2010 subaru Forester reviews

Subaru Forester XS NAVPLUS D 2010

Great 5 star car, coupled with appalling dealer customer service. I’d had no problem with the vehicle until I returned from meeting my new granddaughter in Australia. I was away for the month of October 2011 and on return the battery was completely flat, without a glimmer from the lights or sound from the starter. My car was stored in my locked garage throughout, with the alarm set. I rang the supplying dealer and Jim, their service manager told me to phone Subaru assistance, which I did. Within 30 minutes an AA man using a booster battery had my car running and waited for another 30 minutes monitoring the charging rate with a diagnostic machine. He advised the battery was not accepting the charge as it should, and recommended a new battery be fitted as it was probable that this one would not return to full power. He then tried to restart, but although the lights now lit, the engine would not turn over. He restarted once more this time with success and said to keep the engine running and return the car to the dealer to have the battery changed under warranty. I rang Jim again, who couldn’t take the call and I spoke with the stores manager to explain what had transpired and ask if they had the appropriate battery in stock. They did not have one, but he said he would get one in for 4pm (now about 2.30 pm) and they could fit it then. Within 10 minutes Jim the service manager rang back and said they could not fit batteries just like that, dismissed the AA report as incompetent and said it was to be expected my battery would be flat after such an absence. Furthermore he advised that batteries should be disconnected if cars were not run for over two weeks! This rather rocked me, but it was agreed that I would present at the service bay at 4pm as arranged, for Jim to examine. On arrival I was seated in the showroom while Jim examined the car. Within minutes he came to collect me and took me through to the service bay to show my car with a diagnostic machine attached to a battery lead and showing the message "good battery". As the car had now been charging the battery for two hours plus, I thought this was probably so, but it did not explain to me why it had gone flat in the first place, and indeed how long would it hold the charge for? I reasoned with Jim that it could not be right that it was unreasonable to expect my Subaru to start after standing for a month, for my wifes 6 year old Mini had started first time, as had on a previous longer trip away, a Ford Focus (outside the garage for 6 weeks) and a MG ZT190! All argument was dismissed by Jim and he was supported by the salesman (batteries are not as good as they were as they don’t have any lead in them now) and also the dealer principal of Bay Horse Garage. I left without further checks or suggestions and now feel I have wasted £30,000 on this Subaru.