NHTSA Complaint #10935185 — 2012 SUBARU IMPREZA

DRIVING HOME ON 12/11/16, THE CHECK ENGINE, VEHICLE DYNAMICS CONTROL, AND CRUISE CONTROL INDICATORS CAME ON SIMULTANEOUSLY. CHECK ENGINE AND VDC INDICATORS WERE STEADY, BUT CRUISE CONTROL WAS BLINKING. THE NEXT MORNING WHEN I STARTED THE CAR, THE PROBLEM WAS STILL THERE SO I IMMEDIATELY WENT TO SUBARU TO HAVE IT CHECKED OUT. THEY DISCOVERED CODE P1449: "EVAP SYSTEM CLUGGED CHECK & FOUND SPIDER WEBS IS EVAP DRAIN & VALVE ASSY. TECH RECOMMEND REPLACE EVAP DRAIN & VALVE ASSY." THEY REPLACED EVAP DRAIN & VALVE ASSEMBLY AND PERFORMED EVAP SYSTEM CLEAN REINSTALL WHICH FIXED THE ISSUE. TOTAL COST 617.28 (416.50 FOR 3.5 HOURS LABOR, 41.16 FOR VALVE AY DRA, 159.62 FOR VALVE AY ELC). WHEN I FIRST GOT THE CAR IN DEC 2011, I PURCHASED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY (GOLD PLUS) WHICH COVERS 6 YEARS OR 60,000 MILES WITH $0 DEDUCTIBLE. BEFORE FIXING THE PROBLEM ABOVE, THEY ESTIMATED IT WOULD COST ME $600-$700 OUT OF POCKET SINCE THEY SAID THIS PROBLEM WAS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY BECAUSE IT WAS CAUSED BY A SPIDER AND NOT A PART DEFECT. I CALLED SUBARU'S WARRANTY DEPARTMENT WHICH SAID THE SAME THING. I MENTIONED THAT MAZDA, SUZUKI, HONDA, AND HYUNDAI ALL HAD THIS PROBLEM A FEW YEARS BACK AND THAT MAZDA AND SUZUKI HAD RECALLS, WHILE HONDA AND HYUNDAI WERE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. SUBARU AGAIN STATED THAT THEY DO NOT COVER IT. AFTER THE FIX, A SERVICE CENTER ADVISOR SAID HE SEES THIS PROBLEM A LOT BUT UNFORTUNATELY SUBARU DOES NOT COVER IT. I ASKED HOW TO PREVENT IT FROM HAPPENING AGAIN AND HE SAID TO SPRAY PEPPERMINT OIL OCCASIONALLY AROUND THE FUEL TANK AREA BELOW THE CAR SINCE THE SMELL DETERS PESTS. I PAID THE BILL TO GET MY CAR. HOWEVER, I BELIEVE A RECALL OF SOME SORT SHOULD BE ISSUED BY SUBARU TO FIX THE PROBLEM AND PREVENT IT FROM HAPPENING AGAIN OR AT LEAST HAVE THE PROBLEM BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. I AM FILING A COMPLAINT TO YOU AND HOPE YOU CAN HELP ME RECOVER THE COST. *TR