On the edge

[Alang]

I have an iPhone 4S but now the 5 is out. I really want one but in six months the 5s will be out. If you wait for the '14 then the '15 will come out after it. You'll never keep up with development so don't bother.
What you really need to decide is, do you want an 86?
If you do then go and buy one!

[switchlanez]

I was originally going to wait for the '14 model at least. But every extra month of waiting is like losing an extra month of life that could have been greater. Your life situation may change and put this car out of the question. Why passively wait to live a life you can actively live right now? Enjoy the car now and let warranty/recalls/TSBs cover major bugs (which an overwhelming majority of owners aren't getting). There will still be changes made every year even after the '14 has its improvements.

I've owned a few cars from their 1st year of production with no problems. The second year may iron out some first year gremlins. But I believe the Subaru/Toyota engineers delivered a robust enough first year model as the "gremlins" aren't necessarily something to panic about (noted below). The iconic race/competition/special build/show cars are being immortalized in the first year. This gives first model year cars an air of coolness even with all its quirks. Every model year following the first year will have updates so the "wait for improvements" mentality means you theoretically can't get the most bulletproof version til the last year. A generation change will be in the works by then. Tada-san stated you will be able to bolt-on yearly updates to your first model year car so not worries, really!

A note about the CEL/idle issue... I don't think there's a 100% fix for it yet and you can't necessarily expect it to be 100% fixed for 2014 or 2015 or beyond. The 2000 MR-S had a similar/more catastrophic failure (pre-cat failure along with poor piston ring seal design). People who waited for bugs to be ironed out by the 2001 model year did not have any fix for this problem. It wasn't til mid-2001 or 2002 did they start revising things which still didn't fix the problem 100%. They ended up revising the piston rings twice and the pre-cats throughout the years and it still was never 100% fixed as the final model years still saw some pre-cat failures. The idle issue on the BRZ/86, in comparison, is extremely rarely catastrophic. A few months ago, a software TSB was officially released. It's still the only fix through now. The failure rate (out of 16,000 cars now? as someone stated) after TSB is probably not as bad as the vocal affected few make it out to be. ~97% of us don't see any signs of this problem which is probably a good number even for any make/model/year car in general. That may even be a pretty normal number for a mass-produced car that doesn't have a hand-built engine. It's just that we, being enthusiasts, are so exceptionally observant and vocal on the most technical of problems that, otherwise, wouldn't get blown up and documented by a community if it were a different mass-produced car for the common person.

[fredk]

I picked mine up two weeks ago and could not be more impressed with this car. It has a build date of 10/12 and has none of the little issues some of the first cars had, none.

My old car was an A4 2.8 quattro and this cars blows it away. Love it.

[FRiSson]

Originally Posted by xanth123

Where can I find reliable info on the '14 models?

In about 18 months.

[GNS]

Read this about speculated changes, then read post #12 and #17

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8025

[IntotheOcean]

Honestly if your budget allows it Id get the car now.
The 2014 probably wont be for sale till May/June (And that's just assuming)
Everything you read online will pretty much be rumors.

[sittinSideways]

Got my FRS a few days ago, I think it's been sitting on the lot for a month. It has tail light condensation but that's the only issuem I've noticed so far.

[kthxbai]

Originally Posted by RRnold

That depends on if you really have to have to car now or are you ok by waiting for the '14's? Weigh out your odds and think about it b/c once you've signed the paperwork, it's yours. I've been waiting for this car since '07 and to hear the issues owners are having is only helping me prolong the purchase of this car.

@RRnold is posing the correct question here....in addition, do you "need" a car in the foreseeable future or do you just want 'this' car because it's what's trending now?

If you are more concerned about what the car will come with, then I would say wait for '14 model as there might be one or two bells and whistles that was not available on the '13 model. All cars will have their issues (first gen or not) and not every CEL is fatal...this is what a manufacturer's warranty is for (given you have used the car under the manufacturers recommendations). But if the unknown bells and whistles of a newer model car and the potential issues that could come with the first of the first gen model makes you pause for a second on purchasing this car then you might as well wait for the Release Series 1.0 FR-S to come out as it will probably be fitted with a one of a kind Five Axis kit, dressed with TRD accessories from top to bottom, and be 1 of 1500 owners to have this car.

If this is the car you've been waiting for for more than a year or two, there is nothing stopping you from getting the car that you want. Don't let one lousy salesman keep you from this machine, there are plenty of cars waiting to be adopted and just as many honest salesman who are willing to work with you. Just do your research ahead of time, i.e find the car you want, with the options you want, know what you can afford, and find a creditable dealership to make your purchase.

Not only did I need a car as my previous car turned 16 years old this year and was dying a slow death, this car was everything I could have asked for in an affordable entry level sports car. When I finally was ready to purchase the car, it took me a week to find the car and bought it in 3.5 hours. I've waited for this car since the FT-86 was an idea in R&D, the wait was worth it as I am amazed everyday I get to live my dream by driving this car.

[l0aded]

I dont get whats the problem everyones talking about. I read about a "chirping" sound but there was a TSB that fixed that issue and all newer models came don't have it. What other major issues are there?

[wrxgoose]

just look at what sooby did to the wrx. 2002 had the bug eyes, which iirc looked the best, then 2003 they made em look squinty

[xanth123]

I have a honda accord '96 atm. But I'm buying a new car because I've had it for awhile and wanted to drive something new. The upside is my sister totaled her car, so I can just give her my car.

Seems like its set will be getting it around Feb. or so.

Thanks for the inputs!

[switchlanez]

Originally Posted by l0aded

I dont get whats the problem everyones talking about. I read about a "chirping" sound but there was a TSB that fixed that issue and all newer models came don't have it. What other major issues are there?

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15577

Roughly less than 20 in this community are documented as could not be or are in the process of being repaired out of 16,000 sold. Considering this is a sports car that's bound to be revved hard during or after the break-in period, you'd expect some catastrophic failures (aka lemons) regardless of factory fixes or years after the model's introduction. Hence, the 20 failures figure seems ordinary for a sports car even if we were to multiply it to account for unreported failures. Plus reported incidents have slowed these last few months which tells me the ECU update is a true fix (and likely the final and only fix). The unfixable few are just anomalies which we may continue to see every year partly because race car. One way to fix the anomalies may be to stop mass producing the engines and start building by hand with greater precision.

And the fuel pump chrip issue has been seen on other Subarus for years and is still being observed. The cause is mostly due to the fuel people use having some sort of ethanol mix which the manual does not recommend. My crickets went away after I switched to the recommended 93 octane with no ethanol. Never had to do the fuel pump TSB. Even people who did the revised the fuel pump TSB still hear the chirp. Fuel type and the engine being a typical noisy Subaru are the true culprits. I could be wrong but I wouldn't attribute this to being a 1st year issue... there's debate on this if you search those threads.

Originally Posted by xanth123

I have a honda accord '96 atm. But I'm buying a new car because I've had it for awhile and wanted to drive something new. The upside is my sister totaled her car, so I can just give her my car.

Seems like its set will be getting it around Feb. or so.

Thanks for the inputs!

Cool, hope everything works out.

[armythug]

To each his own but mine was built in November. I took delivery recently. I haven't had any issues so far. Considering the fact that I know when mine was built, I'm actually not expecting to see these issues. so on that note I honestly believe that anything being built at this time will be fine. So you can go ahead and buy one, or continue to wait forever. Your call.

[Aetyrno]

Originally Posted by kthxbai

@RRnold is posing the correct question here....in addition, do you "need" a car in the foreseeable future or do you just want 'this' car because it's what's trending now?

I agree with this completely This is a large part of why I cancelled my BRZ deposit. I do not need a car, and I especially did not need a $28,000 car.

Answer this question for yourself. Don't debate, just your first gut feeling.

This car will cost you around $25,000. If someone were to offer to give you EITHER $25,000 cash or this car, which would you take?

Would you take the money? Save your 25 grand for something else.

Take the car? Go buy it ASAP.