FR-S / BRZ reliability stats

[Jegan_V]

Originally Posted by dnieves

These minor glitches (that never leave you stuck) are magnified by (from what I noticed here) whiners whom:


1. Never had a new car (especially a new model -like they never have glitches! If you have no tolerance for non reliability issues spend more money on an existing model and do your homework).
2. Think they purchased a Lexus (it's still a sub $30k Subaru!!).
3. Expected Corvette performance (it's a reliable four banger! Don't be an idiot and do your homework before you make a substantial purchase like buying a car -are there morons out there that complain their Miatas are slower than their old Camaros? NO! because they knew what they were getting into!!).
4. Are under the impression their previous car was perfect (you can find negatives on ANY car).
5. Rant and rave about these glitches then post inaccurate statistical data, between the skewed data and said data's misinterpretation it comes across as something from GM (ie Consumer Reports' garbage IN/garbage OUT survey data).


I strongly feel Toyota/Subaru should be more active with remediating these glitches instead of making owners worry about their tenuous partnership and releasing special edition based on the JDM parts bin every few months. Has anybody thought of sending blast emails to those in the Toyota Subaru hierarchies (starting with district managers on up) that can exert some kind of influence to address these (non reliability) glitches? <I left out SCION because I think they're useless> I've read too reports of part swaps that provide a temporary fix -just because they don't sell like Camrys doesn't mean we should be ignored.

I think the problem with how these issues are being reported is that every brand new vehicle model is bound to have glitches these days. The main thing about determining the car's overall reliability is with regards to these issues is one key question. Is replacing these parts under warranty going to do any good? If the problem was caused due to design faults and cost cutting, those are serious issues that warranty will fail to fix. The Mustang's MT-82 transmission or the Ford Focus/Fiesta's Powershift, both victims of design faults and cost cutting, replacing under warranty may net you the exact same problem.

The tail light, the rattles and even the early CEL problems are fixable. The fuel pump chirp is the only item that hasn't been fixable thus far, but so far produces no reliability issues. That's why I didn't hesitate to buy it expecting a reliable car. My dad's earlier 2000 Avalon had a few items that required warranty replacement but none that actually affected the car's actual reliability, he replaced it with a 2004 being the last gen of that model and it ended up perfect.

My 2014 Monogram? Perfect car.

[synchromesh]

Originally Posted by Jen

Reliability and reported issues will stop potential buyers from purchasing this car. I was ready to purchase, saw two new cars that had "chirping" and idle issues, and I got something else. If reliability goes up, I will trade my car.

Well, you better as one test drove the clearance R/T in 2010. Not quite sure you dropped the ball but the V6 price was better here in urban Canada. How much you pay for the V8, if you don't mind me asking?

[dnieves]

Originally Posted by Jen

Reliability and reported issues will stop potential buyers from purchasing this car. I was ready to purchase, saw two new cars that had "chirping" and idle issues, and I got something else. If reliability goes up, I will trade my car.

Jen, I understand the sentiment in your post but your verbiage should be "if glitches are remedied/Q&A go up". A noise from the fuel pump does not make a reliability issue.

Can those with high miles document their experiences to provide other owners (& potential owners) some insight as to what to expect -this forum needs a dose of reality sometimes.

Does the ticking from cars with Direct injection indicate trouble? No, it's something inherent with their design. Someday when Toyota and Subaru get off their arses and stop finding new JDM parts for special editions maybe they'll properly sort out the chirps.

Can somebody send a polite but strongly worded email to Tada and Akio Toyoda in Japanese?!??

[SubiePig]

Increasing tolerances also increases cost of production. Rattles and creaks are going to happen. Go drive a 2/3 year old STI or even a brand new one. I promise its just as bad or worse.

[mkaresh]

The only thing I'm not sure about in the few preceding comments is that every new model has a few glitches. Many do, but far from all of them. The new Mazda3 and Honda Accord have had very few repair reports in their first model years. The new Mazda CX-5, Acura RDX, and Acura MDX, on the other hand, have had plenty. So it varies with even the best manufacturers.

A quick note on the survey: we have few 2014s signed up, and need more to see if these glitches are gone with the second model year.

Any 2014s here? To help make this happen:

http://www.truedelta.com/join

I imagine we'll have stats for 2015s sooner, as the updates should bring a new surge of interest.

[mkaresh]

We've updated our reliability stats for the FR-S to include owner experiences through June 30, 2014 (making them about 14 months ahead of some others).

Repair frequencies, in terms of repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2013 FR-S: 48, moderate

We have two additional statistics, "Nada-odds" and "Lemon-odds", to indicate the percentage of cars with no repairs in the past year and those that required 3+ trips to the repair shop:

2013 FR-S: 71, 4

We're close to having enough data to provide a stat for the 2014. The data we do have suggest that it requires far fewer repairs (no doubt because Toyota addressed the initial glitches).

Next updates in November and in February. The more owners participate, the more comprehensive and precise these will be. Especially looking for more 2014s and 2015s.

For repair descriptions, the stats of other cars, and to sign up to help improve this information:

Scion FR-S reliability ratings and comparisons

[mkaresh]

Are there many owners of 2014s on here? With 2015s now available, we have far more owners with 2013s than 2014s. Really need more of the latter to see how reliability has improved with the second model year.

www.truedelta.com/join

[mkaresh]

We've updated our reliability stats for the FR-S to include owner experiences through September 30, 2014.

Repair frequencies, in terms of repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2014 FR-S: 0, low, very small sample size
2013 FR-S: 42, moderate

We have two additional statistics, "Nada-odds" and "Lemon-odds", to indicate the percentage of cars with no repairs in the past year and those that required 3+ trips to the repair shop:

2013 FR-S: 75, 3

Additional participants especially needed for the 2014 and 2015, so see how these compare to the 2013.

To view the repairs behind these numbers, check the stats for other cars, and sign up to help improve this information (next update in February):

Scion FR-S reliability ratings and comparisons

[mkaresh]

New stuff this time. We've updated our reliability stats for the FR-S to include owner experiences through the end of 2014. Plus we've added reliability trends graphs. These indicate how a model's reliability has changed as it has aged, and how different model years performed when the same age.

Repair frequencies, in terms of repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2014 FR-S: 0, low, small sample size
2013 FR-S: 39, moderate

We have two additional statistics, "Nada-odds" and "Lemon-odds", to indicate the percentage of cars with no repairs in the past year and those that required 3+ trips to the repair shop:

2013 FR-S: 72, 1

We'll have further updates in May and in August. The more owners participate, the more comprehensive and precise these will be.

To see how competitors compare, and to sign up to help improve this information:

Scion FR-S reliability ratings and comparisons

And that new graph, visible on the site under "reliability trends":

[gravitylover]

Mike you should make it a FRS/BRZ compilation since they are essentially the same car.

[mkaresh]

Thanks for the suggestion. I've always combined them, I just haven't communicated this in the posts.

[V_86]

Also, have you taken into account that the increased "repair" trips might be regular service intervals that also included minor repairs?

[mkaresh]

Originally Posted by V_86

Also, have you taken into account that the increased "repair" trips might be regular service intervals that also included minor repairs?

Sorry for the delay, just saw this.

I'm not sure what you're asking. If there was a repair, the trip counts. If there was only scheduled maintenance, it doesn't.

All cars have scheduled maintenance (or at least they all should), so this isn't unique to the FR-S.

[mkaresh]

So, how have these cars been doing lately?

Our reliability stats for the FR-S (and BRZ) now include owner experiences through March 31, 2015. (Others are nearly a year behind.)

In terms of repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2014 FR-S: 7, low, small sample size
2013 FR-S: 35, moderate

We have two additional statistics, "Nada-odds" and "Lemon-odds", to indicate the percentage of cars with no repairs in the past year and those that required 3+ trips to the repair shop:

2013 FR-S: 72, < 1

Next updates in August and in November. The more owners participate, the more comprehensive and precise these will be.

For repair descriptions, the stats for other cars, and to sign up to help improve this information:

Scion FR-S reliability