FRS vs BRZ: Transmission cost
 

Due to a lack of action on my dealerships part to correct some of my concerns with the transmission, I have been looking at the cost of purchasing a new trans out of pocket for the car. Looking at the FRS transmissions, however, I noticed pretty insane pricing with most coming in around $5200~6200 depending on the site (pretty consistently on all Scion genuine part sites, including Carson Toyota which is one of the vendors).

At the same time, BRZ transmissions are listed for around 2200. Again, this is pretty consistent across all websites I looked at.

Any ideas why there is such a huge cost difference here? I had to purchase a brand new trans, transfer case, and rear end for my Evo VIII and all of that combined was less than the cost of just the FR-S's transmission...

It's because Toyotas are generally more reliable than Subarus, so their transmissions are built to last longer.

Are you being serious or joking?

It's the same transmission, provided by the same tier 1 supplier...I'm just curious why there's such a huge difference in cost when basically everything for this car is exactly the same dollar amount when compared between the FRS and BRZ. Is there something I'm missing here? If the transmission is really 1/4 of the cost of this car, I'm selling it and going to get a mustang lol. A viper spec T56 is less than 5 grand...

Go to a brand new dealer. You shouldn't have to settle for paying for your own.

It's a long story.

Anyone who works at a dealership can shine some light on this?

I have no idea why the price difference.

However, if I destroyed my FR-S's transmission, I'd consider getting one from a wrecking yard......:popcorn:


humfrz

I would just buy a dog box trans and call it a day

Toyota marks up all parts, from oil filters to window glass. Usually 2-3x as much as Subaru.

I compared the price of an oil filter for this car at both Toyota and Subaru. Just as you said the same part number filter was over double the price at Toyota and they wouldn't budge on the price.

looking at random parts parts it seems like it varies.

body group seems somewhat similar. toyota fenders are marginally cheaper, subaru roof is a fair bit cheaper.

then you get into mechanical, and the toyota ring and pinion is about 1.5x the cost of the subaru part.

but the toyota radiator is .75x the cost of the subaru one.

seems like owners would be wise to check with each source before ordering a specific part.

Odd, because I remember checking this a few months ago and they were the same cost. I wonder if something is happening about the parts agreement between the two companies.

Umm no.

In most cases, he's right. A good friend of mine deals with NVH in driveline components for a Tier 1 supplier. In a driveline component supplied to chrysler, they will test it to 200k miles and make sure it's still within spec. For the same component supplied to Toyota, they have to test it to 400k miles, and then if there's any perceptible wear, even if it's acceptable wear that actually makes the component quieter and does not effect torque capacity, they have to make a design change to avoid that wear.

I doubt this is happening with the twins, but in other cases Toyota is known for being obsessive-compulsive about driveline spec when they deal with Tier 1 suppliers.

All three versions of this car (GT86, FR-S and BRZ) come off the same assembly line with the same parts bins, there's simply no way they're using different grade parts between Toyota and Subaru models, it would cost way more to keep the assembly plant stocked and organized that way.

Toyota does definitely mark up parts more though, even small things. Sway bar end links (front) were going to be $35 each from a Toyota dealer, they were $28 from a Subaru dealer (down the road, less than 2 km apart).