I was recommending that as a first step. I guess I should have clarified. You were suggesting he go to the dealership immediately. I was merely stating it makes more sense to get the code read ahead of time for free, before committing to the more involved dealership experience. If it's something as silly as a loose gas cap, then you avoid all of the trouble. If it's more complicated, at least you walk in there with some basic knowledge of what is wrong.

So now you're saying that a technician who is most likely ASE certified, has years of experience in automotive repair, has factory classroom training, access to every bit of information the manufacturer can give on a vehicle, and regularly communicates with OEM engineers to repair vehicles, can be trumped by any Joe who can manage to log onto an internet forum? Thank you, I needed that this morning. :lol::lol::lol:

Its apparent that there is no point in furthering this "discussion" since you refuse to think critically about what I am trying to say.

this thread is deeply depressing.

Hopefully this is my final update.
The dealership replaced the ECU. Been a week and running fine so far lol

I just dropped off my 13 frs at the Toyota dealership for P0018. 52k miles on it. I checked all the Toyota TSB's and none of them have the BRZ tsb that suggests they replace the ecu and check/replace the OCV or cam sprockets if it fails the tests they describe. I wonder if Toyota will even attempt to reference that TSB since they are basically the same car. I just hope I don't get screwed for a defect with the engine saying its not covered because there are no TSBs regarding those replacements.