Goodbye to everyone! Going down the SI route

[Brndn704]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Ya Brandon that is rather contradictory really. You can't throw incredibly expensive luxury and exotics into the mix and say they could do the same for the price. There are very valid reasons why they cost so much.

On top of that not all of them make all that racket. I have zero pops, rattles or squeaks (except when it hits -20 out and even the top lines make noises then)

And sorry, but a purpose built, low production $30K car is indeed very cheap.

Okay.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Brndn704

Okay.

Hey look on the bright side this has taken the focus off stance and wheels!

[Rabbit of Caerbonnog]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Hey look on the bright side this has taken the focus off stance and wheels!

Oh boy... another can of worms...

[SUB-FT86]

To me the FRS/BRZ has similar quality issues to cars costing less than 30k and in some cases cars costing more than 30k. You guys who say you expect top notch quality for around 30k would be amazed what some owners of premium brands say about rattles and other quality issues. Now I've been on this forum for a while and finally got my FR-S and I was expecting to have a lot of issues because folks have complained about the radio,rattles,and other reliability issues. The only thing I have notice is the crickets. Bespoke is amazing and never acts up on me. My engine isn't going through coolant like some. The FA20 is a decent engine but IMO all N/A 4 bangers are decent at best.

[Rabbit of Caerbonnog]

My sister's 50k 2014 RX350's seats squeak at every bump. Ever car has it's problems. It just so that they manifest after the fact that you've already driven off the lot.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Rabbit of Caerbonnog

Oh boy... another can of worms...

Nah, he knows I am just poking (or hope he does by now).

[Cal3000]

I can't believe people are complaining about comfort and quality of materials in a driver's car. If you are so concerned with comfort and quality, buy a ecobox.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by evomike

my crickets have never gone away so I now live with them, I need a dash, my windows sound like nails on a chalkboard when you lower them, my interior rattles are unreal, and the big one that nobody can figure out is the clutch pedal noise. my clutch pedal makes a very loud clunk noise like none of the others I've heard on here, my tech who I trust very much so cant figure it out and Toyota really cant either, I'm pretty sure if I pressed it my car would get a trans but I'm just over it all to be honest.
I will get the windows and dash fixed and I plan to put something else in the car at this point.

My car has at some point exhibited all of those symptoms, I consider my car to be in perfect working order and it hasn't been touched by a dealership tech since I signed the paperwork. It's a matter of perspective. It's also had the idle dip, I'm on the old tune that's supposed to melt injector seals, I've replaced one coil pack and topped off the coolant (which, why list this as an issue? Liquids evaporate.)

Currently the clutch clunk is loud enough that it startles drive through employees if I stomp on it, I can hear it with the windows up and the stereo on about 1/3 volume, my door switches rattle if I have the music turned up over 2/3 volume. Maybe someday I'll investigate the rattles and try shimming some of the parts that are no longer snug, but I'm dismissing the clutch noise as a byproduct of how unrefined the car is (lack of sound deadening, the mechanism is about 6 inches away from my right foot seperated from me by very thin sheetmetal on 4/6 sides).

Some people were definitely let down, the things typically highlighted are definitely huge turnoffs especially when you can walk over to a luxury dealership and get a CPO BMW, Lexus or Merc for almost the same money. I just looked there's an '11 Mercedes SLK 300 convertible for $30k at a dealership near me, I'd gamble that the average car buyer would jump at the Merc for the same money.

The rest of us though wouldn't change a damn thing because we believe that Toyota made very good compromises. The improvements asked for are not free and we're happy we got a rockin' little coupe for <$26k.

[tennisfreak]

Originally Posted by SUB-FT86

To me the FRS/BRZ has similar quality issues to cars costing less than 30k and in some cases cars costing more than 30k. You guys who say you expect top notch quality for around 30k would be amazed what some owners of premium brands say about rattles and other quality issues. Now I've been on this forum for a while and finally got my FR-S and I was expecting to have a lot of issues because folks have complained about the radio,rattles,and other reliability issues. The only thing I have notice is the crickets. Bespoke is amazing and never acts up on me. My engine isn't going through coolant like some. The FA20 is a decent engine but IMO all N/A 4 bangers are decent at best.

Look my brand new Vette has 1 rattle and 1 creak and it is a car that costs over $60k.

Both were easy fixes did not require me to take anything apart but they were still there.

Every car will have its little quirks.

But generally speaking I feel like they did cheap out on the FR-S materials and design, even compared to other sub $30k cars.

If they had invested just a little bit more in such a few places it would have made a dramatic difference.

Stereo - either a 89' style ugly head unit or a worthless BeSpoke both paired with sh!tty speakers

Instrument cluster - for a sports car to be missing out on essential gauges was a big mistake. At least give us a on oil temp and/or oil pressure guage for chrissakes!!!

A tad more sound insulation. Personally I did not mind it all that much when I was by myself. Anyone who rode with me hated my car as it was loud as heck and hard to communicate or if we listened to the radio we had to turn it up loud enough to highlight how crappy and distorted the radio and speakers were.

Keyless start? At least in the FR-S on release series.

[MokSpeed]

Originally Posted by Brndn704

I knew purchasing a "scion" materials would be cheap. It's just I paid almost 30k for a 2013 car, I expect some good quality.

But all the cars are manufactured by Subaru?

[Rabbit of Caerbonnog]

Originally Posted by Cal3000

I can't believe people are complaining about comfort and quality of materials in a driver's car. If you are so concerned with comfort and quality, buy a ecobox.

But I think that is where some of the fundamental problems are. Some people do think of the twins as Econoboxes.

In the end it's a affordable (to most) RWD, entry level sports car that scratches the itch that some have. Some just never had an itch to scratch, so the platform was not for them.

[MrAnthonyC]

FRS owners HATE us!!! You won't believe how we packed over 2500HP into a car!

[funwheeldrive]

Originally Posted by Cal3000

I can't believe people are complaining about comfort and quality of materials in a driver's car. If you are so concerned with comfort and quality, buy a ecobox.

What's wrong with wanting to enjoy being in your car? Just because you enjoy driving doesn't mean you have to give up everything else.

I love the lotus Elise, but I would never buy one for a daily driver.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by tennisfreak

Look my brand new Vette has 1 rattle and 1 creak and it is a car that costs over $60k.

Both were easy fixes did not require me to take anything apart but they were still there.

Every car will have its little quirks.

But generally speaking I feel like they did cheap out on the FR-S materials and design, even compared to other sub $30k cars.

If they had invested just a little bit more in such a few places it would have made a dramatic difference.

Stereo - either a 89' style ugly head unit or a worthless BeSpoke both paired with sh!tty speakers

Instrument cluster - for a sports car to be missing out on essential gauges was a big mistake. At least give us a on oil temp and/or oil pressure guage for chrissakes!!!

A tad more sound insulation. Personally I did not mind it all that much when I was by myself. Anyone who rode with me hated my car as it was loud as heck and hard to communicate or if we listened to the radio we had to turn it up loud enough to highlight how crappy and distorted the radio and speakers were.

Keyless start? At least in the FR-S on release series.

People love to talk about the mk6 GTI's interior as if it's the holy grail for under $30k, but my GTI has more rattles/squeaks than my FR-S. Also I've got the premium RNS-315 head unit in my GTI, and it sounds worse than my FR-S base head unit once I enabled the proper "FR-S" setting in the setup menu. There's no oil pressure gauge or temp gauge on the GTI either.

I'd say the FR-S interior and build quality are about right for a true lightweight RWD coupe around $25k. Sometimes I ask my wife if she minds the road noise/sound from my car (it's got a catless UEL header and full exhaust) and she gives me this look like I'm a little wimp lol.

I actually wish Toyota would make a slightly harder-edge version of the FR-S with less sound-deadening, 100 lbs. less weight, factory oil cooler, and maybe 40 more hp. Call it an FR-S Type-R or something and charge $30k for it. An oil temp gauge would be nice too