Looking to become a Scion FR-S owner next month...
 

Hello! I have been in the market for a Scion FR-S recently and I am quite excited about it.


Initially the battle was between the 2014 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0t base vs. 2014 Scion FR-S (automatic)

I drove the Fr-S and fell in love with the drive... Can't imagine how great manual would feel if I actually knew how to drive stick haha.


The problem is that I have to stay on a 25k budget excluding taxes and dealer fees (I would imagine getting one for 25k with tax and dealer fees would be impossible), but my local dealer has one up for 28800. This includes their exclusive warranty offer that I really don't care about, and they valued my trade in at $0.

My current car is a hand me down 1998 Buick LeSabre with a few problems: the roof cloth of the car is falling off, and the driver side door has a problem where it doesn't open all the way due to a small collision to a gas station pole.

In comparison to the local dealer, I managed to find the exact car I want in a dealership at Alabama using Autotrader.com, but it's a hell of a better deal.

2015 Scion Fr-S with rear spoiler, 650 miles on it and only 25,150!

Why is there such a big price discrepancy?

and lastly, if I can't meet this budget, I'll be getting a genesis 2.0t instead. Is there anyone who can give me an unbiased opinion on this car in comparison to the FR-S?


Here are the links to both cars:

Tallahassee dealer: http://www.legacytoy.com/auto/new-20...n-frs/1939018/

Alabama Dealer: http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...79565679&Log=0





EDIT: Looks like the one from Alabama dealership is gone... could not find it on their website.

The discrepancy came from the 650 miles. While not much its enough to make it a used car.

You should be able to find a used 2013/2014 or even a new leftover 2013 or 2014 for your 25k mark if not under.

Also, as far as the genesis vs FR-S

Having driven both, the Genesis has a more upscale feel to the interior, and its definately quicker however it feels a bit sloppy/overweight compared to the FRS IMO. It's a numb car to drive.

Thanks for the reply. What do you mean a new left over? Like the new 2014s that didn't sell?

The Genesis was on the top of my next car list until I stumbled across the FRS. They are two rather different breeds really.
This guy sums up my thoughts as if I had written it myself!
http://www.autoguide.com/car-compari...spec-2103.html

In some areas where the car did not sell as well there are still brand new 2013's on the lot, as well as 2014's "Leftovers" that are still unsold after the new model year comes out.

Why did they value your trade in at Zero?!
If you can find a 2013/2014 on the lot some where you should be able to save a good chunk of change!

Come up here I am pretty sure the dealer is giving one away free with every Lexus purchase!
Their own fault as they have done next to nothing to promote them and the only people that have a clue they exist are "car folks".
When I finally got a salesperson to talk to me about mine (normally you look at a car in the showroom for 1/2 an hour you can't get rid of them) their first response was "You really are interested?".

Another option would be taking the dive for the manual. You'll be able to learn on your own with some thorough research and you'll save some money. Win/win!

The trade in value was at 0 at the toyota dealership because they felt that the car had no value... it is by no means a good car at all, but it is still drivable and I think I could at least get a grand for it... Hyundai offered 900 for the trade in comparison btw.


Secondly, as my parents are helping me pay for this car, they would prefer for me to have an automatic transmission to avoid any potential problems on such a high priced car for my age.

also, where would be the best place to find 2014s that are still on the lot, and about when will their prices start to drop?

Keyword prefer :P
Just playing around but I had to try!

As far as I know the discounted prices vary by dealerships. Like a dealership with a lot of stock may offer a promotional 1k. Just check their websites or give em a call.

Ok thanks a lot.

So does anyone see that the Tallahassee dealership is full of **** on their prices? or is that just me?

If buying manual equates to "avoiding" any potential problems on a "high" priced car, my impression is that this purchase is gonna put financial strain on you. [Especially when its considered an affordable car] As such, I'm gonna play devils advocate and say you should probably look more milder car. reasons below:

-more maintenance versus a toyota/honda
-insurance premiums
-limited cargo flexibility vs a sedan or cuv
-the RWD risk
-snow tires in the winter
-potential ticket magnet
-if you want more iI'm sure the members here can think of more reasons

As someone who does personal finance for friends, I was wanted to put it out there that you should really consider the impact of getting this car especially if its financially straining. Also consider how important traveling the world is to you as well. But if you've considered all of the above and still are set on buying this car, good luck shopping!

Can't you get a new BRZ premium for that price with some negotiation? Might be something to consider.

I would private sell it. Any running car is worth $1000-$1500 on the open market.

Reminds me of the time I traded a 1999 Chevy Astro with 250,000+ miles in on a (slightly used/new) one. The '99 looked OK outside, but the inside had the Arabian tent saggy look going, and the upholstery looked like it had been through 10 years of car seats, baseball and hockey teams (because it had). The dealer said "We'll give you $1,750 in trade". I laughed and said I would pretend I believed he was giving it to me as a trade in value if it made him feel better.

Just as an fyi, the 2015 MY premium is manual only. The '14s should still have the automatic premium. I guess subaru wants to push people towards the limited model.

As spoiled as this is going to sound, I'm only covering the down payment (around 8k) and my parents are making the payments. As I will only have to worry about maintenance/insurance I should have no problems actually owning the car.

The transmission issue is that since I've driven an automatic car for what little time I've been driving (22 yrs old, so about 6 years) the folks feel that a response would not be immediate and second-nature in the case of a catastrophe.


As for selling privately, I have been considering that as an option and will have to see what I can do...


Lastly, the budget is 25k with little wiggle room, so paying 28k for a BRZ is out of question haha. I WISH!

oh and no winter worries for me... I live in the panhandle

Trade-in value needs to be worth something on the used car wholesale market, so one dealer can sell to another. If it's below a certain threshold (~$1500-2000), the dealer won't even bother to make an offer.

At that point, it's easier to just sell it private party, or donate it to claim tax benefits.

-alex

If they are selling well around there they will cost more.
Supply and demand is king when it comes to pricing!

Keep in mind Subaru allows you to substantially negotiate off MSRP (unlike Scion). There are stories of members getting their BRZ's for under $25k.

Now that I did not know! :drool:

I would love to have the BRZ at 25k... :3



What would be the best way to search for the success stories you are referring to?

Unbiased... no I cant admit that (this is an 86 forum everyone is going to be biased :p)

But overall the FR-S was a more fun car to drive. The shifting felt better, better steering, nice seats.

I test drove the 3.8 R-Spec not the 2.0T. The Genesis looks great on raw specs, it has the horsepower, FULL back seats for human beings!! Its got the features but I had no where near as much fun test driving it as the FR-S. The gauge cluster in the center looks like cheap plastic. The seats bothered me after the test drive too, the weren't comfortable.

Keep in mind i only have a test drive of experience on the Gen coupe and 6+ months of ownership of the FR-S.

I got a good deal on on a FR-S 10 series. All the comforts of the BRZ and the looks of the 86 and in a color I like.

Yeah I tried to search a little but couldn't find it. If you go onto TrueCar and look up the BRZ Premium and click on national pricing, they show that out of 820 people reporting 2014 BRZ purchases:

- 12 people bought the car for $24.9k - 25.1k
- 23 people bought the car for $25.1k - $25.3k
- 36 people bought the car for $25.3k - $25.5k
- 36 people bought the car for $25.5k - $25.7k
- 53 people bought the car for $25.7k - $25.9k

And so on. I suspect many of these may be manual purchases though, so you may need to add the cost of an automatic in there.

Try looking here:
https://www.truecar.com/prices-new/subaru/brz-pricing/

That's pretty much how I felt about the 2.0t. It was ok driving, the interior was superb, but just not quite there for me.

the FR-S on the other hand really made me excited when I test drove it. Plus the FR-S' exterior looks better in my opinion.

Wow, those are not bad prices at all... but the automatic price ends up being 28800.
Now, If i were to pay 29k for a car I'd get the higher trimmed BRZ, but that's not the case so :3

25k FR-S, is it really not possible?

How strong of a buying power is the certificate from Truecar.com?
I wouldn't mind paying the average price people pay there.

It all depends on leverage and volume. Dealers get bonuses based on their monthly sales. Toyota dealers near metropolitan areas can be notorious in cutting into the invoice pricing if they can hit the higher bonus brackets.

If you have multiple dealers in the area. A typical strategy is to put the dealers against each other. However this is a bit of a niche car. I got my brz simply by walking into the dealership and telling them what I was willing to pay and for the most part it was close. I did order my car though so the wait is brutal. Manual and in the lower quarter of truecar.

Don't forget scion has a college grad and military discount if you qualify

Honestly, I would take the time to think it through. I fell in love with the car back when I was a jr in college and knew I had to get the frs. I found myself two years later at the dealership sitting right front of a dealer peering off into my frs. BRZ was in my price range, but the car was perfect where i didnt want to modd after doing research, i decided to stick with the frs. I seen the genisis around and it looks decent, but the curves on the FRS or BRZ is just so hot. Originally i had a dealer wanting to sell me a 2015 one that was dark blue or black for 29k OTD tax and fees included, but when i saw the Halo color one. My mouth and pants dropped not to mention my wallet. Honestly, depends if you can financially pay and maintain the car. Currently im financing mine on my own and proud of it. I already put on Cusco front and rear struts. I'd say forget the budget and dont think too much about it because this car deserves the upmost respect. Hell, members in this community convinced me that this car was worth the extra. =D

Oh how I wish I could just forget the price...

Again, I'm only covering the downpayment so the price of the car is not decided by me, but my father.

How much can you put down?

He stated $ 8000. Tell Dad since price is a consideration you'll learn to drive the manual. I see few issues related to manual as far as safety goes. You're young so learning to drive a stick should be easy and timely to this stage in your life. In the long run you won't regret the decision. If it becomes an issue then ask your girlfriend to show you how (subtle sexual innuendo).

I got my '13 FR-S w/ 4,100 miles on it from a Subaru dealer for $23.5k OTD. I had relatively minimal experience with stick before, but there's no way I'd have bought this car with an automatic (I can understand if that's truly your only option though). Getting used to stick was very easy with this car. Also, I think that driving stick can make a person a better driver as it requires more focus on the car and road. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

It's possible if you consider getting something lightly used. Working for a small used car dealership, I was able to get my MT 2013 FR-S with a little over 500 miles on it at a little over the price they got it for which was $20,500. I do live in Utah, where winters can get pretty bad so that might have helped our dealership and, in turn, myself get the car at a lower price.

If you consider getting something used, manual transmission, and if you're patient, you'll find a good deal that falls below your price range. Looking out of state, especially somewhere that snows often during the winter, would definitely help too. Winter is coming soon and most dealers that have to deal with winter are more willing to negotiate on RWD cars.

"The problem is that I have to stay on a 25k budget excluding taxes and dealer fees (I would imagine getting one for 25k with tax and dealer fees would be impossible), "


I paid $24,998 for my 2015 FRS automatic, and that included the destination charge, but no taxes. Now, before you get your hopes up, this was in California, but deals to crop up now and then. That same dealer now has four manual 2015's for $23,998.


I would suggest patience, persistence, and trying to find all the dealers in your area. I didn't even know about this one, and was just browsing sites not seriously thinking about getting an FR-S for another six months or so.

This. Why buy new and lose a few grand right off the bat. The dealer where I got mine had a 2013 with less than 3k miles. They were asking like $23k for it, I'm sure it could have been had for close to $23k OTD. They had another with like 19k miles for like $19k.

I could not justify ever buying a new car unless I was drowning in cash and even then would only buy new if I HAD to have the latest model with very specific options that I would be unable to buy used.

AHHHHH But SOMEBODY has to buy new for there to be used ones now don't they!
Personally I would be very, VERY cautious of buying one of these cars used with more then a couple of thousand miles in it. Even then I would look extremely close at the service history (if not owned by one of the "I don't trust anybody so do all my own work" crowd) and would examine every possible prior mod location for signs of change.
How many times do we see on this forum alone "had enough of this piece of crap and am pulling all my mods (which sometimes were the cause of the problem in the first place) and trading for the newer shinier (insert car here, usually a 15 WRX lately though)?
Even pure stock ones can get pretty beat up and still look fine.
Not to say there are not good deals on used just need to be wary.

Pretty much all of my cars have been used (except maybe like the first 2 cars in my life). Never had any issues arise related to previous owner. That being said I don't tend to keep cars for 100k miles and I also always try to buy ones with <30k miles. However I saw a LOT of very low mile FRSs out there when I was looking.

Reverse for me! Last 3 new all the rest VERY used (some had 200000+ miles when I GOT them).
Doesn't change the fact that if nobody buys new there are no used ones too buy, not to mention no companies making them.
My point on the FRS was that they are not a Corolla or Camry where lightly used means exactly that. I am not exactly what I would call hard on mine (it's still a baby) but not sure I would want to be the guy buying it knowing that it does get DRIVEN.

I was looking into the gen coupes too before I got my BRZ, I liked the interior of the gen coupe but I felt like the car was a boat and had no soul.

Got my BRZ for $25.5k and it wasnt even a local dealer car, had to be shipped from a dealer 300 miles away.