Steering Jammed - All Sorted

[sti pretender]

Was driving home Friday night went to turn right and steering wouldn't move. Was only doing 30 but had to hit the brakes and force the wheel to turn to avoid hitting a road sign and tree. Only 100 yards from the house so gingerly drove to the house.

Phone Subaru Assistance who sent 911 out to look at the car(was the same guy that recovered Jimser's car). Heatshield from the up-pipe had broken and dropped down and jammed the rack from turning right. Couldn't fix it or remove it so towed away to be delivered to Eaglesham on Saturday morning.

Car was delivered promptly on Saturday morning and Eaglesham remove the heatsheild car was back for 12 noon.

Drove the car last night for the first time and steering feels very light and not as sure footed as normal. Mandy noticed it also when she drove it home on Saturday. Phone Ian Grieve as it was serviced and had the PPP installed there, they will have a look at it but have said there might be a charge for inspecting the car.

Now I got the car as a pre-reg last September with 11 miles on the clock, has now covered 16,500 miles and was service at 10k and PPP installed in May. Surely part don't fall of a car after a year, also the plate looks like it should bolt to something. Was also advised by 911 and Eaglesham that it I was luck I wasn't travelling at speed or a busy road as it was potentially dangerous.

Should I wait and see what Ian Greive say and possibly get charged for inspecting it or contact Subaru UK just now and see what the propose?

Having a great Monday morning car feels dodge and possible out of pocket through no fault of my own.

Edited November 21, 2007 by STI Pretender

[fai17]

Phone up Subaru UK and file your complain and tell them that there is no way in hell that you are going to pay for the car to get inspected.

[l2 nrm]

agree with above

[dark]

Had a similar problem with my MY02 STI UK.

The heatshield on the up-pipe came loose and made a terrible vibration at ~3000rpm. This got worse and eventually it started catching on the steering column. Had it fixed under warranty by S&S. Fortunately it never jammed the steering.

The same problem reoccurred this year and I had all the heatshields on the headers and up-pipe removed and heat wrapped instead.

Mark

[sti pretender]

Was annoying me so phoned Subaru. They agree there is a fault and the inspection and anything affected by the fault should be check free under warranty.

[thefastone]

too right too!

Dealers really do try to get away with too much that is clearly their responsibility....

[martin_allen]

Hmph! They (Grieve) charged me for inspecting the strut mounts - reading the book it sounds like you can get that back if the claim is valid - would need to check that though.

5t.

Edited as Grieve's are now sorting my warrenty issue thanks to the help of the forum!

Edited November 5, 2007 by fivetide

[scoobyseller555]

this would strike me as being a bit strange,as the heatshield on the up pipe isnt touched as part of the ppp pack fit ,and the heatshield on the downpipe is removed at fitting of the ppp,therefore to blame the dealership for this i would not agree with.

Only my opinion.

Gav

[thefastone]

  scoobyseller555 said:

this would strike me as being a bit strange,as the heatshield on the up pipe isnt touched as part of the ppp pack fit ,and the heatshield on the downpipe is removed at fitting of the ppp,therefore to blame the dealership for this i would not agree with.

Only my opinion.

Gav

No, but its still a fault with the car...

the dealers are still there to fix these problems, whether they caused them or not... (eg: fitting the PPP) thats the whole point of getting the dealership franchise in the first place...

I'd say the simple fact that theres a fault there that needs to be sorted under warranty, means that the dealer has no right to charge for the "inspection" that should be included in fixing the dangerous fault... whilst I dont think that anyone has blamed the dealership, its still their responsibility to fix it...

[jamesm]

Glad you are ok mate. Could have been nasty.

I have never heard of anyone being charged for an inspection for a fault whilst the car is still under warranty.

When I had my Astra and it was under warranty I would tell the garage what I thought was wrong, and they would ring up to tell me whether it could be done under warranty or not. Same with my parents BMW and Audi.

Arnie Clark will charge you for an inspection when it is out of warranty but that comes off the cost of the final bill.

Any car can break regardless of what it is. My mother had a 3 - Series Compact a few years ago and in 18 months it went wrong about once a month and broke down completely and had to get towed away 3 times. Even my sister's attempts to re-model it failed to solve the problems and eventully they got fed up and traded it.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

[scoobyseller555]

  thefastone said:

No, but its still a fault with the car...

the dealers are still there to fix these problems, whether they caused them or not... (eg: fitting the PPP) thats the whole point of getting the dealership franchise in the first place...

I'd say the simple fact that theres a fault there that needs to be sorted under warranty, means that the dealer has no right to charge for the "inspection" that should be included in fixing the dangerous fault... whilst I dont think that anyone has blamed the dealership, its still their responsibility to fix it...

Agreed.....but!

if diagnosis is carried out and it takes any garage 3hours for example and no fault is found then the manufacturer doesnt foot the bill,the dealership is left carrying the can,if the fault is diagnosed then the charge is wavered.

in this instance if the fault occured after the ppp was fitted,then diagnosis wouldnt have been carried out for said fault,it happened at a later stage,which wasnt the result of fitment of the performance pack at the dealership.

You would be amazed at the number of people trying to claim on warranty,when the car has either been modified or worked on by another,hence this inspection charge.

Gav

[thefastone]

  scoobyseller555 said:

Agreed.....but!

if diagnosis is carried out and it takes any garage 3hours for example and no fault is found then the manufacturer doesnt foot the bill,the dealership is left carrying the can,if the fault is diagnosed then the charge is wavered.

in this instance if the fault occured after the ppp was fitted,then diagnosis wouldnt have been carried out for said fault,it happened at a later stage,which wasnt the result of fitment of the performance pack at the dealership.

You would be amazed at the number of people trying to claim on warranty,when the car has either been modified or worked on by another,hence this inspection charge.

Gav

Oh, no, if theres no fault found, then thats fair play! Get them Charged! twas just those circumstances I was talking about....

[sti pretender]

  scoobyseller555 said:

Agreed.....but!

if diagnosis is carried out and it takes any garage 3hours for example and no fault is found then the manufacturer doesnt foot the bill,the dealership is left carrying the can,if the fault is diagnosed then the charge is wavered.

in this instance if the fault occured after the ppp was fitted,then diagnosis wouldnt have been carried out for said fault,it happened at a later stage,which wasnt the result of fitment of the performance pack at the dealership.

You would be amazed at the number of people trying to claim on warranty,when the car has either been modified or worked on by another,hence this inspection charge.

Gav

The reason I bought a new (pre-reg) car was the fact I wanted a warranty for peace of mind. The reason I spent so much money on PPP and Prodrive springs was to keep the car's warranty safe, I could have got way more power and handling getting mods and a remap.

I never blame the PPP fitting, the car was new apart from a geo setup and body warranty check at S&S nothing has been done except a dealership service and PPP. Only other things are a set of Defi's and brake pad change.

My annoyance was as a loyal subaru owner and customer who has played it by the book and had everything done properly to maintain my warranty, when a fault occurs I expect it to be inspected and repaired under warranty.

Subaru UK agree.

[scoobyseller555]

  STI Pretender said:

The reason I bought a new (pre-reg) car was the fact I wanted a warranty for peace of mind. The reason I spent so much money on PPP and Prodrive springs was to keep the car's warranty safe, I could have got way more power and handling getting mods and a remap.

I never blame the PPP fitting, the car was new apart from a geo setup and body warranty check at S&S nothing has been done except a dealership service and PPP. Only other things are a set of Defi's and brake pad change.

My annoyance was as a loyal subaru owner and customer who has played it by the book and had everything done properly to maintain my warranty, when a fault occurs I expect it to be inspected and repaired under warranty.

Subaru UK agree.

Agreed.

Can only sit on the fence on this one as i can see both sides.

Gav

[sti pretender]

Update

Just got the car back from Ian Grieve everything sorted under warranty , there was a fault with the up-pipe heatshield, they can't see why is should have come loose. Anyway happy again as I did miss my car for two days.

Thanks to Charlie at Ian Greive.

[martin_allen]

Anyone know what this rattle sounds like? I've got a buzzing from the steering wheel/front of cabin when going over certain road surfaces. Getting louder and annoying (actually got louder once the wheel had been off for inspection)

Had the struts done but refused to refund the inspection fee (£40) what is the opinion on paying this? Obviously i'd rather not be out of pocket when there is an obvious fault and also a valid claim.

Failing that, anyone know how to get the wheel off so i can check it myself?

5t.

[sti pretender]

  fivetide said:

Anyone know what this rattle sounds like? I've got a buzzing from the steering wheel/front of cabin when going over certain road surfaces. Getting louder and annoying (actually got louder once the wheel had been off for inspection)

Had the struts done but refused to refund the inspection fee (£40) what is the opinion on paying this? Obviously i'd rather not be out of pocket when there is an obvious fault and also a valid claim.

Failing that, anyone know how to get the wheel off so i can check it myself?

5t.

Try phoning Subaru Customer Care 0121 747 4000 and see what they say about the inspection charge, guy I spoke to was very helpful.

As for the rattle/buzzing don't know what year your car is but I know Billyboy has had a rattle problem for most of the time he has owned the car (55plate STI) and still isn't fixed. If is not the steering wheel or column think it is a process of elimination, masking tape on different parts everytime you drive until you stop the noise.

[martin_allen]

Cheers chap. We're on the same lines - i was thinking blu tak!

5t.