2014 BRZ, nothing but issues so far...
 

Hey guys, just figured I'd let you know what's been going on with my car, because I haven't seen too many issues with the 2014's from what I've heard. I apologize beforehand for the lack of CEL codes, all the paperwork and codes I have written down are in the car, which is at the dealer.

A little backstory, I bought a brand new 2013 WRB Limited A/T in July of last year. After 30,000 miles and lots of regret, I traded it in for a 2014 WRB Limited M/T. And that's where all the problems started...

A little over a week ago, my slip light and check engine light came on, at 1600 miles. Car went into limp mode, took it to the dealer the next morning, gave a cam timing sensor CEL code. They cleared it, drove it around, said it looked good, I drove it two miles before I ran into the same symptons, CEL and Slip Light. Drove it back, this time it was a "Startability Malfunction" CEL code. Dealer kept it for a week, replaced a bunch of sensors, something about a few other smaller pieces, as well (I know, no help here, I'll have more info once I finally get my car back).

They called me in today, said that I should be good to go. I get there, they take it for another drive, and now they're thinking it's an issue with the PCM. Just thought I'd share my frustrations with you guys, see if anyone else has had similar issues or anything.

Sorry to hear. My 3 months old 2013 BRZ has been trouble free so far.

Hope you get your stuff solved soon.

Sounds like you got a lemon.

Yeah, I'm thinking I got a lemon, too. Especially because I never had any issues with my first one, just this one. And here I thought buying the Manual would've made me happier, now I'm stuck in a Mazda3 Sedan rental.

Do the lemon and trade it in!

Haha, well, looking into Lemon laws now. Wouldn't be too bad, I'd just have to install the stock shifter and pull out the Kartboy short shifter I have.

I know its frustrating but I wouldn't give up on it just yet. Give the dealership a little more time to find the issue. If your getting frustrated, take it out on the rental. ;)

Man that is frustrating =/. I hope the dealer ends up fixing everything

I would say if it's not fixed after this one, ask them politely about possibly exchanging for a similar vehicle.

If they give the dealer runaround, start pulling the Lemon law on them. I've usually found that trying nicely first sometimes gets positive results with less headaches.

I was thinking about trading in my AT for an MT.
Besides these problems that occurred with this specific 86, would you say that it was worth it?

My Monogram has 3,000 miles on it now. It has been solid aside from the crickets. Let us know if the car keeps acting up, this is interesting.

Since you're in SoCal.... I know a good lemon law lawyer. PM me if you need help. I had a lemon law case with Nissan just not too long ago, I got all my money back and bought myself an FRS.

Lemon Law issues are FREE for the consumer. The MANUFACTURER pays for all of the legal fees.

If you had 10,000 down on this car, Subaru has to pay 10,000 + Whatever your lawyer charges. It should only take 30 days.

How long after you buy a car can the Lemon Law be used? Just curious.

OP, was the shifter the only thing you did/modified to the car?

It's so much better. I drive 130 miles a day for my daily commuting, and it's not bad at all driving this car around. I feel like I have so much more control of the car, and it's way more fun to drive. Especially if you do AutoX stuff, or plan on doing mods down the line, you have a lot more options going the MT route. I have no regrets.

Haha, well I did AutoX the rental...

And thanks guys for all the input! I am in pretty good with the service manager out here in Valencia, he takes care of me pretty well. I don't usually get the runaround or any of the other normal dealer garbage. It's frustrating, yes, but I realize that sometimes you just get crap luck and have to deal with it. I'm sure they'd swap the car after that 30 day mark if push comes to shove. Still no update otherwise, though, waiting on that PCM to get made and shipped, by the end of the week I should (hopefully) have the BRZ back in my possession. I'll keep you all posted, of course.

Yup. Well, wheels, if that counts for anything. Didn't install my N1 from the old AT BRZ yet, car is basically stock.

As soon as the car keeps having problems. My first issue with my last car started at about 6 months... at 500 miles.

If you have any mods on the car, remove them as lemon laws will not cover them. I had tint on my other car and I wasn't able to get it back.

Electrical gremlins can be the absolute devil to diagnose, a minor fault in one system can occasionally cause another system to malfunction and throw a code. Not uncommon now with highly interconnected electrical and computer systems on modern cars. I know it's frustrating as hell dealing with a persistent problem car, but as long as the dealer is being decent try to be understanding for the poor tech likely pulling his hair out trying to chase down the problem(and likely not getting paid for repeat work). If they're being jerks though stick it to em.

Lemon it, if you keep it after they fix it, its always going to linger in the back of your mind that the car isn't as reliable and you will lose interest... After 5 trips to the stealership for random issues and 6000 miles of use, I ended up hating my mustang with a passion, since it was in my parents name I couldn't lemon law it... I'm just glad I didn't pay for it.

Long list of issues:
Dead Radio
Faulty A/C
Interior panels replaced
Faulty fuel gauge
Faulty fuel pump
peeling and rust under paint
door seals replaced

They ended up trading that car in for my fathers new car (went with rust under the paint, faulty A/C and I don't know what else) but it spent 2 years stationary in front of my house.

To this day I still day dream of throwing a molotov cocktail into it, or destroy it with a sledge hammer.

So far the only issue with my FR-S is the steerign wheel peeling and the subaru crappy paint issue.

Sorry to hear about your issues. Sounds pretty rough. Im interested to know what the actual issue with the car ends up being. Keep us posted and I hope they resolve it quickly.

if it still ends up havibg an issue I agree about claiming lemon law. Luis_GT has a good point. I would probably feel the same way.

If the issue isn't fixed after this next attempt, I'm going to try and claim lemon law and get a new one.

My first BRZ was a champ. No issues ever, ran great, everything was perfect. Except it was an automatic... Should've just saved myself the money, listened to everyone, and bought a manual to begin with.

sounds like a computer or harness issue, cant imagine more than one sensor going out that new.

good luck with the car

It varies state to state, for OP's case California's Lemon Law protects the buyer for the length of the warranty: 3 years/36,000 miles.

https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/general/lemon

Well, that's what they're replacing now, is the computer. Thank god this happened when it did. I had boughten a tune with a cable, and it happened the day before I received the kit. Especially if it was a computer issue, I would've been screwed warranty-wise.:thumbup:

Sounds like my 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt SS turbocharged. I think some cars are just cursed no matter what. Traded in the Cobalt. Found the guy who bought it. He is now trying to get rid of it after having so many random issues with it as well.


@ OP: Hope you get things squared away. I got my 2013 BRZ back in September 2012. Almost 16,000 miles and so far, it has been solid.

For California:


30 days with same issue and owner without car AND I believe the dealer needs 3 tries to fix it.


It may be just 30 days in service for same issue within the first year you buy the vehicle.


Double check.


It's lemon time.

Alrighty guys,

Finally got the car back! They replaced these two parts:

13322AA031 - SPKT AY CMS INT
22765AG511 - UNIT EGI CONTROL

According to these notes I got from the dealer, I pulled a P0018 code (cam/crank correlation check). They switched the cam sensor, did nothing, removed the engine, checked the timing, checked the cam case filters (which were clogged, interesting), replaced the cam gear, reinstalled everything, still threw the P0018 code, they then replaced the ECM (electronic control module), and then it was fine after that.

I picked it up yesterday, and since then I've thrown about 250 miles on it, about half of it spirited driving. Everything checks out, car is running fine again.