2013 Subaru Brz

2013 SUBARU BRZ 2.0 LIMITED. I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER. FACTORY RECALL RELATING TO FA20 VALVE SPRING REPLACEMENT COMPLETED BY SHERMAN OAKS (CALIFORNIA) SUBARU IN APRIL 2019. (DROPPED CAR OFF FOR REPAIR MONDAY, 4/15/2019, RECEIVED CAR FROM DEALERSHIP ON WEDNESDAY 4/24/2019) AFTER RECEIVING CAR, FOLLOWING VALVE SPRING REPLACEMENT, NOTED SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN AVG MPG AS REPORTED BY CAR (AVERAGE WAS 25-26 MPG BEFORE RECALL REPAIRS. THIS HAD BEEN STABLE FOR YEARS. IMMEDIATELY AFTER REPAIR AVERAGE MPG AS REPORTED BY CAR WAS AROUND 14MPG.) DEALER ADVISED LEAVING CAR WITH THEM FOR DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR. RETURNED CAR TO SHERMAN OAKS SUBARU MONDAY 5/5/2019; RECEIVED CAR FROM DEALERSHIP SATURDAY 5/11/2019. DEALERSHIP'S DIAGNOSIS FAILED TO IDENTIFY A CAUSE, SEVERAL SYSTEMS CHECKED WITH NO REMARKABLE FINDINGS, "RESET OF TRIP METERS" REPORTED TO PRODUCE AVG MPG "27-30" ON DEALERSHIP'S TEST DRIVE. WHEN I PICKED UP THE CAR, CAR REPORTS ACTUAL AVERAGE MPG OF 23.3 (!); NOT "27-30" AS DESCRIBED TO ME AND STILL MARKEDLY LOWER THAN PRE-VALVE SPRING REPAIR AVERAGE MPG. AFTER DRIVING 21.9 MILES, AVERAGE MPG DECREASED FURTHER TO 22.2. SOMETHING IS CLEARLY WRONG WITH THE ENGINE FOLLOWING RECALL REPAIR. BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY ONLINE REPORTS OF SERIOUS FAILURES (E.G. FIRE, ENGINE STALLING AND THEN UNSTARTABLE) AS MILEAGE POST-REPAIR ACCUMULATES, I AM CONCERNED ABOUT DRIVING MY BRZ. (PDFS OF RELATED DEALERSHIP WORKORDERS ARE AVAILABLE IF THEY WOULD BE HELPFUL TO YOU.)

DRIVING UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS AND STARTED HEARING SOMETHING THAT SOUNDED LIKE FIREWORKS UNDER THE HOOD OF THE CAR. I IMMEDIATELY PARKED IT AND RESEARCHED. THE ISSUE APPEARED TO BE A FAILURE OF THE SEAL ON THE DIRECT INJECTOR FOR THE FUEL SYSTEM. I HAD IT REPAIRED AT THE DEALERSHIP WHERE THE CAR WAS PURCHASED. THAT TOOK SEVERAL WEEKS SINCE THE ISSUE DOESN'T CAUSE THE CAR TO REPORT A CODE OR ERROR. AFTER WEEKS OF FAILED EXPLORATION, I FORCED THE DEALERSHIP TO LOOK AT WHAT I SUSPECTED WAS CAUSING THE ISSUE. THEY DID AND VERIFIED THAT IT WAS A FAILED DIRECT INJECTOR SEAL. RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT THIS IS BECOMING A MORE COMMON ISSUE WITH THE SUBARU BRZ AND SCION FRS, WHICH ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME CAR. SCION ACKNOWLEDGES THE ISSUE WHEREAS SUBARU DOES NOT. THE REPAIR WILL TYPICALLY COST ANYWHERE FROM $1000 ON UP. BUT, IN MANY CASES, SINCE THERE'S NO CODE, THE DEALERSHIPS SEND THE CAR BACK ON THE ROAD UNTIL THE ENGINE SEIZES UP COMPLETELY. A QUICK SEARCH OF A CAR FORUM TURNED UP FIFTY OTHER CARS HAVING THE SAME ISSUE. THIS WAS JUST ONE FORUM. THAT WOULD IMPLY THERE ARE MANY OTHER UNREPORTED INCIDENTS OF A SIMILAR NATURE. I REPORTED THIS TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THROUGH SUBARU CUSTOMER SERVICE. BUT REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE ISSUE, AND THEREFORE DENY IT AS A WARRANTY CLAIM. HERE IS A LINK TO A SMALL SAMPLING OF SIMILAR ISSUES: HTTP://WWW.FT86CLUB.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=38397. *TR