car intermittently starting on multiple attempts

[MastaSplinter]

Hello Supra community! I've been a proud owner of a used 2021 A91 3.0 supra for almost 2 years (bought ~18k with armytrix exhaust with bt and AA catted downpipe, now has 26k) but unfortunately having my first mechanical issues ?.

It started couple weeks ago where, the car would not start. Sometimes it'll start the first time and if not, then second or third time. I tried unplugging the ob port Bluetooth dongle but still no difference. Took to Miami Toyota dealer and they said the battery is at 80+ percent so that's not the issue but said they got these errors codes and said the starter most likely needs to be replaced. They quoted me $1100 total for the work ? (higher than I thought it would be) and unfortunately my warranty ended in September (3years+). Does anyone have experience with this type of issue and also, anyone have a reputable shop they trust their supra with in the south fl/mia area? I'd like to get a second opinion and hopefully find another place where I can take my car to when I need more work done. TIA!

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[exe36m3]

$1100 doesn't sound that crazy for NorCal.
The starter itself is $450-$675.
Labor looks like 2 or 3 hours (NorCal dealer rates are $275/hr).
You may get a slightly better price at a local BMW Independent shop.

For shops, here's the newsletter for the local BMW Car Club of America.
A bunch of sponsored shops in there should be able to help you.
Our car club shops tend to support all the local racing guys in their areas so good people.
https://cdn.bmwcca.org/prod/s3fs-public/flasher sept oct (4).pdf

 

[3rdDegreeNinja]

Hey, so I actually just had this happen to me fairly recently. Don't know why this happens but it just seems to happen randomly I read 2 other people had this happen one was at 12k miles the other at 26k miles. I had it happen at 50k. Don't know what causes it, but the cause of this is definitely the starter, after much back and forth with my Toyota dealership and with the help of my service advisor I was able to get it warrantied under powertrain warranty which is good till 60k miles or 6 years. After they replaced the starter car worked perfectly. My recommendation is try to push and get it covered under warranty specifically powertrain which like I said runs longer than your basic 3 year/36k miles. You might have to go to multiple dealership till you can find one that'll work with you. But also its not the worst thing to replace your self if you have to go that route. I definitely looked into that if my warranty didn't cover it. I did see your in Florida so if your somewhat near me I can try to help but I'm up in the Daytona Beach area. Hope this helps.

 

[MellyMel23]

Hey @3rdDegreeNinja - having this same issue and the dealer is fighting me a bit on it. Could you share any specific details to help me push this for my sake? Thanks in advance!’

 

[Loco38SUP]

Are you guys using the auto stop-start feature for most of your driving? I wonder if that is killing the starters early.

-RJM

 

[Vertex]

Are you guys using the auto stop-start feature for most of your driving? I wonder if that is killing the starters early.

-RJM

I mean realistically it shouldn't be, however, it will obviously degrade the life of the starter over time. These new starters were actually built with that start/stop function in mind and are a heavier duty starter than a vehicle that does not have this function.

With that being said, it is still a part that isn't made to last forever. Roll of the dice for almost anything built for a vehicle. I've had parts show up that we install in a car that were bad right out of the box.

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