2013 Subaru BRZ
Complaints about this year name valve far more often than the model's other years — 50% of them, about 125× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 64 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 2 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| EPA combined | 26 mpg |
Also unusual this year
- driving — 48% of complaints, 121× usual
- after — 38% of complaints, 94× usual
- valve spring — 34% of complaints, 86× usual
What owners wrote
HAD FACTORY VALVE SPRING RECALL COMPLETED BY SUBARU. THE ENGINE SEIZED WHILE DRIVING AFTER THE VALVE SPRINGS WERE REPLACED. THE SUBARU DEALERSHIP SAYS THE CAR NEEDS AT A MINIMUM AN ENGINE SHORT BLOCK, HEADS AND VALVE WORK.
HAD THE VALVE SPRING RECALL DONE ON MY VEHICLE. AFTER MY VHEICLE WAS FIXED CAR WAS MAKING TICKING NOISE. BRANG THE CAR BACK TO DEALERSHIP TO CHICK ON TICKING NOISE AND SAID THAT THE CAR WAS FINE, BRANG VEHICLE IN A FEW TIMES AND ALWAYS GET THE SAME ANSWER ON 7…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V772000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 12V254000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Subaru BRZ was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2013 Subaru BRZ? What happened to yours?
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