Subaru of Utica Service Center

I recently purchased a RAV4 through Subaru of Utica sight unseen through a third party called Driveway. The vehicle was shipped across the country to my driveway. The vehicle arrived in great condition. Although I didn't directly deal with the this dealership, everything was exactly as described and I'm very happy with my purchase.

My partner bought a used 2019 Jeep Cherokee from this location. The vehicle made a slight grinding scraping noise in the front during the test drive, salesman Jeff surmised it to be surface rust in the brakes from sitting on the lot, totally understandable since its been on the lot a few weeks. We go through the process we don't even try to negotiate on the vehicle we paid the listed price. Which came equipped with a 30 day 1,000 mile warranty. Drive it off the lot get on the thruway and the vehicle makes some squeal/higher pitched noise (unsure if that is related to the grinding noise at lower speeds, I'm not a mechanic). The faint grinding noise persisted and we brought it back. Service supervisor went for a ride with me on a quiet street and agreed their was a noise in the front of the vehicle. (Brakes, suspension, etc I'm not sure once again that's for them to figure out, after all they vehicle did it the first day off the lot and continued to do so untill we took it back) After the ride with the supervisor I sat in the waiting room for an hour to see whether or not they could look at it, which they could not that day, so i was ubered home (no loaner vehicle on this trip for my partner). It finally gets looked at Monday, and they "lubricated" the brakes. Not replace with parts, or looked for other possible issues but lubricated the brakes.... 2.5 days on the lot (3.5 days without the vehicle) to get LUBRICATED. Drive off the lot and the SAME noise that the Service supervisor agreed he heard, still persisted which didn't "go away" like the service shop put in the writeup, so once again the vehicle goes back to the service department and ironically the noise can't be heard. What an absolute insult to mine and everyone else's hearing who has rode in the car (that don't work for the dealership). Further more the back windshield wiper was torn and shredded, and requested at purchase that it be replaced. Day of pickup, the wiper was still not replaced as it was getting to roll off the lot, and had to ask AGAIN to have it replaced. The back license plate was installed crooked because the screw retainer in the top left for the rear license plate was gone. So they decided to use two vastly different screws and put the license plate on sideways instead of actually installing correctly. This buying process is EASILY the most EMBARRASSING car buying process I have been apart of. It was also laughable when we came to pick the vehicle up after that 3 day lubrication job the sales department and service department didn't communicate and wanted $82 for the lube job. GREAT COMMUNICATION (sarcasm), we didn't pay but between the presentation of the vehicle with the trash wiper on the rear, and begging to make sure it was replaced multiple times, the license plate screw retainer being missing and the license plate getting installed crooked, the noise in the front of the vehicle with the "see nothing, hear nothing" diagnosis has made this whole process more than infuriating. Update 7/3/2026: went to pick up the jeep after the "see nothing, hear nothing " diagnosis. Turn right onto commercial drive and check engine light was on. Turned back around and left car at dealership. Service Advisor Zach Adams helped us. Was very helpful, assigned my partner a loaner vehicle and assured us he would help us and get to the bottom of this issue. Purchased car 6/23/26 , was in garage from 6/26-6/29, went back to service for 2nd time 7/2/2026 for the "see nothing, hear nothing" diagnosis and returned back to us on 7/3/2026 with check engine light on... To be continued... Zach gets an atta boy, because until this point it seems nobody has cared that we've had the car for 11 calendar days and it's been back in the service lot for 5 of those days.

The service performed was made more difficult than it should have been by the car's initial design. In times past I've performed transmission and differential service myself or via my local repair shop. Access and specialized tooling necessitated this now being a dealer service item. Going to the dealer for service is both more costly and less convenient. Going forth I will look to avoid this issue when shopping for my next car and that may mean something other than subaru.

This was my second service with this dealership the first was to have my car undercoating and interior protected the left my car absolutely filthy after seven days of ownership they put my floor mats upside down on my seats. The second service was on 4/23/26 I was scheduled at 915am and I needed my car back by 230pm it wasn’t ready and I was told my 915 appointment was to meet with a service advisor it wasn’t ready completed at 330 pm. The service manager walk to my car with me and I opened the door and the tech left oil hand prints on my leather seats and left my floor mats and the threshold covered in dirt along with the steering wheel also it was discovered that the tech also cracked my touch screen. I only have 6,000 miles on my car and I keep my car’s immaculate. I was disappointed. The service advisor told me I can have my car serviced at another dealership and don’t need to come back. It’s too bad I purchased a service contract because I am having second thoughts I have never been treated with such disrespect especially after spending over $50,000 at their dealership

I received a recall on my vehicle. Made an appointment for the item to be fixed. Arrived and was told they were out of the part I needed. Did not receive any notification before hand that they were out of the par. Found out when I arrived for my scheduled appointment. Had to reschedule. Courtesy of a notice would have been appreciated.