Farout!! well even if it is there fault they are not going to take the blame for it. but $3900! maybe going to Subaru was your problem? Is there a possibility for you to take the car somewhere else??

Lets guess, u took it to Doncaster or Cambellwell Subi???

Sounds a bit suss to me mate....I would take it further.

further to who? i've seen subaru blow off bigger **** than this, FFS

at the end of the day it comes down to my word against there's etc etc

If the headgasket has blown bad enough that the temp goes straight to hot it will be clearly evident to normal diagnostic procedures. There will be CO in the coolant and other definate tell tales. I suspect (as did you) that they have failed to completely bleed the cooling system. The first sign of this is when the temp goes to hot, the radiator will still be cold to the touch. The thermostat will not open if there's air in the system and the circulation isn't correct. I'd get your car out of there and to someone who knows what they're doing for a proper diagnosis. If you leave it there it WILL end up with a blown headgasket eventually due to them running it with air instead of coolant.

today tonight, aca, newspapers, fair trading, they all love hearing this sort of ****. if it goes far enough you'll get results.

unfortunately subaru owners have to pay a premium, but dont receive the service that is paid for

I've actually been pleased with Subaru's service, tried out a few subaru specialists here in sydney and dissatisfied with both of them on several occasions.

Car is going back in tomorrow to get the rear diff changed under warranty.

You're picking it up tomorrow all fixed?
My advice is to arrive early, like 9AM and catch them trying to bleed the cooling system with the engine exhibiting exactly the same scenario as before they "fixed" the headgasket. Just my suspicion.

Jet, that's great Subaru are changing your diff under warranty, but therin lies part of the problem with Dealerships today. [old man voice] When I was an apprentice mechanic we would re-build gearboxes, diffs, brake calipers, radiators, steering boxes, steering pumps, you name it. We learned to weld, solder, measure stuff, diagnose things. On the rare occasion that a component was replaced the old one was always stripped and inspected as part of the training process. Now whole engines, wiring looms, transmissions etc are replaced wholesale without ever being properly dignosed, the warranty stuff gets sold by on E-bay by the guy in the dealership that did the repair FFS! Where's the incentive to learn?

I see you are online, so I'd suggest you would have an argument for them to reduce the 100K service cost. My GEN3 blew the one head gasket. I had 77KM on the clock, so the non dealer repairer did most of the 100Km service as part of the repair. 100Km service charge was basically material only as head repair (did both heads) required removal of engine, timing belt, replacement of cooling fluid etc. Total cost was $1,875.
I would also argue they should have spotted the blown head gasket before doing any other work & phone you immediately. Both a dealer & the repairer I went to had no trouble spotting the fluid leak from the head - but it needed a torch & mirror as it was on the hoist.
If you have NRMA (or whatever in VIC) membership you could involve them.

didn't just do a head gasket the heads were rebuilt as well  costing another $900 bucks. the 100K service was reduced to parts plus some labour but still F**K me.
complaint has been made we'll see what happens but bottom line i've been warned to wear it in the end but get this.
looking thru the itemised list and they threw out my 6 month old $120  K+N air filter as well FFS ( which i checked )wndscreen wipers thet weren't changed .
i didn't think it could get any better , so i rang and asked how stupid does a bloke have to be to do that . i've been offered free labour on my next service but i do my own and i wont be going back there again.
i'm so f***en over it.
next time MItsubishi all the way

o.k this is gonna hurt more than any giant pineapple in the rectum, but       ah ,,,,,,,,,, after a detailed investigation of events leading up to the blown H/G by subaru , myself and an outside source,,,etc etc ahh ,,,, well ,,,,,ahh ,,,,much as it hurts to say,,,,,,,,,,ah,,,all evidence is pointing towards uncle cracky being the main culprit and not subaru......f**k that hurts to say but i said it at least.
without going into CSI Miami detail ,,,,,,ah ,,,,thats the bottom line.
um,,,,,,,,,,yes ,,,,i am a red neck bogan,,and thats that, but at least i can admit it and chances are that i f**ked up.
yeah,,,,,,,,well,,,,,,,i,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,ah,,,,,,,,,,,ah,,,,, ,,, i'm busy right now so   ah ,,,,,,,,,but ,,ah,,,,,i have to go now to,,,,,,,,,do some ,,,,,important things ya see,,,,,, so ,,,,,,,,,,bye now   :russian_r