Thanks for your honesty.  I am also a one time idiot and I would like to congratulate you on your sobriety.

Other than cracking down on the buyers, stamping a QR code on each cat and linking it with a VIN seems a pretty easy way to leave an identifying mark on a cat.  That way, if a cat fails, you can just unlink the old cat from the VIN in question, and scan the new one.

It’s just a subsection on reddit dedicated to a specific topic.

Also in the industry. I trust very few people to work on my own car(although that’s more competence based than honesty). But I think it’s also kind of a nasty circle where the unscrupulous hear about the reputation and think they can earn a quick buck by screwing over some poor Joe, furthering the dishonest reputation.

Volkswagen must’ve missed that memo.

As a Subaru dealership technician, you would think that I would be dismayed at this. But I mod my vehicles and would hate it if I couldn't even repair my Ford pickup even though I do this professionally.  Right to repair is good for everyone. 

You're good.  They're still hydraulic, Mazda will just use the ABS module to command the brakes like everyone else with brake based vectoring. 

It’s less likely to happen at a Subaru dealership.  Only two of the reported failures have been BRZs.  I’m betting the Toyota boys are rushing to try to make time, but most Subaru dealerships I’ve heard from are using an assembly line setup like the one I work at.  Makes it so you can finish the job comfortably within…

You should see how liberally the factory applies it...I’ve had to clean off RTV that was applied in so much quantity it was covering part of the cam.

The vast majority of these complaints are from FR-S owners.  Read on article on the same subject on The Drive, and all but two are of the FR-S variety.

Subaru tech here. The screen isn’t large, and we absolutely have seen rod bearing failures from improper cleaning of the timing cover/cam carriers/cam caps. There are secondary cam filters(to keep the variable valve timing cam sprockets clean) that get plugged up too, causing further damage to cams. I have a feeling…

Where are you getting this FA20F designation?  It’s either FA20DIT or FA20.  For the FB it’s FB20 or FB20DINA.

I got some bad news for you.  Bosch makes most of the direct injection high pressure fuel pumps in the industry.  Continental makes most of the rest.  Almost everyone uses the same supplier, so direct injection pump failures cast a shadow on everyone...

I was told by a field service engineer that these are only here to placate California, as California only allows you to sell vehicles in state as long as you produce 3800 hybrids a year...take that as you will. Oh, and they'll only be sold in California emissions states. 

Heh heh, probably not the only package wildly exaggerated.

Yeah, I’m coming from the Subaru world here(technician at a Subaru dealership).  We have it pretty lucky, would only cost a few grand to DIY.

$7000 isn’t that cheap...but I do my own labor.

Edit: huh, prices have gone down since I looked last.  Maybe it’s time for me to get cracking on that...

People have done the 2GR swap.  And it’s glorious, if a bit expensive.  I’m planning on just doing the 1MZ swap because my buddy has the setup just sitting in his garage.

We sell dealer trades with 100-200 miles on the odometer all the time.  And as for warranty expiring by mileage, you can usually just call Subaru and they help out if you’re a few hundred over.

Somewhere, an automotive assembly worker in Detroit wishes his football team would suck just a little less.