Calling Captain Hindsight: Regrets/Satisfactions With Your Purchase
 

Hi all,

I'm about to order an FR-S at the local dealer (in the next week or so). I already have some options in mind, even though they're few and far between.

What I wondered is, were there any regrets/satisfactions you made when you purchased your car? Basically, are there any options I shouldn't forgo? ("Damn, I wish I had gotten that ashtray and it's been pissing me off ever since") .. I wanna avoid saying anything like that if I can help it.

Currently I plan on getting the manual FR-S in Whiteout (since its Pearl white and looks pretty sweet), and I plan on getting the TRD exhaust option (since it provides a mild performance increase, sounds better, and I don't have to screw around with aftermarket stuff just yet ... at least not while Toyota Financial Services still owns the car.)

Is the paint film actually worth it? Should I worry about getting rust/underbody protection? (I'm gonna be moving to Michigan). Also, although some might describe it as blasphemy, is there something you've noticed having had the car for 5,000+ that you wish you knew earlier? 25k will get you pretty far in the fun-car market.

Please let me know what you guys have experienced in your past x months of ownership. (Also, has there been any word on whether or not the 2014 FR-S will be n-times better than the first year model? Anything killer that needs to be addressed?) I've read a good deal of the problems everyone has posted, and I hope to avoid the crickets if possible :P . . . Thanks for your help!

No regrets. Set some money aside for snow tires and separate rims. Some sort of rust protection is in order in the the northern states and Canada. I did one of the rust modules (I hope it works), but, if you prefer the spray and are getting the car opti-coated - do the opti-coat first.

I have had mine for 7.5 months (hard to believe it has been that long), just shy of 8K on the Odometer and I have NO regrets. There are minor issues, the chirping and window seal are the biggest but mechanically she has been a dream. I have not suffered the tail light condensation issue or CEL issue.

I haven't seen anything concrete about the 2014 release, I expect we will see the first limited edition FR-S once the TRD package is fully rolled out but that will run you a good deal more.

I will be the first to express my regrets.

The dealership I purchased from marked my vehicle up, and added some ugly as sin pinstripes. They also installed the license plate bracket.

Let me say that when I finally got around to taking off the pinstripes I was less than pleased to discover my paint had been cut when they cut the pinstriping tape ON THE CAR.

Also, they used screws that were too long to install the front plate, and tore up my paint on the bumper behind the bracket.

So, no regrets at ALL with the car itself, but do yourself a favor, and don't become impatient, make sure you look the car over from head to tail, and be picky as crap. If they drilled the bumper, don't buy it. If they added stuff to the car, at your cost, don't buy it. If it's not everything you want it to be, don't buy it.

Regarding your actual questions, don't pay for the dealership to add ANYTHING, other than radio or that exhaust. No paint films, no paint protection, no interior spray protectant sealer that will protect your carpet from nuclear bombs. It's all junk, and you pay more than you should.

Once you have your car, find an Opti-coat / Optiguard dealer, and get your car professionally coated.
The Toyota stuff sucks, I know because I figure'd I'd try it out, and it lasted all of two car washes before I'm seeing it worn off in places on my car.

My pain, your gain buddy!

I got my M/T FR-S with no options in whiteout. No regrets (except color when I see a firestorm red pass by). I'm glad I went with minimal options. The base stereo sounds surprisingly good and does a decent job with BT.

That sucks wrt the pinstripes. I went for all the extra crap (and I usually don't (because I was just going to do the rust module), but I wanted to protect this car more than others that I have owned). That being said, I might try to get it opti-coated if I can find a guy to do it (something about it being in a syringe kinda scares me).

My only regret was taking the upgraded stereo because between the time I ordered it and the time it arrived I realized I was swapping the whole stereo out anyways but oh well. Will try and sell the unit to recover some of the cost.

I hear the upgraded stereo does not sound better than the base. It's basically for looks.

I bought mine plain and added my own stuff.

I have zero regret with the car. Don't get anything extra from the dealer, it's their profit center and you can get anything they offer better for less later.

My only regret is believing them when they said they should be competitive with the financing, they couldn't, so I refied through the credit union a couple of weeks later for 1.49%. It took 15 minutes.

My salesman knew nothing about the car which made it fun, really.

i think the paint film will be a good long term investment, i wish i waited for one that had it installed for only 300 more for the front bumper,fender,hood... Instead my car is in the shop now getting it installed for 800, but i get front bumper, fender, hood, door cuffs, side view mirrors, and the trunk part.

This is my daily Driver for now, i sometime regret it when i have to carry people, and look at the trunk space.

It's been 7 months and no regret.

Tail light condensation and hpfp chirping are the only two things that piss me off.. other than that i love my car

The Bespoke stereo seems unpopular with the people who have them, so you might be better off saving the money for a new aftermarket head unit.

I feel like there aren't really any options on the car to regret. When I was shopping for mine, the only choice I had was color. I ended up going for asphalt. Sometimes I think the argento looks better, but every time I look at my own car, I am happy with my choice.

If your moving to a northern state u want the undercoat. Winter means salt on the roads and at least with it on you have the warranty for it. As for regrets. I was smart enough to get winter tires or I WOULD have regretted that for sure. And some weight in the back is essential for snow covered streets. Get the arm rest if they have the option but beyond that. Have fun.


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The touchscreen stereo (this is my first experience with them). I hate having to take my eyes off the road to use it. But then again the base stereo is just so damn ugly.

Also, I wouldn't call it a regret but getting the car in whiteout now makes me second guess purchasing anything that is supposed to be paint matched to the body colour. Don't get me wrong, I love the look of whiteout but it is so difficult to match that I'm scared future things won't match (including scratch repairs). I did get the CARSMO rear spoiler pre painted and it's nearly a perfect match, but I trusted Ray because he kept us updated on how difficult it was to match and how many trials they went through to get it almost perfect.

But overall I'm very happy with everything so far!

I will say if you're an informed buyer - meaning you want this car, did the research, it fits your lifestyle, the interior pleases you, and won't be reselling it a few months because it doesn't have enough power - that this car is great. What can really make or break it is the buying experience. Make sure you know who you're buying the car from and what kind of people they are.

From my own experience and what I've seen on the Problems section of the forum, make sure it's been manufactured after Sept. 2012 to avoid the camsgear issues, but I think they are flashing ECU's to prevent this code from appearing now.

Also, there's no avoiding the crickets. There are no changes to the fuel pump, even the ones being used per the TSB. A lot of owners here are probably ignoring the cricket, lucked out on fuel type in their local area, or just don't care.

So my personal experiences kinda fall under the regrets category. When I bought mine there wasn't a lot of data or feedback. Everything about this car was "OMG the coming of RWD Jesus" so I was pretty excited.

If you made it this far, and you have a car, do yourself a favor and wait for 2014. Look at how people treat the early models of 350z and RX-8... Anyone with access to google will know that the 2013 models had some issues, even if it's only 1% of total sales, it's bad news when it comes time to sell.

I'm currently waiting for my offer from Toyota after pursuing my state's Lemon Law for my FRS. My example is extreme, but I'm just giving out my heavily biased 2 cents.

Yeah, there is some concern about driving it in the snow ... I suppose winter tires are a must else I should find a winter beater.

This is why I was starting to lean more toward a FF layout. I'm also going to be working for Ford of all places .... so I might get keyed in the parking lot driving a foreign car to work lol. The ST wasn't a bad car, it didn't feel like it had all that much more power though... I expected a bit more "Ooomf!" for 60 more horses.

The civic si is probably my next favorite. Simply by how well built and solid it felt to drive.... you can tell this has been Honda's game for a long time by the way it shifts so smoothly.

I have stopped test driving at this point though, I'm not sure I'll find something in my price range that's as crisp and sharp as the FR-S. Though I am interested in the GTi, as well as the Speed3.

Sidenote, I've wanted a WRX since I was a kid and watched the commercials (of the early 2000 ones ... with the awesome bug-eye headlights). However, I'm not a fan of the most recent iteration, and I'd of course have to get the Sti which adds another 10 grand to the equation.

I can't really consider older stuff because I have very little credit, and I don't want a crazy rate. I currently drive a POS. We'll leave it at that lol.

My car had that plate bolted onto the bumper also. I was pissed when I realize that there were 4 screws in the bumper! The problem was they ordered mine from another dealership because they only had automatics at theirs.

My one regret was never getting to test drive the BRZ. The dealership wouldn't let me without a deposit! I got back and forth with the looks on these cars. Sometimes I like the BRZ more, sometimes the FR-S, but overall I am very happy with the car and look to add minor upgrades over the next few years and then a tune after the warranty is up.

No regrets. My car does have the tail light condensation issue but I hear dealerships will fix it. Just make sure you're not paying more than MSRP.

My only wish is that I had been willing and able to wait to get a later-production vehicle. The majority of the problems I've had with my car were all addressed in TSBs, and have since been fixed in the cars now rolling off the assembly line. If I had to buy a BRZ again today I would not hesitate to do so, and the same of course would hold true for the FR-S if that had been the car I was interested in.

I've had my Whiteout M/T for about 5 weeks. It came equipped with the following:

-Bespoke; paint protection film on door cups/door edge/rear bumper guard; window tint on side, rear, and the top portion of the front windshield; trunk mat

I do not regret getting any of these options as I made a list up of items that I was willing to consider if it was already on the car. I have found most of these accessories useful, but that doesn't mean I feel they were worth the $$.

Now, if you were to ask me of all those items listed if I had the choice to have removed if given the choice, I would have chosen the following:

-Bespoke, trunk mat, and paint protection film from the door edges (I don't feel these are really worth getting in the long run)

What my fiance and I regret most is letting our guard down and allowing the finance officer to work in extra warranties at "no extra cost to our monthly payment" by offsetting it with a lower APR. After we ate dinner and brought the car home we looked at the paperwork again and just couldn't believe we had let the finance manager pull that on us. He wasn't trying to cheat us but we didn't exactly fight hard enough for a lower APR knowing we both have 'excellent' credit.

Make sure you EAT something before you go to sign paperwork for your car. We were so hungry by the time we got to finance that I think it was a huge distraction to us when it came time to making decisions on things that we did not need. :mad0260:

As far as maintenance plans and so forth go, is the standard plan sufficient?

Sounded like 2 years of maintenance plus 5year 60k on powertrain were enough to make me happy.

Add Fiat Abarth and the Mini Cooper to your hot hatch list, if I didn't buy an FRS I would have bought the Fiat. If you have your reasons that's fine but just offering advice, can't really add anything else to what everyone has said, sunny California means I won't be worrying about snow anytime soon.

No regrets whatsoever, love this car. the only problem is the HPFP but I can never hear it anyway 'cause my engine is always above 4k rpm and at idle my radio is blasting anyways :party0030:

2500 mi, no regrets what so ever. Thought I might have some coming out of a stageII '10 wrx hatch. This car has a tenth of the cargo room and literally half the torque... but I really haven't noticed those differences. At least, they've not become issues.

I love this little gocart of a car. Its cheaper for me to run and own, insurance cost was about same.. If anything it gives me an excuse to find a $500 beater truck for home depot runs n dragging my bicycle around :p

I'm glad I got the carpeted trunk mat. It's thick so it provides a lot of friction for the stuff in my trunk.