Walker's Renton Subaru - Parts & Service

Gail Mahan

★☆☆☆☆

a year ago

I have taken my Outback to Walker's Subaru for service since 2017. I've always had a good experience until this last visit for the 60K Major Maintenance service on Oct 24, 2024. I paid via check to avoid the 3% upcharge they would apply if a credit card were used for payment. I didn't catch it until after leaving the dealership but they applied and charged me the 3% to the overall bill. I called within an hour of picking up my car. I was told they would send me a check for the overcharge. After multiple calls to the dealership, the service department at Walker's still has not processed a refund. The manager, Tyler is never available when I call to speak with him about this matter. I've left multiple messages to please call me however he has never returned my calls. I'm shocked at his lack of caring for me as a loyal customer. I will never return to Walker's for any service after such a poor experience with attempting to collect the overcharge that was made.

Hoang Nam Do

★★★★★

7 months ago

Exceptional service from Arman Rolax My dad and I recently brought his car in for service and worked with Arman Rolax. Couldn’t have asked for a better experience. He was straightforward and took the time to explain what was going on with the car. You can tell he knows his stuff and genuinely cares about helping people, not just getting the job done. The whole process felt a lot less stressful thanks to his communication and honest approach. If you're heading to this Subaru location, I'd definitely recommend asking for Arman Rolax.

Katie Graham

★☆☆☆☆

a year ago

Poor Communication. I spent the better part of the day phoning the service center to have no one answer the phone, the voicemail was full so I could not leave a message. I wanted a status update on my car and to ask about the loaner vehicle I had while they finished working on my car. I recived a text message informing me of suggested work that should also be done on my car which included replacing tires due to a bubble found. I was really frustrated to hear my tires should be replaced since I had bought my car only 6 months ago from their dealership AND shortly after buying my car when I returned to get my plates put on informed my sales associate that there was a bubble. She told me that she didn't recall there being any issues with the tires upon inspection and never looked at my concern. When I picked up my car from the service center I asked if they inspect cars before they sell them and explained what happened in August when I attempted to inform my sales rep about this discovery. The service center told me "this must have just been overlooked during the initial inspection". This whole experience is very frustrating to me as either time I had expressed concerns about this I felt very dismissed and like this was my problem to deal with at this point. Communication should be the number one priority in this industry and it feels very lacking between sales, services and clients.

Karla Doolittle

★★★★★

7 months ago

We are traveling and needed to get service on our new Subaru. This would’ve been our second oil change and this was a fantastic experience in West Seattle. Or should I say, Renton Washington. In and out in less than an hour and a coupon for a free car wash it just went so smoothly!

Daniel Shin

★☆☆☆☆

8 months ago

It's not by coincidence that this dealer's service group have many poor reviews, as I've had a bad experience here as well. Perhaps it's because they strive to be the most disliked dealership in the area. For those considering taking your vehicle in for service, consider going somewhere else. When I had scheduled my service over the phone, I asked and they confirmed that they'd match the coupon from other Subaru dealers as long as it's from the state of WA. The service advisor I was assigned to was Breeana Spencer, and she seemed very reluctant to go over my coupon and told me to email her the coupon with the screenshot, which I thought was very strange, since she could have just looked at it. So I just emailed her the coupon, but she did not adjust the pricing to match the discount. I then asked her to look at the coupon that I had emailed, then she took a good 10 minutes trying to figure out ways not to honor it. She then told me the weirdest thing, which she herself doesn't even know what she said. She told me that in order to honor the coupon, I'd have to use the link to schedule the service through the dealership that was offering this discount, then work off of that to match the discount. This clearly didn't make sense to me at first because it sounded like I needed to just schedule it on my phone and go from there, but she stopped me and told me that she's not going to honor it at all, unless I showed her the coupon physically, then eventually said she won't honor it at all. In fairness, I would've just went with the non-discounted price had Breeana been even a little apologetic as I just wanted the car to be fixed but I realized she'd continue to be unpleasant throughout the repair process so I will be taking my vehicle to another dealership, as recommended by many reviewers whose had terrible experiences already.

Elanie Igama

★☆☆☆☆

11 months ago

Despite having not so positive experiences at this Subaru I remained loyal and have taken my vehicle to them for 4 years. For the most part, staff are friendly and even though it has felt like something is off with their systems and operations at times, I continued to come here to get my car serviced. There have been times when my car was in the shop longer than it should have been, and I have had a huge issue with my transmission almost immediate after a big service was done and my car is still fairly new. Today, I brought my car for an appointment at 8:30 am. On the site it says 2-3 hour wait, and when I asked them how long it was around the estimated time. My car was there for routine service and intake/throttle. At 12:05 pm, I had to call because I was told it would be done 11:30-12 and I haven’t received any notice. I was told my car was still in line to be serviced. They called me back after checking with mechanic and told me it was going to be at least 2 more hours but that my car was next in line. This is unacceptable to me. I make an appointment and expect that my car is serviced in a timely manner and that was the reason I did not do a walk in. I had somewhere to be and I wasted half my day leaving my car just parked in the shop. Needless to say this was the last straw for me and I will no longer bring my vehicle there. Subaru needs to reassess how they’re operating because whatever they’re doing isn’t working.

Jeff Z

★☆☆☆☆

4 months ago

5.5 hrs for a quoted 3 hr service. Apparently nobody was working on my vehicle because it was incorrectly labeled, if I hadn't asked at the 3.5 hr mark for an updated estimated time who knows how long I would have been sitting here.

KY L

★☆☆☆☆

3 years ago

Please retraining their staffs. Unprofessional and inefficiency! First, they took more than an hour to find out my warranty for the tire replacement. If I didn’t purchase the Road Hazard warranty, I am definitely not coming back. Then, I scheduled the appointment for the tire replacement today at 12pm. I asked them how long it would take. They told me an hour to an hour and half. But I couldn’t get back my car until 2:37. Wasted my time waiting there! After I drove home, I found out the Subaru logo in the middle of the wheel is actually missing, and they forgot to put back after tighten the screw. And they asked me to drive back on the next day to pick it up. What the…It’s 34miles round trip to there! Who is gonna pay for the gas and the time I spend on driving. That’s not my fault, it’s their mistake. They should deliver the logo back to my place!

Veronica Sanchez

★☆☆☆☆

7 months ago

Dropped car off at 7:30 am. It’s now about 11. Just now got car up on racks to look at. I explained this am. My other car is going to shop. That I would be without a car. Now they just told me up two another 2 hours to get a diagnosis. Then repair. What’s the point of having an apt. Since I did t sit in waiting room, they put other cars ahead. Like oil changes. Etc. for the $$$$$. Total crap. Get info on how long it will take JUST FOR A DIAGNOSIS. LAAT EXPERIENCE WAS AMAZING. NEVER AGAIN. TOTALLY UNPROFESSIONAL.

Julie Phillips

★☆☆☆☆

Edited 9 months ago

UPDATE 5/19/25 I’m only responding to this so others who experience similar issues have more information and resources. After this terrible experience with Walker’s, we went to Michael’s Subaru in Bellevue, where the same issue was diagnosed and immediately approved for warranty repair—no hesitation, no confusion. Their communication was prompt, and the entire process was handled professionally from the start. There is still no explanation for Walkers refusal to do the repair and Walkers never followed up with me besides this google review. Unfortunately, it seems the only way to get a response from Walker’s is to leave a Google review—there’s no real accountability, and that’s just bad business. If you want your issue handled properly and without hassle, skip Walker’s and go to Michael’s instead. Avoid Walkers Service Department at ALL COSTS. I’m not someone who typically leaves reviews, but my experience with Walker’s Subaru was so frustrating, dishonest, and unacceptable that other customers need to be warned. We brought our Subaru in with a known head unit issue, the exact problem covered by a Subaru warranty extension. Instead of acknowledging this, Walker’s Subaru claimed it wasn’t covered—without any explanation. I was confused because my belief was it was certainly covered due to us having the exact issue that was subject to a class action and resulted in warranty extensions. I reached out to Subaru of America (SOA) directly. They were confused by Walker’s denial and confirmed that our issue was, in fact, part of the known defect that is covered by the warranty extension. Then, even worse, SOA found that Gypsy, who were in contact with at Walkers, never even submitted a warranty claim. Gypsy then told SOA that something spilled on our head unit, which was something not communicated to us. SOA requested photos, which Walker’s failed to timely send, so we sent our own. Again, SOA confirmed: no spill, and clearly a known defect. SOA told Gypsy to submit the warranty claim. Even after all this, Gypsy still refused to submit the claim, forcing SOA to intervene multiple times. Days passed with no action and no transparency from Walker’s Subaru. Before writing this review or taking other action, I contacted Walkers in an attempt to understand how this could have happened and why the claim is not being submitted. Cheyenne answered the phone, who was also confused why this wouldn’t be covered since they get this issue all the time, and she assured me that someone would give me a call back soon. Unsurprisingly, I still haven’t received a call. Thankfully, Subaru of America agreed to cover the cost themselves, even though they clearly believe it is covered under warranty but wanted to quickly remedy this frustrating process. But I absolutely will not have this service department perform the repair. This is not just bad service, it is bad business. If you read the other reviews for Walker’s Subaru, especially their service department, you’ll see this is a pattern. Do not bring your vehicle here and hold Walkers accountable.

Angela Denallo

★☆☆☆☆

4 months ago

Bought the car in May. Kia, was a trade in. They sold me on the warentee, promised in house service and then 6 days later, when I called cause the sunroof wouldn't close they told me wouldn't service my vehicle. Warentee didn't apply since it's not a Subaru, even though they sold it to me. FINE, refund my Warentee?! Nope STILL WAITING on that refund, it's Oct. And the sunroof still isn't usable. Now, today my drive shaft will not move. I have to use a screwdriver to unlock it. Again, called and they blew me off. Do NOT buy from Walker Subaru. Waste of money, time and effort as their customer service is dismal.

Jack Emery

★★★★★

3 weeks ago

Justin in service was super helpful and knowledgeable. I came in thinking my battery was bad and he knew to look for a bad DCM. Really awesome to have fixed, I’ll definitely be coming back for more service.

N A

★☆☆☆☆

Edited a month ago

Do you love being stranded two weekends in a row with no car? How about being promised things over the phone only to be told psych! nope when you get there? Do you like having your time completely wasted? Then boy do I have a shop for you! TL: DR; - Will never have a loaner car for you. Ever. Be prepared to wait. If they promise one on the phone? They're lying. - Service takes forever. Seriously. They also likely won't start on it until they have to. - Be prepared to call for updates. They won't call you. - Expensive: $144 for a diagnostic. Brought my car in for service one weekend and let them keep the car - why not, I've got no where to be! Nothing was deemed critical, just a false positive, so came back and picked up my car. So imagine my surprise when the light came on AGAIN three days later. Wowza, two for one visit to the Parts & Service department? It wasn't my ideal birthday gift, but in this economy I guess beggers can't be choosers. I drop it off Thursday night and tell them I NEED a car this weekend. I can't leave it all weekend. Friday goes by, no word. Saturday comes and I'm calling them. "Oh we'll call you back in 20 with an update!" Me, snorting to myself, am already putting an alert in my phone to call. Sure enough, 40 minutes later I get a call: a critical light came on. I'm sorry, a critical light for the same issue developed within 8 days? The associate assures me: come on down at 3 and you'll either have your car or a loaner! Not ideal, but ok. I get there at 3:30 and am told to wait. So I wait. And wait. And wait. And watch as someone who drops their car off after I've arrived is given a loaner. I have hope at this point that I'm going to be getting a car. Foolish, I know, and don't worry dear reader it only got worse. Four o'clock and I finally talk to the associate who I've been working with. I've got somewhere I need to be at 4:30. He disappears again for 10 minutes to the back to either to descend into hell or take a ring to Mordor, I don't know, because whatever it is he comes back and informs me they're JUST NOW WORKING ON MY CAR. You've had it since Thursday. Seriously? Yup, sure enough, when I authorized work done my car decided to go shop the sale or something because no one did a thing on it until I apparently showed up. Cool. So I ask for a loaner. "We don't have any loaners." They offer a shuttle, which they back out of because they apparently have no shuttle driver either. So I'm now stranded, with no car, and a whole heap load of feelings because I'm not coming back by the time they closed. Did they mention they're closed Sunday? We're looking at the second weekend with no car no all! "We've been slammed." You've had my car since an hour before closing on Thursday. "We don't have enough techs." I'm trying to find where that's because of something I did? "Everyone needs a loaner." Maybe you need more loaners than the number you apparently have? There's nothing they can do. I'm given the manager's phone number but he's not working this weekend. The dealership? No help. I call a friend to come pick me up and am now late to everything I had to be at. I get a text at 6:12pm - an entire 18 minutes before they close - that my car is ready. I live 18 minutes away. I'm stuck now having to Uber back at my own expense on Monday. I'll be calling Monday morning to talk to the manager. My car is under warranty so I'm not paying for any of this, except in time, frustration, and wasted energy. If you're not under warranty? SAVE YOURSELF AND GO ELSEWHERE. EDIT 1/26: I ended up talking to the dealership sales manager, who very kindly listened to me and then scheduled a pick up for me so I wouldn't have to Uber back. 12/10 for dealership honestly; I had a great car buying experience with them and they're always kind. The service advisor also texted that they're DELIVERING me car to me so I don't have to come back. It arrived and the tech, Justin, was super sweet.

Landon Ashby

★☆☆☆☆

7 months ago

TLDR - AVOID WALKER'S - You're better off elsewhere. I’m not quite sure where to start. I initially brought in my 2015 Outback because the key FOBs were not functioning to lock or unlock the car. It started just fine, but I had to use the valet key to open the door, which then set off the alarm. All of this was after having two doors replaced at a body shop, and It was my hope that the FOBs just needed a reprogram. After that was unsuccessful was when things went awry. For starters, I never once received a callback from the service department when I called to inquire the status of the vehicle. After days of no information, I’d call the service center, be told my advisor was with another customer, and that they’d call me back. Not a single time in two full weeks was I ever called back. The best way I could receive information was to physically come in and talk with my advisor. At best, I’d receive a text with vague recommendations for a solution. I shouldn’t even have to mention that this is entirely unacceptable. Additionally, the vehicle was at the shop for 2 weeks. Supposedly, the shop tech went through the obvious possibilities first, then when unable to find a solution, contacted the Subaru Techline (I say supposedly, because it became obvious the proper steps weren’t followed). Long story short, I continued to get the runaround with various estimates coming in from several hundred dollars to “$2500 or more.” I repeatedly told the service department that I suspected something minor happened during the work at the body shop, and found these extreme numbers absurd. Finally, after two weeks and no movement on a solution, I picked up the vehicle from the service center and took it back to the body shop to take a look. The mystifying, impossible, and exorbitantly expensive problem? … a blown fuse. I’m no car guru, but it seems to me like this should’ve been checked. Funnily enough, Walker could’ve made an easy $200+ to fix this, but ultimately was unable to find the culprit. Granted, this most likely happened while the car was at the body shop initially, but a blown fuse shouldn’t be such a bugaboo of an issue to necessitate 2 weeks of testing and going back and forth with Techline. The cherry on top? After calling ahead to let them know I would come and pick it up, the vehicle was returned to me by Walker’s service center with an interior panel still removed, leaving wires exposed, and numerous screws and bolts rolling around in the rear of the car and the spare tire area. By this point I absolutely wasn’t returning to the service center to rectify this. I instead took an hour out of my day to fix what should have been put back (and again, should never have been removed in the first place). Frankly, my hope is that this all due more to incompetence than anything. At worst, this is one of the most predatory cash grab repair schemes that I’ve ever had the misfortune of being a part of. In any case, I’d think it obvious at this point that I will never bring any vehicle I own back to this shop, even for something like an oil change. Furthermore, I will absolutely be recommending to everyone I know far and wide to AVOID WALKER SERVICE areas like the plague. It’s clear to me now that the drive to Michael’s in Bellevue or Carter’s in Ballard or Shoreline is far worth the extra drive time to receive quality work on our Subarus.

Barry G.

★☆☆☆☆

Edited a month ago

Avoid this place if you value your own safety. I went in for a 36 month inspection and they said everything was fine. I later noticed a squeaking noise coming from one of the wheels on the passenger side. When I went to get it checked out, the service center wanted to charge me a $200 diagnostics fee, even though the car was still under warranty and my maintenance contract hadn't expired. I declined the $200 diagnostics and I took it to another mechanic and they were able to inspect my vehicle at no charge. It turned out that one of the brake pads was cracked. The 36 month inspection listed an inspection of the brake pads, parking brake as well as the rotors. Walker's Renton Subaru was more concerned about red tape rather than just inspecting the issue. In the past, I've brought my car to Subaru and they had no issues inspecting the car without charging me a diagnostics fee. Not only was I going to get charged a $200 fee, but they missed a very critically damaged component in the 36 month inspection. After the other shop found the cracked pad and did the repairs, I noticed the parking brake had more resistance. There were several ways to diagnose the issue and this Subaru service center failed to go through the necessary inspections. I absolutely do not recommend going here if you value your own safety Edit: doubling down on the terrible service. I provided updated information to the email they replied below and received no response. However, I went into My Subaru app and it's no longer showing my maintenance schedule intervals due to an "error." I've contacted Michael's Subaru in Bellevue to get that fixed. The app isn't tied to this specific service center so I'm not sure why they were being petty and messed with the maintenance interval settings. If you have a Subaru under warranty, go either to Auburn or Bellevue. Avoid this place at all cost

Matthew Rogers

★☆☆☆☆

2 months ago

Wish I would have looked at the reviews before I went here. Bad service center with no ethics. Will charge you hidden charges. Bought a tire last week. They told me it needed to be shaved down. I asked the service guy and the parts guy if I would need to pay more money to have it put on, and they told me no. I came in today and they started telling me all the fees I would have to pay to install it. When I expressed my concerns, they were all indifforant.

Josette Ver

★★☆☆☆

a month ago

I’m disappointed. I took my 2020 outback in to get serviced for a check engine light that ultimately was an issue with the thermal control valve. Technicians stated they performed a multi-point inspection. They found that issue with the control valve and fixed it. Thankfully was under warranty. Technicians also stated that my vehicle had a missing positive battery terminal cover which needed “immediate” attention. So i got that replaced for 22 dollars. Two other things they noted (not requiring immediate action) were the rear brakes and front control arm wear. No other issues. This was just under two weeks ago. Last night my car dies on me at a red light during rush hour traffic. This happened during the auto start/stop feature when i let my foot off the brakes. I was stuck for an hour in the middle of the street. I called the dealership and they sent a tow truck, thankfully free of charge because i had just got it serviced. This morning I get an update saying my battery was completely dead. Of course the price to replace it is dealership price. I’m not complaining about the price. Im complaining about this inconvenience that could have been prevented. I’m just a little bit frustrated and honestly disappointed because I trust when I take in my vehicle to a dealership that I will be getting above par service. This just doesn’t feel like that. I believe that I should have been notified by the technicians or whoever is responsible for that multi point inspection for my battery being at a low percentage. You would think as a costumer when the dealership says you need a replacement part for your battery that they would also check the battery’s life?