Used Subaru BRZ 2nd Gen (2022-2026): Buyer's Guide

In July 2024, a group of owners sued Toyota and Subaru in federal court in New Jersey. The claim: both companies sold cars with an engine that can destroy itself under hard cornering, and both companies knew it. The suit names Subaru BRZs going back to 2013, but it specifically calls out the 2022 and 2023 model years of the current generation. No recall has ever been issued for the defect. No technical service bulletin exists either. If you're cross-shopping a used second-generation BRZ, that lawsuit is more relevant to your decision than anything in the window sticker.

This guide covers the VB-platform BRZ, sold from 2022 through the current 2026 model year. It's a different car from the ZC6-generation BRZ that came before it: bigger engine, stiffer chassis, and a completely different set of things to check before you buy.

This Generation at a Glance

Subaru redesigned the BRZ from the ground up for 2022, badged internally as the VB platform. The outgoing 2.0-liter FA20 gave way to a 2.4-liter FA24D, adding 15% more torque and a genuinely different personality: the old car needed to be wrung out past 6,000 rpm to feel quick, the new one pulls hard from 3,700 rpm on. Subaru's own press materials cite a 50% increase in torsional rigidity and a 60% increase in front lateral rigidity over the ZC6, achieved partly with an aluminum roof, hood, and front fenders that keep curb weight under 2,900 lbs.

There was no 2021 model year BRZ sold in the US. Subaru skipped it during the platform transition, which is why used listings jump straight from 2020 ZC6 cars to 2022 VB cars.

Within this generation, three things changed enough to matter to a buyer:

• 2022: Launch year. Premium and Limited trims only. Manual-transmission cars had no EyeSight driver-assist suite. The only recall on this generation applies to 2022 production.
• 2023: No mechanical changes from 2022. Complaint volume already dropping.
• 2024: EyeSight adaptive cruise and lane-keep became available on manual-transmission cars for the first time, engaging in 2nd through 6th gear above 20 mph. The tS trim launched: Subaru's first mass-produced US-market tS BRZ, with STI-tuned suspension and Brembo brakes, versus the low-volume JDM-only tS specials of the prior generation.
• 2026: The Series.Yellow special edition arrived, built on the tS with Sunrise Yellow paint and a production run capped at 350 units.

Every trim and every model year uses this same engine. There's no turbo option, no hybrid, and no displacement choice to research.

Explore year-specific inventory: 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026

Powertrain and Trim Breakdown

FA24D 2.4L Boxer: The Oil Starvation Risk

The FA24D is a naturally aspirated flat-four, 228 hp at 7,000 rpm, 184 lb-ft at 3,700 rpm, shared with the mechanically identical Toyota GR86. Owners consistently praise how much more usable it is than the old 2.0-liter: real torque in the midrange instead of a car that only comes alive near redline. That part of the reputation is earned.

The problem lives underneath. A flat engine's oil sump sits at the lowest point of the block rather than directly beneath a vertical cylinder bank, and the FA24D is unusually sensitive to it. Under sustained right-hand cornering at high rpm and high lateral G, oil migrates away from the pickup and pools elsewhere in the engine. Independent owner testing, including oil-pressure logging done by aftermarket parts makers, has recorded pressure dropping into the 20-28 psi range during sustained track corners, down from a healthy 60-plus psi. When pressure drops far enough for long enough, rod bearings lose lubrication and fail. A documented case on a sibling GR86 involved a bearing failure at 13,770 miles during an autocross event, and it isn't the only one that's circulated on FT86Club and gr86.org since 2022.

A second, separate contributor makes this worse on some cars. Subaru assembles the FA24D using RTV silicone sealant at the oil pan rather than a traditional gasket, and on some 2022-production units that sealant was applied unevenly. Fragments can break off under heat cycling and clog the oil pickup strainer, starving the engine of oil pressure even without any hard cornering at all. That's a manufacturing-quality issue layered on top of a design characteristic, and the two compound each other on a car that's both an early build and a track car.

Most existing BRZ buying guides miss this part: on July 1, 2024, a class-action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (Young v. Toyota Motor Corp. and Subaru Corp.) alleging both companies knowingly sold vehicles with this engine defect. The suit's stated scope covers Scion FR-S, Toyota 86/GR86, and Subaru BRZ models spanning 2013 through 2023, which explicitly includes the 2022 and 2023 model years of this generation. Toyota and Subaru have denied the allegations in public statements and have not proposed a settlement as of this writing. Separately and more concretely: neither company has issued a recall or a TSB for the oil starvation issue itself, at any point across 2022 through 2026. Warranty claims have been handled case by case, and reporting from 2022 documented Toyota initially denying at least one claim based on a social media photo before reversing the decision under public pressure.

What this means for a used buyer: the failure mode requires sustained high-lateral-G right-hand cornering, the kind you get on a track or autocross course, not from spirited street driving. A BRZ with clean service records, no competition history, and street-spec tires on all four corners carries low inherited risk. A BRZ with track-day history, aftermarket suspension, or 200-treadwear-or-lower tires needs the oil system inspected before you buy it, full stop. Repair costs cited across forums and repair-cost aggregators for a rod bearing replacement typically run $2,000 to $5,000; a full engine swap using a salvage BRZ or GR86 engine has been quoted around $5,000 in community threads. None of these are figures from a specific paid invoice, so treat them as a planning range, not a quote.

An aftermarket baffled oil pan (Verus Engineering's is the best documented, priced around $1,000) is the community-recognized fix for anyone tracking the car. Neither Subaru nor Toyota has introduced an equivalent factory fix in any production year through 2026.

6-Speed Manual vs. 6-Speed Automatic

Both transmissions run the same FA24D with the same reliability profile. The manual is standard on every trim; the automatic is Limited-only.

The counterintuitive part: the automatic gets better EPA fuel economy than the manual, 25 mpg combined versus 22. Most buyers assume a stick shift saves gas in a car like this. Here it doesn't.

Owners on subarubrzforum.com and gr86.org have documented a clutch pedal squeak and notchy engagement on early-mileage manual cars, traced to insufficient factory grease on the clutch fork pivot and throwout bearing carrier. It's an annoyance, not a failure, and an independent shop can re-grease the assembly for well under $100 in labor.

If you're buying to drive it hard, the manual is the more commonly modified and more commonly tracked car on the used market, which is exactly why it deserves closer inspection for the track-history red flags in the checklist below. If you want the chassis without clutch work in traffic and you're comfortable giving up a little driver engagement, the automatic is both the lower-risk used buy and, on paper, the more efficient one.

tS and Series.Yellow: STI Hardware Worth Seeking Out

The tS trim, added for 2024, brings STI-tuned Hitachi dampers and 4-piston front, 2-piston rear Brembo brakes on top of Limited-level equipment, plus black 18-inch wheels and blue interior stitching. It launched at $36,465, manual-only. That's real hardware, not a trim-level badge exercise: better body control, less brake fade under repeated hard stops, meaningfully different at the limit than a standard Limited.

The Series.Yellow, added for 2026, is the tS wrapped in Sunrise Yellow paint and capped at 350 units. It carries the same STI hardware as the tS. On the used market, treat the yellow paint and production number as a collector premium, not a mechanical one: the driving experience is what you're already getting from a tS.

For most buyers, a well-kept Limited with the automatic or manual, no track history, delivers 90% of what the tS offers day to day. Pay the tS premium if you actually intend to use the brakes and suspension the way they're built for, not for the badge.

Trim-Specific Notes

The Limited's blind-spot monitor and rear cross-traffic alert are the features most worth paying for on a daily driver. They're radar-based systems separate from EyeSight, and they're genuinely useful in a low, small car with thick rear pillars.

The automatic is only available on Limited. If you want the automatic transmission, you don't have a Premium-vs-Limited choice to make; Limited is the only door in.

A base Premium with the manual is the lightest, cheapest way into this generation. It gives up the blind-spot monitor and the nicer interior materials, but it's also the spec least likely to have been bought by a buyer chasing options rather than the driving experience.

Which Model Years to Target Within This Gen

The only NHTSA recall on this entire generation is campaign 23V609000, covering 2022-production BRZs (and the identical GR86): the rear combination lamp assemblies could intermittently go dark, with owner notification letters mailed January 8, 2024. It's unrelated to the oil starvation issue and it's a free dealer fix, so confirm it's been completed on any 2022 you're considering, then move on.

2023 is the sweet spot for most buyers. Mechanically identical to 2022, no recall to track down, and NHTSA shows no complaints on file for the year. It also predates the tS trim, so if you want STI hardware you'll need 2024 or newer.

2024 is the cleanest year with the most feature choice. EyeSight becomes available on manual cars for the first time, and the tS trim gives buyers who want it a factory-built alternative to piecing together aftermarket suspension and brakes.

2022 isn't automatic avoidance territory, but it's the year that needs the most homework. It carries the recall, the highest complaint count of the generation, and it's the model year the class-action lawsuit calls out by name alongside 2023. A 2022 with documented service history, no track events, and a completed recall is a reasonable buy at a discount. A 2022 with no paperwork and aftermarket suspension is not.

Pre-Purchase Inspection Checklist

Every VB-generation BRZ, regardless of trim or transmission, runs the same engine, so the checklist doesn't split by powertrain the way a multi-engine guide would.

• Ask directly whether the car has been to any track, autocross, or time-trial event. Hesitation before the answer is more informative than the answer itself.
• Check the tires. Any tire rated 200 treadwear or lower (Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, Dunlop Direzza ZII Star Spec, Yokohama Advan Neova, and similar) on any corner means the car has been prepared for and likely driven on a course. Stock street tires don't generate the lateral grip needed to trigger the oil starvation failure mode.
• Inspect brake rotors for fine radial heat cracks, a sign of sustained high-temperature track braking that street driving alone won't produce.
• Check the front undertray and belly pan for curbing marks or replacement, common after track and autocross events.
• Cold-start the engine before your test drive. A brief light tap in the first 30-60 seconds is normal piston slap from cold clearances and is well documented across the FA24 community. A knock that persists past two minutes, gets louder under load, or is present once the engine is fully warm points to bearing wear. Don't buy that car.
• Pull the dipstick. Confirm the oil is at the correct level and free of any metallic sheen.
• Ask for service records and look specifically for oil change intervals of 5,000 miles or fewer, plus any invoice mentioning an oil pan drop or strainer inspection. A shop invoice is the only reliable proof of that inspection; CarFax won't show it.
• On any 2022, confirm campaign 23V609000 (rear turn signal) has been completed. It's a quick, free fix, but it should already be done on a car this many years past the recall notice.
• If the seller has installed an aftermarket baffled oil pan (Verus Engineering, KillerB Motorsport, or similar), treat it as a genuinely positive sign, but ask when it went in and at what mileage. The question is whether the engine took damage before the fix was installed, not whether the fix exists now.
• Ask about any unusual water intrusion, specifically water at the base of the A-pillar or on the floor mats after rain or a car wash. This has come up in at least one detailed owner account on subarubrzforum.com; it isn't confirmed as a widespread pattern the way the oil starvation issue is, but it costs nothing to check during a test drive on a rainy day.
• Run the VIN through the recall lookup tool before you commit to anything.

Running Costs

Insurance estimates from multiple aggregators converge on roughly $2,600 a year for an average-profile adult driver, but the BRZ skews young-driver-heavy and the premiums show it: figures cited for a 16-year-old driver run north of $6,000 a year, dropping to around $3,500 for a 19-year-old. Some of that reflects the model's real-world ticket rate rather than the car itself, but it's worth pricing insurance before you fall in love with a listing.

Maintenance cost estimates vary widely across sources, from around $360 a year on the low end to $680 or more depending on whether you use a dealer or an independent shop, so treat any single number as a starting point rather than a guarantee. Oil changes alone run $35 on the low end for conventional oil at a quick-lube shop up to $250 for full synthetic at a dealer; Subaru calls for full synthetic in the FA24, so budget for the higher end of that range as routine, and expect a shop to recommend shorter intervals if the car sees any track use.

The Limited's stock Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires run roughly $260 each at retail, close to $1,050 for a full set. Owners consistently describe going through tires faster than a typical commuter car, which lines up with a rear-wheel-drive sports car on summer performance rubber, though a specific BRZ wear-rate figure wasn't something this research could pin down with a sourced example.

FAQ

Is the 2022-2026 Subaru BRZ reliable for daily driving? Yes, with a caveat. The oil starvation failure requires sustained high-lateral-G right-hand cornering that street driving doesn't produce. A street-driven BRZ with 5,000-mile oil changes and no track history has a low risk profile. The issue is real, but it's a track-use risk, not a daily-commute risk.

What year Subaru BRZ should I avoid? No year is an automatic pass on inherent unreliability, but 2022 needs the most scrutiny. It carries the only recall on this generation, the highest complaint count, and it's one of the two model years named in the 2024 class-action lawsuit over the engine defect. Buy a documented one or skip it.

Is the BRZ's oil starvation problem dangerous for street driving? Not under normal street use. The failure has been reproduced and documented under sustained track-level lateral G at high rpm, conditions ordinary driving doesn't generate. It matters most for cars with track or autocross history, which is why service records and tire type matter more than mileage alone.

Should I buy the manual or automatic BRZ? The manual is the reason most people buy this car, but the automatic gets better fuel economy (25 mpg combined versus 22) and is statistically less likely to carry track-day history on the used market. Choose manual for engagement, automatic for a slightly lower-risk daily driver with less clutch work.

Is the Subaru BRZ tS worth the extra money? If you'll actually use STI-tuned suspension and Brembo brakes on a back road or track day, yes. If you mainly commute, a well-kept Limited delivers most of the same driving experience for less money and without hunting for one of the lower-production tS or Series.Yellow cars.

Bottom Line

A 2023 or 2024 BRZ Limited, manual or automatic depending on how you'll use it, is the easiest recommendation in this generation: no recall to chase, low complaint counts, and on the 2024, the option to step up to a factory tS if you want the hardware. Whatever year you land on, verify there's no unexplained track history hiding behind clean paint, and run every VIN through the recall lookup tool before you sign anything.

CarScout members can track price drops on specific BRZ trims and model years at usecarscout.com.

Data sourced from NHTSA recalls and complaints databases, EPA fuel economy data, CarScout market data, Subaru's own press materials, and real owner experiences from subarubrzforum.com, FT86Club.com, gr86.org, and court filings in Young v. Toyota Motor Corp. and Subaru Corp. (D.N.J., filed July 2024). See the full Subaru BRZ market data for current pricing and inventory.