Liberty Subaru Inc.

To Whom It May Conceare in receipt of Revdex.com complaint *** Please be advised of the following:On 11/29/2014, Mr*** entered into a binding agreement to purchase a new Subaru Forester XT Mr***'s agreement is signified by his four signatures on the buyers order
setting forth the terms of the purchase Under his fourth signature, the following text appears in 1/inch red bold font: "THIS ORDER NOT SUBJECT TO CANCELLATION-DEPOSIT NON-REFUNDABLE" Under this sentence appear the words "IMPORTANT: READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE BACK OF THIS ORDER BEFORE SIGNING." On the back of the buyers order, item entitled "NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT" further clarify.The Forester XT was, and continues to be, a limited availability vehicle In order to "earn" more of these vehicles from the manufacturer, these vehicles must be sold quickly With Mr***'s commitment to its purchase, it was no longer offered for sale to any others customers, any of whom could have completed a purchase in the same timeframe that Mr*** committed to While this vehicle was subsequently sold, Mr***'s delayed decision to not commensurate this purchase caused Liberty Subaru harm as the vehicle remained in dealer inventory longer than it otherwise would have, resulting in a negative effect on the manufacturers next allocation to Liberty Subaru.Additionally, as Mr*** intended to finance this purchase, Liberty Subaru submitted his completed credit application, and expended the time and resources necessary to secure financing for Mr***'s purchase.Liberty Subaru also expended the time and resources necessary to appraise Mr***'s trade in vehicle and research its value.We believe that regardless of the clearly disclosed non-refundability of the deposit, retaining Mr***'s deposit is fair compensation for time and resources spent based on his purchase commitment

I am rejecting this response because: After I received my car back in this condition with dash panels removed and parts hanging by electrical wires, I called to complain the general Manger who returned my call only to say that is to leave the car apart if the owner does not want to fix itRegardless if the car came to them in one peice and together I work in the industry and said I'd never heard of such a practice, now he tells you that they did t have time to return it the condition it was brought to them inI had three days prior to picking the vehicle up via tow truck told the service manager I would fix the car myselfThen again the day the car was scheduled to be picked up by the tow company advised the service manager it was being picked up in a couple hours, leaving plenty of time to return the car to the way I came inAs theit recording says all calls are recorded for quality everytime someone calls, so I'm sure all of that can be verified, the lie to me about the reason it was left apart and the ample time they had to return it back to original conditionAs I stated to Mr*** the part in the truck had been there for one week prior to being towed and before that sat in a garageThe day it was out in is on camera as is the entire time it sat at my local repair shop and it was never wetThe exhaust itself is not wet at all neither is the box that it was in or the other parts it was next tooNever the less when I relied my car back there were water stains and it smelled of sitting water only on the rear seat (where no parts were) and I have the after stains to prove itAlso have the statement of the tow operator that the seat didn't appear to be wet when towed down to the shop as well as the blvrhicle being on camera the minute it returned to my local shops to prove it was not tampered with thereYet none of these things are the fault of the dealer? I went to a Subaru dealer and their service writer said they have never seen or heard of such a practice of leaving a car apart with parts hanging by their electrical wires before in his yeas of service experiencee ***

I am rejecting this response because: the message I left the salesman said I was not able to pick up the car on that ThursdayIf he had listened to it he should have known I wasn't to coming in and should have called me backI waited days to hear back from himWhen he finally called me back he was extremely rude.I also was told from other Subaru dealerships that it is illegal for a dealer to keep a deposit if a car was not purchased. Only disreputable car dealerships do this. ***

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
I was caused financial harm while Liberty Subaru profited:- Liberty Subaru profited from my $and also from subsequent sale of the vehicle.- I lost $500.My custom had no bearing on Liberty Subaru's costs:- Liberty Subaru would have incurred costs regardless of whether or not I had visited the dealershipThe vast majority of costs (if not all costs) described in Liberty Subaru's response are labor expenses and, therefore, largely fixed costsIn other words, the Liberty Subaru employees would have been at work and would have been paid regardless of whether or not I was there. - Vehicle appraisal was completed prior to payment of a deposit, in order for Liberty Subaru to develop a quoteThis is standard practice at any car dealership.- Purchase of the vehicle would have been contingent upon credit approval in any case, regardless of whether a deposit had been paid or not.The time from deposit payment to cancellation of the agreement was immaterial- The time from payment of the deposit to my notification that I did not want the vehicle was only days (Nov 29th - Dec 6th).- The vehicle was not in physical inventory during the timeframe given above as it was still in transit from the manufacturer, so it would not have been possible for Liberty Subaru to sell the car in any case.For the reasons above, my claim for refund of the $deposit still stands and I would appreciate prompt resolution of this issue***

Dealer Executive Management was unaware that this concern was still outstanding. Third party warranty administrator mistakenly sent payment directly to repairing dealer instead of customer. Subsequently, third party administrator failed to send new check to customer. Dealer has
obtained *** tracking number for overnight package to customer, guaranteed delivery by end of day tomorrow, Friday 8/

Mr*** states “…now he tells you that they did t have
time to return it the condition it was brought to them in”, and insinuates that
I lied about “the reason it was left apart and the ample time they had to
return it back to original condition.”
In my response, I never stated that there was no time to
re-assemble the vehicle. My statement
was: “It is not common practice to dis-assemble a vehicle for diagnosis, then
re-assemble it while waiting for an approval for a repair, only to have to
dis-assemble it again to affect the repair.
The vehicle was still dis-assembled when it was towed away, as the
service department was waiting on the approval to repair the vehicle.” I stand by this statementFor clarification, the part that is “hanging by electrical
wires” that Mr*** refers to is the faulty steering lock module that needs to
be replaced. The lower dash panels have
to be removed to access this partMr*** goes on to say that he “told the Service
Manager I would fix the car myself.” In
order to replace the faulty module, the vehicle would have to be dis-assembled
to the state it was in when Mr*** had it towed from our facility. Re-assembly with the faulty parts would be
counterproductive, and would cause the steering wheel to be locked, making it
more difficult to tow or maneuver around a parking lot or shop. In
its current state of disassembly, half of the labor to replace the faulty part
has already been done, and the vehicle is easier to move, since the steering
wheel is not lockedIf Mr*** wishes to tow his vehicle back to Liberty
Subaru, we’d be happy to re-assemble it to its original condition using the
faulty parts at no chargeRegarding the water in the rear seat...all of the work done by Liberty Subaru was done under the dashboard, not
in the back of the vehicle The design of the car is such that even if a window were left open in a rain storm, the back seat would not get wet In this case, none of the front seats, door panels, or any of the carpets are wet...only the bottom of the rear seat, which is inexplicable I'll stand by my original statement that Liberty Subaru will not be taking responsibility for the water damage in the back seatAlso as in my original response, Liberty Subaru will not be
paying for Mr***’s car insurance or his car loanI

Mr***s car was towed to Liberty Subaru because the steering wheel was locked and the car would not start The lower dashboard had to be disassembled to access the motor that actuates the ignition lock to diagnose the problem Upon dis-assembly, the technician verified that the
motor was not actuating as it should, and that the plastic gear inside the module that actually moves the steering lock pawl was stripped, necessitating the replacement of the module Mr*** approved the replacement of this module While the gear inside the new module properly engaged the steering lock pawl, it was not being activated as it was supposed to Upon further diagnosis to figure out why the new unit was not being activated, it was discovered that the Body Control Module (computer unit that controls interior functions) had failed due to a short circuit to ground This short circuit was caused by aftermarket electrical equipment improperly installed in the vehicle This short circuit caused the Body Control Module to activate the steering lock actuator and not shut it off, causing the internal gear to strip, requiring replacement of the module.Since the failure was caused by the improper installation of aftermarket electrical equipment, it is not covered by Subaru's warranty, and would be the responsibility of the customer Mr*** declined to pay for the repair, and had the vehicle towed to another shop While Liberty Subaru's technician (a Subaru Senior Master Technician) had spent over hours diagnosing Mr***s failure, he was only charged the two hours that he agreed to.It is not common practice to dis-assemble a vehicle for diagnosis, then re-assemble it while waiting for an approval for a repair, only to have to dis-assemble it again to affect the repair The vehicle was still dis-assembled when it was towed away, as the service department was waiting on the approval to repair the vehicle.Mr*** did leave voicemails for me, but he did so while I was out of town Upon my return, I did contact Mr***, and over the course of several phone conversations, relayed all of this information to him, so the notion that I didn't return his call is inaccurate.Mr*** states that there was water on the back seat cushion, but no where else in the vehicle This is inexplicable, as there is no way for water to get to the back seat cushion without getting the rest of the car wet When Mr***s car was towed in, the exhaust system was piled on the back seatThe only explanation that we could come up with would be that there was water in the muffler or other pipes that were in the back seat, and that water came out while the car was being towed This is speculation, and is not verifiable, but it's our best guess Regardless, this is not something that Liberty Subaru will take responsibility for.Liberty Subaru is willing to repair the vehicle per our diagnosis, but since the failure was the result of improperly installed aftermarket equipment (and therefore not covered by warranty), it will have to be at the owner's expense This repair would be done in a good and workmanlike manner, consistent with industry standards Liberty Subaru will not pay for Mr***s car insurance or car loan.Please do not hesitate to call with any questions I can be reached at ###-###-####

It is Liberty Subaru's policy that if a local customer chooses not to pick up their license plates and registration in person, that a $charge be assessed to cover overnight/trackable FedEx shipment. In a case where the customer lives far away, an exception is normally made, and
should have been made in this case. We'll be happy to ship this gentleman's license plate and registration, but before the plates are shipped the registration fee of $156.50 must be paid. This can be done over the phone by credit card. Once this bill has been paid the license plates and registration will be shipped at Liberty Subaru's expense

To Whom It May Concern- We are in receipt of Revdex.com case number [redacted].  With regard to this complaint, please be aware of the following facts: This vehicle was delivered on 1/15/2018.  On the following day, the vehicle was presented to our service department with the following complaints:...

-Eyesight is turned off -Customer smells a bad burning smell -CarPlay intermittently does not work With regard to the first complaint, the technician found that the EyeSight active lane learning values (these are the parameters that the computer uses to “see” lane markings on the road) needed to be reset and re-learned.  The technician performed this operation and confirmed normal operation. With regard to the second complaint, the technician confirmed the smell, which is a normal condition for a new vehicle and will typically disappear within a day or two, depending on use. With regard to the third complaint, the technician found a technical service bulletin from the manufacturer.  A computer update was performed and the technician confirmed normal operation.   This vehicle was presented to our service department a second time four days later with the following complaints: -Rear back up cross traffic not working -Sirius XM not working -Clock not keeping time With regard to the first complaint, the technician was unable to duplicate the customer’s concern, as the vehicle was operating normally. With regard to the second complaint, the customer was advised that the vehicle is not equipped with a Sirius XM receiver. With regard to the third complaint, the technician changed a setting in the clock and confirmed normal operation. Please note that there is no complaint of a burning smell on this repair order.   In summary, this vehicle required a software update to the radio, a reset of the EyeSight computer, and a correction of a clock setting.  The burning smell is normal for a new car, and (judging by the fact that it was not noted on the second repair order) has dissipated. While we regret the inconvenience of having to return for these items, this vehicle is fully covered under Subaru’s new vehicle warranty, and any work performed has been at no charge to the customer.  Replacement of a vehicle would be at the discretion of Subaru of America, not the dealer.  Regardless, none of this customer’s complaints rise to the level of replacing their vehicle. In recognition of this customer’s inconvenience, Liberty Subaru would be willing to cover the cost of an oil & filter service.

To Whom It May Concern-Below please find an email from Mr. [redacted] (which was forwarded to me from my Sales Manager, Dan [redacted]), along with my response.  This issue was resolved before Mr. [redacted] filed this complaint.Please call with any questions...I can be reached at ###-###-####.Rick **...

[redacted].General ManagerLiberty Subaru  Dear Mr. [redacted]-Thank you for bringing to our attention the duplication of the refund check for your tire tax…I appreciate your honesty in its return.Regarding the refund of your Service Contract and Maintenance Contract…as you are aware, those contracts are part of the loan that you took on your new Subaru.  Once the loan is approved and the paperwork is executed at delivery, it is sent to the lienholder for funding.  Concurrently, the information for these contracts are transmitted to Subaru electronically.  Once this is done, Subaru charges the dealership on a monthly statement.  Just like any other bill, purchases from one month are on the bill the following month, and we cannot request a refund until we are charged.  Since your purchase occurred in the month of December, we were charged on our January statement.  We submitted your cancellation request in January (after we were charged), and we received your refund on our February statement, which we received on March 1.  It takes a few days for my office staff to process this 60 page statement, so your refund check (check # [redacted], in the amount of $3,023.66) was cut last Friday, March 4.  As these contracts were part of your loan, the check has been sent to Subaru Motors Finance, who will process it and apply it to the principal of your loan.As you can see, your request was processed in a timely manner, and everything is proceeding along a normal timeline.  I apologize if this was process not clearly explained to you.Rick [redacted]Liberty SubaruLiberty Hyundai[redacted] From: Dan [redacted] Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2016 6:31 AM To: Rick [redacted] Subject: FW: Amount owed by Liberty Subaru Daniel [redacted]Sales Manager###-###-####Fax   ###-###-####[redacted] From: [redacted] Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2016 12:15 AM To: [redacted] Cc: [redacted] Subject: Amount owed by Liberty Subaru Liberty SubaruAttn: Finance Department[redacted]Emerson, NJ 07630To whom it may concern:Sub: Refund of $3,023.66I have received a check for $7.50.  This check represents the refund of wrongly charged NY tire tax. Please note that this amount was already refunded to me and I am mailing the check back to Liberty Subaru.I am still waiting for the refund of $3,023.66(canceled Maintenance Plan $1,295.08 and Extended Warranty $1,728.58) due to me since 12/23/2015.In the absence of a resolution on this matter by 03/15/2016, I will take it to the New Jersey court.Sincerely,[redacted]Valley Cottage, NY 10989

Complaint: [redacted]2
I am rejecting this response because:
I was caused financial harm while Liberty Subaru profited:- Liberty Subaru profited from my $500 and also from subsequent sale of the vehicle.- I lost $500.My custom had no bearing on Liberty Subaru's costs:- Liberty Subaru would have incurred costs regardless of whether or not I had visited the dealership. The vast majority of costs (if not all costs) described in Liberty Subaru's response are labor expenses and, therefore, largely fixed costs. In other words, the Liberty Subaru employees would have been at work and would have been paid regardless of whether or not I was there. - Vehicle appraisal was completed prior to payment of a deposit, in order for Liberty Subaru to develop a quote. This is standard practice at any car dealership.- Purchase of the vehicle would have been contingent upon credit approval in any case, regardless of whether a deposit had been paid or not.The time from deposit payment to cancellation of the agreement was immaterial- The time from payment of the deposit to my notification that I did not want the vehicle was only 7 days (Nov 29th - Dec 6th).- The vehicle was not in physical inventory during the timeframe given above as it was still in transit from the manufacturer, so it would not have been possible for Liberty Subaru to sell the car in any case.
For the reasons above, my claim for refund of the $500 deposit still stands and I would appreciate prompt resolution of this issue. [redacted]

Mr. [redacted] Added Security policy was cancelled in a timely manner, as he suggests, on 10/12.  At the time of purchase, this policy was financed as part of the loan that he took on his new Subaru.  Once the loan is approved and the paperwork is executed at delivery, it is sent to the...

lienholder for funding.  Concurrently, the information for these contracts are transmitted to Subaru electronically.  Once this is done, Subaru charges the dealership on a monthly statement.  Just like any other bill, purchases from one month are on the bill the following month, and we cannot request a refund until we are charged.  Since this purchase occurred in the month of October, we were charged on our November statement.  We submitted Mr. [redacted] cancellation request in November (after we were charged), and we received his refund on our December statement, which we received on January 1.  It takes a few days for my office staff to process this 60 page statement, so Mr. [redacted] refund check (check # [redacted], in the amount of $1,273.30) was cut on Monday, January 9, the day before I received this complaint.  As these contracts were part of Mr. [redacted] loan, the check has been sent to Subaru Motors Finance, who will process it and apply it to the principal of his loan.As you can see, Mr. [redacted] request was processed in a timely manner, and everything is proceeding along a normal timeline.  This information has been communicated to Mr. [redacted].

We had a very positive sales experience with sales consultant Steve Klein. Steve was clear,patient and cordial when he presented all the information on our 2015 Subaru Crosstrek. I would highly recommend Liberty Subaru to my family and friends.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:First of all, I confirm that the refund check has been deposited to my account. However, I do not agree that the dealer handled the situation in a timely manner. I was told that the refund will be processed within two months and it didn't happen. When I contacted the dealer multiple times to find out about the status, I got no response until I filed the claim. They should acknowledge that they didn't handle the case properly and they should look into how to improve their business practice.
Regards,
[redacted]

On July 21 Ms. [redacted] purchased a 2014 Subaru Forester, and left a $500 non-refundable deposit.  Liberty Subaru does not accept deposits to "hold" a car, but will only accept a deposit when a customer is committed to purchasing a vehicle.  Ms. [redacted] demonstrated her...

commitment by fully executing a buyers order, completing a credit application, and leaving a $500 non-refundable deposit.  At the bottom of Liberty Subaru's buyers order appear the words "THIS ORDER NOT SUBJECT TO CANCELLATION-DEPOSIT NON-REFUNDABLE in 1/4 inch high, red bold type.Ms. [redacted] was scheduled to pick up her new Forester on Thursday, July 24th at 10am...three days later.  During that time, Liberty Subaru's finance department invested the resources necessary to secure Ms. [redacted]'s financing at the best rate available from Subaru Motors Finance, and produce all the paperwork associated with the purchase of her vehicle and the related financing.  Additionally, Liberty Subaru's service department expended the resources necessary to have the vehicle prepared for delivery.On Wednesday, July 23rd, Ms. [redacted] did call Liberty Subaru and left a message for her salesperson to call.  Unfortunately Wednesday is his day off, so he did not receive the message until he came in at 9am on the 24th.  As Ms. [redacted] was to pick up her new car only an hour later, he elected to speak with her directly when she arrived instead of calling her back.When Ms. [redacted] failed to arrive at the dealership at her appointed delivery time, her salesman called and was informed that she was unable to take delivery that day, and asked to move the delivery back to Wednesday, July 30th, which he agreed to do.  At that time, Liberty Subaru's finance department re-produced all of the delivery and finance paperwork to reflect the new delivery date.On Saturday, July 26, Ms. [redacted] called to advise her salesperson that she got a better deal and bought the car somewhere else.The decision to not refund Ms. [redacted]'s deposit was based on Liberty Subaru's clearly stated refund policy, and the fact that Liberty Subaru expended considerable resources to secure financing, produce and re-produce the all of the necessary paperwork, and prepare the car for delivery.

To Whom It May Concern-We are in receipt of Revdex.com complaint [redacted]2.  Please be advised of the following:On 11/29/2014, Mr. [redacted] entered into a binding agreement to purchase a new 2015 Subaru Forester XT.  Mr. [redacted]'s agreement is signified by his four signatures on...

the buyers order setting forth the terms of the purchase.  Under his fourth signature, the following text appears in 1/4 inch red bold font: "THIS ORDER NOT SUBJECT TO CANCELLATION-DEPOSIT NON-REFUNDABLE".  Under this sentence appear the words "IMPORTANT: READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE BACK OF THIS ORDER BEFORE SIGNING."  On the back of the buyers order, item 6 entitled "NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT" further clarify.The Forester XT was, and continues to be, a limited availability vehicle.  In order to "earn" more of these vehicles from the manufacturer, these vehicles must be sold quickly.  With Mr. [redacted]'s commitment to its purchase, it was no longer offered for sale to any others customers, any of whom could have completed a purchase in the same timeframe that Mr. [redacted] committed to.  While this vehicle was subsequently sold, Mr. [redacted]'s delayed decision to not commensurate this purchase caused Liberty Subaru harm as the vehicle remained in dealer inventory longer than it otherwise would have, resulting in a negative effect on the manufacturers next allocation to Liberty Subaru.Additionally, as Mr. [redacted] intended to finance this purchase, Liberty Subaru submitted his completed credit application, and expended the time and resources necessary to secure financing for Mr. [redacted]'s purchase.Liberty Subaru also expended the time and resources necessary to appraise Mr. [redacted]'s trade in vehicle and research its value.We believe that regardless of the clearly disclosed non-refundability of the deposit, retaining Mr. [redacted]'s deposit is fair compensation for time and resources spent based on his purchase commitment.

I am rejecting this response because: After I received my car back in this condition with dash panels removed and parts hanging by electrical wires, I called to complain the general Manger who returned my call only to say that is normal to leave the car apart if the owner does not want to fix it. Regardless if the car came to them in one peice and together I work in the industry and said I'd never heard of such a practice, now he tells you that they did t have time to return it the condition it was brought to them in. I had three days prior to picking the vehicle up via tow truck told the service manager I would fix the car myself. Then again the day the car was scheduled to be picked up by the tow company advised the service manager it was being picked up in a couple hours, leaving plenty of time to return the car to the way I came in. As theit recording says all calls are recorded for  quality everytime someone calls, so I'm sure all of that can be verified, the lie to me about the reason it was left apart and the ample time they had to return it back to original condition. As I stated to Mr. [redacted] the part in the truck had been there for one week prior to being towed and before that sat in a garage. The day it was out in is on camera as is the entire time it sat at my local repair shop and it was never wet. The exhaust itself is not wet at all neither is the box that it was in or the other parts it was next too. Never the less when I relied my car back there were water stains and it smelled of sitting water only on the rear seat (where no parts were) and I have the after stains to prove it. Also have the statement of the tow operator that the seat didn't appear to be wet when towed down to the shop as well as the blvrhicle being on camera the minute it returned to my local shops to prove it was not tampered with there. Yet none of these things are the fault of the dealer? I went to a Subaru dealer and their service writer said they have never seen or heard of such a practice of leaving a car apart with parts hanging by their electrical wires before in his 20 yeas of service experience
e [redacted]

Mr. [redacted] states “…now he tells you that they did t have
time to return it the condition it was brought to them in”, and insinuates that
I lied about “the reason it was left apart and the ample time they had to
return it back to original condition.”In my response, I never stated that there was no time to
re-assemble the vehicle.  My statement
was: “It is not common practice to dis-assemble a vehicle for diagnosis, then
re-assemble it while waiting for an approval for a repair, only to have to
dis-assemble it again to affect the repair. 
The vehicle was still dis-assembled when it was towed away, as the
service department was waiting on the approval to repair the vehicle.”  I stand by this statement.For clarification, the part that is “hanging by electrical
wires” that Mr. [redacted] refers to is the faulty steering lock module that needs to
be replaced.  The lower dash panels have
to be removed to access this part.Mr. [redacted] goes on to say that he “told the Service
Manager I would fix the car myself.”  In
order to replace the faulty module, the vehicle would have to be dis-assembled
to the state it was in when Mr. [redacted] had it towed from our facility.  Re-assembly with the faulty parts would be
counterproductive, and would cause the steering wheel to be locked, making it
more difficult to tow or maneuver around a parking lot or shop.  In
its current state of disassembly, half of the labor to replace the faulty part
has already been done, and the vehicle is easier to move, since the steering
wheel is not locked.If Mr. [redacted] wishes to tow his vehicle back to Liberty
Subaru, we’d be happy to re-assemble it to its original condition using the
faulty parts at no charge.Regarding the water in the rear seat...all of the work done by Liberty Subaru was done under the dashboard, not
in the back of the vehicle.  The design of the car is such that even if a window were left open in a rain storm, the back seat would not get wet.  In this case, none of the front seats, door panels, or any of the carpets are wet...only the bottom of the rear seat, which is inexplicable.  I'll stand by my original statement that Liberty Subaru will not be taking responsibility for the water damage in the back seat.Also as in my original response, Liberty Subaru will not be
paying for Mr. [redacted]’s car insurance or his car loan.I

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID[redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards, [redacted]

Liberty Subaru has agreed to get us a new vehicle