When to upgrade?
 

Ive got a '13 frs thats paid off and im considering upgrading to the brz. Since the mid year refresh i prefer the brz front end and like the options for a nicer interior.

Trying to decide the right balence between trade in value and upgrades. Was thinking of maybe trading in for the last year of production. Will we know well in advance when that will be? Or if they plan on doing a 2nd generation of these cars?

The right balance will be to invest your money and drive the FRS for as long as you can. Depreciation is a kick in the nuts, why go for it again? The change is hardly an upgrade, it's like 90% the same car. You got some bigger goals? Invest in your career? Buy real estate? Build a portfolio?

Get out of here with your logic and sound advice!

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

Honestly, just buy a BRZ front bumper.

I think that with these cars we can never be satisfied. Or at least that applies to me. I love the way my brz looks and drives, but I'm afraid of putting more money into it.

But then again, if I were to get a new one, I'd make myself get clear bra for it. So that's, technically, a total of about 10k that I could use to spend on my used BRZ. Hell, I love our front end, but I'm considering getting an aftermarket one just to change things up.

Tbh, if the only reason you're doing it is for looks, do it a part at a time. It's cheaper that way.

Definitely wait it out to see if there will be a 2nd gen or not. You have a paid off car, mod it and enjoy it unless you absolutely NEED a new car for some reason.

You have to decide why you want to mod a car. Most people just do this or that because they read it on a forum or in a magazine or saw it on youtube. Truth is what do you want your car to do.

For example, I have a ton of mods on my 04 WRX wagon - power mods because I wanted more speed. Suspension mods because I wanted it to turn on rails. Well my car drives like a dream and I am happy. I have bought three different sets of wheels for it. it was worth all my time and money doing the mods because I love the car. it has 125k and running strong. I would still invest in it now over a new car. Never once thought about the money side because I am so in the money with this car. No payments on this car for 10 years. I mean I have friends that have bought 3 cars in the 14 years I have owned this car.

I bought a 16 BRZ, for commuting because it gets better gas mileage. Modded it for power because these things are too slow stock. Two subies are better than one.

IMHO, if you are thinking about the cost factor or resale, then you are not really committed to the car and should just leave it stock or a few cheap and easy mods.

I had a '13 FR-S that I loved -- though it had its fair share of issues due to aftermarket parts.

Unfortunately it was totaled last year and I ended up going to a used '17 Series.Yellow.

My BRZ is basically stock and I've appreciated all the little changes the '17 and Limited trim / PP brings. I've spent more time doing HPDE with it and learning how to drive instead of mod it -- taking it out on AutoX or the track has made me appreciate how finely tuned the engineers have made this car in stock form.

I was considering a '15 RS1, but for a couple grand more it made sense to go with this used '17. The revised gearing makes the car feel as quick as my OFT Stage 2 FR-S, the exhaust has a nice tone and the tips fill the cutouts better than the 13-14's. The new track mode was the most surprising change, it allows so much slip and freedom compared to how intrusive VSC Sport was. Brembos are fade-free but they do dust quite a bit. My life now depend on the steering wheel controls ;) and having all LED lighting with the revised bumper can't hurt. I was not a fan of the pre-17 BRZ bumper (which is why I got a FR-S in the first place).

I'm not sure if they will be making a second generation 86/BRZ, but if these Kouki features are enough to win you over, it might be worth looking into as '17 PP's start to creep into the low 20's.

OP, have you looked into just upgrading your interior? If you plan on taking out a loan for a new car, you could instead put those payments into an upgrade fund.

Im not up on the latest from the interior modifications section, but I would think most of the interior bits are interchangeable. That 10-15k difference can get you a whole lot more than buying the same thing again, and will be exactly what you want.

Also owning a '13, I sometimes toy with the idea of getting a new late model without any of the wear and tear mine has, and then I realize what I can do with the same amount of money. I'm usually on the buy what you want from the factory side, but this is one of those exceptions.

If my car was paid off and I wasn't satisfied with it I'd just mod it to my liking. Just look into interior mods and a bumper swap if it's really just the looks that are bugging you.

I'm waiting to pay mine off before I do anything to the exhaust and ride height.

We have zero idea about the future of these cars. The clickbaits will make shit up based upon the flimsiest info (often faked by another site to start with) and many people will fall for it but the reality is the people that really know can not, and will not say, anything.
There may be warning if they decide to drop it but I wouldn't count on it. The first we know officially could very well be when they release the next years models and it simply is not on the list. Pretty much the same applies to any possible Gen 2. Even if they do release a second gen car that does not for one second mean it will be an improvement. Don't base your plans on rumours or people's uneducated "opinions" on where the future of the car is headed.

They (Toyota) killed the FJ Cruiser and it sold much better than the FRS/86. For Subaru it is a red headed step child, it simply does not fit into the rest of their line. I seriously doubt we will see a new version or the current version live past the 2020 model year. They need to try to amortize their tooling/R&D so it might stick around another year or two, but the dealers do not want them and they seemed to have failed to gain a big enough following to sustain a future.