With all these CEL/idle, chirp issues, should I postpone buying?
 

I don't need this car but I want one right now. Should I wait until all these major issues are fixed or just dive in and 'enjoy' whatever comes with it?

I asked myself the same question, in the end, the car is new and if you get any issues with it, Subaru/Toyota owns you a working car. With their reputation, after the small bugs are fixed, they should be very reliable cars.

I couldn't wait :)

Well cars that are being built as of today may be fixed. But we don't know :p

I'm guessing here (with some informal input from a few Toyota insiders I can't identify), but what I'm hearing is that less than 15% of the cars by internal estimates are experiencing this issue. That means the luck of the draw - even at 20% - would be pretty low that you would receive a problem car.

My original car had the CEL and traction light problem after 500 miles - but the replacement car I was given on September 1 is now at 1,800 with no issues at all. Their VIN numbers were very close.

Well for me, if I want hassles I can stick with my current cars. Pain-free ownership of a sporty car was going to be a major reason to get an 86, so I prefer to wait for them to get it sorted.

I'd wait a month or two to see how the problems are being handled and if the fixes are working.

There's a very small number of cars affected. My dealer has sold 20 FR-S's so far and I'm the only one to come back. There's a really good chance that you wont get the CEL (and know that if you do, you'll be in good company)

I'm in the same boat. Except i already ordered mine, but they pushed the ETA back to December from August. I want it now, but there is a little saying about patience that i can't recall right now :D (insert quote)

Absolutely wait. You're going to be spending close to $30k after TTL on a car, might as well wait for the bugs to be worked out.

If you can, I would postpone it until it's clear the CEL issues have been fixed. Taking time to drop your car off at the dealer to get those issues fixed is a pain in the rear (especially if they don't get it right the first time).

I would bet by the time you get one the issues will be resolved

According to the comment from Subaru that's posted on Jalopnik, there has already been a fix at the factory level.
But some things Toyota and Subaru said in that blog don't make sense to me...

Wait for a 2014. My car is in the shop for 6 weeks now and still no real fix even the ecu flash

Yeah, I would absolutely not purchase a FR-S / BRZ at the moment. I wish I could return mine and buy a trustworthy car instead.

6 weeks eh? We don't have lemon laws in Canada but there is CAMVAP.

Rob

OP here - Amazingly it's tied at 19-19 and this is exactly how I feel. I usually take the plunge if I really want something bad years ago but now, I'm not so sure. I think this forum or the internet in general makes a lot of difference coz you see a lot more information now. There are less stupid decisions to make. My brain is telling me to wait and my heart is now leaning to just wait. My motorcycle commuter keeps me entertained anyway on a daily basis so I'm good with my adrenalin intake.

So when another issue gets reported on this forum in 2 months do you wait another 2 months? Just buy the car and enjoy it. Remember that some of us have no issues with our cars. It is a brand new car, and if you don't have faith in Subaru fixing any isues that come up in the warranty period, then you should probably not be buying one at any point.

I'm getting mine around the week of the 15th of oct. I dont know how the FR-S owners here in Puerto Rico have been experiencing this issues. I'll get it anyways because I need it :D

Meant if not how lol. Im high, w/e

Is Christmas delivery from Santa safe enough that corporate Subaru/Scion should have solid fix for these gremlins?

I have been following the Repair threads with great interest and it seems to me personally that most of the bad news is through. I have been told that no more orders are being processed until Jan. 2014. At that point I am going to order a Subaru BRZ. Toyota and Subaru are not fly-by-night companies and they want to keep their reputations. On top of that there simply are no other cars in this price range that I care for at all (note that I went out buy a 2012 Miata and did not like the seat, seating position, or outward visibility compared to my current 2003 Miata). I'm not worried.

Please do NOT buy this car.

I like driving it and not seeing another one on the road at all. You're going to ruin my enjoyment factor by taking away its exclusivity.

The car's horrible and a menace to society, don't buy it!

:happy0180:

I've had mine for about 2 months now. About 2500 miles down with an 18 hour non-stop drive down to FL. still no problems *knock on wood*

I totally agree. only issue i have is the chirping sound, and I'm taking mine in for service to get that part fixed. I'm willing to deal with a bit of crap to have an awesome exclusive car (atm)

OP, you said it yourself....you don't NEED the car right now.

Give it a month or two before you place the order, and the chances of getting a car with issues drops significantly.

After owning a 2004 Audi S4 V8 that spent more time with a check engine light on than off, and always had something wrong.........owning a car for exclusivity and putting the dependability on the backseat is not a wise move, IMO.

My Audi looked real exclusive repeatedly sitting in my driveway needing a tow. My dealer could have assigned me my own private bay. Not worth it.

A month or two of waiting, and you could be getting a car that has a real fix...like perhaps a different head casting, or tighter tolerance parts in the VVT.

I say you should always wait as the next car will have more tech and be better. But the one after that one will be even better so you should actually wait for that one.

Get this though, the one after the one after the one, that is the one to get.

I love it, that sentence is like an M.C. Escher drawing.

Yeah, don't get the car.

Have you tried changing your gas? I use Shell and I don't have the chirping and I've been reading about others who use Shell as well and they don't have the chirping either.

Worth a shot I'm guessing.

I was going to get a 2013 BRZ Limited man. but after reading the letters regarding wait times then ECU/ECL bugs possibly and more along with "chirping" engines thought I would would wait for the 2014 models. By that time production will hopefully have ramped up and the annoyances will be fixed.

OP here - I think I'm ready to get one anytime now. I feel much better that there is a fix already. BRZ's are getting harder to find unless you want to wait for 2014 MY. I'm only looking for a red one at the moment but it seems that it's a rare color.