. They took advantage of an older woman by scaring her into the work. I also had a good friend that was told his timing belt needed to be changed. It had been done the month before elsewhere. This is a dishonest repair facility. I have bought parts and the parts department is friendly and knowledgeable, but don't let them work on your car! More

Car came from CA with scratches. We get it after dark, don't see the problem until the next day. No DMV sticker. Milage is 215, trip is only 130 miles. Just got the Temp DMV sticker. Assistant manager don't see the problem until the next day. No DMV sticker. Milage is 215, trip is only 130 miles. Just got the Temp DMV sticker. Assistant manager said he would get someone to bring it up when I left at 1:00 PM. 5:00 PM I call (twice) and was promised a return call by the woman I spoke on the phone to. 6:00 PM I call again, guy puts me on hold, comes back, says the sticker is there but nobody is available to send it up. 7:00 PM, my third trip to the dealer, guys are sittting reading the newspaper, in the office. That's too busy? No call? Buy your car off the lot, don't buy sight unseen, and bring a camera. THe guys are polite, but really don't care. look at potzagilla.net for my horror story More

Everything Seemed fine at the time of the repair. I was on the road and went in for a warranted fix (Blown Head Gasket). 40K later (yea that is a lot of miles, but a head gasket should rarely blow...ever) on the road and went in for a warranted fix (Blown Head Gasket). 40K later (yea that is a lot of miles, but a head gasket should rarely blow...ever) my current Mechanic said it's bad again. after taking my engine apart, he could tell that the 1st job was done so poorly, he was amazed I eve got back home. Tolerance for a head gasket is .001 - .003, the "divot" Lithia machined into my block was .008. It was obvious that it was Lithia's doing as there were rotor marks all around the divot where a sloppy machine job was performed. I confronted Lithia (and then Subaru of America) and just got the brush off. not willingness what so ever to at least look at the problem (my mechanic took some good close-up shots of the damage). I wouldn't recommend this dealership to anyone, I cannot believe that Subaru lets them put there name out the sign. Not to mention when I was dropping my car off at the dealer, I got confronted by a sleazy salesman, who was more interested it putting me into a new car than telling me where the after hours drop box was. More