EQMRS

REMINDER: 2014 Forester - Special Quality
Team Activity
TO:
SDC EST CEN WST
FROM:
Subaru of America, Inc.
DEPARTMENT: Service
DATE:
04/01/2013
CATEGORY:
Show in all Categories
The “ALL-NEW” 2014 Subaru Forester will soon be arriving in greater numbers at
your dealership.
Beginning Monday March 4, 2013 through May 2013, there will be a Special Quality
Monitoring Team here in the U.S. from Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI). The team is
made up of Body and Powertrain engineers from FHI’s Japan offices and
manufacturing facilities.
They will be monitoring all Electronic Quality Monitoring Reports (E-QMRs),
Warranty Claims, Techline cases, Customer Dealer Services (CDS) cases related to
2014 Forester daily and reviewing all customer and dealer feedback on this all new
vehicle.
The Team is very interested in EVERYTHING. Even in cases when a customer has a
concern that is determined to be a normal characteristic (they all do it), or just an
improvement opportunity (it would be nice if…), the team will still want to know
about it.
While there is no guarantee that a change will occur, we can guarantee that nothing
will happen if we don’t know about it.
Never assume that SOA is aware, unless you file an E-QMR through Subarunet or in
an urgent situation, open a Techline Case. If more than one customer has said it,
please list multiple VINs or file additional reports. Don’t just stop with one report
and assume the full size and scope of the situation is understood. You can easily add
additional information to existing E-QMRs as you become aware of new cases or use
the duplicate function during entry to quickly enter multiple reports. All updates
appear to us as new reports.
“If customers say it, We want to hear it.”
•
In the Showroom (What do they like? What don’t they like?)
•
On a Test Drive (What do they comment on or ask about? What do they like? What do they
dislike?)
•
During Delivery (What questions do they ask? Is there any function or operation that doesn’t
seem intuitive?)
•
As part of After Sale Follow-Up (What questions do they ask? Do any systems need more
explanation than others? Do they call back days later with questions?)
•
During a Service Appointment (Are there operations or characteristics that they are unsure of?
Are there quality issues? Are there maintenance questions?)
•
Have they called in with a question about their new car because it does something or doesn’t do
something or does it differently from their last car? What are they asking you about?
The more specific information you can provide on each condition or repair the
better. Otherwise, you may be contacted multiple times with questions.
For example: If you perform a wiring repair, the team will be asking for the wire
color, connector number, pin location, and the details of the condition. This would
include your comments on if the wire was cut, pinched, corroded, or nicked. If there
was a loose pin, bent pin, pin pushed out, wire pulled out of the pin, or simply a soft
set connection (connectors not locked together fully). Was the harness strained or
stretched? How? Was the circuit open or shorted? Was the operation of the circuit
intermittent, or totally inoperative? What related systems were affected? Was the
condition temperature or moisture related? They will also want to know the exact
details of your repair. How exactly did you fix it? If possible try to get a photo before
the condition prior to the repair as one will most likely be requested.
Where possible, please contact Techline prior to performing any unusual repairs.
Repair Authorization requests must still go through normal channels (Techline
Authorization System or your DPSM).
E-QMRs are for reporting only, and not a means to obtain repair authorization.
As with prior new model launches, we have extended the warranty parts retention
period from 30 to 90 days. This change is really transparent, as all 2014 MY
Forester parts will simply not show up on your scrap report until the specified time
has passed.
Be sure to save everything including nuts, bolts, clips, and gaskets as the team may
want to see everything and anything related to the repair. Please remember to hang
onto any vouchers supplied if parts are requested earlier by the team.
We appreciate your continued support in making this new model launch another
resounding success. Thank You in advance for your timely and detailed reporting.