Unofficial - CEL/SL/Idle Issue List for FR-S/BRZ Owners

[86BRZ]

Originally Posted by Grishbok

I understand the frustration that those who are having this problem have. That being said, I am curious, if the roles were reversed, if YOU were the Executive in charge of the FRS/BRZ, how would you handle this given situation? Would you a. jump the gun and freak out over a forum with a thread regarding the issue, recall ALL sold cars to date, replace any part in question and end up costing your employer billions in revenue on cars that may or may not have ever even had an issue to start with? b. Look at the cars being brought back and reported through your official channels, attempt to isolate and uncover the common denominator using your dealer networks and service technicians training and experience. or c. what would you do differently?

Should you stop driving your car out of fear? That doesnt make much sense, if you dont have the problem, and your car is operating as it should, drive it. Thats why you bought it. If something breaks, and a problem DOES occur, you have a warranty, and they WILL fix it. This is the reason for a warranty. So far, Subaru and Scion have done an impecable job at addressing these concerns with unheard of customer service. Many of you have posted you have received reimbursement for your monthly payment. They did not HAVE to do this. You signed a document saying you would pay x amount each month you owned the car. Good luck getting reimbursement from Audi. Theyd walk out and drop a dookie on the hood of your car before they ever gave you a cent. If you have the problem, let the dealer networks do their thing. They have been at this game a lot longer than any of us, and the executives in charge, have been trained and groomed specifically for their job role. They are doing everything they can.

I would implore those of you who are apprehensive to be patient, and let the system they have in place run its course of resolution. They will do right by you and their product.

Those who have the problem and are apprehensive for the mechanical fix, You have a valid concern and you are not obligated to have the work done. You are more than at your right to forfeit the warranty fix at this time. I caution taking this action for long however, for if more damage occurs as a result, they will be unlikely to warranty the additional damage.

WELL SAID, WELL SAID.

No one like this problem including Toyota Subaru. The important part is they are doing everything to take care of this, including buy back someone's car i read. The car is new and the problem is also new. Thing like these will take certain production units and many miles of use, perhaps adding different driving style to trigger the CEL. I really think they did an excellent job to put the 86 together right, from R&d to QC. Besides, they did not ship the car with the CEL turned on.

Well said on "let the system run its course", i feel bad for those owners that have their cars stuck in the shop for long when this issue is just discovered and all those extra parts unnecessary replaced. It takes time for those engineers to find the root cause of all these cars, and come up with a fix, including some trial and errors, for those who bring back to dealer a couple times.

All the so far working perfect BRZ FR-S owners should know about this: When /if the CEL comes and hit the car one day in the future, roll the car to the dealer and there is (will be) a fix already in place waiting, it takes 100+ brother owners frustrations, angryness and sacrify here for the fix. Should we all LOVE our 86/BRZ/FR-S even more?u

[@Art_Mighty]

Originally Posted by Marrk

¿Por que?

Camshaft position sensors work on the principle that metal passing in front of a magnetic field causes changes in the magnet field.



These tabs which pass in front of the magnet cause variations in the field, which tells the ECU "where" it is in its rotation.



It just sends a voltage to the ECU, there's no moving parts within the sensor so failures with this type of part are really rare.

For the complete set of FA20 engine pics CLICK HERE

[@Art_Mighty]

Originally Posted by Marrk

I'm disappointed, Art. This isn't much of a response.

I so pleased to dissapoint you!...

(seriously I'm sorry I failed to live up to an expectation, I'll try harder...)

Originally Posted by Marrk

The engine is too complex. You can get the same or better performance, and better reliability, from a simpler design.

Show me; because from what I understand just about any motor you could by from any manufacture in this day an age are just as complex (as to your point with the Honda Fit example). I'm not arguing to argue. I can't think of a single example of a "simple engine design" from anyone currently in production; up to and including the GM LSx series of V8's and probably the oldest engine platform in existence, GM's 3600 series V6. Everything's evolved

Originally Posted by Marrk

What's happening with the other components on the car is not relevant to this point...

For everything they got wrong on this car, they got a lot right. The whole car doesn't suck, just one system within the engine. Honestly the rest of the car works brilliantly. That was my point to your response. I was having a rare, "let's not throw the baby out with the bath water" moment. My evil twin brother will be back shortly...

[Dezoris]

User: Dezoris
Location: IL
VIN: 7053xx
Model: FR-S
Miles: 1076
Issue: Rough idle since new, stumble before turning off ignition. Restarted car with CEL and traction light illuminated.
Dealer: No visit scheduled yet.

[714FR-s_guy]

Originally Posted by Teknian_Culprate13

hey bro what dealership did u get it from im from OC i got min from San Juan

Got it from south coast Toyota in costa Mesa... Everyone at dealership has been really accomidating, from immediately providing a rental car both times vehicle has been in repair.... But when Ive talked to service writers about this issue, I usually get the thousand mile stare and theyre apprehensive to talk about anything..makes me worry.

[Sean K.]

1st post here. Just bought a BRZ Limited MT on Saturday night 9/21. VIN number ends in 6032XX. Searched for recalls, TSBs, class action lawsuits on this car to avoid any unpleasant 'surprises' about the BRZ.....and found this thread while actually looking to find out what size tires/wheels will fit without rubbing. Obviously, I should have also checked forums.

Haven't gotten the car yet; it's being traded by my local dealer here in Phoenix to one in Glendale b/c they need a Premium and my wife wanted the Limited. We are paying the shipping to swap the cars.

It should be here early this week. Sounds like my VIN is VERY close to the ones having all the issues here.

We almost backed out of the deal Saturday night after finding out how much the extended warranty would cost.....we literally started to drive out after finishing all the numbers, getting to finance, and then finding out how much the extended warranty would run. We reasoned that it was a new model and my wife drives 20K per year so we'd be out of warranty in 2 years max. The dealer finally made some concessions and we ended up with the 5 year, 100K mile warranty.

Our choice was between the STI and the BRZ......I was afraid the BRZ being a first year model would be problematic, but the wife fell in love with the look of the car.

At this point, I'm thinking we made a serious mistake. B/c the car isn't here and they have to have possession of the car in order to fill out the finance paperwork (title, I believe) with the actual mileage.....we have to go back down to the dealer once the car comes in and do ALL of the paperwork again.

B/c we have to do all of the paperwork again, I'm not convinced we actually have a real contract at this point.

Does anyone know?

I'm not sure I want to back out at this point.....though I would understand I'm on the hook for the shipping of the cars. But at the same time, we have gotten rid of a couple of our more recent cars b/c they were unreliable and I hate to be spending $30K on another unreliable car. At least the STI is a proven design and frankly, it's a little more practical for us in that it's 4 doors and AWD (should we end up moving to the mountains of Colorado soon).

Any opinions? For those with the CEL problem...if you had it to do over, would you keep your BRZ?

I think we're likely stuck with it.....and with our horrible luck, I fully expect to be putting in my VIN on this list within a few weeks at the most. But, I also have a sneaking suspicion we'll love this car, in spite of a few hiccups with initial ownership.

Just curious what others think now that they've had to deal with the CEL issue.

Thanks,
Sean

[mact]

Originally Posted by Sean K.

1st post here. Just bought a BRZ Limited MT on Saturday night 9/21. VIN number ends in 6032XX.

My vin is 6030XX with 800 miles, no problems so far.

[rapidcars]

Originally Posted by Sean K.

1st post here.

Any opinions? For those with the CEL problem...if you had it to do over, would you keep your BRZ?



Thanks,
Sean

It's a great car and as long as they can fix it permanently I don't regret the decision. Mines been in a shop for a week now and I should have it back soon.

[goincarcrazy]

Originally Posted by Sean K.

We reasoned that it was a new model and my wife drives 20K per year so we'd be out of warranty in 2 years max. The dealer finally made some concessions and we ended up with the 5 year, 100K mile warranty.

I would say get the car. Although we don't really know how many of these are going down outside of the forums, they've made something around 8000 of these cars combined already, and if 100 are down on this forum, that's a very small percent. I am personally holding off for 2014, but the odds are on your side that it'll be a good one with no problems.

As far as the warranty goes, Toyota's come with a 5yr 100K powertrain warranty anyway, so if that's all you were getting the added warranty for, you can eliminate that.

[gdi2290]

Here is my invoice after my "fix" the Engine Light came on the following morning they are ordering a two days shipping Cam Sensor or something they also said the car is fine to drive locally until the part is in

[Alienate]

Originally Posted by gdi2290

Here is my invoice after my "fix" the Engine Light came on the following morning they are ordering a two days shipping Cam Sensor or something they also said the car is fine to drive locally until the part is in

In neither case did they do anything about your ECU. Maybe the third time will be the charm. Why didn't you ask them about ECU? You know it's gotta be part of the problem just from reading this thread.

Good Luck! Mine is in shop till OCT 30 waiting for ECU ONLY!

[Wcmarshall]

Was driving back into Austin and at a stop light the idle dipped down to about 400 rpm and car was running rough. Blipped throttle and it came right back up no problem. Kept doing this on and off all weekend and then driving back from Austin to Houston yesterday I stopped at a light in Bastrop and car almost died but then idle jumped back to 700-800rpm and at same time the check engine light came on plus no slip light plus the crusie control light. Rough idle issue is now totally gone but CEL is staying on after turning ignition off and restarting. Plus the cruise control will not work now. Once you turn on the cruise control the light will not turn back off unless you restart the car. Traction Light is staying off now and has not come back on. Taking it to dealer in the morning.

Forgot to add my car has 1800 miles on it.

[@Art_Mighty]

Originally Posted by Sean K.

At this point, I'm thinking we made a serious mistake....

Sean,

From what I understand from everything I've read, the failure rate is hovering around 5-7%. My dealer has sold 17 cars and I'm the only one to come back with the issue so there's a pretty good chance you'll be ok.

And if you are affected, check-in here so we can all communicate with each other (and know that if its broke, your in good company)

[Cade01]

"Haven't gotten the car yet; it's being traded by my local dealer here in Phoenix to one in Glendale b/c they need a Premium and my wife wanted the Limited. We are paying the shipping to swap the cars."

Is it just me or did this sound wrong? If each lot needs what the other has, the customer shouldn't have to cover the shipping... I would tell them to get bent.