Who's in for the long haul?

[Laika]

I've waited till this specific day to make this thread. This is the 1 month anniversary since I picked up my beautiful Premium GBS 6MT BRZ. Now I'm a pretty young guy but I'm not a very modern guy. Every car that has been produced since the mid 90's is just a car I would like to own for a couple years till I got bored. At the risk of sounding cliche´, cars have lost all passion and any soul that a hunk of metal, plastic, and rubber could ever have. I am what you call, a motoring enthusiast. I've always been keen on Subaru's and Toyota's but I am not a fanboy, I have a favorite car from almost every halfway respectable marquee.

This is where the BRZ comes in. After following the car for 4 years (longer?) and reading all the hype about being successor to the AE86 (let's be honest, it's mostly marketing but it certainly could be seen as a spiritual successor in many ways) I was instantly hooked and stayed on the Toybaru bait all the way through. I was never positive how I'd afford this car but at the same time I didn't really consider any part of my future, I just KNEW this car had to be in it. This feeling was really driven home when I made it out to opening day of the Philadelphia Auto Show and ran to the Subaru area like a child may run to their favorite aisle at Toy's R' Us after being told they can have any toy they want. There it was, a WRB BRZ Limited...and somehow...someway...despite the velvet rope, I sweet talked the woman guarding it into letting me sit in it. 20 seconds later I was sold. I fit the car perfectly. Must have it.

Fast forward to June 2nd. Finally the morning I go to pick up my BRZ...got it with 21 miles, 12 of which my brother and I racked up 2 days prior. Added another 105 miles on day 1. Now I'm at 1 full month with 1620 miles. There's nothing I don't like about this car. With the way things are, I think there is almost a 0% chance that there will ever be a NEW car that I will enjoy more for under $60k. So with that said, I've come to the realization that I will be keeping this car for life as long as natural conditions permit. I can't wait to grow up with this car. My BRZ constantly puts a smile on my face no matter my mood. Sometimes I just look at it and laugh to myself thinking "How do I own this beautiful car?". The same happens when I'm driving and it makes all the right noises, my eyes just light up and my smile gets wider than my car's rev range. I really don't want sound like a fan boy but I've finally found my driving nirvana. Will I have other cars in my life? Hell yeah! This car can't do everything! I'm sure I'll have some older sports cars and a family car too at some point but I will NEVER stop enjoying my BRZ. I refuse.


So...anyone else in the same boat? Who else will be a member here when they have personally put on several hundred thousand miles on their BRZ/FRS?

TL;DR: The BRZ is awesome and quite incomparable to anything else under 60k for my driving habits so I will keep it forever, will you?

[Exhaust]

I say* that about every new thing I get into, sadly its far from the truth. Sooner or later I always get bored, but maybe your different.

[Sportsguy83]

I also have been getting bored of cars easily lately. I found my niche car right here. I'm in for the long haul too. I have owned four cars, and in none of them had I ever felt like I do in this one. I'm sold...

P.S. GBS Mafia , forever Laika!

[Mitch]

I've put on 2500 miles in two weeks
It's still the honeymoon period, but so far I'm optimistic that this car will have enough support to keep me from getting bored.

[Spaceywilly]

I don't think I could say the same quite yet. I'm planning on enjoying mine as it is for probably 2 years, then I'll take a look at what else is in the market and see if I want to keep the BRZ or trade for something else. I'm watching the next WRX, the turbo BRZ, the new Nissan, next Miata, and of course there will be all kinds of options for FI on our BRZs by then and we'll know what works and doesn't work on the FA20. The great thing about the BRZ the way it is now is that I have no problem keeping it stock. I'll do new wheels and an axle back and that will keep me totally satisfied for the next few years, and then I can trade it in with no problems, and not worry about voiding my warranty. I could definitely see myself keeping it for a long time, but there are a lot of other cars I have my eye on too.

[DeepHunta]

GBS Unite! hehehehe

I somewhat agree. This car still puts a smile on my face. My one month aniversary will be this Friday. I'm still at 950 miles. Almost 1000...almost. Still no redlining, sigh...

But anyways, I agree with Spacewilly. I might get bored of this car eventually. I got bored with my Legacy in 2 years. I plan to look at the next STI too but I will not be replacing the BRZ. The STI will probably replace my current Legacy 2.5GT.

My solution for "unboredness" are mods. I will start modifying the BRZ in about 2 years, after I've exhausted the limits of the stock set up.

Although, to end on a good note, this car is just simply amazing right now! Every corner I take is a driving event for me. The driving position is perfect. It really is a nice place to be. Not to mention the attention we all get and the random convos at stop lights.

[was385]

I'm a young guy and I feel this will be my DD until I start a family and then I'll shift this over to the fun car and get a more practical DD.

[Chewie4299]

I got my FR-S 4 days ago (I'll make sure I re-eavulate when I hit 1 month), I'm 26 and my entire car history is in my sig. The list of vehicles both young and old that I'd love to own is long and has always been but in the FR-S I could give a shit about them all.

Driving nirvana is the right choice of words for what I am experiencing. I'm at about 530 miles now (got it with 9) and I'm starting to think I may actually make it to the end of the break in period. I've hit 5k RPMs a handful of times so far because I just didn't want to shift but I caught myself...

As of right now I can see myself owning this car for life. I can't envision something better but you never know. Maybe Mazda will take a cue from SubaToy and bring us an RX9 with a conventional engine or a reworked rotary in a few years (don't mean to hate on the rotary lovers but let's face it... it has it's drawbacks as it stands) that does everything just that much better for the same price. Then maybe Ford (they been stepping up their game recently in a very respectable way) will give it a go and actually pull it off..... I could go on and on listing automakers that I'd like to see participate.

I say bring on the low-cost, great handling, moderately powered, sexy, attainable sports car wars!


Note: Having this car as my one and only DD is great but, coming from a Jeep, I plan on buying a old beater truck/SUV for snow and hauling shit and perhaps some off road shenanigans. Once I've entered the realm of dual vehicle ownership I can ABSOLUTELY see myself owning this car for a long long time. I worked out an excellent deal on it with superb financing. I'll have it paid off before I know it and can invest (poor word choice since vehicles are not an investment but a luxury) in a new DD while keeping the fun car.

[#87]

Right now it's great but I know in the future I will want more power. If there is a reliable kit when the warranty runs out in 2-3 years I'll be in it for the long haul. If not I'll either save up for a porsche or sell out to a mustang.

[ashtray]

I got mine one month and a day ago. Have about 550 miles racked up so far. Yeah, another month before I'm out of break in period!

I won't be here in 10 years, though I may still have the car. Have (and still have) owned my WRX for 9 1/2 years. I left that forum a good 5 years ago.

Basically - once newer models come out with more features and changes, people will naturally talk about the new one, less talk about the first year ones.

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by #87

Right now it's great but I know in the future I will want more power. If there is a reliable kit when the warranty runs out in 2-3 years I'll be in it for the long haul. If not I'll either save up for a porsche or sell out to a mustang.

Rest assured, a reliable kit will be here at that time.

[ranisron]

I felt that the FRS/BRZ will bring back great memories from my old vehicles (AE86, S13). Better yet, it has the modern safety features, plus factory warranty...
I never thought I would depart with my Saabaru, but I guess Toybaru got me sold. so... anyone wants to buy my Saabaru?
My only new car/suv is my wife's SUV.... She misses our old S13 some times...

[ryude]

The only car I ever felt like I could own forever gave me problems non-stop and was an absolute nightmare to work on (1991 MR2 Turbo). The joy of driving, not racing, that car was the peak of my enthusiast happiness. Sure it could handle well and it was sort-of fast, but the seating position, the tightness of the steering, the way the exhaust sounded, everything just made me smile non-stop. The HFH (Hose From Hell) went on me, had to replace that. The 3rd cylinder lost compression and I had to rebuild the motor. The IC developed a leak and I had to replace it. The transmission cables came off in the middle of a 4th to 5th gear change and gave me a lot of trouble replacing. The boost gauge stopped working and I had to replace the entire cluster.

But at the end of the day, I did not care. It was my favorite car and I still miss it to this day. Every car I drive now I compare to it. So if you have the same feelings that I did, you will definitely love the BRZ for many years to come.

[helloimgil]

I'm in the same boat. I'm the type that buys a lot of toys and gets bored of them quickly. not with this car.
I'm already at 2.2k miles and I'm just loving the driving experience of this car. The only way I'll ever be getting rid of this car would be to trade up for the STI version in a couple years if they manage to give it a bit of power without upsetting the balance they have created.