Freddy McShreddy: Midlife Crisis FRS thingy

A little backstory:

I haven't purchased a car for myself over the lowly sum of $1800 for about a decade. It's kinda my thing. Buy something or possibly barter for labor, spend more than the vehicle is worth making it roadworthy, get bored, and eventually sell it on to someone else for a fraction of the investment. I like that whatever I brought back to life causes some smiles for me or the future owner, but I'm tired. Tired of going through the same motions, so I've decided I deserve something that's a little more modern. Working A/C is cool, and mileage on the odometer lower than 150k is kinda cool too. So, after much deliberating, I decided to buy the car I've been wanting for a few years now. A Scion FRS. Today I picked up a well prepped example for $14k cash monies about 3 hours from my house. It's a 2013 with loads of suspension, interior goodies, and other performance parts totaling about $13k. My wife thinks it's beautiful, the kids love it, and honestly I'm still in shock. The sticker price is 7 times my normal rate and I feel like it's the best money I've ever spent.

Anyway, there's a couple things to mention about the car. It's a 2013, so I need to get the recall done right? Nope. This one has a 2016 motor in it. This is a one owner car, and apparently the valve spring or springs let go before the recall was ever a thing, destroying the factory motor. The dealership said the ECU was fried, so there was no way to confirm it was a factory fault. That sucks some heavy donkey D. Instead of sending it to the dump for scrap though, Mr. Previous Owner found a newer 2016 motor/trans with low miles in the 20k range, and swapped it in. After that he kinda went wild on suspension work. The odometer currently says around 57k miles, but the drivetrain only has about 30-35k, and the suspension 10k. The body is in excellent condition, everything has been meticulously detailed more often than I would ever do, and the car runs flawless. The interior has some nice tasteful updates to look less 2 Fast 2 Furry with all the silver bits swapped out for black.

So here's the basic list of goodies that came with the car, and I'm pretty sure there's other stuff not listed:

Raceseng Shock Top Rear Upper Mount - $335 Whiteline Adjustable End Links (Front) - $120 Perrin Steering Rack Lock - $89 Whiteline Lower Control Arm Inner Bushing (Rear) - $45 Whiteline Rear Trailing Arm Bushing (Front, Lower) - $72 Whiteline Steering Rack & Pinion Mounts - $40 Whiteline Control Arm Inner Bushing (Front) - $45 Whiteline Positive Traction Kit - $40 Whiteline Upper Control Arm Bushing (Rear) - $130 SPC Camber Bolt Kit (Front) - $23 Whiteline Roll Center / Bump Steer Kit (Ball Joints, Tie Rod Ends) - $180 Perrin Control Arm Brace (Front) - $87 (Included but not installed) Whiteline Anti-Dive Caster Kit - $135 Raceseng Cascam Plates (Front) - $595 Whiteline Adjustable Toe Arms (Rear) - $315 GTSpec Front Strut Tower Brace - $202 Eibach Anti-Roll Kit - $509 Whiteline Adjustable End Links (Rear) - $120 KW V3 Coilovers - $2167 SPC Adjustable Lower Control Arms (Rear) w/ Toe Kit - $230 Enkei NT03+M Wheels 18x9.5 +40MM (Black) - $1404 Falken Azenis RT615K Tires - $499 JPM Coachworks Stitched Gauge Hood - $110 JPM Coachworks Speaker Trim Alcantara Red Stitching - $150 JPM Coachworks Knee Pads Alcantara Red Stitching - $135 JPM Coachworks Brake Boot Alcantara Red Stitching - $80 JPM Coachworks Shift Boot Alcantara Red Stitching - $60 Toyota OEM Black AC Vents (Outer) - $25 Toyota OEM Black Dash Trim (Passenger) - $38 Toyota OEM Black Door Handles - $54 Toyota OEM Black Knee Pad Trim - $22 Toyota OEM Black Radio Dash Trim - $38 Toyota OEM Black Shifter Trim - $19 Toyota OEM Black Steering Wheel Trim - $21 Toyota OEM MT Traction Control Buttons - $55 Toyota OEM Black Door Levers w/ Locks - $57 Weathertech Floorliner Digitalfit All Weather Floor Mats - $110 Weathertech Trunk Liner (Black) - $110 ATI EZ Pod Triple Meter Gauge Pod Felt Like Finish - $139 OLM LED Interior Dome Light - $7 Velox Throttle Pedal Spacer Kit - $125 Cusco Sports Accelerator Pedal - $46 Sparco Champion Steering Wheel - $260 NRG Generation 2 Quick Release Steering Wheel Adapter - $130 NRG Short Hub - $85 Greddy Power Intake System - $379 Beat-Sonic FDA43 Shark Fin Antenna - $104 Toyota Emblems (Pair) - $53 GT86 Trunk Emblem - $50 OLM Vision LED Fog Light Kit - $160 Winjet JDM Headlights (Black) - $350 Morimoto Headlight Elite HID System - $150 OLM LED License Plate Bulbs - $20 Spyder V1 Tail Lights (Chrome with Red Housing) - $320 Carsmo Design Rear Duckbill Trunk Spoiler - $300 Cusco Tow Hook (Front, Swivel) - $118 (Included but not installed) Cusco Tow Hook (Rear, Folding) - $118 (Included but not installed) Perrin and Whiteline Bushing Combo - $63 Whiteline Support Outrigger Insert - $54 Whiteline Crossmember Kit - $135 Whiteline Diff Cradle Mount Kit - $117 Whiteline Rear Diff Support Bushing - $54 Goodridge Stainless Steel Brake Lines (Front and Rear) - $115 EBC Yellowstuff Brake Pads (Front/Rear) - $94 DBA T3 Rotors (Front and Rear) - $566 (Rear Included but not installed) Grimmspeed Master Cylinder Brace - $95 ISR Performance Exhaust - $500 Downforce Carbon Fiber Front Lip - $250 Moroso Oil Pan Baffle - $135 (Included but not installed) Oil just changed and I will include the oil and filter for another change as well

Suffice to say, I feel like I got a damn good deal. The car is immaculate, just like the pictures in the ad indicated. Cash was a requirement from the previous owner, so I insisted we meet at the local PD per GRM forum suggestions.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

My drive home was uneventful up until the last 10 minutes where a dead duck was in my lane. I had no where to go, so my exhaust decided to take home some for future barbeque. I thought I damaged the splitter, bumper, etc. but no troubles at all luckily. Originally I thought it was an unlucky raccoon, but after letting the car cool down I saw what was now hot glued to the exhaust.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

So after the drive home, I have two gripes.

1.Unfortunately the stock steering wheel was swapped out for a Sparco and an NRG quick release hub. That left me with a 3 hour drive home with no provision for cruise control. The good news is that the stock wheel was included with the purchase, so it will be one of the first things tackled on this "non-project" project.

2.The stickers on the rear quarter windows and rear windshield are not my thing. I spent a few minutes removing them while the exhaust cooled enough to eventually remove what was left of the duck carcass.

These were mirrored on both sides:

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And these were the rear windshield decals:

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Here's my new purchase nestled in my garage. I'm smitten.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

And a celebratory beverage to close up the day.

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I've got a local SCCA autocross April 28th, and possibly my first ever HPDE on May 9th. I'll hopefully have the steering wheel swapped back, and a little daily seat time to get familiar with my new cockpit before either of those. Also more pics tomorrow.

Looks good! Not sure I’d ever own one (unfounded dislike of Subaru that I can’t explain), but I like the looks more than a little. 

Awesome buy! Enjoy. 

Been driving mine since 2013 and still puts a smile on my face every time. 

Pete

They're neat cars and it looks like you got a good deal with all the stuff included. Not a terrible way to have a mid life crisis to be honest. 

Nice looking car. Looks like all the works been done so you can just drive and enjoy it. 

I like that wheel and color combination a lot, looks good! 

It’s amazing what removing the “still hood” sticker did for the look.  I’d have done it in front of PO before I drove it home.  

Looks great and nice write-up. I've been thinking about one of these to replace my MR2 (which looks like a mini-car on the street these days).

Congrats on the car, but booooo on the beer. IPAs are terrible

Antihero said:

Congrats on the car, but booooo on the beer. IPAs are terrible

We will have to agree to disagree on this.In much the same way that seasoning makes the meal... Beer is about hops first,malts second, water last.

Pete

NOHOME said:

Antihero said:

Congrats on the car, but booooo on the beer. IPAs are terrible

We will have to agree to disagree on this.In much the same way that seasoning makes the meal... Beer is about hops first,malts second, water last.

 

Pete

My wife told me once that IPAs taste like people who hate beer think beer should taste like.....bitter. I agree there lol

Give me a good Porter or a stout

Looks like a sweet car with lots of goodies. My eyes started crossing trying to read that modz list but it looks like there's some cool stuff in there. Good luck at the autocross next weekend.

Great story and car. Hope the ducks ok that looks like it had to hurt. LOL. I love these the spiritual successor to the Z .

how many miles when the engine let go? 20k?Seems like a fried ECU is no reason to get out of doing the right thing on a powertrain warranty claim! Shame on Toy-owe ya poobahroo. They can have all the cute dog commercials they want but this shows you where their heart is when a customer has a problem. Like my xt coupe "unfixable" at about 67,000 due to shock tower sag....

I like a lot of types of beer, but I keep coming back to IPAs. For a long time I thought they were all terrible, but after sampling a few much better specimens, my mind has been changed.

Back to car stuff though. Last night me, the wife, and our two kiddos all packed in the car. The goal was to see if we could all fit if necessary, but most of all to put my mind at ease. I wanted to know specifically because we had two places to be today for Easter, and of course I wanted to drive our new toy. If the wife gave the go ahead, we would be slaying tarmac for a couple hundo miles in style.

I'm pleased to announce that all of us fit. I won't lie and say it was the most comfortable I've ever been, nor would me familia, but it's doable in short spurts. Heck, both kiddos fell asleep in the back both on the way there, and on the way back. Pretty sure they'd sleep through a tornado, but that's beside the point. The wife still LOVES the car, the kiddos think I'm a rockstar now, and I'm still smitten. I should buy cars like this more often!

With some more miles under my belt, I have now ran through a full tank. The trip meter wasn't set when I picked the car up, so no clue what type of mileage I'm getting yet. I've heard they are decent though.

This morning before heading out, I went through the pile of paperwork in the glove compartment. Purchase price is now officially adjusted to $13,999.15 as I found some shiny loot. After pocketing my new found fortune, I went through a healthy stack of maintenance records. My favorite ones were the 4-5 different alignments over a period of ~10k miles. A printout of Speed Academy's FRS track alignment settings appeared in the pile, and it looks like that inspiration found it's way to the current alignment specs of my car. I think that's a good thing, as they seem to know a thing or two about track setup. No plans currently to do adjustments, even though I think the car is riding a bit low.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

After some more seat time, and general use I have added some things to the short list of tinkering.

1. The plasti-dip trim at the top of the front fender looks great. However, the backsides weren't taped off, so there is quite a bit of overspray on the hinge and inner fender/door area. I've read if it's not layered thick it can be tough to clean off. All removal suggestions are welcome.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

2. The trim piece and material surrounding the e-brake keeps popping loose when in the upward position. Not sure how I'll tackle that yet, but from what I understand, the person who makes them is no longer in business.

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3. I'm not a fan of the shift knob. It functions fine, but the whole "Punisher" skull thing is not my style. I love that this is the stuff I'm thinking about, and nothing serious.

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I'm pretty jazzed to drive this thing to work tomorrow, and I think the kids are too. I think they are mainly just excited because my e30 isn't exactly pretty or as plush as the FRS. It's nickname is the Scuzzlebutt.

Car wash tomorrow if time allows. My bug collection is getting out of hand.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Looks great. Did you ask the PO why he wanted it gone? The amount of aftermarket investment is eye popping. 

Plastidip: laquer thinner and a paper towel. 

I have removed far more E36 M3ty plastidip than one man should ever have to this side of hell. Fortunately for you, the overspray is easy to deal with.

In reply to OHSCrifle :

He has an s2k and some other projects going on if I understand correctly. Probably just got bored with it.

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

I think I have some in the chemical cabinet, so I'll give that a try.

Now that I've seen the overspray, I can't unsee it. I focus in on it immediately. It's gotta go.

That looks great, I'm curious how it does on the track with all the suspension goodies.

Looks sharp and good buy, looks like lots of quality parts on it. 

claybar? wonder that would take off the overspray...

So it looks like I failed to snap any good overall pics of the car. Here's the ones from the ad on Facebook, and other than sticker removal and the carbon fiber lip, nothing has changed. I can't stop staring at it.

45089328_346836359403804_8838376983827054592_n by hatchethairy, on Flickr

45126499_346836406070466_7541544125997252608_n by hatchethairy, on Flickr

45087771_346836376070469_2736481740552929280_n by hatchethairy, on Flickr

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45199745_346836429403797_1616239117387956224_n by hatchethairy, on Flickr

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45100768_346836579403782_7179226440162869248_n by hatchethairy, on Flickr

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45105799_346836532737120_7906465764603854848_n by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Congrats and welcome to the twins fam!  Looks like a great buy and I'm glad it worked out.  

Even better with the new engine as the 15+ have revised coil packs/harnesses where they don't overheat on track (not sure if relevant for you). 

For the alignments - those are fairly aggressive, and I've not seen castor greater than 7, so I'm curious to see how it got there.  If you're not tracking the car you may want to dial back the camber quite a bit - 3.5 on the street is a lot!

Congrats again!

Edit - did not see header/tune in the list, so you can easily trade some of the goodies up there for an easy 20+ hp. 

that camber, I was going to ask about that....my factory spec on the Marauder is like -0.7 ...I'm at -1.5

(1.5" drop)and I feel like an outlaw....