Engine Failure (#4 Rod Bearing + Short Block)

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by BRZnut

plus, it has been said time and time again that those posting issues here reflect a small percentage of all the twins out there. But you can't know that for sure..that's assuming everyone with an issue has posted here. There could be thousands that don't bother with car forums who are having issues. Only Subaru/Toyota know the true numbers.

This is true and it could also be the inverse that is correct and every single one that has had a major issue has posted here. We don't know how many but even going by the forum population it appears to be way under 1%. If there truly is a huge number of people then Toyota and Subaru will make a statement. Contrary to popular belief it is nota good business practice for them to hide it and they know that.
I am very much a show me the facts and data guy and at this point I don't think there is enough accurate data to support that there is a massive issue.
Yes, some guys are having problems and I feel for them but that does not automatically mean everybody is going too.
I get that you are worried and even I pay closer attention to my engine noises then normal but if you keep getting worked up then you are going to start to hate the car (I think you already are headed down that path) and make matters even worse in your own head.
Maybe it is time you traded before what you feel the inevitable failure occurs. (not said with malice)

[BRZnut]

Yes, was planning on keeping the BRZ for at least 100K miles (which takes me ~12 years to reach with my driving habits) but will likely trade it in around 30K and move on. Unless there is something issued by Subaru/Toyota that they are going to stand by these cars and issue an extended warrantee, and stop trying to get our of warrantee work.


I change my own oil and do my own general maintenance, so that's my concern if I ever have to bring it in for an issue

[redlne]

Get a rotary. Much more reliable. Haven't had any trouble with my FD that gets trashed regularly and gets oil changed when the oil level light comes on.

[Thorpedo]

Originally Posted by BRZnut

I think we can all agree (at least most of us) that there is a fatal flaw in the design of this engine. Time for someone who had this happen to them to start a class action lawsuit! (just like owners did when Toyota engines were failing a few years ago and the dealers kept blaming the owners. Ended up the engine design was at fault)

Nope. REDICULOUS reasoning. By your standard, every engine in existence would have had "fatal flaws".

There are 70000 members to this site, and usually 700 online at any given time. You think you've painted an accurate picture about failure rates due to a handful of threads on a site with well over 70000 of them. Come on man.

You're a catastrophizing automotive-hypochondriac. :b onk::bon k:

[RobertPaulson]

Originally Posted by BRZnut

Yes, was planning on keeping the BRZ for at least 100K miles (which takes me ~12 years to reach with my driving habits) but will likely trade it in around 30K and move on. Unless there is something issued by Subaru/Toyota that they are going to stand by these cars and issue an extended warrantee, and stop trying to get our of warrantee work.


I change my own oil and do my own general maintenance, so that's my concern if I ever have to bring it in for an issue

i think you're jumping the gun a bit because this isn't a huge widespread issue, so far its a rare occurance.

However as someone who has done all his own maintenance and the car has only visited the dealer once (the day i bought it before it got off the truck) i can certainly echo your concerns over having to fight to get his car fixed should it happen.

[wheelhaus]

Paranoia abound.

There's no such thing as a perfect engine. Considering how hard many of these engines are out there, and also ow many are used hard, freaking out because a few have had failures is a massive overreaction. Think there's no other engine design on the planet that hasn't also had some rash if issues on a small scale? You're kidding yourself. Going solely by the number of users here, and the number of failures, I would chalk it up to a very rare occurence, freak factory defect, who knows. Many other performance engines have had problems, but people still love them. If you're more worried about worrying, then sell everything and go live in a padded room. Otherwise, just enjoy the car and maintain it well. there's a 99%+ whatever chance you'll be perfectly fine.

And the powertrain warranty is 5yr/60k.

[Tank]

Originally Posted by wheelhaus

Paranoia abound.

There's no such thing as a perfect engine. Considering how hard many of these engines are out there, and also ow many are used hard, freaking out because a few have had failures is a massive overreaction. Think there's no other engine design on the planet that hasn't also had some rash if issues on a small scale? You're kidding yourself. Going solely by the number of users here, and the number of failures, I would chalk it up to a very rare occurence, freak factory defect, who knows. Many other performance engines have had problems, but people still love them. If you're more worried about worrying, then sell everything and go live in a padded room. Otherwise, just enjoy the car and maintain it well. there's a 99%+ whatever chance you'll be perfectly fine.

And the powertrain warranty is 5yr/60k.

Being a rare occurrence is acceptable. The manufacturer not honoring the warranty in the rare event that it does happen is not.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Tank

Being a rare occurrence is acceptable. The manufacturer not honoring the warranty in the rare event that it does happen is not.

To the best of my knowledge there are 3 cases where the warranty was not honoured on unmodded cars (for the bearing issue). This again is not a rampant problem unless there are a pile of instances that have not been mentioned.
Even those that have been mentioned only include one side of the story and even if we believe the person that does not mean we have all the facts to create an informed decision.
Keep up on your services and maintain good records and proof of work done yourself and they have very little grounds to deny your warranty work.
Again there may be the rare exception to this though.

[wheelhaus]

Originally Posted by Tank

Being a rare occurrence is acceptable. The manufacturer not honoring the warranty in the rare event that it does happen is not.

I agree completely, but with any car you will find stories of faithful owners who were denied a warranty claim for (fill in the blank) and suddenly the world is on fire and the brand is a ticking time bomb made of untrustworthy garbage. Being upset about a seemingly legit claim being denied is acceptable, especially when it's such a big ticket item, but let's put the pitchforks and tin hats away.

[Decay107]

I don't believe this has been covered but did everyone reporting the failure have oil changed by the dealer? Perhaps there has been a recent change in the dealer bulk fill oil as a cost reduction measure.

[BRZnut]

I appreciate all the optimism, but I think we are seeing the tip of the iceberg. Lets see how it goes as we all get more miles on our twins. Hope you guys are right though that these failures are all just rare events!

[Hector]

At first!
The number of unreported cases is always higher than what we see here.
In my opinion that engine is very good by design, but when it comes to its single components, it has very serious built problems from the place of construction.
As long as Subayota is not speaking clearly about that production issues they will loose.
I am pretty sure that MY2015 cars will be overall better.
Just assuming they learned from their production changes in 2013 and 2014.
Before anyone asks why i'm posting here.
Do I have problems like reported here?
Yes! Multiple ones.

[BRZnut]

Originally Posted by Hector

At first!
The number of unreported cases is always higher than what we see here.
In my opinion that engine is very good by design, but when it comes to its single components, it has very serious built problems from the place of construction.
As long as Subayota is not speaking clearly about that production issues they will loose.
I am pretty sure that MY2015 cars will be overall better.
Just assuming they learned from their production changes in 2013 and 2014.
Before anyone asks why i'm posting here.
Do I have problems like reported here?
Yes! Multiple ones.

Like what type of problems?? And, not sure we can say that there have been production changes to fix all the issues.

[Rampage]

Originally Posted by wheelhaus

Paranoia abound.

There's no such thing as a perfect engine. Considering how hard many of these engines are out there, and also ow many are used hard, freaking out because a few have had failures is a massive overreaction. Think there's no other engine design on the planet that hasn't also had some rash if issues on a small scale? You're kidding yourself. Going solely by the number of users here, and the number of failures, I would chalk it up to a very rare occurence, freak factory defect, who knows. Many other performance engines have had problems, but people still love them. If you're more worried about worrying, then sell everything and go live in a padded room. Otherwise, just enjoy the car and maintain it well. there's a 99%+ whatever chance you'll be perfectly fine.

And the powertrain warranty is 5yr/60k.

Agreed. Look at much of the demographics that buy these cars. Many of these cars are driven VERY hard. Based on that even new Honda engines fail. Just go read their forums.

Still Toyota and Subaru should not be denying claims unless they can prove abuse or neglect.