Opinions: Chance to Own a Series.Blue
 

Hello All. I joined this forum a while ago and have been waiting for the right time to purchase a BRZ as a second car/daily driver as I am planning on retiring my current car due to its age (still keeping it though). The BRZ is pretty much the only car out there that I am interested in as of what it offers in terms of exterior/interior features, looks, and driving experience within the 20K-30K cost segment.

With that said, I recently came across a 2015 Series.Blue. It is used with less than 15K miles. I test drove the car. I loved the way it drove, I loved the blue stitching interior and accents, and the speaker/knee pads were a nice touch. The seats, steering wheel, and gear shifter felt on point. Braking and steering felt excellent. Acceleration was slower than what I was expecting, but perhaps that it was not in sport mode? (I didn't mess with Sport/VSC button).

Well, everything seemed great except for some cosmetic damage (front lip has scuffs, very minor dents and paint chips). I can accept these cosmetic damages since the car is used, and not new. The price for the car is in the mid 20K range, and upper 20K range after taxes, title, and registration.

After the test drive, I was a bit hesitant and I ended up not putting a deposit down. I mean, here was my chance to own this Series.Blue BRZ. It seemed like the perfect deal for the price considering it is a limited edition with low mileage.

I left the dealership and felt like I was passing up the deal of a lifetime, this is until...I saw the Car Fax.

I ended seeing the Car Fax the next day (so much was going on that I did not think of asking for it) and it turns out the car was involved in an accident from getting hit from behind. There was not much detail except the car was still drive-able.

Due to what can be damaged in a rear end collision (frame damage, suspension damage, wheel alignment issues, possible transmission issues etc.), I felt relieved that I did not put down a deposit. And considering that this car has an accident on record, it would affect the value if I were to sell it in the future.

The car is still for sale. Should I stay away from this Series.Blue BRZ and pass it up?

Almost new price for a used rear ended brz doesn't sound like a deal. I would avoid. I bought a blue series new for 27xxx.


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Yes.

If you still want to pursue it, make the seller provide pictures of the damage as well as description and receipts of the repairs. If it was merely cosmetic (bumper cover and trunk lid), then you may want to float a low-ball if you like the car otherwise ($20k-ish). If it was severely damaged or they refuse/can't provide those details, just walk away.

I think series blue is a waste of money just new or used. They just added some aesthetics to it and jacked up the price. I would just go with the limited or premium and use the extra money to buy after market kits. Rear tail lights like the new Valenti Jewel tail light or the Tom's LED Clear tail (depending on the color of the car), makes it look so much better, and that's just the rear tail light. Also if you want to go performance, I would first purchase an Open Flash Tablet and go from there.

Hope this helps

Hard question to answer since cars are such a personal thing. You would basically be getting a series blue for the price of a new base FRS or premium BRZ. How important are the series blue features to you? How important are the limited features like auto/dual climate, seat heaters, start button, keyless entry etc...? A new limited is likely going to run you 4 grand or so more out the door. Series blue are harder to find. Used limiteds with 15K miles can be had for closer to 20K. A quick search of autotrader shows used series blue cars with similar mileage, and clean car fax reports to be in the range of 27-28K. Sounds to me like you could try to negotiate a better price due to the history.

The only thing I wouldn't be happy about is the accident. Series Blues are still selling used for near/over 30k, meanwhile FRSs sell at 70% of their value with 5k miles. To each their own. I searched for 45 days all over the US for a series.blue in April and the cheapest one I found, I was able to get for 28,500 out the door. and mine was perfect with only 8k. Mind you price depends on availability, demand and the local market, so take that all into consideration.
Look at it this way, there is no series.blue for 2016, just the series.hyperblue, which isn't as cool IMHO, and while there is talk, I doubt the US will get the tS until the year before the 2nd generation comes out. Do you want the best BRZ out now, or are you willing to wait a few years? Also... for the same price you can buy a low mileage C5 Z06... If I didn't drive 125+ miles a day, I would have taken that path.
All the VSC does is make the driver aids come on later. The car is slow and will be slow unless you add forced induction. With bolt-ons and a tune you can make it finally beat mini vans, but that's not what this car is about.

Series blue has tons of small and big things that are different enough to justify its limited production. I'm gonna try my best to keep the car for more than 10 years to see what it'll be worth down the road...

The beauty of the twins is that you can take a base model and make it a "Series Me".

Just wait and get the next new gimmicky 2.0 series.com hashtag whatever they call it when it comes out. Seems like they market these type of releases to a certain demographic, some buy into it but most don't.

7k

It definitely does, but I have a feeling on the refresh model, I feel like the series blue is going to be "why did I buy it!" kind of feeling, or there gonna have a 4th model: premium, limited, series blue or series blue package, and STI.

Like someone else stated, unless you can get specific details, photos, repair sheets on the accident damage, I would walk (regardless of price). Another option, would be if they would allow you to take it to a mechanic or body shop you trust for evaluation.

Before title, and dealer fees, my 2014 Limited was $26,400 (no tax, since I had a trade). I can't see paying more for a used twin than you could purchase a new one for.

I think the series blue is the only special edition I'd want (aside from the yellow FRS but I don't particularly like the other bits on it or the price), the blue interior is a winner imo but only worth a small premium over an equivalent "standard" model. Given mileage I'd expect it to be under $25k out the door because I'm an asshole who doesn't think the special edition is worth a $5k premium over base. If the accident damage can be proven to be limited to like just the bumper and maybe light trunk damage with pictures I'd be ok with that price.

If the damage is unknown I would be saying like $22k out the door max (again, 15k miles is pretty used and you have to wonder why the PO traded it in so early, not to mention the cosmetic damage), that blemish will forever affect the cars value unless it can be proven to be minor.

At +/-$27k out the door that thing would have to be mint and much lower mileage for me, I'd rather spec a brand new one with under 10 miles on the clock for that price.

Straight up opinions from a guy who deliberately chose an FR-S because I didn't want no alacantara or touch screen or HID's. So I'm probably a poor sample.

Just to clarify my stance on this, I would never purchase this car even if I was desperate for a series blue, and definitely not at that price. I'd walk!