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Hi there! Been reading this forum for years, but never needed to post until now.
I have a 2013 2.5i 6MT Outback, purchased in July. Was fooling around on some forest roads over by the Sauk River (Darrington, WA), and tried to drive through one of the gigantic puddles that forms after a good rain.
Anyway, got a little stuck and took a few minutes of back & forth to get out. In the meantime, I noticed about 2-3 inches of muddy puddle water on the passenger side. I finally get the car out of the hole/puddle and scoop out the water with a soft drink cup. Doors on both sides appear dry around the gaskets.
I get the car washed at a car wash with an underwash that night, and take it to the dealer the day after (Monday). First dealer says blah blah blah, these cars are not designed to go thru water like that and it was probably some one-way air valve, just get a detail shop to clean the carpet. Carpet is now soaked on passenger side, both front and back, and wet on driver's side.
Second dealer, where I purchased the car, again denies that warranty could cover it (despite acting surprised that this happened), does an inspection, and says that we cannot find any missing or loose plugs; it is probably the door drains. They are pulling the carpet and jute, drying and cleaning everything and doing ozone treatment, and want $500 for this. I don't want to go thru insurance for this, have enough claims already.
So my question is, is this a reasonable response from the dealer? The water was maybe a foot deep and apparently never got over the Outback logo on the running boards at any time, and was probably below that. I've owned two new subarus before, both have been used to ford the Fremont River in Utah with no problems at all, where the water is just as muddy, and deeper too. It seems odd to me that a new car wouldn't have some measure of water resistance that would allow you to cross a foot or so of water.
Any suggestions from you guys? Contact Subaru of America? I've never needed significant warranty service before, so I'm a little lost here. Btw, the car has under 10,000 miles and is still under the bumper to bumper warranty.
I have a 2013 2.5i 6MT Outback, purchased in July. Was fooling around on some forest roads over by the Sauk River (Darrington, WA), and tried to drive through one of the gigantic puddles that forms after a good rain.
Anyway, got a little stuck and took a few minutes of back & forth to get out. In the meantime, I noticed about 2-3 inches of muddy puddle water on the passenger side. I finally get the car out of the hole/puddle and scoop out the water with a soft drink cup. Doors on both sides appear dry around the gaskets.
I get the car washed at a car wash with an underwash that night, and take it to the dealer the day after (Monday). First dealer says blah blah blah, these cars are not designed to go thru water like that and it was probably some one-way air valve, just get a detail shop to clean the carpet. Carpet is now soaked on passenger side, both front and back, and wet on driver's side.
Second dealer, where I purchased the car, again denies that warranty could cover it (despite acting surprised that this happened), does an inspection, and says that we cannot find any missing or loose plugs; it is probably the door drains. They are pulling the carpet and jute, drying and cleaning everything and doing ozone treatment, and want $500 for this. I don't want to go thru insurance for this, have enough claims already.
So my question is, is this a reasonable response from the dealer? The water was maybe a foot deep and apparently never got over the Outback logo on the running boards at any time, and was probably below that. I've owned two new subarus before, both have been used to ford the Fremont River in Utah with no problems at all, where the water is just as muddy, and deeper too. It seems odd to me that a new car wouldn't have some measure of water resistance that would allow you to cross a foot or so of water.
Any suggestions from you guys? Contact Subaru of America? I've never needed significant warranty service before, so I'm a little lost here. Btw, the car has under 10,000 miles and is still under the bumper to bumper warranty.