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After my vehicle's service, I was told my Outback had a leaky head gasket. I took my car to a private mechanic to check this out; he did a thorough check and found no problem whatsoever. Then I took my car to another agency (not a Subaru agency) for its next service. Again, a thorough check revealed no problem whatsoever.
I have lost all trust in Barber Subaru's service department, and I will never take my car back.
If I buy another Outback, I would buy from Barber Subaru IF their salesman, John French, is still there. He is a person I would always trust to deal with me honestly.
Owning an Outback, my car was plagued by the recall involving the cooling fan relay and the ecm. After contacting the dealer stating my problem, they were quite understanding of the problem and said they would order a computer for the car and that it would take a couple of weeks since the part was on backorder. When the part finally came in, I went there and my car was tested, from which I was told it would not need the computer, just the relay. Having researched this problem on the internet and being an engineer, I found this suspect, but took the car since I had no way to prove my suspicion without driving it.
After taking the car all of 2 miles down the road, the problem started again so I turned around and took the car back where I was greeted and told that the problem was not what Subaru of America said it should be and that there is nothing they could do about it (consequently, this is the furthest they would ever take it). Knowing this was going nowhere, I called Subaru customer service and started a case file from which they told me to take the vehicle back to the dealership.
Upon returning to the dealership, they took my car in, did a test on the fan to see its operation (the fan wasn't the problem, it was the computer) and then proceeded to tell me my car was perfectly normal. The service manager there began to take a calm, but hostile tone with me as I tried to debate (note: in a normal tone, no screaming, no swearing) with him why he can tell me my car is normal when I know there is an issue. I was then told that I couldnt possibly know how my car is supposed to operate (note: engineer, specifically auto engineer) and that I should leave and find service elsewhere since we aren't getting anywhere here. I was thrown out of a dealership, a dealership who hadn't even offered to drive my car to verify the problem and decided to talk down to me as if I knew nothing about the operation of my vehicle.
Overall: This was the worst dealer experience I had ever had. I vehemently recommend staying away from this dealer, especially if you know little about cars because they WILL NOT go the extra mile and try to actually fix your car, and when they were called out on their inability to diagnose a problem, any facade of customer service they put up was completely gone.
P.S. I was in training in CA and was about to take the car home to Jacksonville, FL via Pittsburgh, PA. The car was eventually fixed 3 months and 12,000miles later. Yes, it was the computer like I said in the beginning, and yes the two dealerships (Day Subaru in Pittsburgh, and Subaru of Jacksonville were outstanding and are getting letters of commendation).
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Barber Subaru is a dealer in Ventura, CA. Barber Subaru offers Subaru. Please feel free to Rate and Review the Barber Subaru Dealership so other Car Buyers can know what dealerships in the Ventura, CA area are great and which ones are just so-so. You can also use the Map below to locate other Ventura Car Dealerships quickly and easily!
Barber Subaru
Thumbs down
John French - my favorite salesman ever
Overall poor experience