Servicing my FR-S at Subaru dealer rather than Scion dealer

[tibsy92]

Originally Posted by Xanatos

Wow if Toyota is saying this thats the dumbest thing I've ever heard. The car came out of a Subaru factory and both cars are identical under the hood. If it's just regular maintenance service both companies should have the same service protocols. And if you go to Subaru with your 86 Toyota saves money by not having to service your vehicle.

That's what I always thought.. subaru guy told me he will only touch brz's.. and I stated the 86 is made by subaru badged by Toyota.. it's the same car, except a few little cosmetics..
Toyota says it will void all warranty if I go other than Toyota service..

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by tibsy92

That's what I always thought.. subaru guy told me he will only touch brz's.. and I stated the 86 is made by subaru badged by Toyota.. it's the same car, except a few little cosmetics..
Toyota says it will void all warranty if I go other than Toyota service..

Wow, that would never happen in the US.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by 20valvewynn83

Its just an oil change not to hard for anyone to do.

Not to scare anyone, but once at a VW dealership, they forgot to change out my oil filter. Apparently that's happened to other people as well -- not to mention overfilled oil, undertightened/overtightened drain bolts, undertorqued wheel lugs, etc.

When I get work done on my car, I make sure to double-check the basics.

[Marrk]

Questions:

1) Will parts for the FR-S be badged SCION or SUBARU?

2) Don't Subaru techs have more experience than Toyota/Scion techs when it comes to flat-4s?

3) What type of valve adjustment does the FA-20 have? Rocker arms with screw-type adjusters? What are the valve adjustment intervals? Is it one of those situations where the book says adjust at 100k mi., but everyone does it at 30k cause that's the reality (kinda like on my Fit)?

4) Scion Boost service plan comes with the car?


Mucho thanks.

[Turbowned]

Originally Posted by Marrk

Questions:

1) Will parts for the FR-S be badged SCION or SUBARU?

2) Don't Subaru techs have more experience than Toyota/Scion techs when it comes to flat-4s?

3) What type of valve adjustment does the FA-20 have? Rocker arms with screw-type adjusters? What are the valve adjustment intervals? Is it one of those situations where the book says adjust at 100k mi., but everyone does it at 30k cause that's the reality (kinda like on my Fit)?

4) Scion Boost service plan comes with the car?


Mucho thanks.

1. No Scion parts are ever badged "SCION". They are badged "Toyota", just like Lexus parts. They even come in "Toyota" packaging. In the case of the FR-S though, a majority of the parts will come in Toyota packaging but say "Subaru" on the part. Even the Scion wheel center caps say "Subaru" on the back. Seriously, go take a look!

2. Generally speaking, yes. However Toyota technicians are required to be trained and certified on the FR-S and the boxer engine. It really doesn't matter because the maintenance required applies to all vehicles, regardless of drivetrain layout. Even if your engine blows it doesn't matter because they'll replace either the short block or long block assembly, which any competent technician should be able to do on a 4 cylinder car. We're not talking about a 12-cylinder Lamborghini engine, here.

3. I don't know, hopefully someone will chime in. I've never heard of anyone doing a valve adjustment on a Subaru or Toyota engine before 100k miles.

4. Yes, Scion Boost is included in the purchase price of the car.

[Marrk]

Originally Posted by Turbowned

1. No Scion parts are ever badged "SCION". They are badged "Toyota", just like Lexus parts. They even come in "Toyota" packaging. In the case of the FR-S though, a majority of the parts will come in Toyota packaging but say "Subaru" on the part. Even the Scion wheel center caps say "Subaru" on the back. Seriously, go take a look!

2. Generally speaking, yes. However Toyota technicians are required to be trained and certified on the FR-S and the boxer engine. It really doesn't matter because the maintenance required applies to all vehicles, regardless of drivetrain layout. Even if your engine blows it doesn't matter because they'll replace either the short block or long block assembly, which any competent technician should be able to do on a 4 cylinder car. We're not talking about a 12-cylinder Lamborghini engine, here.

3. I don't know, hopefully someone will chime in. I've never heard of anyone doing a valve adjustment on a Subaru or Toyota engine before 100k miles.

4. Yes, Scion Boost is included in the purchase price of the car.

Thanks for your response, Turbo'.


Follow-Up:

2) What's a "Toyota technician"? Whenever I go into a dealer service department with a problem on a service job, they tell me, "This time we will have our 'Master Technician' handle your car." My understanding is that they have factory trained "Master Technicians," then they have these other guys who are mechanics, but not necessarily mechanics with recent factory training. Also: "any competent technician" can work on a head with PI and DI? Really?

4) It seems odd to me that there are at least a few people here that would let a car go 100k miles without even checking the valves. Perhaps you good gentlemen are content to follow the factory recommendations, no matter if it flies in the face of real world experience, but I find that to be an risky proposition.

[Turbowned]

Originally Posted by Marrk

2) What's a "Toyota technician"? Whenever I go into a dealer service department with a problem on a service job, they tell me, "This time we will have our 'Master Technician' handle your car." My understanding is that they have factory trained "Master Technicians," then they have these other guys who are mechanics, but not necessarily mechanics with recent factory training. Also: "any competent technician" can work on a head with PI and DI? Really?

4) It seems odd to me that there are at least a few people here that would let a car go 100k miles without even checking the valves. Perhaps you good gentlemen are content to follow the factory recommendations, no matter if it flies in the face of real world experience, but I find that to be an risky proposition.

I suppose it's probably better that a Toyota technician answer this question, but this should explain the difference between a basic technician and a Master technician:
http://www.autopi.com/ASEcertifications.htm

Not all technicians in a facility must be ASE certified, however all receive some form of Toyota factory training, and are required to complete a set amount of training per year to keep them up on the technology and model year changes, etc.


Again, as far as valvetrain adjustments are concerned, nowhere in my experience have I seen any valvetrain adjustments during the length of my employment at Toyota nor in personal experience owning several Toyotas, or any of my friends' experience owning several Subarus. I suppose it couldn't hurt to check valve lash adjustment during a spark plug change as you're already going to be there...

[BlaineWasHere]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

Say that to the WRX owners who had their transmissions emptied and crankcases double-filled at quick lube places.

This could happen to anyone in any car (not just WRX) at any bull-shit lube place.

However it has very very little to do with the Scion vs. Subaru dealer service discussion in this thread.

It's a new car to BOTH dealers!!!! Just because you've never been serviced at the Scion/Toyota dealer doesn't mean they have poor service, maybe they are even better?!? Also like others have stated the Subaru dealer will have to charge you for FREE service and warranty work because your car is not a Subaru.

[Chad]

I'm going to be ordering my FR-S through a local Toyota dealership (no Scion dealerships anywhere in this province). I'm just doubting that their technicians will have adequate training being that I will be the only one with an FR-S in a 600km radius. However we do have a Subaru dealership and there are about 4 BRZ's in the area. What should I do for service? Just try and trust the Toyota dealership?

[RedLeader]

If you take your Scion (toyota) to a toyota dealership and they fuck up the maintenance and there is damage done to your car, your warranty will cover that damage. Likely they'll try to weasel out of it, but some things (like that WRX story form early in this thread) are hard to blame on something else. If you take your scion to a subaru dealership and THEY fuck it up somehow, your warranty is far less likely to cover it, and you'll have to pay for the service, AND the repairs to fix whatever damage they did.

[coyote]

Originally Posted by tibsy92

Down in Sydney, I was told if I go subaru service centre my Toyota warranty will be voided..

The person who told you that is lying and has contravened the Trade Practices Act in order to intimidate you into using their services.

What you need to do is call or email the ACCC and report his/her actions as that's the only way to stop these liars from misleading customers.

Your local ACCC contact is:

David Badewitz
02 9230 9166
david.badewitz@accc.gov.au

I know it's easier to just let is slide, but this kind of deception only occurs because no-one ever reports it.

[tibsy92]

Originally Posted by coyote

The person who told you that is lying and has contravened the Trade Practices Act in order to intimidate you into using their services.

What you need to do is call or email the ACCC and report his/her actions as that's the only way to stop these liars from misleading customers.

Your local ACCC contact is:

David Badewitz
02 9230 9166
david.badewitz@accc.gov.au

I know it's easier to just let is slide, but this kind of deception only occurs because no-one ever reports it.

Yeah that's true.. built by subaru and badged by Toyota.. only seemed logical to me.
I think I'd rather take it to a subaru specialist rather than subaru service centre.. due tot better customer relation, .no deceptive overcharged work..

But thanks for going to the effort of even finding my local contact... appreciate it. Shall give him a call tomorrow