A Not So Nice Review
 

I have been in so many cars the past 6 years. Did reviews on most of them.
Frankly, there are so many reviews on the FR-S, I know it is annoying, however here is a different side.


VIDEO REVIEW
http://youtu.be/2TUAtomEhkU

How do you feel about it?

i agree with some of what he is saying. he is dead wrong about the way the exterior looks and how people who are not car enthusiasts look at it. its a sexy car and people recognize that. also saying only a hardcore car enthusiast will love to drive this car... also not true at all. this car will change peoples minds if they drive it. its that fun to drive :P... i think the hardcore enthusiast are the most critical. they know better and can recognize the down sides easier.

I managed to make it to 5:50...does it get any better after that?

Problem is most people don't enjoy driving. The past decade or so has been awful for fun cars. All people care about now are interior features, mpg, and how big the car is.

it was his honest review and i can appricate that

the biggest complaint (except for the ECU going nuts) was looks and road noise. i think this car is damn sexy and the road noise can be fixed easily with fatmat.

I would have to disagree with the look of the car. I have gotten comments from strangers about how the car looks. I had a guy tell me "I didn't know that Toyota made cars like that". He was driving an old beat up sedan, obviously not a car enthusiast.

I also disagree with the interior. I actually like the interior. It reminds me of the old integra type r interiors. In the right color combo the interior goes very well.

Other than that, I agree it is a 25,000 car.

I propose a new drinking game! Every time that he says "um", you have to take a shot!

Seriously though, I certainly do hope he has a day job because he's a terrible car reviewer. He has no camera presence, a foul mouth, doesn't appear to really excel in automotive knowledge, and yet feels compelled to review cars that he has bought on youtube. It seemed that he was trying to pass himself off as credible when he is about as qualified to do video car reviews as I am qualified to pilot the space shuttle.

As far as the content of his review, he's merely rehashing (which he did say) what has been said 1000 times already and adding his "unique style" to it.

Nothing to see here, just some balding middle-class suburbanite with a video camera, internet connection and the belief that people care about what he has to say instead of leaving it to the professionals. I'm stunned I sat through the whole thing to be honest.

Scott

I think there are CERTAIN elements of the car that look great of course, namely the front end. But it's easy to see where they cut corners. The thing is most people are heavily attracted to new cars, new models. But that wears off very quickly the more they pop up everywhere.

Believe me, I like the interior and the reason why is because it is simple and a throw back to the old Hondas and Toyotas. However, it's still well below the quality of cars costing 5k less. That was the point.


HAHA you are welcome.

No it just sucks donkey **** even more after that. I want 6 mins of my life back that I wasted staring at this crap.

It is a torture to listen to him speaking, let alone review a car.

You don't think it's worth noting that if you want to buy the car and it breaks like many have that you will be waiting 2 months for parts?

Horrible review. just what was he getting at? Read my comment on the link and like it guys :p

While i dont agree with alot of what you said i appreciate the honesty.

I will agree that the interior could be a bit better, i love the design and simplicity but the materials could have been a little nicer. Like the little JDM leather knee pieces and center concole trim exc exc that we are all paying to import from japan.

Also HIDs would have been nice along with at least the option for Xm sat radio.
Its not even avaliable as a dealer installed option -_-

Still i think the car is awesome and theres no car i would have bought over it, though sometimes i regret not buying the STI with its more offroad nature

I would like to take just one more jab at that guy because I just can't seem to let it go.

This guy talks about cars the same way that a man would explain to his wife how he just gave her a VD. "um, well.... uh"

Scott

That's what happens when you buy a first run, production car within months of it being released that didn't "borrow" from any other platform and had to be designed from the ground up.

I would think that most "enthusiasts" would know this and would take it into consideration when purchasing a first-run sports car.

Scott

although i agree that this car is not for everyone, this guy has the charisma of a dead twig and as such i can't take him seriously when talking about a car that is meant to evoke emotion.

I didn't have a problem with the review. He enjoys the car for the reason all of us enjoy it; it's got a great well-balanced chassis. The interior is incredibly basic if you like it and worse if you don't.

I personally like the styling and have certainly been approached by many non-car people who love the styling also.

I'm not sure what paperwork the rest of you signed when you got this thing, but I made a simple purchase. I didn't enlist in any sort of FR-S defense league. Someone can absolutely hate this car all over the internet and it's not going to change my opinion of it one bit. I'd actually like that if it ran down the values low enough that I could grab a used one as a project car.

-Justin

+1 on the exterior...it looks great. Sometimes i would grab a chair, sit and stare at it.

GBreat review. Love it. Im still on the fence on buying one these and the lack of accesories does suck. I remember when some bitch back into my car and bent my fron fender after my car was no more than 8 days old. I had to wait a full month to get the right parts in, especially since the 1st parts that were shipped were for the Genesis Sedan not the coupe, even the registration says I drive a sedan. lol

but a full month to wait for the ecu to be shipped in and see if the cam is broken?! thats wack.

I hope all of these fix are fixed for next year when Im ready to buy.

Let's suffice it to say the general public has been spayed or neutred!

I don't think there was anything in the review to indicate that he was outraged by the failures or parts availability.

I'm not sure why this guy has your panties in such a twist, but you're WAY over-reacting.

-Justin

I love the internet, hilarious.

It was an honest opinion, which I respect. I don't agree with it, but I respect it.

@Dezoris, is this you? If so, vary your cuts, hide your lights, and put in some funky music!!

I never once said anything regarding the reviewer's feelings on the failure, I was merely responding to your question. Don't read things into my response that aren't there. Now that you bring it up, I think he's taking it rather well to be honest.

While I can be accused of "overreacting" (which would purely be a matter of personal perspective which is fine), I still stand by my position that an enthusuast would know better and would not have been surprised by a lack of factory replacement parts on the outset.

Scott

It doesn't help that most of the roads in America suck and traffic ridden. If more "driver" oriented roads/tracks/courses were available this might change.

An enthusiast knows... and a car guy KNOWS deep down not to buy first model year. It's just a chance that all of us idiots took because, as enthusiasts, we REALLY wanted one of these.

We're all just crossing our fingers hoping that if our cars are involved in one of the known issues, that at least it holds off until better parts availability.

Not the greatest thing I've ever watched, for sure, but I'm glad it wasn't Rebeccah Black's latest single.

-Justin

HAHA! So true! So true!

Scott

oh man...i loved this review...its refreshing to hear these sorts of things from people who are not automotive enthusiasts, but the average joe whos just looking for a decent affordable sports car.

soon as he said.."my FRS is broken" im like..."i bet its the cam gear"......then....yep its the cam gear..lol

Prius review at the end ..LOLZ

anyway great review! loved it.

-Josh

I agree with this.

My commute is 1/2 hour each way. Some people tell me that I'm wasting 1 hour of my life everyday. But I'm enjoying this 1 hour everyday...

When we plan to do something at a place that's 1 hour away, some people would pass saying it's too much of a drive. But that's part of the fun...

exactly

the other day i was sitting on the couch and looked at my roommate and said "wanna go to walmart. i need deorderant" he said "what kind do you use i have extra" i replied "ok so maybe i dont need deoderant but i really wanna drive the frs and it sounded like a good enough excuse.....so wanna go to walmart"

you forgot SAFETY FEATURES
:respekt:

Or reliability. It wasn't that long ago that the most exciting thing Toyota could put in its ads about new cars was statistics about their old camrys and corollas that are still on the road.

-Justin

Yea having my girlfriend in the car with me is a perfect example. 2 hour road trip to Springfield for the Big E fair and I had to drive and take my car. I looked at the trip as a relaxing fun drive with plenty of on and off ramps to have fun on. My gf looks at it as a miserable ride your going too fast and we are going to flip over.

Yes I drove a 2012 camry and corolla and both cars wanted to make me vomit..I don't know how people can drive these things.

This was a great review. His delivery is terrible and he swears too much, but he's spot-on on most of the points. I disagree with him that "this is the car we wanted in the 90's". I think this is still the car we want, even in the 2010's.

^This. I forgot that driving was supposed to be fun, something to look forward to. I have fun now, and look for excuses to pick up the keys and go for a ride. I think it's the same way motorcyclists feel about riding their bikes. Yet, for as much as I enjoy my FR-S, there seems to be no shortage of people I run into daily that like to point out the flaws and shortcomings of the car. Can't it just be a fun car?

Couldn't even watch more than a minute of it, he's really monotone and boring..

Haha, I thought it was fairly entertaining. He's welcome to his opinion of course.

To be honest, I wasn't really impressed with the Veloster. I liked it the first time I saw one. I liked it much less the second. I could see it being a decent little commuter, but even though they spent a lot of their time on aesthetics the interior still felt really cheap. You can tell they focused on design, but in the end they still used lower quality materials even on the touch points.

LOL at the Prius review at the end.

Yup. I would rather listen to the old guy at my work that turns every conversation into a war story. At least there are explosions.

I had considered waiting for the Veloster Turbo, but I'm glad I didn't. I agree with most of his points in the video. And it's true that it wasn't a real 'review', but rather honest discussion with those who already understand that the car is awesome.

I'm glad that Toyota is bringing back cheap fun. I also get a check engine light around 1500 miles but got my car back after a week (new ECU, check my journal). All it took was a week in loaner car, a 2012 Camry, to remind me how fun the FR-S is. The Camry was just... boring. Feedback was terrible, handling was so so. Overall, it was actually the perfect commuter car.

Just remember that enthusiasts are only a small portion of drivers. Like he and most of you all said, most people don't really care about their car... treating them like another appliance. Toyota, like any other business, are in it for the money.

Yes it is my review.

The negative comments made my day. Fanboyism or not, I laughed very hard at the personal insults.

And that brings me to my final point about this car. I don't get emotional about cars anymore. But I am by far as hard core as it gets about driving.

Attached are images of some of my exploits behind the wheel, track and street and without a doubt the FR-S is by far my favorite car I have owned.
Is that endorsement enough or do I have to pretend I like everything about it?