I've been taking my car to Classic ever since I got my car since it is less than 2 miles away from my house. If it weren't for the dealership being close, I would probably go somewhere else. I just got my oil changed there for the second time, only because I had a coupon. I am in the showroom and look down, and I see some punk kid speeding through the parking lot in MY car. I'm talking like 40mph in 2nd gear. Then I notice that one of my wiper blades is bent at a weird angle. Luckily that popped back into place. The time before this, I was there because my battery kept on dieing. The service advisor, Jerry Peeples, assured me that everything would be covered under warranty. I wait around at the dealer for about an hour. Then he calls my cell and tells me that because I have an amp hooked up to my battery, they can't replace the battery. This sounded reasonable enough for me, so I said fine. But then he told me that he would have to charge me $90 for checking the car. I refused and he then said $45. He tried to negotiate with me on something that shouldn't have been an issue. I had to talk to his boss and she agreed to not charge me anything. Then, Jerry Peeples told me that they did not have any batteries in stock, but a battery would cost me $200 plus $75-100 for installation. That just made me even more angry because he assumed that because I am a teenager, he can try and rip me off. I know a battery costs around $40 and installation is easy. Overall, I tried to give Classic another chance, but I was disappointed again. I don't think I will be returning there.
Classic makes far too many assumptions for their own good. I have my own history of dealing with them which I will choose to not share right now out of my concern for enjoying my day. They make promises (like all dealerships) and try to bastardize you out of everything you own. I simply had to look at them and say No. He tried to tell me something and I just said no...I dont know if he wasnt expecting this or what. I just left. I have a strong disgust for that place.
Yeah, the service department just sucks. The dealership also serves Cadillacs first, then Subarus if they feel like it, or at least that is how it seems. The sales force seems nice, however. They've let me test drive WRXs and a Legacy GT, so I'm happy with them. Lol.
i wouldn't take my car to classic for any kind of service... ive heard nothing but bad things about them
i also live about 2 miles from them. i bought my '05 at SOG because of the way they serviced my old GT. i vented earlier on a different thread. after the second time i to their service dept. i never went back. if you're close to Classic, i might recommend a different shop around the corner from Classic. RH Auto on Decalb Ind. Way. just past the NTB and Kroger. those guys are just flat out, the most honest mechanics i've ever run into.
I live close to Classic too and won't ever go there for service again. I drive all the way to SoG these days. PITA, but worth it. FYI, that punk kid you saw is their only subaru tech I've heard. Seriously.
Thank god this kid wasn't working on my car, he was the one washing it. I don't understand why they let this kid drive cars around the parking lot. If I ever have to go back to Classic for some reason, I won't be accepting their complementary car wash because I don't want my car being driven 40mph in the parking lot and then when I get back into my car, the radio is on V103.
Yeah, they blast the radio when they're washing. I lived 10 minutes from classic. I moved, and now live 30 mins from SoG and 20 from classic. I still drive to SoG. Its worth it hands down.
good to know, they are the closest to me now that Ed Voyles is no longer selling Subies. Guess I have no choice but to go to SOG...miles and miles away
Damn, where do all you guys live? I'm at Spring Creek Apt's near the QT by Northridge.... we should get together! I'm down 4 the Taco Mac by the river anytime! I also got my car from Classic....Salesmen was ok..I got a good deal. But, I'm really tired of paying $65 bucks for an oil change that takes all fricking day....I'll be changing my own oil from now on and hopefully I wont need any warranty work cuz mine is blown to shit!!!
Self Oil change takes <30 minutes. Using Mobile 1 @ 5.89 a qt and a filter, you'll come in cheaper than a subaru change, but this time you can: trust the person working on the car, trust the oil in the car, trust it was done correctly.
Yeah, last time I got my oil changed at Subaru I smelled a burning smell on the way home. I took the car back and it turned out they had put the oil filter on wrong so there was oil dripping onto my exhaust. Quality service if you ask me.
hmm so after reading the last 2 pages i guess i wont be using the Free year of oil changes they gave me with the purchase of my 05 STi. Thanks to everyone who put in there input! Shawn
Just wanted to give u guys an update on Classic Subaru. My name is Shane Helms and I am the new sales manager over here at Classic. About 6 months ago, the dealership underwent a major change in its management...all the way from the front to the back.. both in service and in sales. Yes, Jerry Peeples is still one of our service writers, but I assure you that if you give Classic another chance, you will not be disappointed. The only way we can differentiate ourselves from other dealers is with our service. We are really trying to make sure that when you leave here, you are a happy and content customer. If you contact me before you come in for service, I will personally make sure that you have access to a loaner car if you do not want to sit and wait around for your car, and if you have major work done on your car, i will even have it delivered to you once the work is complete. In addition, if you mention this post, I will also give you a free oil change... and no, it doesnt cost $65... lol. I hope that we can change the negative perception of Classic, and any ideas or suggestions that you guys might have to help that would greatly be appreciated. Sincerely, Shane Helms 770-394-9100 office 404-348-3263 cell
That's good to hear... I think i'm gonna start changing my own oil aswell. Last time i had it done my car caught fire. So it's time for me to read up.
i learned from managing Circuit City, true 'customer service' is what is done after the mistake is made.
Shane, thanks for posting up. For a long time, well... 2years that i have been on this forum and dealing with Classic Subaru, we have heard nothing but bad reviews. As you know, the members of this site know subarus inside and out. Usually when a member comes to a dealership for work its for either one of two reasons. They either do not feel like changing their oil because they are busy, so they need to take it to someone they trust that will get the job done quickly and correctly. As you can tell by this thread, there have been numerous accounts of issues with simple oil changes. The other reason is because there are mechanical issues that started before the car was purchased. When they come to you with something like that, those customers need the same attention that your Cadillac customers receive. With that being said, the odds are stacked against you and thats not fair to you. Subaru of Gwinnett has been so friendly to the members of this site and have helped countless members to obtaining the performance oriented machine that they desire. Hopefully you all will work toward a goal of becoming more like SOG. I too live closer to Classic and would love nothing more than to come to you for service, however a severe paradigm shift needs to happen starting with the personnel in the service department. Its bad when you can tell the service manager more about the car that he can tell you. I brought in my car to have service on a wheel bearing and because i had performace springs on my car, the service dept said they could not help me because my warrant had been voided. I then took my car to SOG and miraculously, my car was fixed under warranty. There are tons and tons of people on this site that are so familiar to these cars and their engines and are probably looking for work. I think that bringing in members of this community to alleviate the problem would be about the only way to bring back the majority of the subaru owners in the metro atlanta area back to classic. Best of luck to you my friend. I hope that you do not take offense to this, the problem was there before you and i commend you for stepping up to the plate to fix it. Tom
lets all remember, now, this is a necropost-year old thread... He did make the effort to come on here, find the negative feedback, and try to address it.
hey dude, pretty sure that is feedback and a helpful push in the right direction, i think that i addressed that at the end of my post. thanks
yeah, i wasn't trying to dawg on you or nothing, just a subtle reminder to anyone else tuning in and not checking the dates. ;p ...like me...
Shane, I appreciate your efforts to try and clear up any misunderstandings that may have occurred in the past at Classic Atlanta. However, I took my car into Classic for the 30K mile service in late June/early July and the experience was one of the worst I've had. Additionally, whenever I ask for a loaner car, Jerry always tells me that you all do not offer loaner cars, even though I repeatedly receive coupons in the mail for a free 1day loaner with service. I am hoping that if I do bring my car back to Classic, my experience will be a good one. I am just not sure I want to take that risk. If there is any other service writer for Subarus, then I will willingly give Classic another chance, but Jerry has repeatedly caused problems for me. Though I have never bought a car at Classic Atlanta, I can say that whenever I am waiting for my car, the sales staff is always extremely friendly and do not hesitate to answer any of my questions even though they know I am not purchasing a car. So your service department is the only place lacking at your dealership. I appreciate your coming onto the forums and trying to clear things up.
I've had bad expierences with classic and SOG but i took my car to classic for a few quick things while i was driving by (burnt out lightbulb, trim piece falling off, etc) a few weeks ago and they took care of it in 20 minutes. They even tried to help me figure out how to hack a button into my dash. If it's indicative of things to come, I would say things are looking up.
When Royal screwed up my appontment for an oil change Classic worked my car in on a busy Saturday, and they were very personable.
Can't speak for the service department yet... but the sales staff including Shane were very helpfull in putting me into my STI for the price I wanted and got me a good deal on my trade-in.... Hopefully, I won't need any work done any time soon but I'm not gonna hesitate taking it to Classic if I do.
Shane, Thanks for coming up here and trying to clear things up. I myself had been to classic a while back (>2 years) and was unhappy. However, a change in management can work wonders for a business. I wish you guys the very best in the future. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns. Milo
If I may make a suggestion Mr. H, the best way to restore perceived loss of rep will not be a super special, but a level of consistancy. Drop by here often, no less than once a week.
Kanchou- I definitely agree with you on consistency. I havent been on in two days, and had no idea at the response that this post would get. We have already hired a third sales person who is in his mid 20's and can relate more to this type of market, and myself....im 33 yrs old and practically live on myspace and my crackberry and the internet in general. i think having people here that love the product, ove technology, and use these types of avenues to communicate with each other will definitely help. i dont expect anything to happen overnight, but hopefully with time, we can possibly restore some of the relationships that we have lost over the years.
Come see me personally and I will make sure you are taken care of. I will make it that easy. Just call me and give me a little notice and I assure you that it will be one of the best experiences you have had at a dealership! cell- 404-348-3263 office- 770-394-9100
Tom- I appreciate the response. I am past the point of being offended.. after all, we have caused this problem, so if anything I want to apologize for the lack of service here, and try to start the long road of correcting it. Unfortunately, I can't control the service department, but..if you get me involved in the beginning, i will have a much better chance of having any issues with you car handled and fixed promptly. LoL.... its been a tough road for the service department to change their past behaviors and habits. People are creatures of habit and they are hard to change.... Because of that.. we have implemented a policy that is a condition of employment. All employees of Classic Cadillac and Subaru are not allowed to tell the customer no. That plain and simple. Obviously there will be times where something is just not possible with us, but we will always tell you what we CAN do.. not what we cant do. Thanks again Tom!
I drive by Classic every morning and afternoon, which is obviously more convenient than the 50minute drive to SoG I normally do for service. Do you guys have a master certified auto tech to work on Subaru's? And are your tech's gonna have a fit with a heavily modified car? Do they have experience with mod'd cars? SoG does and has earned their reputation with this community and won't be easy to follow... That said, bring on whatcha got.
Brian... Yes, we do have a master certified tech here... he has been here for over 15 yrs and is quite knowledgeable. As far as them having a fit with modified cars that would be his problem. I did have a conversation with the techs today concerning warranty work on cars that have been modified.... and that is where things get a little bit tricky, but they have no problem working on mod'd cars. I know SOG has done a great job with you guys.. and they are well ahead of us in that arena....we cant touch them as far as that is concerned, but what I can tell you is to contact me before you come in so I can check with the techs and service writer concerning any work on heavily modified cars.
Hello WRX Atlanta, My name is I work at Classic Subaru. I am new in the sales department. I want to introduce myself. If you are current on this thread then you might have guessed that I am the 20-something salesman that Shane, the new Subaru Sales Manager, mentioned. Also, I am the salesman who helped sonicboom when he came to get his STI. Shane and I are committed to earning your business back one opportunity at a time. I would like to personally invite you to visit me the next time you are in the market for a Subaru. This is my first job selling cars so don’t expect any of the useless games that you might have experienced before. My commitment to you is an honest and straightforward experience. My goal is to give you the best purchase you have ever had. I promise to not waste your time trying to explain a car to you that you undoubtedly know more about than I. Please let me know when I can serve you. If for any reason you need assistance and Shane is not available please feel free to contact me. I look forward to learning from you about these cars we all love.
I got my new 06 WRX ltd. from Classic Subaru. It was a very enjoyable experience and I got the car for a song (really, the finance guy was like "wtf, how did they come up with these numbers?!?). Couldn't recommend their sales force any more. At any rate, I'll be honest I had planned on going to SoG for all work on my car. But I think I'll go to Classic first and give them a shot.
thats cool... when u do get service done, make sure to post your experience... im sure a lot of people are curious about the service department
I got my legacy at classic and Jayj713 got his WRX at classic as well. Personally I just like SOG's work better. Its like Classic does Caddys first, then Subbies second.
I purchased my '02 WRX at Classic in March of '01. The buying experience was fine. It was downhill from there. Service was always less than good. I had too many problems to list. None of the service advisors were the least bit knowledgeable about Subarus. The master tech that has been there for 15 years according to Shane failed to correct more than one problem. He even told me once to my face that he would not even try to diagnose one problem because it would take too long. He's also the same guy who said that a brake problem I had was fixed by turning the rotors. It was not. Went to SoG. The problem turned out to be an ABS computer gone bad. Some master tech.On another occasion the younger tech took six hours to complete a technical service bulletin repair that was supposed to take 1.5 hours. And forget about buying parts of accessories from them. They didn't stock any and the parts people were clueless. I could go on. Inspite of more than one management change it was my experience that all had one thing in common. That is, Classic is a Cadillac dealer that just happens to sell Subarus too. Subaru customers were second class citizens. Because of my negative experiences with Classic I have not been there in a couple of years. I've been going to SoG. They have always gone above and beyond to make sure I was happy. Their service department has been great. They stock plenty of parts--OEM and aftermarket. Their people know Subarus. I just bought an '06 WRX wagon from them. I did not even consider going to Classic. Shane, you have your work cut out for you and I wish you the best of luck. But unless and until I have heard glowing reviews from lots of people over an extended period of time I'll continue driving 30 miles to SoG instead of 10 to Classic.
how come it takes your parts department longer to get the same part in than Subaru of Gwinnett? Just curious because classic said monday/tuesday whereas Sog will have it in by tomorow from the warehouse. Also does classic give discounts for wrxatl and nasioc? The part number is * Pull handle assembly - 57340AA010 I need it for the weekend and it would have been easier if i could have picked it up from Classic instead of Sog tbh