Scion FR-S Owner: Fed Up With Poor Quality Control [pics]

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by frsinpa

No need to troll... it's actually a pretty antisocial and counterproductive activity.

Dude seriously? The "sigh" was me "feeling your pain" because you already did the TSB and the persistent condensation sucks.

I swear... some people.

[Sigh-on-Rice]

Originally Posted by jadewbj

Are you sure they replaced the tail light like they were supposed to the first time. Could be a crappy dealer trying to silicone it. It is a faulty part that cracks and needs to be replaced with an updated part per the TSB.

I start to wonder that this might be the reason. It might be a good idea to leave some kind of mark that they wouldn't know before bringing the car in for this issue.

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by Sigh-on-Rice

I start to wonder that this might be the reason. It might be a good idea to leave some kind of mark that they wouldn't know before bringing the car in for this issue.

Absolutely.

Also, the point of the TSB to remedy the problem. If the problem is addressed by the dealer but yields no remedy why wouldn't the owner return and tell the service manager, "Hey, you didn't fix what you're required to fix, please have do it again and do it right this time."?

OP: just call the dealership, you'd be amazed at what a phone call to the service manager will do.

[Mr.Jay]

Mine have already been replaced and not my 2nd set has started to leak too

The dealership checked for me and saw that the lights are back ordered badly

Also you should of expected this for a brand brand new car really. 1st gen car are always plagued with problems

[frsinpa]

Originally Posted by jadewbj

Are you sure they replaced the tail light like they were supposed to the first time. Could be a crappy dealer trying to silicone it. It is a faulty part that cracks and needs to be replaced with an updated part per the TSB.

Nope - it was indeed replaced. The tail light had a bunch of fog in it and then 20 minutes later they installed a brand new one.

I'm very confident that they fixed the initial problem in the first place when they installed the new tail light, but now the same issue is occurring with the new tail light that they installed. Not good.

Originally Posted by Mr.Jay

Mine have already been replaced and not my 2nd set has started to leak too

The dealership checked for me and saw that the lights are back ordered badly

Also you should of expected this for a brand brand new car really. 1st gen car are always plagued with problems

Ah, bummer.. sorry to hear that you're in the same boat.

[Laika]

Originally Posted by RRnold

Even thought I can't 100% feel your frustration, I do feel sorry for those who have to go through these problems.

Don't. There's no reason to get bent out of shape about stuff like this as long as the warranty fixes it right up for free. The car isn't going to drive any differently. I find it as "annoying" as everyone else does, having to deal with these little niggles but I just see it as a chance to test my Subaru dealership on how good their customer service is.

With that said maybe I just have a different view on it because my dealership does take care of these things quickly.

[avp1]

Now we need to figure out who designed the tail light, Subaru or Toyota!

This part is likely neither Toyota's nor Subaru's. Small components are made my third party manufacturers. I had similar problem with Mazda. My tail lights were replaced twice. And when condensation developed third time, and car was already out of warranty, I bought a tube of transparent silicon sealant and fill up all space between two pieces that make the body of tail light. They are supposed to be glued, but apparently glue is not good enough. I never had this problem ever since. I would suspect that Subaru uses the same supplier as Mazda do, hence the same problem.

[Superhatch]

^ Well, one of them likely designed it, and I think that's the flaw, not the quality of the part itself. Even if it were the part, the quality of the pieces used is determined by and approved by the company who designed it.

If I get a 2nd bad light Ill just uninstall on my own, dry, and silicon as you did.

[Superhatch]

Originally Posted by TonyJZX

wow 1st world problems

Seriously, this is the lamest reply to a thread on a car forum. Every problem on this forum is a 1st world problem, and complaining about an issue with your new car doesn't mean you're an elitist wall street banker who sleeps on a mattress stuffed with $100s and has no compassion for the plight of the poor or downtrodden. Diaf.

Next time just post "-1" and save yourself the time spent on extra keystrokes, either way you'll be a ****.

[Sigh-on-Rice]

Originally Posted by Laika

Don't. There's no reason to get bent out of shape about stuff like this as long as the warranty fixes it right up for free. The car isn't going to drive any differently. I find it as "annoying" as everyone else does, having to deal with these little niggles but I just see it as a chance to test my Subaru dealership on how good their customer service is.

With that said maybe I just have a different view on it because my dealership does take care of these things quickly.

1) Tail light condensation!!!
2) Use a vacation day to get this fixed.
3) Tail light condensation again!!!
4) Use another vacation day to get this fixed.
5) Tail light condensation AGAIN!!!
6) Use ANOTHER vacation day to get this fixed.

But you're still ok with it because it's "free"...
And you wouldn't feel bad at all spending your vacation days for this.

Is this what you're saying?

[Laika]

Originally Posted by Sigh-on-Rice

1) Tail light condensation!!!
2) Use a vacation day to get this fixed.
3) Tail light condensation again!!!
4) Use another vacation day to get this fixed.
5) Tail light condensation AGAIN!!!
6) Use ANOTHER vacation day to get this fixed.

But you're still ok with it because it's "free"...
And you wouldn't feel bad at all spending your vacation days for this.

Is this what you're saying?

I'm not sure why you had to use up a vacation day for this...I just drop my car off at the dealership in the evening, grab the keys to a loaner Forester and go on my way.

[Zadkiel]

Originally Posted by Superhatch

I'm assuming that he went to the Toyota dealership for replacement.

Now we need to figure out who designed the tail light, Subaru or Toyota!

Toyota did the design parts, so technically it was Toyota who designed the light to look that way. Wether or not that means it's their fault due to the visual design and the mounting points is the question. Subaru did all the engineering, mechanicals, and chassis. Toyota was mainly the interior, exterior and design work, if I remember correctly.

[Sigh-on-Rice]

Originally Posted by Laika

I'm not sure why you had to use up a vacation day for this...I just drop my car off at the dealership in the evening, grab the keys to a loaner Forester and go on my way.

lol, you're so right. I don't need to use vacation days for this. I don't know what I was thinking. And I actually don't mind driving a loaner car for a day here and there to have a different feel too. It probably only costs me 30 minutes of my time each trip.

[Mango22]

Originally Posted by Sasquachulator

Wouldnt it technicaly be a Subaru quality control since like 90% of the car is subaru and its built in a Subaru plant? And Subaru's had some quality control issues from what ive heard......

doesnt hurt to yell in their direction too

My BMW had the same issue with the headlights and I had to go back several times before they replaced them with non-defective parts. These condensation problems don't usually show up until the cars are exposed to the elements over time, which is usually why they aren't noticed until customers put a few miles on the car. Usually the parts they use to replace the defective parts are already in the distribution cycle before they have a chance to replace them with non-defective parts. That's why you got one original and 2 replacements of defective taillights. Your dealership may have already had the lights in stock so they unknowingly replaced them with more defective parts. Toyota/Subaru will just need to make sure to replace the "already distributed defective parts" and have the dealerships send back any parts that fall under a certain numerical identifier.
My BMW was an 2008 135i so it was one of the first off the production line and
Like Toyota/Subaru, BMW quickly made a TSB and the issue was cleared up within about six months, which by then everyone with a new 135 would have had their oil change service and therefore had the TSB completed at the same time.
Hang in there and don't write this wonderful car off so quickly. This is just one of the pains of being one of the first year production FRS/BRZ owners. And as for the dealership service depts, well...it's kind of expected. They implement TSBs all day long and your car is just one of many having some sort of TSB done. They follow the TSB and have a process to ensure reimbursement from the manufacturer. So until the manufacturer says, stop using parts xxxx, they just keep chugging along and use the parts they have in stock.