Not Happy. - Subaru2006
I purchased a used car from Fiat almost three months ago. I was given the standard 3 month/3,000 mile warranty. When I looked at the car originally, I was told that it had already been to the mechanic and was ready to go. I took the car to test drive and I could clearly see this was not the case, check engine light was on, brake light was on, etc. So okay, no big deal, they got the car in recently so maybe the sales guy made a mistake and the mechanics hadn't seen it yet. They assured me the car would get to the mechanics after. I took the quote home to think and a few days later decided to purchase. The evening I was signing the paperwork and was supposed to leave with the car, the sales guy went to fill it with gas. Upon his return he stated there was problem, the car was having trouble starting. They kept the car and turns out the battery needed to be replaced. That should have been my first clue to run. When I purchased the car it had some body damage that needed to be replaced, which they agreed to do. When I picked up the car after the body work was done it looked great. After driving the vehicle approximately an hour, I turned right and heard this awful scraping noise and smelled burnt rubber. Great. I get out and take a look, the fender guard had come off the front left of the car and got stuck under the wheel. Coincidentally enough - this was the side of the car that the body damage was on. The manager tried to tell me this wasn't their fault and this stuff happens. Okay, fine. They agreed to fix this at no cost. After this I started to get nervous and thought, well the warranty is nearly up, maybe I should take it to someone else just to make sure everything is okay. I was informed by the mechanics at JS&S that the timing belt needed replacing, the fuel pump was running loud, and a few other small things. I was giving a quote to fix all of this for approximately $1,000. You can imagine my anger.... I called Dean, the manager at Fiat, and had a chat. He informed me that the timing belt wasn't covered under the warranty (which I do understand) and that the mechanics were wrong and just trying to get money from me. Okay fine. I did a little research and my specific car should have the timing belt changed at 105k miles and ten years. The car is a 2006 - its' 2017. I then proceeded to take the vehicle to a Subaru dealership, and Auto Tech. All three places said the same thing - timing belt needs to be replaced. Clearly, this should have been handled before I was sold the car. My assumption is they have second rate mechanics, or they are simply scam artists. I'll let you decide.
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