So my FR-S is officially a lemon...

[Z0rr0]

Originally Posted by style86

such a useless thread... if you're not happy with your car, just deal with it silently.

such a useless post. if you're not happy with the way the OP wants to deal with his frustration, do it silently.

[Justin.b]

Originally Posted by fistpoint

But now that you mention it I'm sure there is at least one guy at the Subaru plant that consumed a little too much wasabi during lunch or the issue wouldn't have surfaced in the first place.

I saw the 1986 Michael Keaton movie Gung Ho, and truly believe it accurately reflects Japanese versus American auto(fat, unionized, drunk) workers. Read your newspapers, tons of stories of US automaker employees clocking in then going to a bar.

Wasabi is not a drink.

-Justin

[DarkSunrise]

I can understand OP's frustration in having to take a new car in for repeated warranty work. I probably wouldn't go the lemon-law route though (if it's even feasible), perhaps instead ask Toyota to compensate you for your trouble? I think one month's payment would easily cover it, just my opinion.

[Justin.b]

A car payment would be quite a bit of compensation for a cosmetic issue.

I don't know if fogged tail lights is going to rise to the level of a "defect which
substantially impairs the use, value or safety of the vehicle" to trigger the lemon law anyway.

-Justin

[FirestormFRS]

Originally Posted by White Shadow

Actually, that's incorrect. I read a fairly comprehensive technical article on this subject. The design is not Toyota's, although it obviously has to be approved by them. If you looked at the design of each separate pedal assembly, they are completely different in the way that they operate. Yet both were acceptable to Toyota, so I guess some of the blame should be placed on them.

If I can find a link to the article, I'll post it for everyone to read.

Edit:

This isn't the same article, but it does go into a little bit of detail on the differences between the two pedals (one is CTS and the other is Denso). It is important to keep in mind that CTS (who manufactures the flawed pedal) made the claim that the pedal is built to Toyota's design specifications. While that may be true, the design is their own and has been used in other make/models of cars. Toyota did approve it though. Anyway, here's the link that I found after just a quick search. It's not the best article, but it's still an interesting read:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...r-denso-pedal/

"The products we supply to Toyota, including the pedals covered by the recent recall, have been manufactured to Toyota’s design specifications,"

Toyota accepted that the problem was "ultimately our responsibility".

http://www.mississauga.com/news/arti...o-blame-toyota read this article.

[White Shadow]

Originally Posted by FirestormFRS

"The products we supply to Toyota, including the pedals covered by the recent recall, have been manufactured to Toyota’s design specifications,"

Toyota accepted that the problem was "ultimately our responsibility".

http://www.mississauga.com/news/arti...o-blame-toyota read this article.

Like I said, Toyota is ultimately responsible because they approved the CTS pedal assembly for use in their cars. But the pedal assembly was NOT designed by Toyota. It's a CTS design. The Denso pedal, which is also used by Toyota, is a COMPLETELY different design. That should help you understand that those two suppliers bought their own design to the table and Toyota approved them for use in their cars. And of course the design had to within Toyota's specifications...that much should be obvious. You can't just slap a pedal in a modern car unless it will work with the DBW system electronics.

If you still think that Toyota somehow designed the CTS pedal, then explain to me why the Denso pedals use a different design. It would be really easy for Toyota to tell two different contractors to build a pedal assembly off of their own blueprints and what you'd end up with is two identical pedal assemblies made by two completely different suppliers.

[Rayme]

Originally Posted by White Shadow

Like I said, Toyota is ultimately responsible because they approved the CTS pedal assembly for use in their cars. But the pedal assembly was NOT designed by Toyota. It's a CTS design. The Denso pedal, which is also used by Toyota, is a COMPLETELY different design. That should help you understand that those two suppliers bought their own design to the table and Toyota approved them for use in their cars. And of course the design had to within Toyota's specifications...that much should be obvious. You can't just slap a pedal in a modern car unless it will work with the DBW system electronics.

If you still think that Toyota somehow designed the CTS pedal, then explain to me why the Denso pedals use a different design. It would be really easy for Toyota to tell two different contractors to build a pedal assembly off of their own blueprints and what you'd end up with is two identical pedal assemblies made by two completely different suppliers.

It's funny though, that older drivers were more prone to receive that "defective" CTS pedal assembly in their Toyotas than anyone else!

http://www.businessinsider.com/a-dee...t-stats-2010-3

[White Shadow]

Originally Posted by ottopilot

It's funny though, that older drivers were more prone to receive that "defective" CTS pedal assembly in their Toyotas than anyone else!

http://www.businessinsider.com/a-dee...t-stats-2010-3

Don't confuse two different issues. There really was an issue with the pedal. The issue with the "runaway" cars wasn't the same issue. That was driver error. I said from day one that there's not a car on earth that can overpower it's own brakes.

BTW, there was also an issue with Toyota accelerator pedals getting stuck on an improper floor mat when the driver put the pedal to the floor. That was yet another issue that Toyota had to deal with around the same time.

[fistpoint]

Originally Posted by Justin.b

Wasabi is not a drink.

-Justin

I know this, it is still consumable...especially during lunch.

[jadewbj]

Originally Posted by frsinpa

I think it's really difficult to make a statement like that.. there is no real definitive way to say that is the case.

I've gone through a bunch of tail lights and the problem still persists, so it's tough for me to agree with a statement like that.

It has nothing to do with the body of the car. Water getting in-between the tail and body would not cause condensation as long as the tail light is sealed. The problem is the seal gets cracked on assembly.

Now do I think they should be able to design a tail light that isn't so fragile, yes. Is it a flaw of the body, no.

Sorry.

[frsinpa]

Here's some updated pics...


comment: right tail light. this is the 3rd tail light i've gone through. so it looks like some water is starting to seep in.. gotta go get that warrantied for the 3rd time


comment: left tail light. definitely need to get this warrantied as well.

[mact]

Has anyone attempted a DIY remedy for this issue? I can't help but to think this problem can be EASILY solved by some cheap weather-proof silicone stuff from the hardware store.

[bestwheelbase]

Originally Posted by mact

Has anyone attempted a DIY remedy for this issue?

[fistpoint]

Originally Posted by mact

Has anyone attempted a DIY remedy for this issue? I can't help but to think this problem can be EASILY solved by some cheap weather-proof silicone stuff from the hardware store.

I'm pretty sure just reading the directions provided would alleviate all these issues. A stubborn technician who refuses to believe anything other than the star pattern of tightening is the culprit.

OP might even have told him directly to his face and he still ignored it because he has customers trying to tell him how to do his job every day. In this case, the customer is right though.