Ordered Whiteout Monogram without Test Driving
 

So I recently ordered a Whiteout Monogram MT and I have yet to actually test drive the car. I am coming from a 2003 Celica GT. I thought I should at least go and test drive before the car comes in just to make sure I liked it enough...

I went to my local Subaru to test drive and I was surprised how uptight they were. They basically said I have to be serious about the car before test driving and it would be one or two days to schedule a test drive. (This was my third time to their dealership and I've always gotten a bad feeling from them.) They said they don't want people just walking in to test drive and start redlining, etc. without any intention of buying the car. I think this is pretty lame. The Toyota dealership where I ordered mine from (which is not local) said I could test drive any of their FR-S at any time. Talk about not making a person feel welcome in purchasing a BRZ from Subaru.

So basically, here are my questions:

• Going from a 2003 Celica GT to the FR-S will it be fast enough for me?
  ...So many people on here have said yes. I do not trust the dealer but he said that the FR-S is not quick at all and I will not find a big difference if any at all from my Celica
• Without having test driven, is this an unwise decision?
  ...I have watched all the reviews and HP is not the most important thing to me as I drive a Celica. Handling is more important
• My gut tells me to buy the FR-S, what do you guys think...hopefully you guys will agree to disagree with the dealer

I am confident in my decision and plan to keep my Celica as a winter driver, but just want to know your opinions on not test driving first. (I tried with Subaru. If I make it up to the Scion dealer before my order comes in I will test drive a regular FR-S)

:party0030:
:burnrubber:

You are so screwed!

On the fence about the test drive thing, but given some of the clowns who buy these cars it may be a good idea.

No, it's not fast or quick, but for a car driven even remotely sanely on the street, the stock FR-S is fast enough. You won't win any drag races or straight line pulls, but when you get to the fun curvy bits you will be sitting there wondering why the ass in the 60K car cant manage to go the even speed limit.

The Whiteout is the best color, BTW. Very classy looking car.

ETA: Yeah, my local Toyota/FR-S dealer where I got mine is a nice place to visit. Always helpful. I stopped at the Subaru dealer to look at the interior of a BRZ and got the feeling I was not welcome.

ETA again: The list of options for almost low-cost power gains is getting longer every day. I LOVE mine, bone stock, for the driving I do which includes hauling ass on fun roads with no trouble at all. It's like a 250 two-stroke bike. If you can learn how to carry speed into and out of corners, that's where the fun lives. The dork who only knows how to step on the gas is lost.

faster than your celica for sure. Fast compared to other sports cars? Not so much. Fun to drive? Hell yeah it is

You made the right decision, shouldn't worry about it unless your really tall and overweight. Nothing against overweight people, just saying that it might fit too snug.

Not many fat Canadians! Six even, my only complaint is that I sometimes wish the front edge of the seat was just a bit lower.

I went from a 2005 Scion tC TRD SC. Obviously, the tC was faster in all cases. Yet the handling, ride quality, and engineering of the FRS is far superior. Remember, the tC just replaced the Celica. Not much a difference. I say get the FRS. You won't regret it!

And Raven is an excellent color just as much as Whiteout :=)

I had a Release 8. Nice car, not anywhere NEAR as nice, or as good, as the FR-S. The FR-S/BRZ is a <Jeremy Clarkson Voice>Extraordinary</Jeremy Clarkson Voice> car and people who think otherwise are too stupid to have one.

These cars FEEL fast though, not fast as in torque but the way the cabin encapsulates you and the COG makes the car feel like it's so quick.

I bought mine based on Top Gear's impression, no test drive. no regrets.

I also had a lousy experience at Subaru - Japanese Volvo?

Anyway, I love the 86 (MT) but would be getting something else if I had to drive it everyday in the crazy Manila traffic.

my guess is you'll be pretty happy with it coming from a 03 Celica GT

I ordered mine before a test drive. Hell, I hadn't even seen one in person yet. That was April 2012. It was another month and a 2 hour drive from home before I got to take a spin in one. I finally took delivery in June of 2012. No regrets.

I have driven a 2003 Celica GT before. On the power front, the FRS should be satisfying enough. Its got enough low down torque in the areas where the Celica GT was good at while having the high end hp that you get from the GT-S, only it doesn't scream as much as a GT-S. Handling, while I think both are very good the FR-S I found more communicative which is odd only because I found the Celica's steering rather heavy(and nice) whereas the FRS has a lighter wheel and usually prefer the heavier steering. Fuel economy, should actually be nearly the same although FRS needs premium whereas a Celica GT doesn't.

However definitely test drive a base FRS even if its an auto. I don't think you can go wrong with either car as the 7th gen Celica was one of the cars I was contemplating before buying my Impreza. The only thing I that actually kept me from buying a Celica was the FWD part...had it been given RWD or AWD, I'd have it immediately.

At the very minimum, because it's of similar size to a Miata, I wanted to make sure I would fit (not a comfortable man in a Miata). Called up, asked if the car I wanted was still for sale, came over an hour later, sat in it, drove it down the street and back, and in about an hour and a half later, I drove off with a new car.

Screw that dealership! If anything they're probably the ones who redline the damn cars when they take it out for test drives! You should've seen the damn sales person who I had a test drive with. Dude was nearly doing donuts and redlining the shit out of my car. Unfortunately at the time it was very hard to come by a SWP Limited BRZ in central Texas and I had waited nearly 8 months for one to show up that was not already reserved....so I didn't want to walk away from the car...although I should've reported that sales rep.
Don't buy the car without driving it first. There are too many people that end up selling because of the lack of power. Test drive it first and see if you're okay with the lack of power. If you can't test drive a BRZ then go try an FR-S, or vise versa.

Be at ease ..... you will like it ..... ;)


humfrz