Want to buy FRS. Family says no because of maintenance concerns
 

Hello my dudes,
I am currently looking for a FRS/BRZ/86. My budget is 15 000$ CAD so it made sense for me to aim for a 14/15 FRS since they are generally cheaper due to Scion being discontinued. The problem is, my family is not very comfortable with me dropping this large sum of money on a discontinued car. I understand their concern but at the same time, from the research I have done, it is to my understanding that the FRS/BRZ are practically the same car. When it comes to maintenance and looking for parts a +/-decade or so from now, it should not be too difficult, right? We are the type of family that tends to hold onto cars until the cost of repairs outweigh the value of the car (basically until they fall apart). So, to all of my maintenance/mechanic gurus, what are your thoughts on this? Is dropping 15k on an FRS a bad idea? Should I drop an extra 2-3k to get a brz instead?

Thanks,
oma

it's the same car. the toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ parts will still fit.
that being said I can still get parts for my 1991 toyota pickup from my local toyota dealer. i can't think of a legit reason your family could come up with to us that as an argument.

The only thing that was discontinued was the badges. It's the same car, and Toyota fully supports it as they do any of their other cars.

I'm in the same boat as your family (most of my cars end up with somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 miles on them). I have zero concern about the ability to repair it.

There are plenty of cars that are long discontinued that still have a surplus of parts.

this shouldn't be an issue.

Not 'practically.' They are 98% the same. Mostly Subaru, actually. Between the FRS and BRZ, the BRZ has a snow button and the radio is unique, as are the logos, front lights, bumper, and exhaust tips. The interior trim may also be a different color.

As for the price, this is because of Trim packages and nothing more. If you find a BRZ that is more expensive, it either has fewer miles or it comes with leather, heated seats, etc. If you don't care about the added stuff, go with the FRS.

As for parts, you could go with your FRS to a scrap yard and start pulling parts from a 2017+ BRZ/86 and not run into many, if any, compatibility issues.

The current generation should run until at least 2022~2023, so parts should not be an issue for at least a decade beyond that. The aftermarket seems solid for these cars, so anything you can't find from Subaru/Toyota should be available from another company.

From a purely mechanical standpoint they are the same car (barring minor suspension differences).


From a body standpoint there MAY be concerns getting FRS specific bumpers and light housings far in the future, but highly doubtful.


Is it worth it to buy a BRZ instead, yes. Especially if you get a limited with the nicer appointments.

Scion was a branch of Toyota. If you take your FRS to Toyota they will service it its not an issue as they have the 86 now. As mentioned above the FRS/86/BRZ are all the same car.

The AT of all three "models" (FRS,86,BRZ) have a Snow button.
The front headlights are the same (at least in the '13) but the bumper cover makes them appear different.

Thank you to everyone that replied. I will be showing this to my family and hopefully it will put their minds at ease haha :)

Besides everything already said, the BRZ/FRS/86 (often referred to as "The Twins") have surprisingly good prices on parts. For example you can get a clutch disk, pressure plate, throw out bearing, pilot bearing, and flywheel as a kit for $380 USD. You can hardly get a flywheel alone for that cheap on almost any other car.

BTW, I also hold onto my cars forever. I can't think of a single car I've ever owned where the maintenance out weighed the value of a car. A paid off car that doesn't break is really hard to beat. My dad owned a Boxster which was incredibly unreliable. He spent at least $20,000 USD just keeping it on the road between 2003 and today. He refused to get rid of it because it was still cheaper than a car payment. Just a few weeks ago he finally got sick of it stranding him and literally GAVE it to his mechanic. I was kind of pissed.

The other good news, is that people crash these cars a lot. There are a lot of junkyard part-outs available for small things like the AC compressor, power steering, etc. The reservoir of parts will not run dry for this car for a very long time.

Show them FAQ questions 2 and 3 from Toyota Canada




https://www.toyota.ca/toyota/en/freq...sked-questions

Considering one of the most useful things to do to a scion badged 86 is to swap out the badges for the cowboy hat Toyota logo... I'd say you're actually in a better position by buying a discontinued twin. Takes 10 minutes to swap the badges out, and boom! You just saved a couple grand at least from buying a now-Toyota model.

But then you ruin the collector value!