Dealership totals customer’s Subaru “while drifting”
Audio By Carbonatix
Imagine the used car dealership calls to say your WRX, in for service, is ready for pickup. So you catch a ride to the showroom. Then wait. One hour. Then two. Every time you ask, they say your car still isn’t ready. Finally, the truth begins to trickle out. Your car is wrecked, and everyone is panicking about how to handle the situation.
This actually happened to one Subaru owner. While still in the waiting room, he posted his conundrum on the Legal Advice subreddit. Soon, the internet came to his rescue. But it turned into a saga.
In the original post, the driver said he waited for two hours, “To finally be told that they accidentally gave it to another customer.” The dealership employees unceremoniously told him to go get a rental car, because the mix-up would take a long time to sort out. He was about to surrender and do exactly that—but on a whim asked the internet, “Should I take any action against them?”
Commenters called “bull” on the dealership’s story. “Something doesn’t seem right about both their explanation and their resolution. Are they saying they gave your car out as a loaner and don’t have contact with the customer?”
Another Redditor actually nailed the situation immediately. “My top two guesses are they probably took it on a test drive and got in an accident, or it was stolen from their lot. Either option is 100% their liability, not yours.”
A dealership’s Subaru WRX joyride gone wrong
Sure enough, the OP edited their original post. “I called the cops and the employees got mad and stressed out immediately. Turns out one of the managers took it for a joyride and wrecked it.”
Even after coming clean, the dealership’s staff continued to mismanage the situation. “I was told the damage was extensive and that I would be held liable for payment to fix part of it.” When the driver pushed, the dealership urged him not to get lawyers involved, promising to “cut me a deal.”
That’s not even the worst of it. The customer’s WRX was in for bumper damage it had when they bought it. Back then, the dealership claimed they “hit a wall” during delivery. Looks like someone on staff has an expensive habit of hooning around.
What can you do if a mechanic wrecks your car?
Redditors pointed out that if a Subaru dealership is mishandling a situation, you can always call Subaru Corporate. But because the OP had bought their WRX used from a third-party dealership, Subaru Corporate wouldn’t be any help. Their advice was nearly unanimous: file a police report and call the car insurance company. Let the insurance company’s lawyers deal with it.
That ended up being the right call. The OP admitted, “They do have their own in-house body shop. That’s why they were trying to delay me.” But it turns out the dealership was just trying to cosmetically repair a car with a bent frame—and lie about it. “The insurance adjuster looked at it this afternoon and considered it to be totaled.”
Once the OP had a good lawyer, they set out to make things right. “In the end I will be getting a new 2019 WRX, I am pressing charges against the SM for theft, I have filed official complaints with the Motor Vehicle Dealer Board and the Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Section, and I will be suing for an undisclosed but reasonably high amount.”
Overall, the Subaru driver was glad they hadn’t just surrendered to the dealership’s pressure. “All in all I am walking away from this with more money and a nicer car than I started with and that is all thanks to you guys. Without this thread I would for sure be paying for that rental car right now.” You can see the original post, embedded below:
