So My AT Just Died..

[ToomTom]

This is not my week for car problems......

I was driving in a 100km/h zone and heard a tapping noise coming from the car so I stopped in a bay to take a look and couldnt see anything there, I carried on in the car thinking it wasnt anything major and I could take a proper look later at home but 5 minutes later it got louder than had a massive thump, the car jolted and lost all control over the automatic transmission while going uphill and the AT light started going nuts. I slowed down to about 30km/h about to stop with the hazard lights beaming and as i was about to pull to the side both back wheels locked up out of nowhere and i skid to a halt.

At this point i look like a crazy idiot to other drivers .

The engine runs fine so I called my mate and got towed home the rest of the way in neutral mode and the whole way the car was clunking along at 30km/h (no throttle what so ever). We managed to get it home safe but im unsure what the heck caused this. Any ideas? I have a mechanical warranty but if anyone could share thoughts below it would be fantastic.

Heres a picture of my pride and joy getting its ass towed by a honda to lighten the mood I

[sirwrx]

IS there any drive when you put the car into drive?

Did it lock up one rear wheel or both?

Have you checked the rear axles.

I once have a front CV have a catastrophic failure which resulted in no drive.

[Andy_Mac]

Man that sucks, **** time of year and haven't even had it that long. Atleast the mechanical warranty has you sorted. Id be just taking it straight to their approved mechanic and not worrying too much. Unless of course they just suggest some ****ty bargain basement mechanic, then i'd be pushing for a Subaru specialist one.

[lachlan]

Have you looked at the auto dipstick ?

[ToomTom]

I can put the car in drive, it will roll forward slowly at 3k revs then clunk. Just had it towed to the shop and it was pissing liquid out the rear diff so i wonder if this is what caused it. Definatley enough oil in there but it looked a little filthy.

BUT WAIT! it gets worse........

So I have a 1 year mechanical warranty on the car, now because I put rims on the car they claim that ive modified the vehicle from its original state so its voided. What the heck right? Even if so. the rim is still 18" with the same tyres. I really really cant afford for this to happen

Never ever if you live in New Plymouth, buy from Hareb Deken Motors....

Anyone know what legal rights I have here?

Here's it pissing liquid while getting rolled into a park.

[lachlan]

Nah thats a crock of **** . Did it have oem tires ?lol doubt it . or oem spark plugs . Or oem petrol ? . Does a band expander count as a modification ?

[sobanoodle]

Didn't you lower it? Exhaust mods?

[Andy_Mac]

Thats super ****. But you should have really discussed it with them first. Do you have the warranty contract? What does it specifically say about modifications?

This is why I always do a full fluid service whenever I get a new car just for peace of mind knowing everything is up to spec

Edited January 5, 2016 by Andy_Mac

[El_Chado]

Woooow That's Bull **** bro. Don't take that. They either fix it or take them to the disputes tribunal.

http://www.justice.govt.nz/tribunals/disputes-tribunal

[ToomTom]

 sobanoodle said:

Didn't you lower it? Exhaust mods?

No, that was my white pre-facelift

[ToomTom]

 Andy_Mac said:

Thats super ****. But you should have really discussed it with them first. Do you have the warranty contract? What does it specifically say about modifications?

This is why I always do a full fluid service whenever I get a new car just for peace of mind knowing everything is up to spec

I did discuss it with them at first and it was their idea to take it to the shop to be checked but they refused to have it towed out at their expense so i sorted the travel myself. The contract mentions nothing about vehicle modifications. The sad part is, they gave it a full service in their own place (HDR - 'Hareb Deken Repairs' im guessing) which they sticker'd the car for a new WOF even, as well as full oil services including the transmission and the engine. My sticker says that the next service for the transmission is due at 145,00km yet I barley got 1000km over the 124,000km on the clock when I bought it.

I know this isnt an 'i just got ripped off' forum and I apologize for that but ill be damned.

Update

I went to the shop after work to see what was wrong with it and the mechanic said the rear diff is completely shattered and the dealer had ordered in a new part for it without consulting me and no doubt they will bill me for it.... which is not going to happen. But besides that it looks like its just the rear diff now thats busted but who knows until thats been replaced.

The mechanic heard id only had it 2 months and said that there is no way i should be paying for this, him being an ex-dealer. He said that the fact that i've only had this car 2 months and having something critical like this fail that could have potentially killed me or caused serious injury just goes to show how unsafe the car may have been when sold with a new WOF which makes me wonder if they just slapped a sticker on it. If i hadn't slowed down from the noise I heard im sure we could have all seen a more serious result at higher speeds.

Edited January 5, 2016 by ToomTom

[Andy_Mac]

Meant you should have discussed with them before doing any modifications. Except for the decat and tune I had all my modifications cleared with mine before doing them.

Shouldn't be something that happened regardless, mine had the driver seatbelt fail within the first month, there's no way they didn't know about that.

Rear diff/diff fluid isn't really something that would get checked often during a service and considering the way WOF's are done they probably wouldn't be straining the LSD operation either.

[El_Chado]

Keep at them bro and if they won't come to the party then disputes tribunal. Especially if your terms and conditions makes no note of what constitutes a modification.

Edited January 5, 2016 by El_Chado

[ToomTom]

Thanks guys. Ill see what happens from here!

[El_Chado]

Even if it wasn't two months into a one year warranty, you'd still be protected under the consumer guarantees act. It clearly was not fit for purpose and didn't last a reasonable amount of time. Don't take their bull turd. They're a registered Motor trader to they have to abide by the standards.

http://www.motortraders.govt.nz/cms/consumer-information/what-is-the-mvsa

http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/

[ToomTom]

 El_Chado said:

Even if it wasn't two months into a one year warranty, you'd still be protected under the consumer guarantees act. It clearly was not fit for purpose and didn't last a reasonable amount of time. Don't take their bull turd. They're a registered Motor trader to they have to abide by the standards.

http://www.motortraders.govt.nz/cms/consumer-information/what-is-the-mvsa

http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/

Thanks El_Chado, Hopefully I can get something sorted with all the info you have provided me.

[Marky]

Yeah a WOF check will never pick up anything like a diff about to die - for real not sarcasmstick, especially if you never heard or felt it make a peep in 1000km of use.

Least it's only the diff which has popped, not the actual gearbox itself - small consolation I guess

Remember it's not the car dealer providing the warranty, he has just onsold cover from whoever is actually underwriting it. I imagine -they- have declined it, and now he's just trying to dig upwards so he doesn't have to pay out. As said, stick to your guns & it should be covered. You're not obligated to pay for the brand new diff either, the garage would have just assumed it's a warranty job and went OE cause it's easier than faffing about with 2nd hand.

If you do end up having to go further just be wary what you write online. Have heard first hand of a few people being caught out in similar situations

The wheels you put on - are they identical offset and width to stock? If it isn't, then I guess it's an alteration to the driveline not solely cosmetic (if you really want to split hairs), just get a second opinion from another mech or even subaru if you end up up against it

[Joker]

I was gunna guess diff

Spider gears in a zillion bits punching hole through the case / jaming the axel solid

been there done that in a Paddock

welderup! Lockers for lyfe

nah sorry for your loss hope Warranty comes to the table, slim chance they deem wheels an actual mod (same size/offset otherwise I fear you may have a fight)

[Andy_Mac]

Wonder what diff they ordered, could end up with the torsen from the 08 if you're lucky

[Marky]

For like $3k if it isn't covered mind you

[slystiguy]

I think this is pretty pathetic from the warranty company. What's the point in having a warranty if they are going to be THAT pedantic. You could argue fitting a larger profile tyre would have the same affect... Name and shame the warranty company to the days becuase no one here needs to deal with that **** when buying a car, EVER. Utter bull****. How many cars have non-factory alloys on nowadays, if it was really something that caused the issue we would see 1000's of people smashing diffs on a weekly basis. Utter bull **** from a mechanical point of view. I would definitely be contacting mechanics and perhaps even a cert guy and ask if they would be willing to put the obvious in writing (at the expense of a few hours labour of course).

I would approach it like this, if the rims and tyres are the same offset/width/size then ask them what difference it makes to the mechanical condition of the car running an identical wheel with different style/colours. Then when they give you some bull**** about it not being covered ask if they do the same for hubcaps because that's effectively what they are saying. When they say no you can lever the situation a bit.

Try keep your cool. Be firm but calm.

You could also try going to a tyre/wheel shop. Basically if they refuse and it goes to small claims you're going to need some hard facts to rape them with. Also claim for time lost if it goes that way.

Edited January 6, 2016 by slystiguy

[El_Chado]

Any update Toomtom?

[1randomkiwi]

As you haven't changed the rolling radius of the car I would be insisting that the car was fixed under the mechanical warranty.

Otherwise I would be requesting a refund for the value of the mechanical warranty due to being mislead by the dealer under the Fair Trading Act.

Write them a formal letter stating your position, and await their response before proceeding further.

It sucks dude and I wish you all the best, but I am sick of car dealers selling these overpriced warranties that are void with any mild modification or change.

[ToomTom]

 El_Chado said:

Any update Toomtom?

Yeah sorry about that, just finished work.

So I sent a calm but firm email to the dealer letting them know that what happened could have been life threatning at higher speeds and that the quality of the car was not up to standard. I also slammed them with the consumer guarantees act and told them i was happy to take this on with MVD tribunal. From here the dealer called me on my cell twice which i didn't pickup as i was.. well.. doing my job.. but he managed to get hold of my work phone by going through our contact centre and requesting me personally which was a bit of a last measure..

ANYWAY...

I called the dealer back and he apologized for his ignorance earlier and offered to fix the whole car free of charge and replace the two tyres that were skidded due to the diff locking which i was over the moon about. He did have the balls to ask for a donation for the repairs though but good on him for trying! The car is now fully operational and I went to the shop and they said they had a decent one thats installed from the same model with less kms on them which i was also surprised about. I think that this just goes to show that a dealer will do anything in their power not to pay up until you slam the facts on the table. I'm happy with the outcome!

Shes back in action and ready to roll!!

Edited January 7, 2016 by ToomTom

[ToomTom]

 1randomkiwi said:

As you haven't changed the rolling radius of the car I would be insisting that the car was fixed under the mechanical warranty.

Otherwise I would be requesting a refund for the value of the mechanical warranty due to being mislead by the dealer under the Fair Trading Act.

Write them a formal letter stating your position, and await their response before proceeding further.

It sucks dude and I wish you all the best, but I am sick of car dealers selling these overpriced warranties that are void with any mild modification or change.

The only difference in the rim was the offset and the width but has the same amount of tyre touching the ground. Thankfully they seemed to get over it and its all sorted!