Considering buying a lemon buyback BRZ, have repair history (P000A and P0011 codes)
 

I am thinking about buying a 2014 BRZ limited at nearby dealership that sells a lot of lemon-law buyback cars (including this one). They gave me the service history on this car, from which:
1/22/2015 4480 miles: CEL, P0011 camshaft bank 1. Tech replaced right intake oil control valve
2/27/2015 4684 miles: CEL and car sputters, codes P000A and P0011, checked VVT angles 4* difference betweeen L R banks, replaced ECM and right intake cam sprocket
3/25/2015 4696 miles: CEL on, P0011. Checked intake advance angles 75* difference from left to right bank. Replaced cam sprocket and ECM ACVS solenoid is from good lot per tech line. Advance angles are still off cam timing is go

The dealership the car is at now says it is fixed, but the above is the last note in its service history and doesn't exactly suggest that: "Advance angles are still off".

I drove the car and it seemed perfectly fine. Dealer says if it hadn't been fixed it would be tripping the CEL and not running right.

Has anyone had similar issues to these, and were they ultimately fixed?

Thanks for any words of wisdom!

This thread should help you:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29729

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...&postcount=205

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...&postcount=157


His engine ended up being replaced due to the damage, also his ECU was believed to be the initial cause of failure because the car ran super lean so the ecu was replaced as well.


So honestly if you can get it with it's warranty in tact, then get it, the ECU being replaced as well as the troubled and damaged cam sprockets being replaced by the dealer is a good sign.


Also important note the codes mentioned were in a TSB that involved the AVCS hopefully they followed these steps, double check it with them, if you look through you can see what they replaced was recommended by subaru:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20080&d=1352490977

Test drive it hard. If it goes bad, sometimes you can buy small guarantees.

How much are you paying for it. You can get them that are not lemons fairly cheap if you are willing to go with used

But if you have plans on ripping it apart to re-build and its cheap, sure go for it

Nope. Sounds like serious engine problems

Depending on what you want to do with the car it could be a good buy if the price is right.

I think I'm gonna hold out for a car that hasn't had issues. This one would save me a few bucks, but given the few miles on it since repairs, I have to wonder...

Gives me a bit of pause to think that there might be latent internal engine damage...

It looks like they at least sorta followed this. First replaced OCV, then cam sprocket and ECM, then another cam sprocket and ECM again.

Looking at other threads, I wonder if it could be a clogged inline oil screen filter to one or both cams.

Their asking price of $22k to me seems more than fair for a non-lemon, but high for a branded lemon with known history of problems. I'm not interested in dealing with major problems, would rather pay more for less risk.

Plan for car would be to drive drive drive it for many years. And occasional track days :) It would take the place of my '01 S2000 which has served as my daily for the past 9 years.

I'm not worried about reduced value due to lemon title, but don't want to have to deal with major issues, either.

What I would *really* want: a 2+2 S2000 fixed-roof coupe. The FR-S/BRZ are soooo close, but honestly the engine failures from DI injectors and AVCS issues have me spookified...

I would Send the oil off to Blackstone That'll give you an idea as far as engine wear goes, 22k does seem a bit much though

I'll second this, if you can get the seller to hang on to it pending a response from Blackstone this should definitely help you make your decision.

22k for a car that you already know sucks? Fuck that
you can get a new one close to that, you can go get one that runs cheaper than that
RUN

Yeah, only way I'd do it was if:
1) I could assure myself the engine is fine
and
2) the discount relative to a pristine-title no-problem-history Limited was a lot more than ~$1500

I figure the best deal I could get on a new Limited would be ~$27k, izzat about right? Wouldn't mind letting someone else take the initial depreciation hit, but might go that route. Or just keep S2k...

To ensure the engine is fine, contact a local subaru dealer and have them do a pre-purchase inspection.

How many miles are on the vehicle now? I'm not sure regarding Lemon Buybacks, but in most cases, the original warranty should still be applicable. I do know they are canceled when a car is totaled.

pm me the VIN. I'll check things out from my end. :)

There are more than plenty low milage ones you can probably snag under 20. Mine was 15700 but it had 43800 on it. BRZs are a little harder to come by. But FRSs are out there everywhere. Pick up a 2015 that was upgraded for a 2016. Don't buy this car knowing it's a lemon. Buy one with a few miles and let someone else eat the depreciation. After owning this car I think 27 is reasonable. Brilliant little machine.