WRX Reliability?

in Subaru
I'm about to buy my first new car. I've been driving a ford explorer for several years now, and it's time to put her down for rest.
I'm looking into a Subaru WRX, limited edition, but I'm a little worried about reliability. I've done my homework, and it seems JD power's information says the Subaru lineup is nothing more than average. I've heard many people though, love their subie's, and find them to be extremely reliable.
I ask current WRX owners, and any Subaru owners their experience with their car. Are there any quibbles, or issues you've come into? Would you reccommend the car to me, over a honda or a toyota? Am I looking to spend much on repairs over time? Please let me know your honest opinion!
I'm looking into a Subaru WRX, limited edition, but I'm a little worried about reliability. I've done my homework, and it seems JD power's information says the Subaru lineup is nothing more than average. I've heard many people though, love their subie's, and find them to be extremely reliable.
I ask current WRX owners, and any Subaru owners their experience with their car. Are there any quibbles, or issues you've come into? Would you reccommend the car to me, over a honda or a toyota? Am I looking to spend much on repairs over time? Please let me know your honest opinion!
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-mike
The ford hasn't been all that bad. I just want something with fewer headaches. Something that has tiny issues, not fuel pumps, brakes, or water pumps. My neighbor's brand new Saab 9-3, for example, has been in the shop countless times and it's under a year old, for malfunctioning sun roof, dead radios (3 times!) and other things. Sure, it's under warranty, but I have better things to do with my time than be stuck at a subaru dealership, looking across the street at the honda dealership wondering why i never bought the civic si.
So what kind of issues will i be looking at, if any??? Ford has it's brakes, and oxygen sensors, Dodge has its transmissions, GMC has its electronics... Does subaru have any common problems?
Before that, I owned a 2001 Outback that I put 60,000 miles on and, while it was probably my favorite car of any that I've owned, it also needed regular trips to the dealer for repairs under warranty...clutch problems, squeaks and rattles, paint issues, and two bad window regulators. I firmly believe that Subaru's Japanese-built cars (Impreza and Forester) are built better than their US-built mates (Legacy/Outback)...but that's just my impression after owning both. In spite of the little problems that I accrued with my Outback, I would buy another one tomorrow...it sounds silly, but that car fit me perfectly.
Brian
The EJ25 had head gasket issues up until MY2002 or so.
Forester before 2003 and Imprezas before 2002 ate rear wheel bearings for lunch. Replace them with Legacy wheel bearings and you're fine, plus newer models have been far more robust up until now.
Nothing really stood out a lot on Legacys, besides head gaskets prior to 2002.
Tribeca - so far people complain about easy-to-break fog light covers and rear hatch struts that don't hold up the hatch properly in extreme cold, the latter fixed under warranty and supposedly changed now.
No real major pattern of problems since MY2002, though.
-juice
Please, keep your comments coming. The reason I'm asking is because I'm looking to spend wisely. The two biggest cars I'm looking into are the Subaru Impreza WRX limited, and the Honda Civic SI, a now Canadian built beautiful looking car... But does it have the same Honda quality? I'm willing to spend several thousand more for a car that wont cost me thousands down the road. So, again, please keep your comments coming, Subaru Owners!!
The Impreza model in particular, had the fewest customer complaints percentage-wise in various publications.
My March 2001 WRX has 36,000 miles on it, oil changes have been the only expense so far.
Car magazines and the press may deny it, but Japanese-assembled cars have always had better overall quality and longevity than U.S. assembled ones in my experience.
As for the turbo timer, you don't need one. Today's turbocharged engines do not need the extra cool-down period. Subaru published an article to its mechanics explaining how the turbo flat four's design negates the need for a turbo timer.
Guess what? She fired right up and ran pretty good for a car that has been sitting for close to 6 months!
-mike
With that said, have an '02 WRX with about 100K miles. My clutch just gave way (1st manual car owned) and had an issue with turbo boost that corrected itself, but generally has been very reliable.
Had a few nits during the warrenty period, that once corrected, never resurfaced.
Considering that I also had a Camry V6 that went over 100K miles, and had to invest more money and take it to the shop more often with issues than my WRX, I would have to say the Subi has been reliable.
BTW, I considered the Camry to be reliable as well.
The next year, MY2003, Subaru added a force-limiting valve on the clutch, basically a mechanism to prevent full-throttle launches where you dump the clutch.
The fact that we stopped seeing transmission failures basically proves there was nothing wrong with the 02s, i.e. it was drivetrain abuse. Many of the cars were also modified.
An unmolested 02 should be very reliable. An abused one will not, but what abused car would?
-juice
This car has a factory flaw of a chattering cold clutch and Subaru discovered the problem only after my 36k warranty had expired so no free fix for me. I'm still on the original clutch at 123k miles with no real trouble.
- Replaced warped front rotors and pads at 30k miles under warranty
- Fixed cruise control under recall
- Speaker cut out on drivers-side rear door at 40,000 miles
- Started leaking fuel at cool temperatures (~40 degF) at 115,000 miles (a pain because the intake manifold has to be removed to access the line--This was fixed in 2003 models with longer rubber section to account for metal fuel line shrinkage in cool weather)
- Valve cover gaskets leak discovered at the 120,000 service
I replaced all rotors and pads again at 90,000 miles, and pads only at 120,000 miles as I'm being far gentler to the car in its old age.
I'm on my fifth set of rubber at 120,000. I consumed two sets of re92, one of yokohama avs-es100 which were awesome but I couldn't take them up to the mountains in winter. I'm now on my second set of sumitomo htr+ which are quiet and have long life.
-mike
So the question to you is, would you buy one again? Or would you have a different first choice?
The ES100s improved handling a ton because of the super-stiff sidewalls. I'm still running the stock 16" wheels and those es100s made it feel like I was running a much lower profile tire than the car was wearing. Pretty loud on the highway and they wore through quickly but wow, so much fun! The RE92s were really quick to lose grip and the ES100s intimidated me enough that I rarely wanted to break traction. Great stuff.
-mike
The car has high mileage but it's mostly easy highway cruising (280 in SF Bay Area, it's like our last functional highway) 65-85mph.
I am disappointed by the valve cover leaks, aww well. At least it's not the head gasket which I don't have great faith in because of the high specific power of the ej20 placing strain and also because of a technical service bulletin that was issued re: adding an additive to the coolant to prevent head gasket leaks.
So I'm dying to see the new WRX hatch design that's getting launched in Detroit but am honestly concerned about the environmental impact of buying another car like the wrx or an evo, etc. What I may buy next is a Prius for my long highway commute and a sportbike, say a Yamaha R6, to satisfy my speed cravings.
Tough call really, whatever replaces this WRX has got to be able to haul a few surfboards around the coast and haul 800+lbs of gear to burning man once a year. If Subaru would bring out its (bio?) diesel in the next-gen Impreza chassis with a sport suspension and six gears or so I would gladly pay $30k.
This WRX, bought in late spring 2001, has been the most reliable car I've owned.
Right now I have about 73,400 miles on it and I do believe it's been pretty reliable as well.
I have had a couple of odd problems which have been fixed. My water pump started leaking around 20,000 miles. The dealer replaced it under warranty. Basically everyone involved was baffled as to why it went bad.
I also had a problem with the ABS control unit. Basically it was "hyperactive". I would slow down approaching a red light and sometimes the ABS would just kick-in with no warning. No wheel slip of any kind. It took a couple trips to the dealer and eventually they were able to replicate on a test drive. They also found a TSB on the issue and I haven't had that problem since the time of the repair.
Still on original clutch (does have some chatter sometimes), 2nd set of brake pads and 2nd set of tires. I replaced the RE-92s around 50,000 miles with Falken ZE512s.
Overall, reliability has been very good. Never had to have car towed or anything like that.
I'm a happy Subaru customer.
-juice
Thanks for you reply. I did know about that ABS tuning issue. My problem was different however. It was a "wasn't doing it before" kind of issue. Basically out of the blue, the ABS would kick in when it wasn't needed at all. Literally no issues with the ABS for about 2 years of ownership and then suddenly I would just touch the brakes on a perfectly dry road and ABS would kick in. Based on my recolection it was doing it once in every 4 or 5 stops. I'd have to look up the receipts but the fix did involve some replacement of parts.
But regardless of those problems, I definitely believe my WRX has been the most reliable I've ever owned.
-eab
also I opted to get the revised ABS module put in.
also had a rear strut/shock and a front ball joint replaced under the ext warranty. must be all those Chicago potholes! no, I do not drive like a total maniac! otherwise its been running fine. will have to teach my 16 year old daughter how to use a stick though on this thing as its the only manual we have, bye bye clutch!
CD seems to playing up last few weeks, maybe its that subzero weather as its fine when its "warmer"! anyway when it gets bad enough I'll try get them to replace that too, should be covered by the ext warranty.
I've taken my 93 from california all the way to canada and back down twice with no issues what so ever!! :shades:
112,000 miles, mostly highway.
Replaced: battery, tires, timing belt (recommended at 105K), regular maintenance - oil, filter...
Problems: NONE
I would happily jump in my car right now & drive from Boston to San Diego, & I will definitely look at Subaru for my next car. However, at the rate my WRX is going, it will be a long time before I'm in the market for a new car. :-)
Drive safe!
Macksrex
1st - 2003 Subaru WRX sedan
2nd - 2005 Subaru WRX sedan
3rd - 2014 Subaru WRX hatchback
4th - 2015 Forester XT Touring
-mike
Thanks Doug
-mike
Thanks for your input and sorry for the long post
Learn to drive a slow car fast and then you can drive a fast car, even faster!
-mike
Just get an 03 or newer (inspect for oil leaks to be safe), or any 2.2l.
Doug
It isn't cheap, IIRC it's around $1900 + labor (which can be $2-3k maybe more) so you are looking at roughly about $5-7k for the trans.
-mike
Any advice?