Tuesday 13th January 2015

Subaru WRX STI: PH Fleet

Rusty nail unleashes a world of pain for Dan and the NotImpreza

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I'd love to spend this second report on 'my' WRX STI talking about the moorland photoshoot that saw my brother and I burning half a tank of fuel in 60 rather enthusiastic miles. And the night time drive across North Yorkshire in a raging blizzard before ploughing through virgin snow covering the outside lane of the M62 while others slithered in the slush at 30mph beside us. Doing the kind of stuff any enthusiastic Subaru 'owner' would in the depths of a festive freeze, in other words.

Not an ideal start to the journey north

Instead I'm going to have to focus on a sodding rusty nail that punctured my nearside rear tyre and the unnecessarily tortuous process of sourcing a replacement.

When the TPMS flagged a low pressure warning barely a quarter of the way to Yorkshire I realised we had a problem, manifested as the head of said rusty nail in the tread of the nearside rear. A bootful of Christmas presents and other luggage was duly tipped out onto the verge of the A5 near Towcester in search of - yes! - a proper space saver. Thank God. Fitting the removed wheel and said clobber back in was a challenge but at least the enforced 50mph cruise up the M1 gave opportunity to ring ahead and get my brother to see if anyone in the area had a Dunlop SportMaxx RT in the necessary 245/40R18 97W. KwikFit did and I booked a slot for first thing next day - Christmas Eve. Job done, the only concern a flashing orange 'AWD' light in place of the Driver Controlled Central Differential display triggered by the system detecting the mismatched space saver. No biggie, I was assured by Subaru, it'll return to normal once the correct tyre is in place.

Insert 'deflating experience' gag here...

Next day the requested tyre was speedily fitted and I was on my way. But above 30mph or so the DCCD display disappeared and the AWD warning light came back. Twice I checked all the pressures were equal. Still it reappeared. Sure, replacing one out of four tyres on a four-wheel drive car like an STI is a risk but given the original set only had 2,000 easy miles on them I was surprised. Then I checked the sidewall and saw the tyre KwikFit had actually put on was a SportMaxx GT, with a 93Y speed rating. At no point in the fitting process had anyone said "That tyre we said we had in? Actually we haven't, but we've got this one and it says Dunlop on the side..." Further research indicated the GT is actually a completely different tyre from the RT. Subsequent enquiries to Dunlop revealed it is half a kilo lighter and 6mm less in diameter, meaning it was 'reading' as a tyre with 3mm less tread than the other three. No wonder the TPMS and AWD were asking WTF.

Small diversion from the Christmas shopping trip

Somewhat concerned KwikFit had been happy to take my £147.50 and send me on my way with the wrong tyre and inoperative four-wheel drive I called after the festivities and suggested they might want to source the correct RT, ASAP. They were obliging and next day a 245/40R18 SportMaxx RT was fitted, no further money changing hands. Job jobbed. Hang on, why's the AWD light still on? I checked the sidewall. Again they'd given me a 93Y, not the 97W I'd specified. Twice.

Sense of humour running thin I attempted to contact KwikFit, vowing not to abuse journalistic privilege and keen to see how they'd handle from a punter's perspective. Hateful online customer service form duly completed I waited. And waited. In the end KwikFit's PR responded, a 97W RT was sourced, dispatched to my local store, fitted and, would you believe it, the AWD light hasn't been seen since.

We were dreaming of a white Christmas...

Hands up, I should have been fussier in the first instance and checked the sidewall of the tyre (or the receipt) before driving away. Buyer beware and all that. But having been so specific about the tyre spec I needed, and been assured the same was in stock, I'd perhaps naively assumed that was what they'd fit. But no.

They got there in the end but, really, it'd have been a whole lot easier if they'd just fitted the right tyre in the first place. And, if they didn't have it, at least been upfront and offered the option of going elsewhere, waiting for them to order it or, if I wasn't that bothered, taking what they had. I've offered KwikFit right of reply; generously I'll consider it cock-up not conspiracy (or policy) but we'll see what they say. Credit where it's due though, the guys on the frontline were unfalteringly polite and efficient. But my faith is shaken. [Update - for KwikFit's subsequent response see below.]

Guess I'll have to wait until next month to tell you how much I'm enjoying the car and why. For now some hopefully inspirational pics and a little snippet of vid.

Vid clip

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KwikFit's response to the saga, reproduced verbatim as supplied since this article was originally set live:
"We have looked into the case and the centre staff have said that when your brother first called they did advise him that the only Dunlop Sport Maxx tyre of that size we had in stock was an Audi fitting. The team assumed that he had passed on the message to you, but we accept that they should have raised it again when you came in. As you were on a space saver the team thought the tyre was a better option, but clearly not the right one. Unfortunately when the centre ordered the second tyre it was not clear that the OE tyre is currently a dealer only option so it appeared that the tyre was the correct one. We're glad we got it sorted in the end, and apologise again for the hassle in getting to that point. We've reminded our teams of the importance of checking the full specification even when only one option for a tyre is showing, and also double and triple checking whether a customer is happy with an alternative."

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FACT SHEET
Car: 2014 Subaru WRX STI
Run by: Dan
On fleet since: December 2014
Mileage: 3,897
List price new: £28,995 (£30,007 as tested including £1,012 for Pioneer touchscreen navigation unit; c. £75 fitting charge applicable but varies according to dealership)
Last month at a glance: You can't get quicker than a KwikFit fitter - shame they don't check they're putting the right tyre on though

Previous updates:
New arrival - the NotImpreza has landed!

[ManicMunky]

What else did you expect from these knuckle-dragging simpletons?

It's a shame that you can't just get the correct job done well, but they have a reputation for being poor, and they're very good at keeping that reputation up!