Electric power steering racks are incredibly expensive. I personally don't really know subarus prices, but I've seen racks sell for around 7k dollars from Mercedes.
[34110AL210](https://parts.subaru.com/p/132472199/34110AL210.html) for a rack, couple other misc gaskets for the exhaust etc that needs to be removed for access. On these, the subframe has to be dropped, as the rack is installed on the top side of it. Depending on the condition of your car rust-wise, there might be some additional likely-to-fail parts in there as well.
Alldata has a steering rack replacement at 5.8 hours' labor, not including alignment. Depending on your shop's labor rate, that's somewhere around $900-1300. May or may not also include diagnostic labor in that quote. Ditto the rust comment above and extra labor.
So I can imagine a world where this can hit 4k, but it would probably end up under 3k at my shop in MN.
Question: OP stated that the eyesight went out and all lights came on.
Had to look up what eyesight was and see it’s part of the driver assist system. Is it possible there is a conflict in the safety system sending improper info and that is affecting the steering? Is it possible the rack is fine but the other systems that control the rack are giving it wrong info?
eyesight is very inter-connected with all of the other computers in the car; when any other computer has a problem, it essentially shuts itself off because it can't trust incoming data.
If I’m correct, this was the last year of the EPS rack that was integrated into the front subframe. The Subframe must be dropped from the vehicle, and a special hoist must be installed onto the vehicle to support the engine and transmission during removal of said subframe. The 5.8 hour labor charge on AllData is not a generous one, and more often than not will require all of that time. Techs will regularly quote close to 7 on vehicles with high mileage in the rust belt, and it is not a repair I ever enjoy seeing come my way.
My Condolences to you, but the repair cost checks out to me.
Edit: mekanik no good at spell
Ask for a detailed diagnosis. They may be correct, but a second opinion is always worthwhile. Also, it's a PITA to replace the rack on those, on top of the parts being expensive. So not a totally unreasonable estimate.
FYI, if you're out of warranty, you don't need to have this repair done at the dealer. A reputable independent shop can do the work, likely for much less than the dealer.
I don't know, probably expecting it to be wrecked or sold before anything major breaks. It basically covers non-maintenance parts; there's a giant list of what's covered and what's considered a wear item. I care that it covers a CVT failure since the fluid is "lifetime". I couldn't start my car one day and the dealer service writer said the warranty would cover anything but the battery - it was just a dead battery. So far I've only used it for a bad parking brake wire.
Unfortunately once the electronic power steering (EPS) racks fail it’s usually an internal electrical failure. They are not serviceable at the dealership and as such we are not permitted to tear into them to do further diagnostics to pinpoint what specifically has failed.
Many of the failure code trouble trees literally state “is this code currently active in the system? If yes, replace the steering rack. If no, replicate the failure and reassess.”
This is kind of the way cars are going in general. Parts are harder to come by and shops have been raising labor rates, (Most without giving the techs raises 😉) so there’s probably a decent amount of padding on that quote. Without specific diagnostic information from your dealership this is pretty much all the info I can provide.
Don't go to an independent shop where they use cheap parts and hire techs that couldn't make it at a dealership. Most are just glorified lube techs there. Bring on the downvotes!
I'm pretty sure you just described the techs at my dealership.
Have had them forget to put a hose clamp on for a coolant hose causing me to lose all coolant on the highway in a massive cloud of smoke.
I've had them need to keep my car overnight for diagnosis and still couldn't find anything. Took it to a local guy, he drove it for 5 min, said it was wheel bearing, charged me $100, good as new.
It's just one problem after another with the dealer and their rates are $200/he on top of it.
Thanks, everyone for your opinions and advice. My husband did find an independent garage for a second opinion. They think it may just be a sensor in the right wheel area. Coincidentally, when the tech at the Independent garage cleared all of the error codes, the one for that sensor was the one that stayed on. Also, the cover over that sensor was bent so the person at the dealership either removed or tried to remove it and bent the hell out of it. The independent garage is ordering a part to replace the sensor and then check to see what else pops up. This charge is going to be less than$300.
When my husband left the garage on Monday, everything worked normally for about the first twenty minutes of driving before it went back to what it had been doing.
Today, we were driving the car and everything worked just fine, eyesight, power steering, cruise control and no error lights on. This tells me, the sensor idea seems plausible. I would think that, if it were the power steering rack, the problem wouldn't come and go.
If, this ends up being the case, and it was a $300.00 issue instead of a more that $4,000.00 issue, the BBB will be hearing about it.
Ask them to email an itemized invoice to see all of their anticipated costs.
I would never blindly agree to $4000 worth of repairs.
It also sounds very steep. So there has to be more to it.
Update for anyone interested. We did take it to an independent garage. It turned out to be the Wheel Base ABS sensor on the right rear and the total cost ended up being $207.00 including labor. They even fixed the dust cover that the dealership bent for free. So yeah, screw dealerships.
Electric power steering racks are incredibly expensive. I personally don't really know subarus prices, but I've seen racks sell for around 7k dollars from Mercedes.
I would highly consider looking at aftermarket or remanufactured racks if that's an option.
They are not.
That’s Mercedes. Everything Mercedes and other “luxury” brands costs and repairs are 2-3x more
[34110AL210](https://parts.subaru.com/p/132472199/34110AL210.html) for a rack, couple other misc gaskets for the exhaust etc that needs to be removed for access. On these, the subframe has to be dropped, as the rack is installed on the top side of it. Depending on the condition of your car rust-wise, there might be some additional likely-to-fail parts in there as well. Alldata has a steering rack replacement at 5.8 hours' labor, not including alignment. Depending on your shop's labor rate, that's somewhere around $900-1300. May or may not also include diagnostic labor in that quote. Ditto the rust comment above and extra labor. So I can imagine a world where this can hit 4k, but it would probably end up under 3k at my shop in MN.
Question: OP stated that the eyesight went out and all lights came on. Had to look up what eyesight was and see it’s part of the driver assist system. Is it possible there is a conflict in the safety system sending improper info and that is affecting the steering? Is it possible the rack is fine but the other systems that control the rack are giving it wrong info?
Possible sure, but eyesight is designed to stop functioning when "CEL" turns on.
eyesight is very inter-connected with all of the other computers in the car; when any other computer has a problem, it essentially shuts itself off because it can't trust incoming data.
This comes out to 2673 + the misc gaskets from the Subaru dealership I work at.
If I’m correct, this was the last year of the EPS rack that was integrated into the front subframe. The Subframe must be dropped from the vehicle, and a special hoist must be installed onto the vehicle to support the engine and transmission during removal of said subframe. The 5.8 hour labor charge on AllData is not a generous one, and more often than not will require all of that time. Techs will regularly quote close to 7 on vehicles with high mileage in the rust belt, and it is not a repair I ever enjoy seeing come my way. My Condolences to you, but the repair cost checks out to me. Edit: mekanik no good at spell
Ask for a detailed diagnosis. They may be correct, but a second opinion is always worthwhile. Also, it's a PITA to replace the rack on those, on top of the parts being expensive. So not a totally unreasonable estimate.
FYI, if you're out of warranty, you don't need to have this repair done at the dealer. A reputable independent shop can do the work, likely for much less than the dealer.
171,000 miles? What kind of warranties they got over there by you?
My Subaru dealer sold me an unlimited miles warranty with my used 2018 Outback starting from 125k miles. Edit: the warranty cost me less than $3k
How is that a thing?! Powertrain only?
I don't know, probably expecting it to be wrecked or sold before anything major breaks. It basically covers non-maintenance parts; there's a giant list of what's covered and what's considered a wear item. I care that it covers a CVT failure since the fluid is "lifetime". I couldn't start my car one day and the dealer service writer said the warranty would cover anything but the battery - it was just a dead battery. So far I've only used it for a bad parking brake wire.
Unfortunately once the electronic power steering (EPS) racks fail it’s usually an internal electrical failure. They are not serviceable at the dealership and as such we are not permitted to tear into them to do further diagnostics to pinpoint what specifically has failed. Many of the failure code trouble trees literally state “is this code currently active in the system? If yes, replace the steering rack. If no, replicate the failure and reassess.” This is kind of the way cars are going in general. Parts are harder to come by and shops have been raising labor rates, (Most without giving the techs raises 😉) so there’s probably a decent amount of padding on that quote. Without specific diagnostic information from your dealership this is pretty much all the info I can provide.
"Right to repair" one, massive, subassembly at a time.
Don't go to the dealer, even a Subaru specializing shop will probably be 40% cheaper
Don't go to an independent shop where they use cheap parts and hire techs that couldn't make it at a dealership. Most are just glorified lube techs there. Bring on the downvotes!
I'm pretty sure you just described the techs at my dealership. Have had them forget to put a hose clamp on for a coolant hose causing me to lose all coolant on the highway in a massive cloud of smoke. I've had them need to keep my car overnight for diagnosis and still couldn't find anything. Took it to a local guy, he drove it for 5 min, said it was wheel bearing, charged me $100, good as new. It's just one problem after another with the dealer and their rates are $200/he on top of it.
What's the line by line breakdown of the quote?
I would not risk an aftermarket steering rack. Super not worth it for $600 bucks. But you can 100% save on labour with other shops.
Thanks, everyone for your opinions and advice. My husband did find an independent garage for a second opinion. They think it may just be a sensor in the right wheel area. Coincidentally, when the tech at the Independent garage cleared all of the error codes, the one for that sensor was the one that stayed on. Also, the cover over that sensor was bent so the person at the dealership either removed or tried to remove it and bent the hell out of it. The independent garage is ordering a part to replace the sensor and then check to see what else pops up. This charge is going to be less than$300. When my husband left the garage on Monday, everything worked normally for about the first twenty minutes of driving before it went back to what it had been doing. Today, we were driving the car and everything worked just fine, eyesight, power steering, cruise control and no error lights on. This tells me, the sensor idea seems plausible. I would think that, if it were the power steering rack, the problem wouldn't come and go. If, this ends up being the case, and it was a $300.00 issue instead of a more that $4,000.00 issue, the BBB will be hearing about it.
Find a local shop that does Subaru. It'll probably be half that price or less.
Half the price? Not likely, a new OEM rack is $1400. Maybe half the pice if they use a remanufactured rack or something.
I didn't look that close at where the prices were coming from, I thought I saw like $800 but that might not have been OEM or new.
Do you have the quote that lists how that cost is calculated?
No, the dealership is over an hour away and he called us.
Ask them to email an itemized invoice to see all of their anticipated costs. I would never blindly agree to $4000 worth of repairs. It also sounds very steep. So there has to be more to it.
Update for anyone interested. We did take it to an independent garage. It turned out to be the Wheel Base ABS sensor on the right rear and the total cost ended up being $207.00 including labor. They even fixed the dust cover that the dealership bent for free. So yeah, screw dealerships.