Prospecting a Low Mileage BRZ!
 

Hi, I am from the Philippines and our BRZs here are LHD EU Specs.
I was surprised to find an imported 2013 USDM unit here and will be viewing it soon.

My hunch is that the car sat unbought in an american dealer for 3 years, finally bought and shipped here in 2016, (registered here in 2016 with only 34 miles), then ran 1,000 miles in a year til today. So total mileage now is about 1,034 Miles.

The retail for a standard EU unit here is 38,560 USD.
This one is selling for 26,000. or basically 67% of retail price here, or the brand new price there!

(1) what do you think of the car and asking price? 33% depreciation for a virtually unused car for 4.5 years? I am not sure if it is argueable to say "it is unused much therefore there is a premium" because you can also say "it is barely used/maintained" therefore must be cheaper!
(2) anything i should look out for when i finally see the unit? signs of low mileage but no maintenance as well?
(3) assuming the cars oil /fluids/tires havent been changed in nearing 5 years now.. anything i should be worried about or check?
(4) whats a basic set of everything i should change once i get the car? Im guessing just basic oil flush, brake fluid flush, power steering flush, coolant flush, and check tire integrity right?
(5) should i just wait for an EU local unit that sells for the same 26,000 USD but usually with about 20,000 miles?


Thank you so much! Its been a 6 month hunt and this is the closest ive been to my dream car. I am just strangely worried about a car that is barely used - and barely maintained as well!

Just buy the damned thing already!
They should be able to tell you the story on why it is there. US serviceman maybe?
The fluids will be fine they don't break down from age in that short a time. You can change them if it will make you feel better though.

Thanks! Will do. Ill update you on how the viewing goes. definitely not a serviceman, but from where the car is, it looks like the owner is loaded-ish. Multiple cars, lexus, and a sportbike.

Probably maintained then.

Well this sounds like a massively good deal for your market. As long as you're sure it's the real deal (nothing weird like being salvaged, etc.), I think you should just by the damn thing as Tcoat said!

Quick question. If the car hasnt been used much for 4 years and currently just has 1k miles, do break-in rules still apply? No RPM above 4,000 until 5,000kilometers?

Stop asking questions and go buy it!

Now i cant because the cars import papers are missing.


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you're overly concern every bit of it. if you like the car and see no problem just go for it already.

I'm honestly getting tired of your post with massavie amount of questions. like above said, you like the car that have no issues you buy it. how simple is that.

On the bright side there can be very few questions left to ask!

Fake car, fake post...

We need a legit check thread like with other goods forums.

Other than asking us about every single Twin for sale in the Philippines I have not got a whiff of trolling from the OP. If he is then he is very dedicated to the topic and a true master.

The pictures are original, I don't think it is fake.

Its not fake. Why would I be asking so many questions that are all "fake"?

I'm just a kid who spent the past 8 years saving money to buy my dream subaru and also my first sports car.

I finally have enough to buy it without debt, so I am just making sure I get my past 8 years dream's worth by making sure i get the right one because this well may be my first and last sports car. (I do not foresee enough resources to devote to my family and regular car purchases sadly)

if you lived in my country you'd understand the twins aren't just "cheap affordable" sports cars unlike in first world countries - hence why I am trying to be sure about the car I get.
We earn probably just a third of what your basic salary is, and the car costs 33% more here than there because our government is what it is.

I am not sure if there is an unfollow thread so that you would not be forced to read my posts. I apologize if they are too lengthy for you.
There are issues - like the depreciation ratio vs american standards which i am curious about,
differences between market units that I am unsure of,
etc, all of which I'd like to learn about depending on the users who are gladly able to share information like TCoat and some others.

and what is the definition of a legit thread?
from what i understand this is the "Subaru BRZ General Forum", and if you read the descriptor, it says - "All discussions about the Subaru BRZ coupe"
ALL (everything) about THE (not just yours, not just mine, but THE) BRZ Coupe.

My questions are all about not-just-MINE, not-just-YOURS, but THE few BRZ Coupes that pop out in my country that I am asking for information about.
Which I believe very well fits under the topic of "All discussions about the Subaru BRZ coupe". My Photos are legitimate, my information is legitimate, you may contact me to send you the photos as well if you want them for some reason. I post my questions here as well because the other thread groups are under "FT86" so i presume that refers to Scion/Toyota units. hence all my questions - even technical or financial, as long as about the BRZ Coupe - are here.

Now regarding the second point of "with other good forums" - what is the definition of that?
I actually think this forum is good because it allows people to share "All discussions about the Subaru BRZ coupe".
So I actually thought I can ask anything that I am generally curious about ""All discussions about the Subaru BRZ coupe" here.
Or am i mistaken?

Going back to your suggestion, yes a legit check would be great for a good forum.
But there may have to be a council to discuss on what constitutes "legitimacy" and what merits "a good forum".
For starters, I suggest legitimacy can be controlled by a back-end team of moderators who do background checks on people and maybe ask for social media accounts? Maybe there you can also find out how I am indeed actively searching of a unit in my country via ads and social media posts.
For "good forum", I think a "good forum" is one that is able to uphold its objective. In this case - it does. This is ""All discussions about the Subaru BRZ coupe", and I AM discussing about THE Subaru BRZ coupe - if the forum allows me to continue asking anything about the BRZ, then it is a "good forum" because it upholds its vision.

Thank you TCoat. Learned so much here already. I hope this forum stays as a forum and not just a page to "showoff my latest car mods and dyno". even without the car I've learned so much already because of all the inputs given. Differences of trims, models, even between markets, effect of mods, etc.

Just give me some patience and once I get my car, I can finally contribute and give back to this forum by helping others who are in the same boat as me.

This is true. These cars are not affordable in all the countries. Same situation exists in other countries and only some rich people or people with hard earned money can afford them. In my country (not where I live now), the official numbers are 15-20 sold cars for all the years.

People buying 2 or 3 times the same car, just because their mods didn't end as they liked, seem to us a bit spoiled.

This is one of my major pet peeves. People take the cost in another country, apply the currency exchange rate and say "oh that only cost you this" or "that is to much money". The simple exchange to US dollars just doesn't work unless you convert the entire economy to the same thing. Great if the rate says the car only cost $20K someplace if the average income there is $18K a year it may as well be a new Porsche to many.

Humm I wrote goods as in goods and services aka. products. You should Google on what exactly is a "legit check thread". This must be a language / jargon barrier that you are not understanding while experiencing confusion with what is known as a tongue in cheek comment (very typical with strategic outsourcing where a western company outsources a function to a seemingly English fluent country like the Philippines, where in practice they really have no idea what we are talking about most of the time due to a lack in grammar).

Prospecting a Low Mileage BRZ!
 

Yeah I know what that means. Like in most sneaker forums where they have a thread dedicated to "legit checks". I must have taken the alternate meaning as seemingly people are implying the same tongue in cheek meaning. Anyway, on your definition of a check thread, Thats actually a good idea - but this forum doesnt have one now so I dont see any other place than the title that states "General Discussion on BRZ".


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Wanker.

Yes like on NT with Jordan and Yeezy LC threads. :lol:

Just make one and stick with it otherwise ol' @Tcoat will blow a blood vessel. :popcorn:

Lol Tcoat is the boss!


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Meh. Compared to some of the crap floating around out there lately his threads are perfectly reasonable. If he had all the cars in one thread then people would only read the first post and respond even though that was 3 cars back. That would get confusing as hell. As he moves to each new prospect then the old thread just moves down the list and dies anyway.


Oh and contrary to how people read what I say I am no where near blowing a blood vessel even at the worst of times. It is a car forum not the international congress on world peace and there is nothing important enough gets said that actually upsets me in any way.

I just come here to brush up my English on a daily basis. :bonk:

Me to

LOL!! How did you guess??

It is the trench coat in your avatar. Dead giveaway there.

Said the avatar wearing a woolly hat, Village People tash and a dodgy sun tan..


I now feel "outed" and alienated.. my grooming tactics blown to smithereens...

You're Canadian, I thought the default reaction was to politely apologize and then be overly helpful.

Christ, he's a guy, isn't he?

Hey Lee,

I must abjectly apologize for the free-for-all your questions led to on our forum. I could see the arc of responses rise from encouragement to belittling your hesitations to outright rudeness, to nonsense.

But what I also saw was a young man who stumbled across a dream come true and couldn't quite believe it. Your natural question was "There must be something wrong with this!"

Believe me, my friend, there's probably more than a little jealousy at work here about your wonderful good luck. My bottom line for you is if you can purchase that car without going in debt (or maybe only a little debt) and all seems to be in order and truthful, by all means embrace your dream and buy it.

My reasons in response to your concerns: some folks here have decent knowledge about cars, but if you want an ultimate answer, look up @steve99 on this forum and ask if he has time to give you his opinion. He knows more about these cars of ours than most people here put together. You've heard from @Tcoat that automotive fluids not subjected to stress of driving do not degrade over time, nor do tires degrade in five or six years unless they've been baking in the desert. Trust him on that. The lack of maintenance is immaterial -- you will get to take it in for its first scheduled checkup, the 1k maintenance. The time is not a factor. And if some kind of paperwork is missing, let them find it! They otherwise have a car they can't sell at all! With you standing there with money in your hand, they will make it happen, believe me. The "barely used" and "barely maintained" thoughts are just self-propagating worries that you should tell to fuck themselves.

You have my best wishes for good luck and happy driving. Pound on the door and shout, "I want that car!" Don't let it slip away . . . it's beautiful! Take the leap!

David.
:cheers:

PS: In October 2015, I found my 2014 BRZ Limited in absolutely pristine condition for $23k with 6700 miles on it. I didn't even haggle about the price.

Yes... let's go back to the topic. A 33% depreciation for a car with only 1,034 miles is a VERY GOOD deal. I don't think you'll find another chance. Just make sure that the miles are real. Does the car smells new when you get in? Maybe it sounds silly, but my car is almost 3 years old and still has this "new" smell. It has in total 4,000 miles. Maybe it depends also on how it was stored. Mine is always in a closed garage without much sunshine or heat. Also check underneath, with such a low usage everything should look sunshine and factory clean.

Edit: I forgot to mention, another thing you might need to change is the battery. Probably it won't be in a good condition. But this is still a very low expense to an overall great offer.

Going by miles alone it seems like a great deal. However, the fact that it's been sitting for years has me concerned. I'd ask the dealer, or whoever is selling it to lift it so you can thoroughly check the underbody. If all is good, I'd buy it but I'd also change the tires as soon as possible, assuming those are still the factory tires it came with.

By all means, thank you for the feedback and I have no hesitation whatsoever to pull the trigger on this car already :) There is just one caveat right now - I am currently trying to hunt for the import papers. You see, imported cars to the philippines are subject to a 40% import tax, 10% Value added tax, and another X% depending on the classification of car. (silly huh?) Although the car is registered right now, it could have been done so through illegal means (corruption is uncool here). So, without the correct import papers, If i do get into an accident or if someone with malicious intent wants to "test" me, and ask if I have paid proper taxes, there would be no way for me to prove it. I dont think anyone is buying it as well right now because of the import papers thing. I'll keep you guys updated and I still sure hope this is the car for me!

Your advice was excellent! I forced them to submission and they agreed to do the digging and look for the import paperwork when i told them i'd buy it. Now just waiting for it to come out and i am all set!