Subaru of America officially announced the release of the limited-edition 2018 BRZ tS for the U.S. market in June of 2017. As publicized, exactly 500 units of the STI-tuned BRZ were produced and distributed across 42 states through the Subaru Retailer Network. The BRZ tS entered production early December 2017 and ended early February 2018. Out of the 500 units, 226 were painted World Rally Blue, 104 Crystal Black Sillica, and 170 in Crystal White Pearl.
Introduction
When it comes to special- and limited-edition cars, numbering and designating a production number for each unit is a feature that adds to the intriguing element and uniqueness of the ownership of the car. The BRZ tS would have been no exception to this, but due to reasons unknown Subaru decided not to number each unit from the factory.
However, like the Series.Blue, Series.HyperBlue, and Series.Yellow BRZ, collecting a list of the VINs and designating a production number is possible by researching each VIN through a Subaru retailer. Because the VIN schematic of the BRZ is simple and because the production numbers are low, finding each VIN of a particular Special-Edition model is as simple as solving the equation 1+1. The end goal was to compile the most accurate, comprehensive list of VINs and designate each unit a production number.
Method for Compiling the List
Since MY2013 the BRZ VIN schematic has followed a simple and consistent structure. The BRZ tS uses the same schematic as the rest of the MY2018 BRZ carline. The compilation begins by searching the very first VIN which ends in 0001. The info for that VIN is recorded on a spreadsheet, then it’s just simple counting and recording from there...0002, 0003, 0004, etc. Fortunately, the BRZ tS’s were the first of 2018 BRZ’s produced and thus the first VINs were found immediately.
The amount of information shown with each VIN inquiry can be controlled by the individual researching the VIN. For the purpose of the BRZ tS VIN list, only Subaru Retailer allocation information was retrieved. With that said, the VIN list will contain the following information:
- Last 4 characters of its VIN
- Color
- City & State of the original Subaru Retailer the unit was distributed to.
- Production date of each car
Note that the city and state will always be based on the first Subaru dealership that the respective BRZ tS was distributed to, and will not take into account dealer trades or where the car currently is.
Ensuring Accuracy
Although finding each VIN is simple, extra care was necessary to accurately record each VIN and its information. Since the VINs of the BRZ tS are not a sequential 0001 to 0500 as one would think, and because of the repetitive and fatiguing process, it would be easy to accidentally label another BRZ trim level as a tS (and vice versa), or accidentally record the wrong color.
The most effective way to achieve an accurate record of the BRZ tS VINs would be to record every MY2018 BRZ VIN until BRZ tS VINs no longer show up. The rule of thumb that has always worked since the 2015 Series.Blue and so forth is to check 100 extra VINs after the last VIN has been found. If none show up within 100 subsequent VINs, the list and thus production of the Special-Edition model is complete.
To ensure accuracy of the 500-count BRZ tS list, the first 1000 VINs of the BRZ carline were recorded (the subsequent 100 VINs after the last BRZ tS was not recorded). The following information was recorded to maintain accuracy:
- 3-character color code (e.g. BLU)
- 6-character model code (e.g. JZS-03)
- City & State of the original Subaru Retailer the unit was distributed to.
- Production date of each car.
After the 1000 VINs were recorded, each VIN was ran a second time to verify that the above information was recorded correctly. Following the review of the 1000 VINs, the following information has been confirmed to be as accurate as possible:
- 16 VINs are pre-retail units
- 9 of the pre-retail units are BRZ tS’s.
- 243 VINs are either unused or non-U.S. cars
- 241 VINs are NON-BRZ tS’s
- 500 VINs are BRZ tS’s
Since each BRZ tS VIN was screened twice, all information regarding each VIN should be correct and only a network or software-related issue would yield an error.
Designating Production Numbers
With a list of the first 1000 VINs ready, it was now time to isolate the BRZ tS VINs in a separate list and assign each VIN a production number. Only BRZ tS’s that were retailed are counted toward the 500 units. However, there are 9 units with the BRZ tS Model Code (JZS-03) that were not retailed and instead owned by Subaru of America. The units are identified below and are designated with “PR” to represent “PRE-RETAIL”:
- PR1 of 9. 0003 - 08-29-17 WHC JZS-03
- PR2 of 9. 0004 - 08-29-17 WHC JZS-03
- PR3 of 9. 0007 - 08-29-17 WHC JZS-03
- PR4 of 9. 0009 - 08-29-17 WHC JZS-03
- PR5 of 9. 0012 - 08-30-17 BLU JZS-03
- PR6 of 9. 0013 - 08-30-17 WHC JZS-03
- PR7 of 9. 0019 - 08-30-17 WHC JZS-03
- PR8 of 9. 0021 - 08-30-17 WHC JZS-03
- PR9 of 9. 0022 - 08-30-17 WHC JZS-03
The fate of these units are unknown, but based on past Special Edition BRZ’s some or all of these units may eventually be sold as Pre-Owned or Certified Pre-Owned cars and do carry a manufacturer’s standard warranty and a typical maintenance contract.
For the 500 retailed BRZ tS’s, the production number sequence follows the numerical order of the VINs. Each unit can be identified by the last 4-digits of its VIN. Each unit is assigned a production number ranging from 001-500, beginning at 001 / 500 with VIN0023 and ending at 500 / 500 with VIN0984.
In addition to the last 4 digits of the VIN and its corresponding production number, the color, city/state of the first Subaru Retailer receiving the car, and production date of the unit will be indicated