10 series after trading in plain-jane FR-S
 

So about a week ago I traded by Firestorm 2013 FR-S on a 2013 10-series FR-S (anybody else have a difficult to explain conversation with their insurance co. "you did what"?)

I know I'm not alone here, and a lot of folks did the same thing, but thought I'd share in case anybody cares.

Why did I do it?

1) I liked the fact that it has *most* of the goodies that the GT86 comes with in Europe or Japan.

2) Wanted touch-screen nav, but was shocked to find out it's ~$1200 extra??!!! (dealer screwed up and quoted the old $849 upgrade price so I went for it)

3) my firestorm was used with 1k miles on it when I got it, had 2 small dings and minor chipped paint on door edge, and smelled like someone MAY have smoked in it when it was humid out. It just never felt new, and I regretted not being patient and buying new.

4) figured the 10 series might hold it's value better and I plan on keeping the car a long time.


So, after a week, some thoughts:

1) The radio is worth the upgrade price. I still feel like it should have just been included, but it's really nice. The voice-control is top notch, mapping is good, and displays album art even over Bluetooth. Very similar to the entune unit in my wife's highlander (base software is the same I'm sure).

2) mixed feelings on the HID's. The light is "nicer" and "brighter", but the distribution is a little weird, and mine aren't quite level with the left being a tad lower than the right. Is there way to independently adjust them electronically, or is it a manual process?

3) LED's are great, but can't believe they don't operate at night. C'mon scion, should have gotten that bit right. Thankfully, there's a member on here offering kits to fix this, and I have one on the way.

4) climate control is great. dual zone is probably overkill, but the gauges are sexy and make the center stack look like something out of a much more upscale sports car. I always coveted the center stack from the GT86, and glad I have it now.

5) paint color is great in person. I had zero interest when these cars were announced since the paint just looked terrible in all the promo photos, but it looks great in person. ppl stare at the car.

6) light-up badges: ahmmm. . yeh. I'm 34 and I'm just not into it. I might have been when I was 18, but honestly they're embarrassing. I LIKE when they first turn on and they're just white. . but once the blue turns on, I feel like I should be 12 and making vroom sounds. I wonder if it's possible to keep the white glow (when unlocking), but disable the blue. .

7) smart key is great. had this feature on my S4 and missed it. I carry a bunch of keys and keeping them in my pocket is really nice. They use to drape over my leg in my previous FR-S and it was annnnnoying.

8) auto headlights work like they should

All in all I'm very happy, but would love to hear some feedback from other 10 series owners about the badges, and if anybody has "modded" their functionality yet.

-Rich H.

So you bought a drivers car, then sold it for a drivers car that features things that have NOTHING to do with driving.

Good on you mate.

Just wanted to clarify.

whats this kit you are referring to in #3?

I like me some nav when I don't know where I'm goin, and love the look of the lights / interior upgrades.

But if you're calling me out on none of it mattering when I'm sideways at 40 on my way to work with a perma-grin, yep you got me.

-Rich H.

Did you take a big loss on the first FR-S?

paid 24,000
traded 20,250

I can live with that. I owned it just shy of a full year, so pretty much as expected.

oh man looks easy enough i guess... very interested...

This is for an STi, but it may help if the 10 Series has automatic leveling (i am unsure if it does or not)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz94dwm3eTA"]How to Adjust HID Headlights on a 2008+ Subaru Impreza WRX STI - YouTube[/ame]

Nice write-up! If they offered the 10-series in Whiteout, I'd be highly tempted to trade-in for it. One quick note:

On HIDs, this is by design. The left side light is aimed a bit lower to prevent blinding oncoming drivers. It's the same way for the xenons on my GTI (and was the same on my STI). You can see the light distribution pattern in this picture:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2032/...4d23f7cb_b.jpg

Wow, thanks, I had no idea. I had HID's on my S4 as well, and never noticed this.

-Rich H.

How does it drive compared to the regular one? j/k

I may have considered it if it was out when I bought but I am really stuck on white.

You are a marketer's dream customer.

Actually, it feels down on power compared to my other one, but I'm guessing it just needs to be broken in and the stealership probably put 87 octane in it when they filled it up. I remember my firestorm also feeling slowish on the first tank and I know the previous dealer did the same cuz I asked and they admitted it. .

I liked the white as well and originally shopped for that, but then wound up liking the firestorm better when I saw them both in person the first time around

as in, I have money, and like cars?

:thumbsup:

good for you man.. i probably would have done the same if i had bought a fr-s earlier in the year. the extra luxuries are worth the cost.

As in, you respond strongly to their incentives, and then write eloquently about how happy you are with your decision.

No, as in you buy the car once, they make tiny changes, and you buy the car again! If Scion could sell two cars to everyone of it's buyers the brand wouldn't be sinking so goddamned fast!

Yeh no doubt I getting a standing ovation from them over my praise of their lame glowing badges :)

congrats! I love all the extra features in the 10 series I am still thinking about upgrading the touch screen to add navigation my dealer never offered it to me, but I have just been using apple maps on the iphone and ipad and that is working out so far for me. is your headunit pandora capable too?

Honestly I wish the brand would sink. I'm a Toyota fan (look at my sig) but never connected with scion. I'd have MUCH rather bought the car branded as a Toyota.

But yeh, I suppose I'm making their volume #'s look a tiny bit better for 2013 :)

RE: Pandora, not sure. great question. I always just stream via BT since it lets you skip and you get album art, but switching stations and thumb up/down would be nice and might be worth plugging in for longer trips. I'll have to try it and report back.

Should ask your dealer what they want for the nav upgrade. Mine mischarged me @849, which is a steal compared to the correct price. Others dealers might be doing the same thing until they realize it's different with the new radios.

I also made the switch and have no regrets. I loved my first FR-S but sorely missed the nicer trim features (many of which are standard these days in ALL types of cars). I courted a BRZ Limited but just got a better deal on the 10 series. I prefer the front grill/better head unit anyway so that worked out. I didn't want a spoiler either. My first FR-S was just a lease.

Hey, nobody is perfect. You know what marketers call a person who gets on a long line then leaves it in frustration? A "reneger". In other words, the person broke their "promise" to stay in line.

Hey, nobody is perfect. You know what marketers call a person who gets on a long line then leaves it in frustration? A "reneger". In other words, the person broke their "promise" to stay in line.

BTW, I bet cops pick up on that glowing badge deal.

I'm not loving the badges either, but I don't hate them enough to bother with the effort to unplug them, and I don't have the self esteem issues that would make me embarrassed to have them. Yay late 30's confidence power! I wouldn't mind however swapping them for some other LED badge for the fun of customizing, just haven't found anything yet.

They only glow when the car's off and you walk up to it essentially.

Congrats on your frs10. The badges grow on you but you can always just unplug them and replace with toyota if that's your cup of tea.

You all confuse my intentions, i just wanted to clarify with the owner. Not be a pompous douche (Which i am).

Many of a year ago i had to convince a friend not to sell his STI to buy a special model STI that did nothing to handling or power, just only looks (more JDM yo!) . Once he realized this, he didn't buy the "special" STI and had $5K in his pocket.

Glad you like it.

As others have mentioned, the HIDs are supposed to do that so you don't blind oncoming cars.

I haven't messed with the badges on my car, I don't mind them. Definitely didn't make me want the car any more though.

The nav unit. Did you have the 2014 HU by itself at all and then add the nav unit, or did you get the nav unit at purchase? I've been debating if it is worth it since I can get it for $870ish b/c I raised a stink about the fact that the dealer told me it would be a free software update when I purchased the car (still miffed that they want to charge me dealer price on it). I don't have a smart phone so the Bespoke part would be pointless and I have a stand-alone Garmin unit. Anything else really change with it? Worth the extra $870 over the 2014 HU?

Why do you say that?

Let's all be honest here. If next year they put out an American "Toyota GT86" I'm sure we'd have numerous owners on here trading their cars in, so I'm not going to be critical about this.

If the 10 series came in yellow, I probably would have done the same.

I would trade in my car for a 10 series if I could afford it but I know I can't lol, people should act like jerks to others for it. The paint, headlights and climate control are completely worth it to me, i'm in love with them.

Glad you like the 10 series. The HID's and the look of the climate control were the only things about the 10 series I liked.

The light up badges are a gimmick and I would be removing them as fast as possible. However in the end, the color killed any hope of the 10 series for me. I will admit it looks better in person than in the promos, but the color does nothing for me.

Overtime- color is why I don't have a series 10

My car has enough done to it to make the prospect of trading it in unfathomable for any color. The fact that the color did not jump out to me made it worse. I like the 10 series that I have seen at our meets, but I would be driven crazy trying to determine what color my interior would be.

Kinda cool to have their police badges glow at night.

The badge doesn't light up while driving...

I don't own a 10 series, but I'm glad you did it! You got what you want and it will lead to you enjoying the car THAT much more! You were wise buying used in the first place and the loss really wasn't that bad. You could have gotten more in a private party sale and that would have been the only thing I would have done differently.

Congrats on the new car and enjoy all the extras that come with the 10 series :happy0180:. Good luck figuring out the emblem lighting. I wouldn't care for that either.

thx, appreciate it!

Regarding the trade, you're right, I figure I could have gotten ~22k private (keep in mind the exterior wasn't mint), but the tax benefit on the trade made it worth it (you subtract the trade from the purchase price of the car, so you only pay tax on the difference). In PA at 6%, that's $1,215 saved on $20,250.

This is not accurate. Both headlights should be aimed at exactly the same height. There is a step down in the cut-off that serves to limit blinding oncoming drivers.

In other words, the lower cutoff line from each headlight should be on top of each other, and the higher cutoff line from each headlight should be on top of each other.