Starting to not like this car anymore

[radroach]

I mean to say, while the maintenance costs weren't unexpected, I still get sticker shock if I ever have to visit a dealership's shop.

It's been relatively easy maintaining the car, but dropping ~$1300 for maintenance after the first two years of ownership was a bit unexpected from when I first got the car.

This week I'm about to drop another couple hundred to get ARP wheel studs installed, since the oem wheel studs are all breaking on me from just routine work changing brake pads. Not enjoying having to fix parts where subaru skimped on quality.

[allowe]

Originally Posted by radroach

I've had a throwout bearing change, spark plugs, and now doing a wheel stud replacement all around because they're all breaking.

It's been relatively easy maintaining the car, but dropping ~$1300 for maintenance after the first two years of ownership was a bit unexpected from when I first got the car.

Wheel studs breaking.... ? Like how? Ur driving and they break?


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[radroach]

@allowe

Originally Posted by radroach

since the oem wheel studs are all breaking on me from just routine work changing brake pads.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by radroach

I mean to say, while the maintenance costs weren't unexpected, I still get sticker shock if I ever have to visit a dealership's shop.

It's been relatively easy maintaining the car, but dropping ~$1300 for maintenance after the first two years of ownership was a bit unexpected from when I first got the car.

This week I'm about to drop another couple hundred to get ARP wheel studs installed, since the oem wheel studs are all breaking on me from just routine work changing brake pads. Not enjoying having to fix parts where subaru skimped on quality.

Oh, well I have a hunch you'd be getting charged about as much if you bought a base model Impreza and had it serviced at the same dealership.

Like, $1,300 I think is more than all my maintenance combined over 60k miles including spark plugs and coil packs and two transmission/diff fluid flushes...

~$500 for the spark plugs and 60k service
~$70 for the 30k transmission/differential fluid
All regular intervals are $70 including a cabin air filter = $490
ARP studs on all four corners of my car = ~$120

Yeah unless I'm being a dunce I can only come up with ~$1200 worth of regular maintenance costs over 4.5 years of ownership... I mean, I've put a gallon or two of sweat into DIY'ing the maintenance, ~4 sets of tires, 2 sets of brake pads for track/autox, mods and alignment that I'm not counting because we're just talking about the basics here...

Anyway, tl;dr dealerships are expensive as fuck and good luck when you decide to do your own oil and the drain plug is torqued to 200 ft-lbs.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by allowe

Wheel studs breaking.... ? Like how? Ur driving and they break?


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They can strip when you are taking on/off your wheels, I think the material isn't very hardy and it's very easy to get debris in there which tears the threads up right quick.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106898
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51038
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99843

They're not snapping off, the threads just wear out a lot faster than some of us expect. There's also people with a lot of abuse on their car/studs without problems.

[LudwigMiles]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

~$500 for the spark plugs and 60k service

I mean, I've put a gallon or two of sweat into DIY'ing the maintenance

Hey Strat, if you're a DIY guy, why did you pay $500 to get spark plugs changed?
Is there a reason you didn't do that yourself ?

[LudwigMiles]

Originally Posted by Terruko

Ever since I bought my FR-S it's been giving me problems, from crickets to bad TOB, and now grinding at low rpms and probably the synchros going bad. I'm thinking about just trading it in at a loss and getting something better, this car seems to be full of issues

I'm brand new to owning a BRZ, and feel bad you've being attacked for your frustrations.
I don't know the culture here, but maybe these complaints are common, and people are tired of them?
I was hoping for a tight knit forum of FRS/BRZ brothers that stick together and help each other out.

That said, I think you are justified to feel frustrated at having issues on such a new car.
One reason I got my BRZ was that I wanted my DD to be a newer car, not a projec/weekendt car.

I have read that the 2016+ fuel pump may solve the crickets problem.
If it bothers you, you should look into that.
I have not heard any in my car, so I can't judge whether you are overreacting.

It's discouraging to read about someone having clutch and synchro issues on such a new car.
I thought Toyota/Subarus are known to have reliable gearboxes.
I know Outbacks can go 200k on an original gear box.
Have you gotten someone to look at the issue?

I hope you don't give up.
It seems like the FRS is a special car, and all cars need some maintenance.
Hopefully, if you sort out these early issues, you'll have some trouble free miles ahead.

[Terruko]

Originally Posted by LudwigMiles

I'm one day into owning a BRZ, and I feel bad you've been attacked for your frustrations. I was hoping for a more tight knit community of FRS/BRZ brothers.



I think you are justified to feel frustrated at having issues. One reason I got my BRZ was that I wanted my DD to be a newer car, not a projec/weekendt car.



I have read that the 2016+ fuel pump may solve the crickets problem. If it bothers you, you should look into that. I have not heard any in my car, so I can't judge whether you are overreacting.



It's discouraging to read about someone having clutch and synchro issues on such a new car. I thought Toyota/Subarus are known to have reliable gearboxes. I know Outbacks can go 200k on an original gear box. Have you gotten someone to look at the issue?

My DD is a Toyota Sequoia 03, bought it with 50k miles on it, 135k miles later and still runs perfectly fine, I haven't done anything major to it other than regular maintenance, amazing car.

My fuel pump was replaced like 2k miles ago and haven't heard crickets ever since, and I took my car to the dealership today and apparently my transmission is bad so they'll replace it, hopefully that fixes the issues I'm having 🙂

[Capt Spaulding]

Good luck.

[e_lunatic]

I've snapped one off and had another seize after having the tires rotated at my local dealer...
never. again.

Originally Posted by strat61caster

They can strip when you are taking on/off your wheels, I think the material isn't very hardy and it's very easy to get debris in there which tears the threads up right quick.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106898
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51038
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99843

They're not snapping off, the threads just wear out a lot faster than some of us expect. There's also people with a lot of abuse on their car/studs without problems.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by LudwigMiles

Hey Strat, if you're a DIY guy, why did you pay $500 to get spark plugs changed?
Is there a reason you didn't do that yourself ?

I did. Here's how much I spent on my 60k service.

$80 spark plugs
$175 two coil packs
$70 oil and filter change
$80 transmission and diff fluid
$20 brake fluid
$10 cabin air filter
$15 engine intake filter

So I overestimated a bit and phrased it poorly, $450 and a sweaty summer afternoon.

[FR-Sky]

Originally Posted by Th3rdSun

Here,I fixed it for you.

NO you are still WRONG!!!! I drive my other "car", broken, and dump it!!!!!

JK lol.

[paulca]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Would you skip gears on a driving test in the UK?

Block shifting is perfectly acceptable on the way down the gears. Not on the way up, but those are for environmental / fuel saving guidelines rather than mechanical sympathy.

I think the most important thing about manual transmission is "Mechanical Sympathy". "Listen" to the gear box, "feel" the gear box. Don't slam, force, jam or otherwise hurt the gear box. Use the syncros gently, when it's ready it will pop into gear easily, almost pull the gear stick out of your hand into gear.

If you do that and are patient the thing will last forever.

My last GT86 got to 30k before I sold it, it never had an issue with the gear box. I frequently did 1st to 4th, 2nd to 6th, 3rd to 6th. I almost invariably do 6th to 3rd when stopping on a carriageway at lights. 6th is just too high to stop in and you can get into 3rd at pretty much any legal speed.

My car before that was a Renault Clio @ 12 years old with 90k on the clock (2nd clutch though @65k as I abused it), no gear box issues. Before that a 16 yo Clio with 80k on the clock, no gearbox issues.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by paulca

I think the most important thing about manual transmission is "Mechanical Sympathy"...

We are of exactly the same mindset.

Mechanical sympathy requires mechanical aptitude. I backed away from advocating the practice of "properly" skipping gates when I realized the wide range of understanding we see in members here. That's the one and only reason for the change in my tune.