Help required pls.

[Dougs Scoob]

Own a newage 06 sti and funnily enough the shocks are away! Have extended yrs warranty so took it back to Ian Grieve who confirmed all 4 shocks are faulty. Warranty had to view car before repair but have rejected repair as they now state faulty shocks are down to "wear & tear" and not a "mechanical breakdown" which needs to be the case to claim warranty repair.

As i've heard A LOT on this forum and elsewhere, its a very well known problem with this model and most cases i've heard of on this forum has resulted in a warranty repair. I've been on the phone to warranty but they wont back down. Apparently subaru has now changed since August any faulty shocks are wear & tear and not warranty repairs anymore.

Can anyone help me prove that this is a "mechanical breakdown" and not "wear & tear" as at £350 per shock (minus cost of labour) is gona cost me dear.

Thanks in advance.

[scooby222]

thats crap mate but sadly not unexpected from subaru these days

did you buy it from a dealer? id speak to them about help. how many miles has the car done and has it had shocks before?

unfortunately if subaru are digging theyre heals in theres not much to do bar going to a suspension engineer and paying for a report but even then theres no guarantee im afraid

id start looking at bc coilovers as an alternative replacement,5-600 all in and if you dont want to mod the car get them set to standard ride height and wind them back to softest damping. no point in paying subaru the money for shocks which may do the same again

[sti pretender]

Had BC's on my 06 STI and found they couldn't be adjusted to the standard ride height (may have changed now) alternatives would be V-Maxx adjustable coilovers 25-70mm lower with adjustable damping £650 (Ebay), Eibach pro-street adjustable coilovers 25-70mm lower fixed damping £960 (revolution247),

KW Variant 1 25-70mm lower £1,140 (Ebay) all these will give the same ride height as the prodrive springs.

Had my rear shocks done at IG before warranty ran out, fronts went a month after and had no joy getting them replaced. Subaru use to change them with very little fuss but obviously things have changed.

Robert

[Dougs Scoob]

Thanks for getting back to me guys.

Yeah car has 46k and bought from Grieves. They have been really helpful to me and have offered a discount on shocks but it'll still cost me around 700 for the 4 shocks and labour costs. Subaru really are tightening the purse strings at the mo.

I'll need to weigh up my options. Those coilovers sound good at 5 -600 as you mentioned. Don't know much about them. Would that be cost for fitting aswell and would I get a better quality drive from them instead of the standard ones? If I could get away without it being classed as a mod I'd maybe do it. Sorry for all the questions but where would I get them from and/or fitted?

Thanks again.

[scooby222]

ive found the handling and ride improved with the bc's on my 05 sti, theyre 32 stage damping adjustable so you can have them hard or soft as you like. i went through 2 sets of subaru struts within 20k miles so i decided to cut my losses and havent regretted it.

theres usually a group buy running for them on scoobynet or local to you is hypertech in bonnybridge, they could supply fit and do alignment check for you

cheers

Dave

[Guest lostboy?]

Hi Doug

i got bc coilovers fitted in june they are set at the same ride height as my prodrive springs were set at, so they have good clearance from the ground. i find them just a little harder than the standard shocks, also not tried the settings yet as only just run them in ( set a 2 of softest for 1000 miles ) any questions just ask

CHEERS

craig

[Dougs Scoob]

ive found the handling and ride improved with the bc's on my 05 sti, theyre 32 stage damping adjustable so you can have them hard or soft as you like. i went through 2 sets of subaru struts within 20k miles so i decided to cut my losses and havent regretted it.

theres usually a group buy running for them on scoobynet or local to you is hypertech in bonnybridge, they could supply fit and do alignment check for you

cheers

Dave

Yeah i was thinking I don't want to be done over twice by these faulty shocks. If you dont mind me asking how much did it cost you for the bc coilovers and did it include fitting? I could possibly do it myself if it's easy enough. Is it classed as a mod by insurance? Im gona give hypertech a call in the morning to see what they can offer too. Thanks Dave. Meant to ask you - did you get enough folk for the xmas ball?

[Hightower]

thats a disgrace sell a car with a warrenty and then dont cover shocks the subarus biggest problem, i have a years warrenty on my rb320 and was going to extend it for 2 further years but if they are not covering the shocks what the hell is the point. Shocking!

[Dougs Scoob]

thats a disgrace sell a car with a warrenty and then dont cover shocks the subarus biggest problem, i have a years warrenty on my rb320 and was going to extend it for 2 further years but if they are not covering the shocks what the hell is the point. Shocking!

Mate- you sound more hacked off than me! Ive been there. Think im over it now and know im gona need to fork out. Lost my respect for Subaru in the process. Not Ian Grieve though. Theyve been really good to me and are as surprised as I am about Subaru's decision. Have to be thankful to Charlie and Gary. Ive been offered a deal for replacement shocks but they'll just go again so looking into these bc coilovers that everyones advising me on.

I was also gona extend the warranty but NOT ANYMORE! What a waste of money. I was goin ballistic at the warranty company sayin its basicly an acknowledged problem with the part but they kept saying it was down to wear & tear. What the hell is he gona know- he sits at a desk all day! AAAAAHHHHHHH

[scooby222]

yea i do feel your pain mate, i actually had 3 weeks of warranty left when i found out the 2nd set had gonebut decided not to bother after all the hassle convincing subaru the first time and that the 2nd set failed after 6000 miles...

think when i got mine they were about 480, real bargain! then fitting was about 180 as i had them play about with ride height - apparently the first height looked awesome but they couldnt actually drive it off the ramp lol

i told the insurance about them for peace of mind, didnt put it up any though

got to the minimum number cheers mate only just though - still room for more if youve become free,il even throw in a ride in a bc equipped car lol

ps - howve you been Craig you big stranger? you and Julie not fancy the xmas bash? :biggrinsanta:

Edited October 27, 2010 by scooby222

[Dougs Scoob]

yea i do feel your pain mate, i actually had 3 weeks of warranty left when i found out the 2nd set had gonebut decided not to bother after all the hassle convincing subaru the first time and that the 2nd set failed after 6000 miles...

think when i got mine they were about 480, real bargain! then fitting was about 180 as i had them play about with ride height - apparently the first height looked awesome but they couldnt actually drive it off the ramp lol

i told the insurance about them for peace of mind, didnt put it up any though

got to the minimum number cheers mate only just though - still room for more if youve become free,il even throw in a ride in a bc equipped car lol

ps - howve you been Craig you big stranger? you and Julie not fancy the xmas bash? :biggrinsanta:

Can you remember where you got it done Dave? Sounds like a great deal at the time. No doubt a lot more now but worth me following up.

I'd love to go to the ball bud but as I said im out to dinner at my parents 30th wed ann. I'll defo be at the santa cruise. You going to that? Even the mrs canny wait!

[scooby222]

bought the kit from the scoobynet group buy myself and awd in perth fitted them for me Dougie, even if it had been double the price would still have been one of the best things ive done to the car

santa cruise i havent thought about but il probably be there

[sti pretender]

Find the best price for the kit and see if Duncan at Hypertech will match it, if not buy it and get him to fit them. They also can do a full geometry setup which will greatly improve the handling.

[Hightower]

there is a post about re-packing them somewhere, as the shocks should be ok just the grease has gone hard? over on general discussion on the uk sidc bit.

I think that is is not on thats all, i was going to buy the warranty when mine runs out in july but what is the point as the blistien ones on the rb320s are even more expensive so 1100 for an extra 2 years warranty is not that bad a deal for piece of mind but if they are not covered pointless.

[tomwrx08]

thats shocking that subaru wont replace them, i had my rears replaced in march a few wks b4 my warranty ran out, so why they can put it down to wear and tear is total pish,

but have heard a lot about the bc coilovers and when mine go again this is what i will be putting on mine

[Dougs Scoob]

there is a post about re-packing them somewhere, as the shocks should be ok just the grease has gone hard? over on general discussion on the uk sidc bit.

I think that is is not on thats all, i was going to buy the warranty when mine runs out in july but what is the point as the blistien ones on the rb320s are even more expensive so 1100 for an extra 2 years warranty is not that bad a deal for piece of mind but if they are not covered pointless.

Yeah Ive found that post on how to re-pack the shocks. I might try that first unless the shocks are actually beyond repair. Think the mechanic at Grieves said there was some "movement" in them when he had a quick check. Does this mean they need replaced or would I get away with re-packing the housing with new grease?

For anyone looking for that post - http://www.scoobymods.com/04-sti-rear-strut-repacking-t9972.html?amp;

[arch]

Yeah Ive found that post on how to re-pack the shocks. I might try that first unless the shocks are actually beyond repair. Think the mechanic at Grieves said there was some "movement" in them when he had a quick check. Does this mean they need replaced or would I get away with re-packing the housing with new grease?

For anyone looking for that post - http://www.scoobymods.com/04-sti-rear-strut-repacking-t9972.html?amp;

I repacked mine with really high quality grease made for aircraft landing gear shock struts. It fixed the problem for 2 weeks and then came back so to be honest its not a long term fix. Has anyone taken this to trading standards as a set of shocks that lasts for 6000 miles is "not fit for purpose". When I last replaced mine I also found play in the LH rear top mount which would have added to the knocking. I would have went to trading standards but when my 2nd set went I was out of warranty.

[thewelsho]

Extended warranties: a license to print money IMO, wouldn't touch such with a barge-pole, especially anything to do with Subaru. Anyway, I have a set of Tein Superstreet coilovers two of which need servicing. If you can get them sorted for less than the cost of a new set up, you can have them for nothing. The condition they are in might be better than your shocks anyway. But definitely DO NOT replace them with stock. I can't believe they sell them for £350 each! That's a scandal!