40,000 miles/year in a GT86?
 

Hi!

I need a car to make 40,000 miles per year, meaning that it should be reliable and cheap to maintain. Toyota is great in this aspect also because here where I live they provide 5 year unlimited km warranty. The GT86 (or Scion FR-S, for the North America) looks sweet.

However, how do you find it for this type of usage? Comfortable enough for doing long highways trips? Any recommendations to improve its daily capabilities?

Thanks a lot!

I've covered 7,000km in 2 months, which is quite a lot for me. I find to be great for highway driving. The seats are very comfortable, and the engine is very quiet at highway speeds and it pulls along effortlessly. The tyres can be a bit noisy, but it wasn't very intrusive for me personally. If you're worried about height, my 6'5 friend fit in just fine and found a 2 hour trip very comfortable. The same couldn't be said for my other friend who was jammed in the back seat the whole time though!

Find out how much they would charge for spark plug service before you make your decision. I'm sure there are much cheaper daily drivers.

Cheaper but also fun/rewarding to drive?

Probably not but 40k a year mostly highway driving its not much funner than Polo. It's basically a 2 hour wait for that exit ramp only to be cock blocked by a Prius. If you want a fun DD it definitely qualifies but for that many Ks a year mostly highway I might consider something else. If money is not really an issue go for it.

If i have to drive so much like that, i prefer a lexus IS350. It is 4 doors, and sexy as hell, 2014 model handling beats all german cars. Comfortability is top notch, cabin noise isolation is superb! Open ur sunroof for more noise if u so prefer lol. Lexus will replace u a new car if your car has problem during warranty, and customer service is top tier....it will also smoke FRS in every aspects LOL
Enugh said

Get a BMW 5 Series. Problem solved. You're welcome.

Sctt

Just get a Rolls like everyone else in Dubai.

I've put over 9000 miles on mine in the last 3 months so I'll be putting almost as much on it as you. So far it's been fine to live with and I don't think that will change unless it starts falling apart at some point. It's a new model so how reliable it's going to be in the long run is really just a guess.

The small fuel tank is the only thing that is annoying so far.

Yep, I'm driving quite a bit in mine and can attest to the small fuel tank being a bit of an annoyance. It goes about as far as my Tacoma did though, so no real change there. The FJ has a tiny tank too, so nearly every car I drove has a small tank and go about the same distances, except for the Prius, but that thing isn't nearly as fun to drive as this.

Not to be a drag but I feel like after 40,000 miles a year you would have a lot of suspension/alignment issues (this car is too low for potholes), rockchips (def. plan to coat it and even then I'm skeptical), and if you travel that much you're probably dragging stuff with you so plan to fight with your suitcase/presentation case and the smallsih trunk. I agree with the above post...I had to spend that much time in the car, give me a nice BMW.

Only you know if YOU will be comfortable in this car
Try it and see.. i would chose a different car if it were me putting 40K miles a year.

I did a drive from chicago to boston and back. Pretty good but the top gear is a bit low in the manual. You have to be going 70 and under for great gas mileage and low noise (averaged 38mpg US). Speed limit is 75 most of the way bringing up the revs, making it a bit noisier and worse on gas. Alignment issues from potholes should not be a problem on highway driving if you have good highways.

I drive about as much you do and I love my FR-S as my DD. I have a 40 mile one way trip to work everyday and while it doesn't have the super quiet cabin like the IS350 mentioned above, I do not find noise an issue. I also think the 86 looks better than the IS by a wide margin. As for preventing rock chips and the things like that, they are an unfortunate hazard no matter what the car is. The GT86 is a fun car to drive everyday and it puts a smile on my face whenever I have to leave the office after work. I look forward to driving it everyday. For fun, looks, and affordability you cannot do much better, more affordable cars are not as much fun and more expensive cars are just that more expensive.

Do it. I drive that much a year, and I have zero complaints. Seats & ride is comfortable. Road noise is a little higher compared to my E46, but I got used to it. Fuel economy is fantastic at 27-28 mpg mixed with me flogging it.

I'd be at 40K, but for 6 months i had some personal issues, right now i'm at 20K after almost a full year and the only problem i had was crying taillights. Car hasn't meet a beat. Do it.

@BlaineWasHere you need to chime in on this thread when you're back from AutoX since you're in the 30k range already.

29,200+ here at a year and a week. No issues. Love the car.

yeah i'm at 33k miles (53k km) and im happy, ive also never driven further than 2 hours in 1 trip( driven 6 hours total in 1 day for work though), but ive never been uncomfortable..... i drive... ALOT and i love my car more every mile...

well if you plan to drive much its really not a good idea to buy a car in its first model year.

Here Toyota provides 5-year warranty with unlimited mileage, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Taking that into consideration, here is my .02

I have 12k miles on the car so far in about 4 months. I've driven from MI-KY, and then MI-CO so i've had a bit of roadtrip/highway experience with the car so far.

Since this is an FR-S forum people will probably dog me for saying this, but the FR-S isn't really a highway vehicle. It does ok, but its not its forté. Coming from a 3800lb 3000gt, the FR-S bounces alot from the draft from semi's or from high wind days and due to the stiff steering can become tiresome on your wrists over time.

With that being said, I still fully plan on roadtripping all over the place in mine. I can confirm what was said above, in an automatic if you keep it around or below 70mph you can average 38mpg (16kpl). If I do 65mph I average ~42mpg (18kpl). If you go with an FR-S, get the clear bra option, so far its definitely helped with potential rock chips.

Hope this helps :happy0180:

well that really cool. it would still kinda suck to have to take them up on that warranty but for you that unlimited mileage thing is prett amazing. i guess the focus turns to whether or not you can live with a car like this for that much time.

Had my car for six months now and I haven't even done 2,500 kilometers yet. I should drive it more. :bonk: