St. Cloud Subaru

Response received via e-mail to Revdex.com -- business has opted to provide same response to Revdex.com as on complaint filed by consumer with MN AG's office.Scan is attached, including record of e-mail communication with customerText of accompanying letter reads as follows: "'*** ordered a Subaru
STI and picked it up on Friday August 19, Saturday morning, he told his salesperson Jennifer (in an e-mail, 31) that he had all his questions and concerns answered and had a good experience purchasing his carHe seemed happyLess than hours later, on a non-business day, (#2) he wrote Jennifer to tell her he lost sleep over 'dents' underneath the doors that he thought were caused by his accessory installationHe also mentioned a plastic piece that was damaged inside from an outlet installationHours later, he wrote her again (#3) because he noticed scratches in the doorsThey were visible enough to see on phone pictures(This seemed unusual; if it was existing damage, he hadn't noticed them upon delivery.) Again, on Sunday evening, *** thanked Jennifer and stated (#4) that these were minor issues and the car was 'perfect in every way.' Jennifer went above and beyond to respond and accommodate *** on a day we are closed.He brought the vehicle back Monday, for an inspection and repairwe addressed his concerns by sending the vehicle out to repair dimples (barely visible to the naked eye), replaced the damaged interior plastic trim piece and buffed his doors to get the scratches outWe could not verify the cause of the scratches; *** had the car for days at that pointThe 'dimples' are part of the proper installation of his accessory along the doorsTo re-install the accessory would have resulted in the same dimpled effectAll of this was repaired at no charge, a goodwill on our part*** picked up his vehicle and spent an unusual amount of time inspecting the vehicle in front of Jennifer and Jaime, the service advisorHe was on his hands and knees and looked it over top to bottom fro at least minutesHe stated everything was good, and that he would now start enjoying his vehicle.Over the course of the next few days, *** became disgruntled and unsatisfied with several additional itemsOur management staff got involved in ***'s complaints and concerns through multiple phone callsIt was evident that he was very difficult to deal with and his emotions would vary from happy to angry -- back and forth*** started to accuse our staff of sabotaging his vehicle on purpose***'s father also called on his behalf and angrily spoke with our manager for minutes, stating we were jealous of his son and not treating him properly.*** continued complaining for the next few weeks: harassing, cursing and bullying the receptionist and other staffHe didn't allow us to inspect his vehicle to confirm his long list of new concerns, saying the travel to our dealership was inconvenientHe simply wanted us to give him money for issues we had no way of verifyingAs stated in your letter, he has escalated to the point of demanding a new car.I conferred with management and we decided *** was so unreasonable and time consuming that our business obligation towards him had been filled and we no longer needed to try and satisfy his demandsOn September 13, he e-mailed Jennifer (#5) stating that our service manager Matt was lying and this resulted in my unwillingness to converse with him*** threatened that he would be contacting your office and an attorney, and that his car was now a 'Lemon.' we obliged his decision, and said no further contact was needed between us, the lawyers would communicate insteadYet, on September he e-mailed Jennifer again and stated he hasn't enjoyed a single moment with his new car and that he was not allowed to 'drive it because it's considered evidence.' (#6)At St Cloud Subaru, the dollar amount of your purchase doesn't matter, all out customers' satisfaction is of an utmost importanceIn fact, St Cloud Subaru has the highest customer satisfaction rating for all Subaru stores in MN, in both service and sales, for many years runningWe have great people and processes for handing customer concernsWe believe we have been fair; unfortunately, *** disagreesIt is not our business policy to hand out money (or replace a new car) for questionable and unproven damage / repairs when the customer has refused reasonable resolutions. Sincerely,Scott ***OwnerSt Cloud Subaru"

We contacted the customer and I believe the issue has been resolved to her satisfaction. Thank you for helping us resolve this issue for this valued customer. Please let us know if we can be of further service

Response received via e-mail to Revdex.com -- screencap of text message(s) attached. Mr. ***,I truly am sorry for your dissatisfaction with your recent vehicle purchaseIt comes as quite a surprise knowing this Outback the way we do. I do appreciate the feedback to open a discussion
but I do not believe this vehicle was misrepresented in any way. Asad sent video, pictures, face-time and spent countless hours to help in this vehicle purchase. You wanted this Outback because it is an exceptional value you could not find anywhere else- even with the added expense of shipping it miles. We had top employees in both service and sales management drive this vehicle before the transportation company picked it up and it was in tip top driving condition. I believe for this vehicle to have a severely cupped tire, out of balance an extraordinary ounces and a wheel bearing out-this vehicle, in my mind, was damaged after the transportation company received the vehicle, loading or unloading, perhaps during transportation or after delivery to youThis vehicle had next to new tires and passed the certification process with flying colors, as you know. Whether you bought it or someone local that test drove it before purchasing would have agreed that this vehicle is in phenomenal shape. As a matter of fact, I have attached your original text that you sent your salesperson Asad, after driving and inspecting the car that the vehicle was -"in phenomenal shape and it was the best car buying experience of your life" (attachment). You would not have to drive this car at highway speeds to validate any of the repairs you described. I can tell if a tire is "lightly cupped" let alone "severely cupped" before leaving the parking lot on an appraisal- especially with the other items mentioned, mph and feet would be enough to tell. We have replaced many wheel bearings under warranty on Outbacks, it is a very common and easy repair to diagnose- so us trying to avoid the repair while warranty is paying doesn't make sense at all. A wheel bearing can go out at anytime without forewarning and the chances of us missing that pre-delivery is highly unlikely. The tying down and ratcheting of the wheels and suspension for a cross-country transportation is a more likely the cause. We often have to re-align and/or balance wheels/tires on brand new Subaru vehicles delivered from the factory due to the tie down and bouncing of the transport. You chose to have this car transported cross-country and therefor are responsible for repairs of the damages (if any) after it was taken from our possession. The car was in tip top condition when it was here. I do not agree with the accusations nor the request. Scott BSt Cloud Subaru*** *** *** ***St Cloud, MN

I am rejecting this response because:
St Cloud Subaru’s response is erroneous at best.  Dents and scratches that are visible in pictures are not minor issues on a brand-new car ordered from the factory.  St Cloud Subaru’s claims that dents are “part of proper installation.”  Why would anyone purposely want dents and scratches in a 50k brand new car.  Like a kid in candy store, I was excited and missed the initial damage until I could get the car home and properly examine it.  If the dents were part of the proper installation, then why would it need to be repaired?The allegations of bullying and threatening are insulting as I have all the emails that I sent to my sales representative in which I was kind and courteous in my attempts to receive the perfect car that I paid for and should expect from a dealership.  After all, they were the ones that did the accessory installation, not the manufacturer.The entire time I was misled.  The technicians told me that per the owner’s manual the “break in” period was 400 miles and that the gas tank should be filled with 91 Octane.  After actuallyconsulting the manual, it turns out that was incorrect and that the “break in” period was 1,000 miles and that 91 could be used but it affected performance and that 93 octane should be used.  This may seem minor, but an improperly broken in car can cause irreversible damage.I spoke with the finance guy who said I could not return the car because “unfortunately” I had already purchased the car.  I was told they would make this right, but everything just got worse.  I spoke with the service manager over the phone who was very defensive.  I found out he was the individual who had installed the parts, and denied that his shop made errors.  He assured me that the car would be returned in perfect condition.  I thenhanded my brand-new car over a service technician who inspected the vehicle and confirmed that the dealership caused the damage.  They even attempted to make repairs by using a heat gun on some of the damage.  In the end, they sent my car to a third-party body shop.  Again, a brand-new car needed body work after the dealership installed the accessories.  I believed he had no choice and reluctantly agreed to St. Cloud Subaru’s proposal. On September 1, 2016, I was told my car was done and was “perfect.” I arrived at the dealership and was led to a dark delivery bay where the car was located.   I inspected the rocker panels that were supposedly fixed and noticed a completely new dent.  I noticed that the sales rep and the technician were red in the face and asked if he would like a flashlight because they believed it could be the lighting.   It was clearly a dent and not the lighting they used to try and hide the dent.  I couldn’t leave my car and took it home.  It was then that I also noticed an additional thirty miles on the odometer, meaning the auto body location was either fifteen miles away or the dealership was driving my car.Then I noticed the sun roof was leaking air so badly that it was louder than the radio. The buff job at the auto body shop, caused the tab for the moon roof visor to become bent and was now causing it to leak air.  I inspected all the dealership installed parts, in particular the block heater as it required some of the coolant to be drained.  The reservoir was nearly empty.  The dealership had neglected to replace the coolant in the vehicle after installing the block heater installation.   As Subaru’s response indicates, I was starting to feel as though the dealership was purposefully attempting to ruin the new vehicle I had paid for in full.  I continued my inspection and noticed that the body work on the rocker panels was poor at best, there were spots where the dents were still visible after supposedly being fixed, and the deep scratches in the doors were still visible and looked completely ignored. I immediately e-mailed, as it was after hours and was told myconcerns would be passed on right away.  I requested the complete list parts and prices paid for each individual job.  I also requested the name and contact information of the auto body shop used.  I only received the part list and only the name of the auto body shop, Mobile Auto Renew, but not the additional costs or full contact information for the auto body shop.  The service manager also agreed they forgot to refill the coolant.I was unable to verify the existence of the Mobile Auto Renew and noticed that, during the car’s time at the dealership, someone driving the car had exceeded the recommended RPM limit during the break-in period.   I was now with a used car with over 250 miles, an inferior body work, scratches on the doors, low coolant, a leaky sun roof, driven by a stranger with unknown manual transmission experience who had also rummaged through my glove compartment and someone joy riding in my car causing untold damage before it could be broken in.I made several other attempts to resolve this only to be met with threats of attorneys getting involved.All I want is the perfect car that I had saved for and dreamed of, not a banged up car that admittedly needed body work done after a botched installation and someone driving my car in ways that could damage the engine.

I disagree with the conclusion you've drawn (that transport of the car was the sole cause of the problem), and as such do not accept your response to my complaint.First, while damages do occur during transport it is unlikely, and even implausible, that the parts that were found to be faulty could have been caused from transport. For example, the weights used to balance car wheels are held on by adhesives designed to easily handle stress of harsh conditions. Rain, extreme temperatures, and the shock from potholes do not cause these weights to fall. This also applies to wheel bearings, which normally last years of hard abuse. The only plausible way these two things could fail during transport is if the driver took the car off-roading between pick up and drop off. Obviously, this is a sarcastic scenario but my point is that these are durable parts designed to withstand punishment and unlikely that being tied down, and ratcheting of the wheels, to a trailer would cause the weights to fall off or wheel bearing to fail. Honestly, when was the last time your dealership received a transported car with faulty wheel bearings? Wheel bearings go bad over the course of months and years, not 4-5 days. Second, I was clear with Asad that the shaking started when I drove the car over 40-45 mph. The Subaru dealership that inspected the car confirmed this however, and it's inaccurate to assume shaking from off-balanced wheels or faulty wheel bearings can always be felt at low speeds considering the shaking is directly caused by centrifugal force caused by the rotation of off the wheel (no rotation, no shake).I stand by my original complaint that the car left your lot with the off-balance wheel, faulty wheel bearing and ultimately damaged tire, and not through stress from transport. I, again, call for St. Cloud Subaru to replace the damaged tires caused by the unbalanced wheels and faulty wheel bearing.