Anyone not buying to avoid early issues like 1st gen FRS?

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by wbradley

I would have figured Fords or Chryslers.

I lied, my low serial number April 2012 made FS-S had 2 flaws-

Water drops in taillights, needed a foam gasket but they first swapped the lights then swapped gaskets another time. Oh well. Valentis for 6 years now and good spares are tucked away.

Oil drip from rear passenger side cam plate on to overripe shield of exhaust. Very minor, it makes the vehicle smell like a sportscar lol. I resealed it myself with better sealant for shits and giggles.

What you don't get are the yearly revisions/upgrades. Off the top of my head I missed out on:
- shark fin antenna
-console knee pads
-stitched padded instrument cover
-performance package w/upgraded brakes availability

But I got the CF looking dash facing unique to the first year Toyota products. I really like it better than every other finish since including Alcantara.

On the other hand my car was $26 CDN + frt, taxes at around $31,500 total. Full MSRP as per Scion with no complaint on my end. And I was a repeat customer. That was ideal for a starting point where performance was priority (plus the body kit). I like the manual hvac, no unnecessary bells and whistles.

Jeep
Pontiac
GM
Saturn
Mitsubishi X2
Toyota
Subaru
All were early run first model year cars.

Your improvement list is missing a pile of small but important engine upgrades that occurred but were never really advertised well. This happens with all cars over their model life though.

[TommyW]

Besides the recall debacle I haven't had 1 problem with my 13 and it sees track time. I doubt there's a car in existence that every unit will be trouble free. I bought a 911 Twin Turbo with 3,000 miles on it and I had it back to the dealer a few times to sort it out.

[Sasquachulator]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

The FA24 designation is just the basic block and displacement.
Same idea (as you touched on) that there was the FA20D and FA20F engines in the FA20 series and they were very different setups.

I believe there was only one thing shared between the two variants of FA20 (basic block i guess?) but almost all the internals were different.

I would think the FA24 setup is the same way. Its no wonder the PR speak and anyone who mentions it say its a completely new engine.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by TommyW

Besides the recall debacle I haven't had 1 problem with my 13 and it sees track time. I doubt there's a car in existence that every unit will be trouble free. I bought a 911 Twin Turbo with 3,000 miles on it and I had it back to the dealer a few times to sort it out.

This is true but playing the odds means anything beyond the early run of a first year will probably have fewer issues. No doubt the majority of even the early ones can be issue free but just the risk is higher.
One of the very worst cars we ever had was a 2005 Sunfire. It was one of the very last ones ever made and literally fell apart in under a year. This was more a case of "we don't give a shit and just slapped it together" though. If the whole idea that everything got better as the years went on with that version then that should never happen.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Sasquachulator

I believe there was only one thing shared between the two variants of FA20 (basic block i guess?) but almost all the internals were different.

I would think the FA24 setup is the same way. Its no wonder the PR speak and anyone who mentions it say its a completely new engine.

Bore and stroke.

[StE92ve]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Jeep
Pontiac
GM
Saturn
Mitsubishi X2
Toyota
Subaru
All were early run first model year cars.

Really didn't make a difference with Jeep. Didn't have an early first run vehicle and it was the worst and only American designed car that I've owned.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by StE92ve

Really didn't make a difference with Jeep. Didn't have an early first run vehicle and it was the worst and only American designed car that I've owned.

His was 1 74 and one of the very first ones to come off the assembly line. They were still a pretty good vehicle back then. Well, normally at any rate.

[Blighty]

Originally Posted by wbradley

I would have figured Fords or Chryslers.

I lied, my low serial number April 2012 made FR-S had 2 flaws-

Water drops in taillights, needed a foam gasket but they first swapped the lights then swapped gaskets another time. Oh well. Valentis for 6 years now and good spares are tucked away.

Oil drip from rear passenger side cam plate on to overripe shield of exhaust. Very minor, it makes the vehicle smell like a sportscar lol. I resealed it myself with better sealant for shits and giggles.

What you don't get are the yearly revisions/upgrades. Off the top of my head I missed out on:
- shark fin antenna
-console knee pads
-stitched padded instrument cover
-performance package w/upgraded brakes availability

But I got the CF looking dash facing unique to the first year Toyota products. I really like it better than every other finish since including Alcantara.

On the other hand my car was $26 CDN + frt, taxes at around $31,500 total. Full MSRP as per Scion with no complaint on my end. And I was a repeat customer. That was ideal for a starting point where performance was priority (plus the body kit). I like the manual hvac, no unnecessary bells and whistles.

You should of been able to order those parts in if you wanted them, nothing wrong with adding factory parts to your car. They had that nice frameless rear vision mirror on the Australian top spec 86 (GTS 86) when it released. I think half of our car club (formed in 2013!) who had Subaru's ordered them from the toyota parts bin

[Blighty]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Bore and stroke.

There is an image or video I remember seeing of the two pull completely open.

I recall that the NA version looked a heck of a lot more honeycombed.

[TAKECLEAR_86]

Saw the leaks, didn't like the car. Saw the official launch, car grew a bit on me. Still want a Supra though.

[Qwimby1]

The last time I bought a new car was shortly after gasoline was invented. My '14 Monogram edition was built in Jan 14, so I'm not sure if it's really any different than a '13. I confess I am a bit leery of it, and though I've thought abut FI, I probably won't. It has 50K now and I use 6500 as a redline and change oil at 5000. I did get lazy and go 7500 between changes once but the analysis came back fine. The TOB just started making noise so ii goes as soon as the new parts arrive.

[soundman98]

Wow, congrats on still being able to drive at 120+ years old!

https://www.aaa.com/autorepair/artic...line-come-from

[YamahaR86]

I'm pretty much over buying first year of the car. Especially when Toyota/Subaru have a habit of releasing "Special Editions" of the cars for about the same price. Release Series, TRD Version, Hakone.


My first gen didn't have major issues just stuff that appeared later on out of warranty.


I had:


Tail Light condensation
Window Indexing
Dash lifted from heat
Front Bumper cover tab broken/sag
TOB issue



Currently: Timing Chain Cover leak. Cam plate cover leak.

[Ernest72]

I would wait because sometimes they fix or improve some issues the following year. For example, the next year Supra was improved over the initial release.

But if I really needed a car and really liked the car I would buy it.