Idle issue?

[Thunderchicken]

Originally Posted by whiteout fr-s

Well, I got the car back this last Monday after they "fixed" the issue. 6 Technicians were flown in from Japan to look at my car and they determined it was the VVTR control valve. They replaced the valve, drove the car "lightly" for 80 miles and told me it was good to go.

I drove the car to my house, about 30 minutes away or 15 miles (In Boston traffic) and decided to pick up my girlfriend and go for a drive through a nice windy mountain road at about 35 mph since this is the first time I have really been able to drive the car in about a month. This is where my problems started. At the first stop sign my car started to get the shakes again and act like it was going to stall out. I tried to ignore it and continue up the road at which time I heard a lawn mower metal on metal sound coming from the engine. It started really gradually and then became extremely loud over a period of about 5 minutes. At this point I started to hear squealing, insanely loud knocking, backfiring and finally it seized on the side of the road. I tried to start it up and it made some metal banging sounds but wouldn't fully turn over.

I ended up having to call Toyota roadside assistance to have the car towed to the nearest service center and was stuck on the side of a dark road for a couple of hours. The next day I was called by the dealership and told that this was a "major" issue and that it would be addressed immediately. It wasn't until today that I was called and told to pick up my lovely Toyota corolla base model rental car and that they where not going to be able to fix the car anytime soon. Scion informed me that I would have to wait for some more techs to arrive AGAIN and that if I didn't want to wait for the car to be fixed I need to start the arbitration process to get a refund which can take over a month once all the paperwork has been received. Needless to say this whole experience has been a nightmare and all I have to show for it is a car payment that I'm still responsible for even though I have only driven the car a total of 3 hours in the month that I have owned it.

Toyota really dropped the ball on this whole launch.

I hate to say but your best option is to invoke the lemon-law, they tried and failed to fix your new car in a reasonable time frame. You probably got a Monday or Friday car. Don't be too discouraged, and give the FR-S a second chance only if you don't have a super sour taste in your mouth.

[|-Goku-|]

Damn man, I hope they take care of you. This is what we get for being the owners of a brand new car model. But it shouldn't be like this.

[whiteout fr-s]

Originally Posted by |-Goku-|

Damn man, I hope they take care of you. This is what we get for being the owners of a brand new car model. But it shouldn't be like this.

Agreed.

[Hanzo]

Wow, now the chirping noise really worries me.

[Lonewolf]

Originally Posted by whiteout fr-s

Yeah there solution right now is either play the waiting game or fight them to get my money back.

In my experience the sounds coming from the engine sound like a bent rod as this happened on my s-10 about 8 years ago.

As for tracking the car they told me they drove the car "lightly" up and down the RPM range allowing the car to sit and idle afterwards to check for the stalling issue. They said they did not notice the issue anymore and I can honestly say that when I first drove the car off the lot it did not seem to be having the idle issue any longer. I didn't push the car though and it happened again, and quite frankly even if I had pushed the car something this serious shouldn't happen at all. It started with the "chirping" sound a lot of you are referring to but just gradually got worse and finally died. I did have the check engine light on so there are some codes to be analyzed but no one in the US has the right equipment yet to do anything with this.

Sorry to hear about your problems. Take a peek at the lemon law in your state, and see if anything applies (or will apply)...particularly the days out of service presumption.

[whiteout fr-s]

The sad part of this all is that this is my first new car purchase and I have been in love with this car for years. I put my deposit down in February and eagerly awaited its arrival. Disappointment only slightly describes my feelings now.

[whiteout fr-s]

Originally Posted by Hanzo

Wow, now the chirping noise really worries me.

By the way, got my FT86club stickers in the mail today, they look great! Only wish I had a car to put them on lol.

[csaba]

Originally Posted by whiteout fr-s

Yeah there solution right now is either play the waiting game or fight them to get my money back.

In my experience the sounds coming from the engine sound like a bent rod as this happened on my s-10 about 8 years ago.

As for tracking the car they told me they drove the car "lightly" up and down the RPM range allowing the car to sit and idle afterwards to check for the stalling issue. They said they did not notice the issue anymore and I can honestly say that when I first drove the car off the lot it did not seem to be having the idle issue any longer. I didn't push the car though and it happened again, and quite frankly even if I had pushed the car something this serious shouldn't happen at all. It started with the "chirping" sound a lot of you are referring to but just gradually got worse and finally died. I did have the check engine light on so there are some codes to be analyzed but no one in the US has the right equipment yet to do anything with this.

If they drove it for 80 miles it should have come out. How come it only happens when you get the car back, check miles if they tell truth about 80 miles driving the car.

How the hell is that possible they don't have the right equipment to read the codes...

[Bonburner]

Ugh, honestly this is scaring me - I looooooooove this car to death.
I hope this get resolved soon, I guess I'll be driving this car a little less for now then :'(

[whiteout fr-s]

They did drive the car, the miles showed it, thing is they didn't drive it long distance, only a bunch of short drives stop and go.

And as of right now they can read the codes but headquarters has to decipher them.

I wouldn't be scared about this, this is more my bad luck than anything. Im sure most of you just need vvtr control valves replaced correctly

Sent from my HTC VLE_U using Tapatalk 2

[Bonburner]

Yeah, I'm expecting this to be just bad luck really.
Thanks for keeping us updated at least, hope you continue to keep us in touch!

[Marrk]

Sorry for your troubles, white.

It sounds like you are entitled to a refund on your purchase. I would pursue that. Then, in a year or two, when they have all the bugs sorted out, you can get another.

If Toy-Sub. wants to be honorable about this, they will refund you and give you an apology. If they decide to be dishonorable and screw you into the ground, you can forget them and buy a Honda or a Porsche or something.

[tripjammer]

Damn the Engine died? Wow! Sounds like a bad car, or they screwed something up when they were trying to fix it. Things happen like this all the time bro!

Just get your money back and get another one. Yours in the only FR-S that I know of that has died except for the one dude who wrecked his going less than 20 MPH....

[b.e]

Dude, you gave them your car to experiment with. Surely you considered this as a possible outcome.