I mean, as far as HG issues are concerned... just buy the car expecting it to need them, and factor that into the price of the car. once you have them properly done, it's unlikely you'll need to do them again in your ownership... it's not like it's an every-20k sort of thing.

 

Possibly looking at this FRS as a DD purchase today.

$17,200 - 2014, monogram trim, 6spd with 47k miles. Open to opinions & don't do its.

 

Woah woah woah. Don't steal my thread. Lol. I ask the dumb questions.

I wouldn't buy a FRS/BRZ after seeing what some people have been going through with them.

 

I totally would rock a furzz/burzz.
I was even eyeing them before the mulletstang.
Sexy little cars, and really cool overall IF you're ok with no torque/power basically.

 

My car is also a 2002 with 150k on it with 13 of those years spent on PA roads all year round and the remaining 2 spent in MA (worse snow/salt).

I bought the car factoring the age and need of work into my car. Outside of a few annoyances, I don't regret it. I have absolutely no problem getting anywhere in the winter. The car came with a spare set of wheels with blizzaks mounted. I bought a set of wrx takeoffs with good tires (150 bucks off a subaru group) for daily wheels when I got sick of staring at the steelies.

I drove a 92 camry in college and my mom drove it for a few years after that since she lost her job and sold her new civic (which she hated). I was in boston so I didn't want to have a car. Even that camry eventually needed a new engine and then it ran till it was totaled.

 

What all have you heard? I vaguely remember what's been said on here. A member had one die at a light? And some trans crunching from z31maniac.

This one is pretty clean from the photos . I'll keep it OEM looking through warranty, do extras after. A-Ok with power delivery, ex-gf bought a 2015 and it was enough fun to drive.

I also found a 2013 FRS at a different dealer, but it had exhaust, an intake pipe. Higher miles, lowest base trim, crap radio... Orange

 

I've put 10k miles on a stock '14 BRZ daily driving the last year and a half, and I really enjoy it. Only mod so far is snow tires.

Here's what annoys me about it:

• A couple of rattles from the interior - worse when it's cold
• Oscillating idle when the A/C is on
• Seems over-sprung. Rough over bad roads, which are legion in Iowa. (much more comfortable on the 16" winter tires, also surprisingly capable on gravel)
• Sound tube to cabin (I removed this)
• Clutch is kind of wonky
• Stereo is not good
• ugly rear spoiler is ugly. Heavy-ish narrow-ish wheels and unsightly wheel gap
• dealer drilled holes in front bumper to mount license plate
• sounds like poorly maintained tractor
• ft86 forum is abysmal

All of these things can be fixed, most of them easily. I'm about to pay it off so I can feel better about making a few modifications. I love the simplicity of the car - there really isn't much else like it on the market. It's close to the car I always wanted someone to make, so I felt compelled to vote with my wallet. You need to think of it as fixed roof miata with more practical cargo room, or a modern incarnation of a S30 240z. Not a GT car like the Mustang, Camaro, 370z, etc. I really like the styling (except the front bumper on the '17 toyota), and I envision it aging well. I think used ones are a good value - I got mine for $21k out the door with under 7k miles. That's a lot of fun for 20 grand with a warranty.

The car seems fast enough to me, but I don't race any minivans unless there are corners. I will probably go after the easily available 30whp from E85, Tune, and Header. It's fun to be able to redline it on your commute and not commit a felony.

 

Thanks for your thoughtful reply, if I do end up getting it. It's just for me to keep '6-speed fun' for daily commute and a little extra room for everything else.

 

/\ spot on.

And with a mild drop and some wheels, I think they are super sexy.
Interior ergonomics/placement/shape is perfect imo too

 

I think an FRS with a JRSC and MCS would pretty much be the perfect car. That '15 for $17k and another $10k or so for mods, happy as can be.

 

And then toss in bigger port injectors, smaller pulley, e85 re-tune, and clutch, and be even happier

 

There's a swapped MR2 in the classifieds here!

 

yeah, everyone drools over it and ooh and ahhs, and no one gets it.


.....for a very good reason

 

I've got a buddy with a turbo BRZ. Garrett 2554 running 6-7 psi for a few years. He's had very few issues over that time and seems real happy. Turbo is a pain to install on that motor though!

 

Whoa!
Any pics of that setup? Or dyno plot? That seems severely undersized for that engine's top end flow, but I'd expect a pretty sweet lowend torque curve.

 

And, what would that be? I've lusted after a MR2 ever since they ditched the boxy look. But they always are priced a little higher than I think they should be for their age.

 

Well, I haven't personally owned one, so take the following with a grain of ridetheclit, but:

A buddy who owned at least 2 was having to wrench on them often. The engine is strong, but much of the stuff around it is not, or not reliable, or both, I don't know. He replaced the trans at least twice, and then there's the gigantic pain in the tush of actually working on them, it's in about the worst area you can possibly imagine, so wrenching on them is a pain. It's an old car, and there weren't many to begin with, so parts aren't super easy to come by too.

Even aidan dumped his after what, like 2 weeks? granted, it was a high mileage neglected turd, but still

 

Thanks for that.

Realistically, if I was going to spend 7 to 10 grand for an older car, it'd be something like a early 2000's Boxter. Still a nightmare to work on (parts are retarded expensive), but at least it's a Porsche.

 

I thought it was a 2554, but maybe I'm not remembering correctly, I'll ask him. It was a real small turbo though. No dyno plots, and I have pics, but they are pretty much useless because you can't see any of the good bits. He hasn't had issues with trans or anything else and just about everything else on the car is stock. He keeps talking about bigger injectors and e85 but he doesn't really have a convenient station and it's his daily. The turbo

Useless pics (that's me in the photo helping with the install):

 

avo kit? if so, then definitely not a 2554