My car was in the shop this week for two recall issues. I scheduled the work with Cascade Subaru like six months ago, implying they had a lot of people before me. It did take the whole week for the one task, for which they had to tear apart the engine. The recalls were to replace:
- valve springs with a proclivity to premature failure (the long one)
- brake light switch with a proclivity to premature failure (super quick in comparison)
I hadn’t experienced either of the failures, but it’s good that they should no longer be a potential issue.
They also did some other work, some for cheap since they already had the engine apart, including:
- oil change
- replace spark plugs
- brake system flush
- refill air conditioner refrigerant
For that last one, I hadn’t had a working air conditioner for a couple years. I’d been meaning to take care of it, trying to decide between taking it somewhere or just throwing in new refrigerant to see if it leaks or works. I had called and asked what it would cost to get it tested, but it seemed too much without including a fix or fill, so I passed. They surprised me by just filling it without asking, for very cheap, since they already had things apart. And now I have air conditioning again, to hopefully stay cool for the rest of the summer. They didn’t test it, of course, so hopefully it lasts. And if not, I think they deserve my business to fix it.
They informed me that the rear brake pads were worn down to nothing, but they wanted a lot for that, so I passed. I will have to take care of that myself sometime soon. The rears have worn out pretty fast with this car, way faster than the fronts. They are much smaller, but in theory the front should be doing most of the work. Luckily, it’s relatively easy and cheap to do myself.
Kate, my contact through the process, was very nice and made everything very easy on me. I came out feeling positive about the experience.