New Owner With Used BRZ Few Questions/Concerns
 

Hello All,

I recently purchased a used 13 BRZ Limited MT, it is fully stock with 74k miles on it. I have done some reading / research on this forum but as a new owner I have a few things I’d like to ask seasoned owners.

1. It appears to have a bad wheel bearing. Is this common for these cars? I don’t believe this car was abused (never truly know) its 1 owner, always dealer serviced and doesn’t appear to have ever been modified. I just find it odd that the wheel bearings would be going bad this early.

2. The car has the slight leak at the cam plate cover (which seems to be relatively common from my research)- I have purchased the Nameless cam plate cover in hopes to resolve, any other advice for install?

3. The car was leaking oil from the bottom of the timing chain cover, which the dealer “re sealed” before I picked it up. Is this a common problem for these cars? I know searching I found a few posts out there but not many. I'm just wondering how concerned I should be. I considered walking away but they assured me it would be "fixed".. Time will tell

4. Anything else I should be looking for or replacing as a preventative measure?

I appreciate the wisdom

Thanks!

1) it's common on most subarus. By 100k, usually a wheel bearing or two will go in my experience. (I've replaced all 4 on my 05 Forester XT with 180k. My GF's 08 Forester with 80k has one done, and another JUST started to make noise....like clockwork.)

2) Very common. If it's leaking, either reseal the stock plate or use an aftermarket o-ring plate. The Nameless, Raceseng, and Velox all seem to be well made, and fix the issue at hand. Mine doesn't leak, so I actually have no first hand experience with it.

3) I've seen a few complaints about it on the forum, one or two were 'dealer resealed, it's fine now'. Don't worry about this, but check it every oil change just to be sure.

4) Enjoy driving your car.

These cars are a riot, and are very fun to modify. But please appreciate what the engineers have done before you modify lots of things, and change everything, because it's so easy to ruin what makes them great! A set of better tires like S-04's, or PSS REALLY liven up the car. Add in crash bolts or camber bolts for a bit of extra front camber with a good alignment, and maybe a catback so you can hear it, and it's a whole new car.

If you find yourself wanting power, go right for a header and a tune. 95% of the power gains are with the header and tune, and kill the torque dip.

All of that sounds normal for a relatively high mileage cheap sports car and what's known to be minor issues for the FA20.
Enjoy.

WELCOME to the forum and CONGRATULATIONS on your new purchase ......:clap:

Like said, nothing unusual for a 74,000 mile BRZ.

The new cam plate should fix that leak.

The re-seal of the timing chain cover hopefully will hold.

If a front wheel bearing is growling at you, just have them replaced.

An aftermarket muffler will give it some sports car sound.

Come on back (after searching .... ;)) if you have further questions.


humfrz

Thanks for the replies everyone, sound like these things are pretty normal then. I appreciate the feedback and piece of mind.