How reliable is Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S
 

Guys, I was wondering about the reliability of those two siblings. What really matter is the engine itself. I've heard many complaints about the engine chirping noise. But, is it just the sound or the engine itself has the short time of life.

I know this sounds silly, but it might be helpful for those who are looking for information before buying one of those cars.

Thank you guys. Please also add comments beside voting.

I don't think "reliability" can be determined this early. The car has its kinks, but any first year first model car will have SOME issues, no car company can afford the testing that comes from thousands of people putting thousands of miles on a chassis. Will these issues affect long term reliability? Only time will tell.

The reliability question (real world reliability, not predicted) needs to wait until the collective FRS/BRZ owners have an average of 20-50k on their cars.

Just my .02

I have had no problems with my engine. Yes it chirps, but I've heard the same chirping on other GDI cars. It doesn't annoy me, and personally I think the time spent making a quieter pump could be better spent elsewhere.

I know right. I mean it can't be done this early, but again I've heard some people complaining about their engine. I mean it's still too early to know the problems beside the engine chirps sound. Even my friend told me that one of his mechanic said BRZ's engine is a lot of problem. I mean I just want to make sure that it's not bad, I can stand to hear to engine chirp but I will not tolerate if the life of the engine itself become shorter. A week ago I just ordered a BRZ, hope everything is fine since it will be my first car.

Thanks!

Is it that bad Draco? I mean GDI sounds like that because it is a diesel. I'm just wondering about how bad the sound was. Does it happens every time the engine idling?

it's a subaru. reliability is there. i wouldn't worry at all.

The two most reliable carmakers in the world collaborate and build an unreliable car?

Seems legit.

It gets your attention at first because it's different. But I don't even notice it any more. And it doesn't happen all the time when idling. Only when idling using the direct injectors. When the ECU cycles through the port injectors the sound goes away, or it's intermittent when the ECU is in a point in the idle cycle where it's mixing the port and direct injectors.

It really isn't a big deal, it just sounds odd

Yet my car, manufactured by the "two most reliable" carmakers, is in the shop for 30 days after 2400 miles...

We call that "teething issues", but that does suck. Did they cover you for a loaner, at least?

What happen? I'm sorry to hear that

The chirping issue is normal for this car. Boxer engines are loud plus direct injections are loud so add both of those up and you get our loud ass engines.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

plus, no car is perfect. there's always TSB and recalls with first production runs. if its warranty, who cares.

The reliability is there. Actually, I'm even more impressed/confident with the new fa20 engine and it's longevity now.

It's getting 300-400+ whp on a turbo with stock internals and it hasn't blown, yet. :party0030:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...190#post432190

Got hit with this, and it is effecting a wild number of FR-S / BRZs. No solid statistics have been posted but a huge percentage of users on these forums who have purchased the car certainly have been hit with the problem.

If it was simply isolated to engine chirping or foggy tail lights, I wouldn't think twice about it. But this is such a horrible issue to have at such low mileage, and the correction is so intrusive for a new car to be subjected to, that I stand by my statement. Reliability is so far shit on an otherwise great car.

Here is my 2 cents. Will it turn out to be a reliable car once all the first year humps are passed? YES. right now...there's a fair amount of people having issues. There's also a large number of people not having any issues! I have been lucky as to not have any of the big ones. I have however had a few issues that are overlookable but still bothersome. I currently have to bring mine in because the 3rd brake light is not functioning at all...I also had it in twice because the passengers side speaker blew out twice, My windows are squeaking everytime i roll them up or down. My RPM's like to dip really low when there is load on the engine I.E the A/C system. However do i regret my car purchase? Not really at all! The ear to ear smile i get when i drive it is plenty to remind me it was a good choice!

Hope this helps at all.

If the question was "Does the car have problem(s)?", then my answer would be "Yes".
But since the question is "Is the engine reliable?", I answer "Yes".
There are many unreliable cars with reliable engines.
I honestly don't know any car that has unreliable engine that keep blowing left and right.

3k miles and no issues

Well, my car is generating "malfunction" lights (cel and sl) at 1900 miles and one month old. So, no the car is not reliable so far. I am hoping Toyota repair and warranty are reliable. If this issue is well taken care of AND something is done about the "chirping," I will look forward to being a long term happy frs driver. I really do love this car. I really do hope it's fixed well!

Lexus and Acura collaborated on this project? I didn't know that.

All kidding aside I still don't know why you included Subaru in your statement. All the research I've done on Subaru over the last few months places them below average in the industry. And with the exception of the Outback, nothing they have scored higher than just plain average.

This is from initial quality, short term and long term results. Sure, you can go to Subaru websites and see all the people that have Subarus that have run "forever"...but as we all know from reading the problems section here that a website doesn't even begin to accurately represent the whole Subaru owning world. Therefore it should work the same way when applied in reverse.

Either way, the results of my research are the primary reason I'm sitting on the sidelines before jumping in. Apparently my hesitation has paid off. I will not buy a Subaru without an extended warranty.

As for this particular car being reliable(not counting the initial problems), it is far too early to say. IMO if a modern designed car cannot go at least 60k-80k miles before having anything more than a small problem, it's a turd. Again, it's too early to judge until at least half of them have at least 50k on the odo. I define a small problem as one that is less than $500 including parts and labor.

For what it's worth I think Honda and Toyota are going downhill, Hyundai is going up, and KIA is crawling it's way up with design, but they still need longevity. But Toyota(specifically Lexus), and Honda(Acura) still remain the top two, Subaru is nowhere near either one and never has been.

If I am mistaken from my research, please feel free to direct me and anyone else reading to the results that state otherwise.

Not that I like consumer reports AT ALL, but those ninnies can probably gauge reliability better than anyone else:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/m...cars/index.htm
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/c...y-findings.htm


I actually beat the search bar to death trying to find an official list of the top 10 most reliable carmakers but apparently no such list exists. Don't know exactly where I thought I heard Subaru was #1 in reliability but since I can't cite my source, assume it's anybody's game. I think we can all agree that Subaru, Nissan, Honda, and Toyota are tops when it comes to reliability.

I agree the Japanese do make the best cars. I still wouldn't buy a Mitsu though, or a Nissan that isn't an Altima or Maxima.

Oh, I didn't vote since I've never owned a Subaru. My research doesn't qualify me for a vote, but it counts in my head for potential purchases.

Subaru was #1 in the latest overall ratings from consumer reports but that includes things other than just reliability. Subarus vehicles are usually at the top of their segments but not necessarily for reliability all the time.

I've owned 8 of them and only had one warranty repair and that was likely due to poor servicing by the previous owner. So I never hesitate to recommend them to other people.

On a 800 mile round trip this weekend, I noticed a chirp, never noticed it before.. Now I'm guessing it's from the engine.. The thing that I hate the most is this ticking sound that I swear sounds like "loose" valves.. It's the worst around 2k.. I can't get my droid RAZR to pick up the sound while recording or I would post a video.. That's my only concern.. The rest of the car I've loved every minute of..

Does it happen only when the A/C is on and happens every 15 seconds or so? It might be THIS ISSUE?

Maybe.. The ac was on most the trip... I don't have the problem some are having with the ac off and it blows hot air.. I was able to cruise around 75 or so comfortably with coolish air .. Thanks for that link.. I just assumed it was this engine chirp I've just read about.. I'm looking into that now

I've recently been on a Toyota organized Track Day, and Toyota did provide the GT86's for the event. I had one with 12000km on the odo, and it was just fine. Belive me, those cars did not have a good live (they've been used for trackdays for the past few month's)
I think the engine in the car is just fine and will take some "stress".

The chirp is probably the direct injection fuel pump.

If the ticking sounds like a typewriter then it's the direct injectors.

The thing is, direct injection requires absurdly high pressures (up to 3000psi) to overcome cylinder pressures, so the system is going to be noisy. I know someone with an Audi TT-RS and it has the same typewriter sound.