Paul Miller Subaru

Are you in the market for a defective vehicle that can’t pass inspection without thousands in repairs? Have you made too many excellent choices in your life and would like to experience how the other half lives? Well then come on down to Paul Miller Subaru and learn what it feels like to be had! May I suggest a 2011 Subaru Outback? I purchased one in August of 2015. This lovely piece of disappointment’s check engine light came on less than a day after leaving the lot, less than 50 miles driven. And since I’m now trying to give it back to Paul Miller under the NJ Lemon Law, this hunk of misery may soon be yours! I can write a novel on the defects of this junkyard-bound disaster but highlights include: misfiring on cylinder 3 & 4; valves pitted and leaking (all needed to be replaced); the short block of the engine needing to be replaced due to excessive oil consumption; a cracked windshield that Safelite told me must be replaced (it had already been “repaired” prior to my purchase); 1-2 mm left of the front brakes and warped rotors; 2 disgusting air filters that were never replaced before my purchase and a defective gasket on the brake light causing water and condensation to pour into the trunk. Come for the defective cars; stay for the rude, manipulative salespeople! If you need a repair you’re entitled to under warranty and state law, you will also need about 20 phone calls, a pair of pliers and a dentist’s chair. Because you’ll be pulling teeth. From salesperson Brian Gasikowki, (who “forgot” we contracted for a timing belt replacement and forced me to pay for half), the Used Car Manager John Torres, (who promised they would “take care of me...”), the General Manager, Jim Scott, (who ended our conversation by telling me that he wouldn’t spend another dime on this car), the service employee, Robert Bednarz (who lied about the valve replacement), the Service Manager Jerry Ciriaco, (who yelled at me when I brought up said lie), all the way to the Warranty Manager Steve Bono. Steve was very kind until I mentioned the Lemon Law and began asking questions about why my initial repair wasn’t automatically covered under the warranty that came with the car. Turned out that I had been made to sign off on the valve replacement – begun within 12 days of purchasing that reeking piece of misery – as a “goodwill repair,” which sounds so nice of them - until you learn it places the repair outside the 30 day warranty laws and done as a favor. By the way, you can’t receive a 2nd goodwill repair if something else goes wrong with the vehicle! I was unknowingly made to void my own 30 day warranty! The vehicles sold by Paul Miller aren’t just lemons. They are hot potatoes. Let’s take a moment to talk about the Lemon Law. Did you know that when you do return a lemon for the purchase price, you are made to lose $.51 per mile you’ve driven? See, hot potato! Paul Miller throws it at you and encourages you to hold on to their botched excuse for a car for as long as possible so they can determine what the problem is. Drive it, they say. Look, the check engine light is off, so give it a few more thousand miles. Come back in 1200 - 1500 miles, and we’ll check that oil consumption – over and over. All the while this vehicle sucks oil like a hoover at a dust-bunny convention. I had to put a quart in every 1,200 to 1,500 miles. Finally, after owning this epic mess for a year (of which 70 days were in Paul Miller’s garage!), putting on – at Paul Miller’s behest – 15,000 miles, I was told the short block of the engine needed to be replaced. Echoing my purchasing experience, Paul Miller Subaru and Subaru of America did the extraordinary favor of offering to force me to pay only half of this massive repair. I’m applying under the NJ Lemon Law, and will now lose $9400.00 (that’s right, I’m going to lose almost $10K!) for the pleasure of having to deal with this absurd nightmare for the past year. I'm also filing with the Office of Consumer Protection for relief under the Consumer Fraud Act . So come to Paul Miller, and pay them to swindle you while yelling at you like a naughty fifth grader when you object. That way they can make money off your sale, off your financing, and off your misery. Or save yourself the trouble and flush a few grand down the toilet. In retrospect, flushing those thousands would have saved me a lot of anxiety. Any and all details of this nightmare I’ve experienced as a customer of Paul Miller Subaru over the past year are available upon request.