2016 Limited vs Premium
 

Hello Everyone,

I currently drive a BMW 135i that I have "cloned" into a 1M. I love the car but it's always felt a bit heavy. I had a daily 98 Integra that I loved driving on hilly roads until its engine went. The 1M clone isn't really an ideal daily driver so it's up for sale. (If you are interested, PM me)

I went on a few test drives for a few different cars. The BRZ felt perfect to drive and I've been :wub: since. I have the 2016 dealer booklet and have been going back and forth in my mind between the Limited and the Premium. I would like to have the keyless entry/start as I am used to that from my current car and would also like the spoiler. Are these items that could be retrofitted?

I have also heard terrible things about the infotainment system on the 2016s. Ideally I'd like something that can work with my android phone and pull nav data/audio.

I'd like to see how close I can get to $25k for a limited (is that feasible?). Local dealer quoted me $25,2 for premium, $27,9 for limited.


Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
-Venom86

You could retro fit but it would end up costing you more than getting it in the first place.
Negotiating price is really between you and the dealer. Some have pulled it off but supply and demand in your area will rule in the long run.

For Limited with no options, TrueCar quotes $27,162 in your very general area. You can typically do a bit better than TrueCar if you try.

Upgrading all of the stuff in a Premium will cost far more than just buying a Limited.

Just get the Limited. It's worth it. The first time I drove the car I test drove a Limited and then a Premium. Getting into the Premium felt like such a downgrade after being in the Limited. I'd say just go for it, especially if you're coming from a BMW. Hit up Heuberger motors if you can. I got my Limited for WELL under list price from them. Good luck.

Not worth the headaches to try and retrofit everything yourself. Time and money of that will probably also end up costing more than just going for the Limited.

I bought my 2015 Limited last January, got it out the door for 28.5k. So I think that makes your 25k figure possible (25k for just the car then + whatever taxes and fees you have)

My '16 Hyper.Blue limited cost me 27.2 FYI pre tax

If you really want the push button start and the dual zone climate control then get the limited. If not the spoiler, heated leather seats, and fog lights can easily be added later way under $2,500. The radios are the same in both so that does not play a role. I paid 25,500 for my brz premium before taxes and fees so I'm not sure if you can get it that low.

2016 Limited vs Premium
 

Push start -$600+install
Dual climate control -no interest in retrofit since the interior is so small
Spoiler -$70used +install
Heated leathers-replaced for bride seats
Fog lights -$125 +install
------
For me personally the options didn't make sense as I could retrofit what I cared about (not much) and not pay a premium for the full package. You still get all the handling and (/or lack of) power just which creature comforts are a priority.

My view and why I'd choose the base over paying more for a limited.


Push start - a waste of money
Dual climate control - I prefer old school over auto climate
Spoiler - you could buy your own, so many to choose from and cheaper
Heated leathers- leather is not good. Hot in simmer, cold in winter, bad for track.
Fog lights - honestly, I removed my fog lights from my subaru... pointless lol

You could probably swing a Limited for close to $25k if you could find a leftover 2015 somewhere, or wait until the end of summer and buy a 2016 as the 2017s are starting to arrive.

I bought my 2014 Limited in Sept 2014 for $26.2k.

I gave a bit over 26 for my 16 limited in December. I'd initially settled on a premium for 1800 less, but I sat in the limited and liked it better enough to cough up the extra. I'd rather not have the wing, several of the aftermarket/jdm flavors look a lot nicer to my eye.

You shouldn't pay $27,000 for a Limited. I paid $27,350 + TTL for my 2015 Series.Blue, which has an MSRP of $29,490.

The selling points are the refined interior, keyless entry, heated seats IMO.

Additional items that add to it are the spoiler, illuminated vanity mirrors, courtesy lights in the doors, and heated side mirrors.

100% buy the limited over the premium.


The fog lights are nice (converted mine to LED and they match HIDs perfectly)


The heated / leather seats are awesome. The leather adds a touch of class and they are not full leather to begin with so no worrying about it being hot during the summer.


The remote that senses when you are close and unlocks your car is really nifty, never have to pull the fob out of your pocket.


I can take / leave the push button, but it is pretty cool. No key involvement.


The dual climate is awesome, big plus for any passenger as well, and makes the interior look much more upscale.


The spoiler, I guess is the only thing I really didn't care about....but it looks good with it on. So yeah, let some other guy buy a premium.

^ This.

A lot of the little lesser-known features just make it feel like more of a refined car to me.

Walking up to the car and seeing the interior dome lights turn on when I'm within a few feet is a neat little feature. I don't think the Premium does this since its not keyless? (i.e. not set up with all the sensors for the key)

I love the lights in the doors, I replaced the bulbs with blue LEDs and it looks good against my white exterior.

Not sure if I could live without keyless entry at this point, its just too convenient.

The dual auto climate control is a plus for me too. I actually use the dual settings. My girlfriend is usually freezing and I have a ton of body heat. I set my side to 68 and hers to 74, perfect. Also, it just simply looks way better than the climate control cluster in the Premium BRZ trim.

For me the seats themselves were worth it. I had cloth seats in my honda and full leather seats in the mini and these limited seats are the best of both worlds. They don't have the slip issues and temperature issues of full leather seats, and they don't look or feel cheap like the cloth seats. And with winter here I've used the heaters in them every day. I tested a premium and i felt more like I was getting back in my old civic after driving the mini for so long. I like the auto climate in this car vs others ive had but it wasnt a must have. Im sure you can swing a limited for close to 25 plus tax and fees.


Sent from my Glade Air Freshener

Yup, if you're coming from a 135i you definitely want the Limited. I'd really only recommend the base model if you're looking to build a dedicated track car (less weight); but if it's going to be a DD then the quality of life stuff that comes with the Limited is really good for the price.

It's really dumb, but one thing that annoys me when I move from my car to something that has cloth seats (shotgun in my dad's civic) is the static that gets me at egress. Literally Pikachu.

I'm also gonna be adding +1 to getting in touch with Heuberger for a crazy low price. Check out the Dealer Cars section.

Looks like you are leaning toward the Limited because of Push-Button/Keyless Entry and the Spoiler.

Aside from that, you are getting higher quality seats and a more intuitive climate control. Honestly the only reason I preferred the Dual-Auto Climate Control is because it looks better than the manual knobs. It's all preference.

EDIT: Foglights, which come standard on the Limited, are pretty cool too! At least to me

And the headunit--it's not the best but it also does its job very well. For me, I'm rarely playing around with it because I'm always more engaged when driving the car. I don't even listen to the radio because I like the hear the engine working.

Finally, I'm going to PM you some more information! Check your inbox :)

This is the best 4-seater I've owned. If something happened to it, I'd go out and buy another BRZ Limited (though when I no longer need rear seats, I'll be back in a Miata).

I originally went for this trim for:

My opinion hasn't changed much since.

Frequently useful:

• Keyless and push-button start
• Heated seats
• Heated mirrors
• Automatic HVAC

Also nice:

• Alcantara seats

Don't care about:

• Spoiler
• Fog lights (I like fog lights in general, but they're not that important on the BRZ since it's already so low to the ground)

The infotainment system is temperamental and the UI is mediocre. But it's (marginally) better than not having it.

Yeah, the first time I noticed this I thought I had left the dome light on after being inside the car. lol
So very this. When I jump into my 08 Tacoma it's almost jarring to have to turn a key... :(

I don't typically ride with passengers...but typically when I do it's with girls, who are always freezing. *sigh* So having the ability to not bake while they are complaining about being cold is nice.

I went with the Limited over the Premium mainly because of the seats. The Alacanta is wearing well and the seat heaters are great in the winter.

The puddle and vanity lights are nice to have and so is the dual automatic climate control. There is a button that almost instantaneously defogs the windshield. Not sure if manual climate offers this very useful feature.

I also wanted the fog lights but the stock version turned out to be useless.

Push button start is something I've grown to like and would miss it if it disappeared. I don't care one way or the other about the spoiler.

My car us a silver late production run 2013 with MT. I paid $25,500 or thereabouts in November 2013 before taxes and fees etc. it was new.

Btw, I hate the head unit with navigation. Setting any audio controls save volume which is a physical knob is downright dangerous while under power. Didn't any of the engineers road test the audio/navi system?

Obviously this is a highly personal decision but for me I knew I really wanted the limited, primarily because of the seats. For whatever reason, I can't get over my own personal perception of cloth seats feeling cheap to me, no matter how nicely they're executed. Heated seats were also a must for me being up north.

Also, push button start is pretty cool and something I don't think I could live without at this point. Throw my keys in my briefcase in the morning, don't take
'em out until I get home in the evening. Sometimes they live there until the weekend... :O

i bought a limited for the seats, dual climate control and the spoiler. the keyless entry and push button start were a nice bonus that i've enjoyed more and more as i've owned the vehicle. I do not regret going limited over premium and would do so again if i had to.

Thank you everyone for all the replies!

I have decided to pick up a Limited once my 1er sells. Will update with pics once it's all said and done :)

i came from an 09 tsx and decided on the limited over the premium. i think it's worth it.

i got it for 29k out the door here in socal. i could've probably negotiated more but i suck at negotiation LOL.

like others said, limited feels a bit more refined.

infotainment system works, but not great. the display is nice and it plays my music via bluetooth, and i can plug it in for pandora. all the other starlink apps i rarely use.

I actually had this same thought process, more or less. Heated seats and mirrors are the bombdiggity, and the dual zone climate control looks like it should be in a car of this price, rather than the Corolla knobs in the Premium.

So now that I have settled on the BRZ Limited. What are the typical failures of these cars? Typical ones on my BMW are waterpump and HPFP. What are items I should budget for?

I read an article a while back about a statistical study found more people regret not to get options in their car than people regret paid more for too much options. That is how I felt it too!

For stock cars? Cam plate might leak oil eventually, and coil pack failures on cars that get run really hot, like on a track. Tail light condensation. The stock battery sucks.

These cars do run hot, so if you do plan on tracking it, oil cooling should be a priority.

Most of the rattles and stuff have mostly been resolved in the 2015/2016 cars, but the earlier ones were a little bit more prone to developing rattles.

Your fuel pump will probably make a chirping noise at some point. It's normal, and doesn't hurt anything.

Around here... so far the number 1 killer of our cars is irresponsible boost LOL.

Seriously though, I haven't noticed much in terms of serious reliability/car ending issues being mentioned on these forums. Plenty of smaller issues that people run into though, like crickets (shouldnt happen on MY2016), misaligned windows that push up the rubber window seals, and condensation in tail lights.

I cant say much from experience though, my car is only 1 year old with 4,400 miles on it right now. But I've had no issues so far.

Yeah, the DI system in the BMW was the same way; Runs quite hot.
Good to know the fuel pumps hold out for you guys! :lol:

Thanks for the info :)

I doubt I will boost it. (famous last words)

Yours is the second mention of condensation in tail lights. That means they would then fail, I assume? Are the taillights warrantied items since they are well known?

:thanks:

For the first 3 years, 36K miles. The shape of the trunk causes water to pool behind the tail lights, so any gasket will be under a good amount of stress. Fortunately, there's a healthy aftermarket, and used stock tails are easy to find, too. It's also not terribly difficult to retrofit a new gasket.

Hmm... Has anyone found a long-term fix with stock? Or is there a known aftermarket part that can solve it?

Thanks!

TSB thread (and forum): http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21868

In my case, I've dropped it off at the dealer twice in the last 3.5 years:

Dealer drop-off #1 (after 1 year of ownership):

Symptom: GPS sometimes failed to get a lock

• TSB: 15-158-12
• Fix: Dealer replaced GPS antenna bracket and updated software.
• Comment: Affected early units (I have one of the first 1k BRZs produced).

Dealer drop-off #2 (after 2.5 years of ownership):

Symptom: Occasional rattling from rear deck

• TSB: 12-140-12 (maybe doesn't apply)
• Fix: Turn stereo up. Dealer applied TSB fix.
• Comment: Still does it now and then, so I don't think the popping TSB addresses the rattle. Whatever.

Sympton: Frozen/torn window strips

• TSB: 07-79-13R
• Fix: Dealer replaced window strips and applied fix in TSB.
• Comment: New England winters + freeze/thaw cycles + automatic window movement when opening/closing door = bad combination

Symptom: Condensation in rear tail lights

• TSB: 12-131-12
• Fix: Dealer replaced tail lights.
• Comment: This was only cosmetic, so I never worried about it. Since I brought the car in for the torn window strips and rear-deck rattle anyway, I got this taken care of too.

Another common failure?


Failure to overtake the Camry on the freeway LOL

Thanks for the comprehensive list. the more I look, the more I am saddened by how different a "trackable sports car" can be between companies.
LMAO! Well my current car can blow most out of the water but that's not what I am looking for. I want a lightweight tossable car.

Last year I found a 2014 Limited with 6700 miles on it, immaculate garage queen condition, with every gizmo and doodad in the catalogue and more (including red and black seat covers which I ripped out as soon as I got home), plus two years left on the warranty, for $23k.

Just think outside the box a little. You can always put high power LEDs in your fog lights (yellow) so they function, and take some time to learn the stupidities of the head unit so it functions well on its own (this car is jealous -- if you don't give it both eyes and both hands at all times, it will slap you), and you will still have the greatest young man's car on earth.

PS: I may be just an old fud, but when I come up behind that Camry, I leave it in 6th and just a few seconds of pedal-to-the-metal gets me a sudden half mile down the road. Taking my motoring thrills one at a time these days.