03/10/09

so-so

by jndimaria

I came to Houston from Austin on a mission to buy an 04-05 STi. I was disappointed by the results I turned up - then started to look at the 08 WRX for around the same price. My search was exhausting when I came to my last stop, which was Gillman Subaru SW. I fell in love with the car immediately, test drove and then got all the paperwork done and was handed the keys. 30 minutes after driving off the lot, I notice a warning light pop up on the dash (that wasn't there on the test drive). Turns out it is the TPMS sensor, so I check my tires. I find two nails and a razor blade in one of the tires and it's losing pressure quickly. So I call the dealer and they say they will reimburse me if I go purchase a new one. After a new tire, the light still doesn't go away so I take it to a local dealer and they say the TPMS sensors are missing completely. For $20k, I expect a car to be working properly before it leaves the lot. I banter with the GM (Wally) and service manager (Amir), and we finally agreed to do a trade out on the rims - which requires me to drive back to Houston from Austin. I had new tires and didn't notice until later that the service department gave me old tires, and kept my new ones! Another trip was made back... I found a million things wrong with the way the techs handled my car, but Amir finally got me taken care of. The whole process was a horrible experience and I have still not received any reimbursements from a month ago. Wally and Amir do not like returning phone calls and it took a lot of hammering to get what I felt was right. The techs in the service department do not seem like they know what they are doing and they charge more than my dealership does on parts. I even had to fix a sway bar myself that one of the techs put in wrong.

• Pros: selection and car pricing
• Cons: staff knowledge, customer treatment after purchase