Tweaksta
Senior Member
I have to share this true story with you...
No it didn't happen to me - it happened to a friend from Melbourne. Her and her new hubby had just embarked on their honeymoon in their Outback with camper trailer in tow....
WARNING: This tale may disturb you.
Ok, let me tell you about my honeymoon. It's a long story which still hasn't completely finished so don't read this until you have some time to spare.
Day 1 - we set out nice and early before sunrise, packed, smiling and looking forward to six glorious weeks of camping bliss. We arrived at Renmark, set up camp by the Murray and watched the sun set from our brand new camper trailer. Sigh.
Day 2 - we left Renmark aiming for Coober Pedy. After a few hours of driving, we heard an unusual noise coming from the engine. It progressively got louder and louder. As we were near Port Pirie we decided to pull in and get a mechanic to check it out before going any further. We saw four mechanics all of whom said they couldn't even look at it for us until after Christmas (This was around the 12th Dec). Disheartened, we set up camp at the local caravan park whilst we tried to work out what to do. The park owner rang around for us until finally he booked us in at the local Ford service centre. They said they'd look at it.
Day 3 - We took the car to Ford. They diagnosed it as the bearings in the gearbox needing replacement. ****. What that meant was that the gearbox had to be shipped down to Subaru in Adelaide. Approx cost $3000, time approx 3-4 days. Ok. A few days out of our schedule, we could reorganise, cut a few things out. No worries.
3-4 days passed. Gearbox not returned. Ford gave us a car so we did a bit of touring down the coast while we waited. In the middle of the peninsula, outside a small country town, exhaust fell off the bottom of the car. So there's Simon, under the car, tying up the exhaust with wire in 35 degree heat. We got it back to Port Pirie.
After 10 days we finally got the call that the gearbox was back. Bad news - it came with a $4500 bill from Subaru alone. It appeared that they had fully reconditioned the whole gearbox without consultation. Combined with Ford's costs, that was a total bill of $5600. ****. Ok, dampener. We borrowed some money to pay for it, but still planned to continue on our honeymoon.
The next day, when we were due to pick it up, we got a phone call. The gearbox is in, but doesn't engage in 1st, 3rd or 5th gear. It needs to be returned to Subaru. At this stage, we both lost it. We had to face the fact that the honeymoon was over. It just wasn't going to happen. It was two days before Christmas, there was no way we were going to get the car back before new years. After many tears, we rang the RACV and they brought us home. The car went to Adelaide.
A fewdays into the new year, we got the call from Subaru that it was ready. Simon flew to Adelaide and drove it home. By this stage I was considering taking legal action.
A few weeks later, noises reappeared. We booked it into Subaru Glen Waverley to look at it and notified Adelaide as the repairs were still under warranty. A few days before the appointment, the car died. Simon rang Subaru Glen Waverley. They had no record of our appointment. Lost off the system. We took it elsewhere.
No it didn't happen to me - it happened to a friend from Melbourne. Her and her new hubby had just embarked on their honeymoon in their Outback with camper trailer in tow....
WARNING: This tale may disturb you.
Ok, let me tell you about my honeymoon. It's a long story which still hasn't completely finished so don't read this until you have some time to spare.
Day 1 - we set out nice and early before sunrise, packed, smiling and looking forward to six glorious weeks of camping bliss. We arrived at Renmark, set up camp by the Murray and watched the sun set from our brand new camper trailer. Sigh.
Day 2 - we left Renmark aiming for Coober Pedy. After a few hours of driving, we heard an unusual noise coming from the engine. It progressively got louder and louder. As we were near Port Pirie we decided to pull in and get a mechanic to check it out before going any further. We saw four mechanics all of whom said they couldn't even look at it for us until after Christmas (This was around the 12th Dec). Disheartened, we set up camp at the local caravan park whilst we tried to work out what to do. The park owner rang around for us until finally he booked us in at the local Ford service centre. They said they'd look at it.
Day 3 - We took the car to Ford. They diagnosed it as the bearings in the gearbox needing replacement. ****. What that meant was that the gearbox had to be shipped down to Subaru in Adelaide. Approx cost $3000, time approx 3-4 days. Ok. A few days out of our schedule, we could reorganise, cut a few things out. No worries.
3-4 days passed. Gearbox not returned. Ford gave us a car so we did a bit of touring down the coast while we waited. In the middle of the peninsula, outside a small country town, exhaust fell off the bottom of the car. So there's Simon, under the car, tying up the exhaust with wire in 35 degree heat. We got it back to Port Pirie.
After 10 days we finally got the call that the gearbox was back. Bad news - it came with a $4500 bill from Subaru alone. It appeared that they had fully reconditioned the whole gearbox without consultation. Combined with Ford's costs, that was a total bill of $5600. ****. Ok, dampener. We borrowed some money to pay for it, but still planned to continue on our honeymoon.
The next day, when we were due to pick it up, we got a phone call. The gearbox is in, but doesn't engage in 1st, 3rd or 5th gear. It needs to be returned to Subaru. At this stage, we both lost it. We had to face the fact that the honeymoon was over. It just wasn't going to happen. It was two days before Christmas, there was no way we were going to get the car back before new years. After many tears, we rang the RACV and they brought us home. The car went to Adelaide.
A fewdays into the new year, we got the call from Subaru that it was ready. Simon flew to Adelaide and drove it home. By this stage I was considering taking legal action.
A few weeks later, noises reappeared. We booked it into Subaru Glen Waverley to look at it and notified Adelaide as the repairs were still under warranty. A few days before the appointment, the car died. Simon rang Subaru Glen Waverley. They had no record of our appointment. Lost off the system. We took it elsewhere.