Things to look for in a used FR-S
 

So tomorrow I may go and get my FR-S at the local dealer. Getting a pretty good deal on it but it's used with 3k miles. The kicker is that this car was supposedly another dealerships test car so who knows how many kids off the street have just gunned it and screwed over the break in period. How important is it? Any other things to look for besides the chirping? It's coming with a 100k certified warranty but I don't want to screw myself over. Thanks in advance!

Test car? Walk away. Not worth it. Probably wasn't broken in properly, had people who didn't know how to drive stick, hit some curbs, etc.

It is an automatic but something my friend mentioned like you said is curb damage or something else the dealer could have covered up without reporting.

It's all depends on how much money you saved on this. if that's worth it, i would get it since it comes with warranty. i had a chance on used one that had 50 miles but they offered me not worth getting it if i compared to new one.

Auto is a plus. I would still be scared. Honestly, there are people scared of buying them from an enthusiast because they know how we drive them :burnrubber: .....If we drive them hard and we love them, how do you think the dealer is going to drive them?

24k and it comes with custom leather seats, upgraded audio with a new pioneer dash + rear cam and a TRD cold air intake.

That's exactly what I'm thinking about, 2k miles of people just gunning them on the interstate and screwing over the breakin. Long term, what could that cause?

If you had a brand new one, would you put that stuff on it? It only has value if you want it.

Look at the tires, that'll tell you the most about how the car was driven. For less than $2k more you can have one that isn't as risky.

for $24k, you can buy a private party used one and put that stuff on it. I'll be broken in correctly, and if you look around and take your time, it'll taken care of. FR-S's price have dropped like a rock. I have 10k miles on mine and the KBB is $21k and before anyone says, "Who cares about KBB?!" It really does seem to be about how much they are selling for.

Nothing you can really do about the chirping (crickets), good chance you'd get that anyway on a new one.

3k miles is a lot for a test car. They most likely didn't put 93 in it either

I agree. In addition, is it the transmission you would prefer; is it the color you would prefer?

I'd have to ask myself ..... if it was a "test car" at another dealership ..... why is it at this dealership .... ??

Personally, I'd pass and get a brand spanking new one .... ;)

humfrz

I'd get one with no miles for $25k and add on the stuff I wanted later.

Not to mention your interest rate (if you finance) should be lower on new vs used.

I wouldn't stress about a "proper" break in. A lot of us, including me, drove our cars hard right out the gate and have had zero issues. I'm at 15k with no issues so far, although I understand that could change at 30k miles, I honestly don't think it will as I changed the oil @ 1k miles, and I maintain my car well.

Always look for a dead body in the trunk or blood stains. Serious.

Also remember that the salesmen will lie to you.

'Little old lady owned it' my ass. It was some punk kid who couldn't make payments or a middle aged guy who didn't want to blow money on a corvette sliding around on-ramps near the dealership.

It could also be the best deal you could come across in the next couple months, who knows.

I wouldn't stress about a "proper" break in as they are thrashed at factory and during shipment, however i would worry about it being driven hard without proper warmup which for 99% of that 3000miles probably was the case. It takes about 5 miles of conservative driving to warm the oil up to operating temp (the temperature gauge near the tach is coolant which warms up in a couple of minutes,its not indicative of a warmed up engine), 90% of wear occurs in those 5 miles of driving. It is an auto though so theres no worries for gear grinding or clutch molestation and it is less likely that its driven as hard as a manual test car.

I always tell people to buy cars in the color they want. Paint is expensive, and will negate any deal you get on the car. My $0.02

Why would you say some ignorant shit like that? I work for a dealer and I can tell you we KNOW to put 93 in the car....all your doing is speculating over the internet and causing doubt for someone who might very well be an 86 owner soon. So cool it wiz.

That being said, us "dealers" also rarely dog the cars. I'll admit we had fun when they first came out, but to us employees now....they are just a new car on the lot waiting to be sold. We move them, test drive them, park them and repeat. They are simply just a car, nothing special to most employees.

I personally dogged mine a few times with only 10- 15 miles on it. Over a year later the only thing to report is the chirp I think everyone has. I even drive an automatic as my daily driver through the dealership and my 6speed on the weekends. I can tell you that even my demo (automatic) from 2 miles on, the car hasn't been ripped on. At my store I'm the scion rep, and we tell our employees that when they take customers on test drives be mindful of the 4k rpm break in period. We tell the customer behind the wheel that if they drive over that mark, they void the warranty for whomever does by the car. That keeps them scared of ripping on the FRS.

There are exceptions, anecdotally I don't trust dealers for shit.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49229

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49802

Those two threads are mighty scary when it comes to trusting dealers. Not sure as to their truthfulness but touting how honorable ALL dealerships are is a recipe for trouble.

If they are offering you a 100K warranty, that's almost 3 times as long as the factory warranty. I'd look in to the details of the warranty then make my decision. With the minimal number of miles on the car it's doubtful that any significant damage has been done. Just make sure the warranty is going to cover those things that are really important...drive train, etc.

If your biggest worry about buying this car is that the previous owner gunned it, then you might as well buy a new vehicle.

These cars, these cars were meant to be driven hard.

:burnrubber:

In the first place, driving the car over 4K initially doesn't void any warranty, the owner's manual states exceptions are allowed in emergency situations (which I frequently ran into myself!). These cars were meant to be driven hard and are robust enough so it's very doubtful any damage was done no matter how they were driven.

To me it would come down to 'is it the car I want, the color I want with the options I want at the price I want to pay'? If not, there are a lot more of them out there to choose from.

So you lie to them.

It never ceases to amaze me the way impatient car owners justify breaking in the vehicle by going WOT from the start. Owners spend all their hard earned money but can't be patient for the first 1000 miles to properly break in their vehicle.

Then I commend you for being a dealership that's doing it right :thumbsup:.
But to think all dealerships do everything correctly and take absolute proper care of their vehicles is bad practice. It's not a farfetched idea that some dealers cut corners to maximize profits.

My salesman told me it runs on 91. Not all dealerships/salesman are properly educated/informed and that's what you need to look out for. If it's wrong to be skeptical as a buyer than I'll be the first to admit I'm doing it wrong.
The internet is filled with incorrect information & negative suggestions. Educate & inform or just let it go, NBD imo

But to OP: +1 to what @humfrz said about color/transmission :D

looked at used WRX's before pulling the trigger on my FR-S.


dealership told me to be careful with cars like that, because the drivers are usually 20 somethings and "tend to push the limits more".


After 5 months with my car I totally get it. I would never by my car off me, if that makes any sense.. I drive it like an ass and just don't care about longevity at all (I do when I read the forums and think retrospectively, but in the moment I drive it like I'm running from an army tank).


I'm not saying that the dealership test car is driven like that, but if they let people take it home for the weekend like most dealers do around here, I can almost guarantee it's been redlined, power slid, hard-brake tested etc...

LMAO. was going to post that.

I bought mine from the first US shipment. The dealer I bought from told me they don't allow test drive of STI (and now BRZ) unless the customer puts a deposit or they have a demo car. He told me they have had horror stories of kids coming for test drives that can't drive stick, almost getting in accidents, trying to hooligan etc.

I understand that and they required a 2k deposit at the time to reserve the car for me. I had no problem with that and when the car came in I went there and the salesman came on the test drive with me to the gas station to fill it with 93.

And he gave the break in period speech about 4k rpm 1k miles early oil change. Which i adhered to until 700 miles lol :D

I think I would never buy a used sport car with a manual. An auto I'd probably buy used. I think my next car will likely be a used C7 corvette auto actually...

I test drove a dealer demo, I made sure to get the full experience and I'm sure others who knew the car was a demo did the same. For 24k it's not a good enough deal to justify a demo. Is it at 0% or are they offering you a good trade-in? those things can be big factors in buying a demo.

Who is the underwriter on the 100k mile warranty? Most of those third party warranties are crap. If it's a Toyota warranty it might be worthwhile but in most cases it'll prevent you from wanting to mod the car so if you're considering a tune, turbo, etc. then the warranty should be worthless in your decision making.

People here are funny. Sounddunnys like a reasonable deal. Look for the usual stuff: accident damage, engine error codes, and weird smells. No demo will be seriously warn in 3k. Are you going to keep it for 150k miles? then get a new one.

Well jaguar durability tests for 5k miles around the nurburgring. I think 3k miles worth of cold start hard driving could produce significant unseen wear.

Don't worry about break in period.

The engine is broken in at the factory.

Do you think a new car has a Virgin engine?

Far from it. It runs during testing and also a test drive on the track.

Do you think they idle it around the track?

Wow! Just so that you know.. The sales guy from the dealership I bought my car (brand new) from, kept blabbering about using regular fuel and not to be bothered about the break in and shit like that.. :mad0260:
So, I had to empty the fuel tank and fill it up with premium gas.

You know what the best part is? I had to drive the first 150 miles (to get back home from the dealership) on the regular 87 octane.. :brokenheart:

I'm not saying all the dealerships do the same but there ARE some like that..

Woah.. So, I'm not the only one here? :sigh:

@ OP, I would strongly suggest buying a brand new car and not having to deal with any crap or fear in the back of your mind for the entire time the car is going to be with you..

this thread is full of fail...

you want the car buy it...

never trust a dealer....

used cars come with garbage.... always....

make a choice

Absolutely, top that off with local driving = worse

Yeah... when I test drove the demo car the salesman told me once the engine was "warmed up" I could take it to red line...

The car is still sitting at the lot with who knows how many miles on it now. I bought the one in the show room with only 50 miles on it :) ... it was the color I wanted, but this was an added bonus.

I wouldn't ever buy a demo car unless it was significantly reduced. Think of it as buying a floor model of a TV etc.

When i was fr-s shopping i saw one that was also a dealer car. It was silver, with what they said "custom" rims which supposedly was an extra three grand. It had leather seats, some badges removed and replaced, tinted windows and leather seats. It had like 3000 miles on it manuel tranny and was going for 24500 i believe. I was really close to getting it. I looked around and it got sold, and i was a bit dissapointed. Continued to look at used ones and i was always iffy on, what if they drove it like this, whys it have 20k miles after 3 months. Eventually i was like FUCK IT, drove to cerritos, got a 700$ off clearance price, bought a new ultramarine fr-s tranny with 8 miles on the speedo. This was a month ago and although i felt like shit the first two weeks (never drove stick) now i'm so happy.

OP: pass on this demo for many of the reasons mentioned above. Not worth it. Plenty of used cars out there to choose from. As for the 100K additional warranty. Are you really going to keep that car for 100k miles???? Most people don't. They move on to their next car. In other words ... the 100K warranty means nothing unless you are going to keep it that long.

Very scary stuff. Now I see why everyone is scared of us dealers!!:bonk:

To everyone that replied, thank you! When I went to the dealer, the car in question was already sold they only had another used one with 20k miles >_<

Still searching for my new baby though...