I arranged last week to bring my 2009 Forester in ...

I arranged last week to bring my 2009 Forester in for service at Mississauga Suburu. The power steering system stopped working. At 2 pm on the day of the appointment I called to see if my vehicle went in,
they said no but was going in soon. At 2:15 pm they called and claimed the service tech looked at the system and determined I needed over $3,000 worth of parts and labour. By magic thru his super powers the technician determined that the pump, rack and pinion was all gummed up without even opening it just by looking in the reservoir. Mississauga's Suburu service department team at the time determined that the pump fluid did not need to be changed yet my vehicle being serviced by their dealership for the past 480,000 km never once had the transmission fluid or power steering fluid changed. Yet Suburu claims at 48,000 km to change all fluids. Not once did the service department offer to change these fluids or even recommend it. Hopefully the dealership's staff is not on commission basis like other major firms. Well Suburu Canada I solved my own power steering issues for $12.95 from Canadian Tire buying Ristone Power Steering Treatment.

At the time I asked their tech sales if we could simply flush out the system "they claimed no and they never ever did it", this is total bunk. This is the second time their staff told me that my vehicle was essentially finished and that was 14,000 km ago. Previously their technician who really needs retraining gave me the line that radiator water was entering through the head gaskets into the cylinder head. Well if this was the case surely the radiator fluid levels would drop but they have not lost even one once in past 14,000 km. Oh by the way I solved this power loss problem for another $13.50 using Ristone Engine Treatment, shows you how good the Suburu Forester was built in Japan but how really poor Mississauga Suburu service level has dropped over the years with growth.

I have been a customer at Mississauga Suburu for over 12 years and have driven over 1.15 million km on two Foresters. But lately their service department has been going downhill. I drove unnecessarily for three weeks physically turning the steering when $ 12.95 eliminated this issue ( they could have made $150.00 for the same service and done the flush themselves, but perhaps their dealership only wanted the big money.) I strongly urge that all Suburu dealers add to at least the 48,000 or 72,000 km service to replace the power steering fluids or do a flush of the power steering system.

A power steering failure if a person is not strong enough to turn the vehicle could result in a major crash, flip the vehicle or result in bodily injury or death if the pump fails or power steering fails. At minimum I suggest that every technician in every dealership in Canada go through Suburu retraining once a year on this system the technicians shall be taught more thoroughly since it seems to be poorly known at least at this dealer how to treat power steering issues.

Had I listened to their service department techs I would have gotten rid of a vehicle which can still do another 50,000 to 100,000 km for very little service work. Great on Suburu. Yes I would buy another Forester but not from Mississauga Suburu.

Barry Tessler, P. Eng.
Thermaco Engineering