This dealership suffers from confused and untransparent service management. I strongly advise all travellers who value fair estimates and their time to think carefully before coming here for service.
While traveling on a very long roadtrip, my car started overheating. Seeing via Google Maps that Williams Subaru was merely minutes away, I drove there and came in as a walk-in. They took my car and told me they would look at it and have a diagnosis later that day. I get a call that afternoon with a diagnosis of a major engine repair at over $7000 that would take a week to repair. I agreed to their recommended repairs, picked up a loaner car, and duly waited a week. I call three days later for an update, and they tell me that they haven't even taken apart the engine yet. I call for another update exactly a week after I brought the car in and they tell me that they haven't even started to work on it. I call throughout the next two days trying to get updates-- Williams techs don't even get the car hoisted until 8 days after I bring it in. Once the engine is pulled apart, a case manager (not the one assigned to me) calls to tell me that the problem they diagnosed wasn't correct. Rather, my engine overheated due to needing a new thermostat. There is a third repair that I would need to approve; however, when I ask exactly what it is, the representative goes quiet and says he doesn't know what it is. He told me at the beginning of the phone call that he had just spoken to the mechanic working on my car, so truly he should know. He also told me that they would need a whole other week to finish repairing my vehicle, yet cannot explain why when I ask. I pressed him for an answer, and he tells me that he will have the case manager assigned to me call and discuss it with me after he comes back from lunch. I wait a few hours, then I call and leave my case manager a message when he doesn't answer. I call several times more throughout that afternoon attempting to speak to him about this mystery repair with no success.
I drove to the dealership the next morning to speak in person to the case manager about my car. The mystery repair is... a head gasket. All in all, they say that they may need more than a week to repair my vehicle.
Representatives of this dealership have grossly misrepresented to me the total amount of time that would be needed to fix my car and have provided unsatisfactory answers to my inquiries as to why it has taken so long to repair my car. When I ask basic questions such as what exactly needs to be repaired, I find that it is difficult to get answers despite it being recorded (so I've been told) in a computer system that all reps can access. Between being made to think that the repair was very serious and would require specialized care, and that this major repair would only need a week, I thought at the time I agreed to repairs that getting service at Williams was the best, perhaps only option for my car. Had I a more honest estimation of the time they would actually take to fix my car, I would have called around to other mechanics in the area for other time estimates.
I take roadtrips all the time, and have visited a number of Subaru dealerships for walk-in repairs around the US. I have never been to a dealership that has misrepresented estimates, shirked my calls, or made me wait longer than their given estimate for repairs as Williams Subaru has. The dealership I purchased my beloved Subaru from was chronically understaffed yet always kept to their estimated time. Williams Subaru, whom a representative told me is fully staffed, has NO excuse for not delivering the same quality service.
I am very disgusted with the opaque service delivered by this dealership and strongly advise all who value transparency and their time to call around and consider their options. read more
