2013 Scion FR-S

ON FEBRUARY 6, 2019 I WAS PULLING UP TO A TRAFFIC LIGHT ON A CITY STREET AT APPROXIMATELY 40 MPH IN HEAVY TRAFFIC AND MY CLUTCH PEDAL STUCK TO THE FLOOR. THE ENGINE STALLED AND WOULD RESTART, BUT I COULD NOT MOVE THE CAR EITHER IN FORWARD OR REVERSE. THE VEHICLE HAS APPROXIMATELY 72,000 MILES OF MOSTLY HIGHWAY DRIVING. I HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO MY HOUSE AND CONTACTED A LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER'S SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND THEY CONFIRMED AN OPEN SAFETY RECALL EXISTED (18V-772) THAT COULD CAUSE THE ENGINE TO STALL. THEY CALLED BACK AFTER RECEIVING THE VEHICLE IN THEIR SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND AND INDICATED THAT THEY COULD DO THE RECALL REPAIR, BUT THAT MY CLUTCH RELEASE BEARING HAD FAILED CAUSING THE ENGINE TO STALL AND SINCE THE VEHICLE'S WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED, I WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF THE CLUTCH AND ASSOCIATED PARTS AS WELL AS TOWING AND THE RENTAL CAR. THEY ALSO INDICATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION MIGHT NEED REPLACEMENT DUE TO POTENTIAL DAMAGE THAT THE CLUTCH FAILURE CAUSED. SUBSEQUENTLY, I FOUND A TSB (S-SB-0012-17 DATED 4/10/17) INDICATING THAT TOYOTA KNEW THAT THE CLUTCH RELEASE BEARING DESIGN WAS BAD AND INSTRUCTING DEALERS TO REPLACE IT WITH AN UPDATED VERSION. NO RECALL OF THIS DEFECT WAS NOTED. TOYOTA KNEW A SAFETY DEFECT EXISTED WHICH WOULD CAUSE THE ENGINE TO STALL AND THE CAR TO BE UNDRIVEABLE, BUT CHOSE TO HIDE THE PROBLEM FROM A RECALL.

MY 2013 10 SERIES SCION FRS HAS STARTED KNOCKING AT 81,*** MILES. THERE ARE KNOWN MANUFACTURING MECHANICAL DEFECTS THAT ATTRIBUTE TO THIS CATASTROPHIC FAILURE AND HAVE BEEN OCCURRING IN A PATTERN AMONGST US FRS,86, AND BRZ. I WAS DENIED MY CLAIM DUE TO "OIL AND COOLANT LEVEL BEING LOW" BUT I KNOW [XXX] WELL THAT I TOOK CARE OF THAT CAR AS IF IT WAS MY CHILD. TOYOTA AND SUBARU NEEDS TO FIX THEIR ISSUES AND COVER OUR WARRANTIES WHICH THEY CHOOSE TO DENY TO GET OUT OF WORK. TOYOTA AND SUBARU WILL LOSE BUSINESS IF THIS IS NOT ADDRESSED. TOO MANY OF THESE ACCOUNTS ARE ARISING. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE. PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

TAKATA RECALL 2,000 MILES PAST WARRANTY, THE CHECK ENGINE AND TRACTION CONTROL LIGHTS CAME ON AND LOST POWER. NOT SURE IF IT HAPPENED WHILE I WAS STOPPED OR IN TRANSIENT. IT WAS EARLY IN THE MORNING ON MY WAY TO WORK AND I HAD JUST STOPPED AT A GAS STATION TO GET A CUP OF COFFEE. TOYOTA CHANGED OUT THE COMPUTER FREE OF CHARGE BUT THE PROBLEM IS STILL EXISTING. WHICH MEANS IT'S AN INTERNAL ENGINE/ TRANSMISSION ISSUE. THE RIGHT REAR TAIL LIGHT COLLECTS CONDENSATION TOO. ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT PRESENT CURRENTLY IN THE PHOTO. IT IS PRESENT AFTER EVERY WASH OR HEAVY RAIN. THE LEFT WINDOW SEAL ROLLING UP AND NOT SEALING PROPERLY. I KNOW THEIR ARE MANY MORE PEOPLE WITH THESE EXACT SAME ISSUES, AS I HAVE READ ONLINE BUT THERE ARE NO RECALLS OR SUPPORT FROM TOYOTA TO RESOLVE THESE ISSUES AT THIS MOMENT.

TOYOTA ADVISED BASED ON A FREEZE FRAME OF DATA ON THE COMPUTER THEY WERE DENYING MY WARRANTY FOR AN "OVER REV". THE REV THEY ARE CITING IS 7300 RPM AT 35 MPH, WHICH IS UNDER THE FACTORY SET REV LIMITER AND IS ALSO THE CORRECT REV FOR THAT SPEED IN 1ST GEAR ON MY 6 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION. FURTHER MORE I HAVE EVIDENCE BASED ON THEIR FREEZE FRAME DATA THAT THE DATA WAS NOT COLLECTED AT THE TIME OF FAILURE BUT AT ANOTHER POINT DUE TO TEMPERATURES OF THE VEHICLE AT THE TIME OF FAILURE COMPARED TO THE FREEZE FRAME DATA, AS WELL AS THE RUN TIME STATED ON THE FREEZE FRAME COMPARED TO HOW LONG I HAD DRIVEN THE CAR THAT MORNING. TOYOTA HAS TOLD ME 4 TIMES THAT THE DISTRICT PARTS AND SERVICE MANAGER HAS BEEN THE LAST ONE TO DENY THE CLAIM AND HAS TOLD ME THAT TO SPEAK TO HIM, I NEED TO TALK TO DEALER. THE DEALERSHIP HAS ADVISED ME THAT THEY CANNOT GIVE HIS INFORMATION OUT AS HE IS A TOYOTA REPRESENTATIVE AND NOT A DEALERSHIP ONE. TOYOTA CANNOT PROVE THAT THE INFORMATION USED IS ACTUALLY RELATED TO MY CLAIM AND IS STONE WALLING ANY ATTEMPT OF ME TO REVIEW THIS INFORMATION WITH THE REPRESENTATIVE THAT DENIED THE CLAIM. OUTSIDE OF TOYOTA, THE DEALERSHIP CITED EXHAUST MODIFICATIONS AS A REASON MY WARRANTY WOULD NO LONGER APPLY EVEN THOUGH TOYOTA DID NOT CITE THAT IN THEIR DENIAL, NOR CAN THEY PROVE AN EXHAUST CAUSED INTERNAL ENGINE FAILURE. TOYOTA HAS ALSO REFUSED TO SEND ME A WRITTEN OFFICIAL DENIAL LETTER. THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY AT A RED LIGHT AT THE TIME OF FAILURE.

IGNITION COIL CEL CAME ON RARELY AT HIGH 5-7K RPM GEAR SHIFTS AND FIRST APPEARED AROUND 25K, NOW AT 37K MILES IT COMES ON CONSISTENTLY AT HIGH 5-7K RPM SHIFTS. TRANSMISSION HAD TO BE REPLACED AT 15K MILES DUE TO GEARS GRINDING WITH THE CLUTCH FULLY DEPRESSED WHEN DRIVING IN ANY SPEEDS. COOLANT TANK WAS IMPROPERLY SEALED PERMITTING WATER TO EVAPORATE, I USED ELECTRIC TAPE TO MAKE A SEAL. ENGINE DID NOT HAVE A HIGH PITCH CRICKET-LIKE NOISE UPON PURCHASE AND WITHIN 100 MILES AND SINCE IT HAS A HIGH PITCHED NOISE WHEN IDLE. PASSENGER'S WINDOW SWITCH DOES NOT AUTO SCROLL UPON PRESSING THE 2ND NOTCH ABOUT 10% OF THE TIME IN ANY CONDITION. BOTH DRIVER AND PASSENGER WINDOWS HAVE VERY DISTINCT 3 INCH WIDE STREAK MARKS FROM SCROLLING UP AND DOWN. THE CENTER OF THE INTERIOR DASHBOARD HAS BEEN SLIGHTLY WARPED SINCE 15K MILES.

PURCHASE AN EXEDY STAGE 2 CLUTCH WITH LIGHT FLYWHEEL PART# 15953FW FOR A 2013 SCION FRS. ISSUE IS IT LOCK OUT OF GEAR IN FIRST AND REVERSE GEAR. YOU HAVE TO USED FORCE TO GET IT OUT OF 1ST AND REVERSE GEAR. ALSO HARD TO GET IT INTO 1ST AND REVERSE GEAR. THIS IS A PROBLEM WITH THIS CLUTCH FOR THIS VEHICLE AS MANY HAVE REPORTED THIS SIMILAR ISSUE IN FT86CLUB FORUM. THIS LOCKING AND HARD TO GET INTO GEAR MAKES IT DANGEROUS TO DRIVE THE CAR WHEN YOUR IN TRAFFIC OR ON THE ROAD. IT OCCURS EVERY TIME I DRIVE MY CAR REGARDLESS IN THE CITY OR FREEWAY. NOTHING WAS DONE AS I HAVE CONTACT THE MANUFACTURE FOR A REPLACEMENT PART# 19599. THEY WANTED ME TO SEND THE OLD ONE TO THEM FOR INSPECTION WHILE I HAVE NO REPLACEMENT TO PUT IN MY CAR SO I CAN'T DRIVE MY CAR. THIS IS REALLY A DEFECTED PART AND SHOULD BE RECALLED AS MANY ARE HAVING THE SAME ISSUE. *TR

THIS IS INTENDED TO REPORT A PROBLEM, NOT A ONE-TIME INCIDENT. THE SHIFT KNOB OF MY FR-S IS LOOSE ENOUGH TO ROTATE WHILE SHIFTING GEARS. I HAVE READ SEVERAL OTHER REPORTS OF THIS ISSUE ON ONLINE FORUMS DEDICATED TO THIS VEHICLE. I AM CONCERNED THAT IT COULD POTENTIALLY CAUSE AN ACCIDENT DUE TO PARTIAL MISALLOCATION OF FORCE FROM THE OPERATOR'S INTENDED SHIFTING DIRECTION INTO UNWANTED ROTATION OF THE GEAR KNOB. MISSING A GEAR, OR DELAYING OR CONFUSING THE ACTION MECHANICALLY CAN BE A HAZARD. FOR EXAMPLE, IT CAN BE CRITICAL TO MAKE A FAST AND CORRECT GEAR SHIFT WHILE MERGING INTO A TRAFFIC STREAM OR WHILE MAKING A LEFT TURN AGAINST OPPOSING TRAFFIC. THE LOOSENESS OF THE SHIFT KNOB, WHICH IN THIS CASE CAN ROTATE 5-15 DEGREES DURING A SHIFT ADDS AN UNWANTED AND ENTIRELY UNNECESSARY VARIABLE DURING OPERATION OF THE VEHICLE. SCION/TOYOTA'S RESPONSE IS THAT THE ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT IS "NORMAL". A POINT WITH WHICH I THINK NO SELF-RESPECTING AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEER WOULD CONCUR. NOTE: PROPER SHIFTING TECHNIQUE DOES NOT REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT ROTATING FORCE TO BE APPLIED TO THE SHIFT KNOB. NEVERTHELESS IT IS INEVITABLE THAT SOME DIFFERENTIAL FORCE BE APPLIED TO ONE SIDE OF THE KNOB WHILE SHIFTING THROUGH THE GEAR PATTERN. THEREFORE THE KNOB SHOULD BE DESIGNED TO RESIST THOSE FORCES IN ORDER TO DIRECT THE THRUST IN THE DIRECTION INTENDED BY THE OPERATOR. IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT THE DESIGN OF THE FR-S SHIFT KNOB AND INTEGRATED CAP DISCOURAGES TIGHTENING OF THE SHIFT KNOB ON ITS THREADS AS THAT WILL CAUSE THE CAP TO LIFT OUT OF THE BODY OF THE SHIFT KNOB. *TR

MY DIRECT INJECTOR COLLAR ENDED UP DAMAGED/MISSING COMPLETELY, ORIGINALLY RESULTING IN A VIOLENT "FIRECRACKER" POPPING SOUND UNDER MODERATE THROTTLE ACCELERATION, DUE TO THE ECU WITH FAULTY PROGRAMMING. THIS IS THE 2ND TIME WITHIN A MONTH OF THIS HAPPENING TO BOTH DIRECT INJECTORS. THIS ISSUE IS CAUSING FUEL TO LEAK/MISFIRE FROM THE INJECTOR CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO RUN EXTREMELY LEAN, WHICH CAN LEAD TO ACCELERATED ENGINE WARE AND (WORST CASE SCENARIO) ENGINE DETONATION AND HAS HAPPENED TO ANOTHER PERSON ALREADY. *TR