Subaru Impreza

"I just had a recall for the valve spring. They found my cam covers were leaking. I have also had to replace oil between oil changes."

"Oil leak in the cam shaft apparently caused by defective sealant at the factory. Covered by manufacturing warranty"

"Not sure if my oil was leaking or not, but I've had the oil light come on after 3,000 or so miles of driving. Took to the dealer, they checked but found no issues. I just carry a few quarts of oil with me in my travels and fill up when needed"

"My low oil pressure light came on and I had to pull over and add oil"

"Since I've owned the car, it has run out of oil twice while I've been on a trip and have had to add a quart. I have my car serviced on time since it's been purchased so this is not happening because of abuse of the vehicle"

"Using an excessive amount of oil. Have to routinely put oil into car between 7,500 mi oil change because oil light comes on"

"Engine burns 1 litre of oil every 2000 kilometres"

"My wife drives and maintains this car. She has to periodically add oil beyond the service stops at our dealer. Usually a quart between service checks."

"My Impreza has burned oil since it was new. It is not a problem in the winter and at low speeds. But summer drives on the Interstate burn the oil quickly. I have not done a consumption test because it is a hassle and the bar is high - warning light in 1,200 miles. That's ridiculous. I will not buy another Subaru, but it is hard to me to understand why this car was so highly rated by CR."

"The engine short block had to be replaced by Subaru within the first year or two, no charge, d/t a problem with the 2012 Impreza and oil usage. Before and after the replacement, my oil warning light always comes on one or two thousand miles before I'm due for an oil change. I keep a 5 qt bottle of oil in my car, and add a quart when this happens. Doable, but a hassle, and happens every single time before I'm due for an oil change."

"Previously mentioned the leaks were due to the head gasket leak."

"Oil light came on. Car had only 33,000 miles. Every time I get oil changed elsewhere it is 1/2 quart low and I change twice as frequently as recommended due to the problems this model has had with heavy oil loss in general. When changed at dealer and oil test requested, am always told it is normal. Yet, when my oil light came on yet again, was told by dealer that oil seals were broken and needed replacing which required what sounded like a partial engine rebuild and was very expensive. Also learned the company replaced the brand of seals used, so must have had a service memo on it. Complained to Subaru national and consumer office is less helpful now that it moved from CA to NJ. Subaru did pay partially toward very expensive repair. This and repeated recalls since purchase make me hesitate to recommend this model. Also, passenger window won't go up or down. Reported problem while under warranty. Subaru now refuses to repair and says it will cost $400. Feel Subaru has gone downhill. BTW, have driven 16 miles since March."

"At around 80000 miles, after having recall work done on the valve assembly,this Subaru started consuming approximately 1 quart of oil between oil changes. I had the dealer service checkk it out and they tightend a few things but this didn't resolve the issue. Upon further research I found that excessive oil consumption common issue with the subaru 2.1 engine."

"Oil leakage caused sensor(s?) to fail. Car continued to run, but trouble lights came on occasionally. $2500 and several days to fix."

"Oil leaks due to failure of engine sealant. Engine was taken apart and new sealant added. Took a few days."

"We had oil consumption checked at dealer as there is a recall for excessive consumption. The amount of oil used was not enough for the recall. But after 3000 miles we have to add oil or get an oil change."

"Known issue with oil consumption on this model. There is an oil consumption test you can have taken and if failed, Subaru will cover the repair costs. Not a full recall on the piston rings which cause the problem."

"Engine was replaced (factory recall for oil usage.) Afterwards, car was still using a quart of oil every month. It took several service visits before they found the source of the leak and fixed it. No problems since."

"Burns at least 1 litre of oil per month. Subaru says its normal, but I've never had a car that burns that much oil so consistently. Have to keep a litre in the car in case the oil light comes on without warning."

"The car had 36000 miles on it when I purchased it. Have had constant problems with the car uaing oil. Also major problems with front passenger seat sensor eventhough it was recalled for that and had previously replaced the sensor once and replaced the whole seat another time"

"Problems in the last year with excessive oil burnoff"

"Its actually the high oil consumption prolem. I drive 160 miles every day, 16 miles on secondary roads the remainder on Free way at speeds of 60-75 MPH. this car uses 0-20 synthetic oil and I must add a quart every 1000 miles, so I drive 7500-8000 miles on an oil change and burn through another oil change pus in that timeframe"

"Not so much an oil leak as oil consumption. Twice I've had the oil light go on just as I was headed into a mountain range on a long trip, in evening, on a weekend where being stranded would be dangerous and no help is available. Both times were within a few thousand miles of an oil change. First time was within a year and a half of newly purchased. Currently undergoing monitoring every 1200 miles to see if I qualify for engine replacement. I doubt they'll justify it"

"Found out that the 2012 Subaru Impreza has a problem with oil leaking and the company will have to rebuild the engine. I have been waiting almost a year for this to take place"

"Engine consumes or leaks oil"

"No big deal, but had to replace the exterior brake light this past weekend. I did the work myself. Comparitively, I have had no comparative light problem in my 2005 Accord, so it seemed early for a 2012 car to already have a bulb go out"

"Bulbs burning out prematurely - both taillights, and one fog light"

"The left turn signal light burned out."

"This vehicle eats all lights. Each headlight has been replaced 3 times, turn signals 4 times, brake lights 4 times, license plate lights 2 times and back-up lights 3 times. The record is needing 4 lights in one visit."

"battery drains until dead rebgulzrlt overnight. think it;s electrical issue somewhere in car"

"idiot lights came on Was told that a spiders nest caused it then the issue reappeared, I'm awaiting service on it so I don't know how it will b diagnosed this time"

"Both Headlight low beam bulbs failed. There was actually rust and water inside the bulb itself"

"one bulb and one ballast failure cost $1500 to repair"

"Bulbs failed"

"Headlights do not last. I'm on the 4th set of bulbs for a car I've had 8 years. Have had other vehicles for 12+ years and replaced headlights only one time"

"Problem still exists. I purchased and installed a new bulb and the headlight still does not work. Between shelter in place and working in a hospital, I am having a hard time getting repairs scheduled at a garage."

"I had to change low beam light bulb twice."

"I've had to replace headlights, fog lights, turn signal lights, back-up lights, etc. On average I keep a car for more than 10 years and have needed to replace headlights only once. I've replaced headlights on this car twice so I'm on third set in less than 6 years. I'm on 3rd set of fog lights and 4th set of back-up and turn signals. Every 5000 miles I get oil change and tire rotation and, in 94500 miles of driving, I've had exactly 3 oil change/tire rotations that did NOT include one or more light bulb; I actually needed 4 replacement bulbs at one service visit. And there've been times I've gone to my mechanic for a replacement light between oil changes/tire rotations. Some bulbs are cheap but headlights and fog lights are not."

"Wiring of one of the headlights had to be repaired. Otherwise, routine bulb burn-out"

"Driver side heated seat no longer works. Light comes on but no heat."

"The horn button on the steering wheel failed and it was not possible to sound the horn."

"battery drains regularly needed a boost too many times"

"annoy time come and off"

"The batteries on all the TMP's went bad."

"The tire pressure monitor signals a problem but after having the dealer look at it and numerous checking with a tire gauge and finding no problem, we no longer can trust the monitor"

"Same problem as detailed with head lights. The only light I've not replaced multiple times are the interior lights. Granted one of them just died but, since it's the only light that lasted 5.5 years, I'm not so irked about it."

"Oil level warning light flicking on and off unpredictably. But the oil level itself in the car was unaffected. Nerve racking because until you check the oil you don't know for sure. Dealer says cannot fix it unless they catch it on."

"Bad design of front bumper - too long and low. Hits regular curbs. It even hits the ground when the wheel hits a pothole. I have had to have the bumper repaired several times. Terrible in snow"

"Mud guard broke the first winter, I ask Subaru to remove them. THey let the inner part of the wings without screws to the wings or bumper"

"This my 4th Subaru. mechanically as good as all the others as I expected but the fit and finish was very sub par as compared with previous models. Paint doesnt take a a shine well and body doesnt hold up to city abuse like the others. I/m glade its g"

"cosmotetic faux fog lights have fallen off repeatedly"

"The front fairing underneath the headlight has come loose on both sides. It started a few years ago. Initially I would just pound it back in with my hands. Now I just drive with it that way. My guess is it comes from the low clearance. Anytime I park head first along a curb it scrapes the fairing and pops it loose."

"bumpers separating from body of car from the sides. Bumpers cracked."

"Is flimsy and just ticks in. The housing for the headlights readily fall out during the winter if one touches a snow bank"

"Right front bumper plastic cover has damaged tabs that hold it in place. Must be pushed bck in place after carwash etc."

"Body panels are ill-fitting, misaligned, and do not stay in place"

"Trim and body side molding made of flimsy plastic. Cracks and breaks with vey little impact"

"fasteners are becoming loose and breaking, leaving fenders flapping in the wind"

"Drivers seat trim came loose and had to be replaced by dealer under warranty"

"My car is red, this car scratches easily, any touches scratches the paint and light gray color primer shows up. It seems like paint was not cured properly or there is little or no clear coat on top of the paint"

"Inumerable small chips out of the paint, especially in the front and hood. Paints seems to chip very easily"

"minor paint issue rear bumper"

"Areas of paint fading and wear on the roof and hood; this may be related to using a rotating-brush car wash on several occasions. Constant sun exposure may also be a factor. There is no comparable wear on doors, fenders or trunk."

"paint coming off in spots on front and back of car in past 2 or 3 years"

"paint is coming of in several places my car is 8 years old"

"Hairline cracks in the paint developed along the door sill and eventually began to rust"

"This is my 5th Subaru and none of them have rusted and that is why I purchased another Subaru, however, I am continually having problems with the trunk rusting"

"Rust on Rocker panel on driver's side needed to be repaired."

"The throw out bearing started to fail so we had that and the clutch plates replaced"

"It was making a grinding noise every time I used the clutch, it turned out the whole thing was rusted"

"At 48,200 miles, clutch started feeling strange. Several miles later it failed, car came to a stop, engine quit and would not re-start. Luckily, I was not on the highway. AAA towed me to my dealer. Got a loaner for several days while a new clutch was on order. No problems since."

"Clutch throw out bearing needed replacement. Change clutch plate at the same time."

"This problem was taken care of with the transmission rebuild, since it happened at the same time."

"Power to rear wheels failed in slick, snowy conditions. Subaru could not repair CVT. Had to install re-manufactured transmission. $7000"

"Several warning lights came on about 93000 miles. Took the car to the dealership where I have it serviced and they determined the transmission valve body needed to be replaced. The repair was covered under my extended warranty. At 101000 miles I started having problems with the transmission going into the gear I selected and with getting the key out of the ignition after putting the car in park and turning off the engine. Problems got steadily worse until I sold the car at 105000 miles."

"Transmission completely failed. Dealer originally blamed on replacement tire."

"The transmission was making a noise. The dealer told me that Subaru was aware of problems with the transmission of my model. Subaru completely replaced the transmission at no cost to me."

"CVT required valve body replacement. It was just outside of an extended warranty (warranty extended to 100k, CVT failed at 105k). The dealership was a hassle to work with, but after contacting Subaru of America directly, they paid for the repair in full and paid for a loaner vehicle."

"The dashboard lights all lit up and it made a grating/grinding sound. I had it towed and found out it was the transmission. I worked with Subaru customer service. I was out of warranty, but they paid the labor costs."

"The transmission had to be replaced. Subaru paid for it due to faulty transmission"

"The transmission started making noises at approx. 70,000 miles. Finally at 85,000 the transmission was so loud the dealer agreed to replace it since I had an extended warranty. The dealer blamed it on the tires. I had one tire replaced due to a blow out, the other tires had 10,000 miles on them."

"Transmission warning lights. The work was performed at no cost even at the high mileage since Subaru is aware of a CVT transmissin defect."

"Transmission developed a leak in the valve control body. Valve body replacement was covered by warranty. Old valve body had cracked seats"

"When coasting to a stop, there was a repetitive noise that slowed down as the speed slowed. Took to dealer who determined that CVT was going out. Replaced under warrantee at no cost."

"The valve body on the transmission had to be replaced"

"Subaru was making a low growling noise at low speeds. Took car to dealership (car was just out of warranty via mileage). Dealership got approval from Subaru corporate to replace transmission at no cost to us. (Apparently, this was a known issue.)"

"Transmission started making noise. Took it to the dealer for warranty repair., They provided a rental car while we were waiting for a rebuilt transmission to arrive and be installed (about a week to ten days as I recall). I would have preferred a new transmission instead of one that had already had a problem and had to be rebuilt. Now I'm a little jumpy and have thought about selling the car although our original strategy was to keep the car for 15+ years"

"Total Transmission failure at 63,400 miles, with a $9,000 repair bill"

"Overdrive lock failed, repaired by local mechanic"

"Gear engaugement from reverse to drive takes 3-5 seconds. When backing into traffic this is a MAJOR problem. Service department says"this is normal", to me this is unacceptable. Service department said that a fix would involve reprogramming the co"

"The car has at times automatically and unexpectedly performed a stunt similar to shifting the transmission into neutral at high speed a keeping the engine revving at a very unhealthy high rpm. This has not stored a fault code and therefore been unable to be diagnosed. We are done with newer cars and are in the market for a reputed reliable low miles significantly older easily repairable vehicle."

"Ended up being covered due to extended warranty after I questioned them on it. but was initially told it wouldn't be covered by dealership. Would have cost me thousands otherwise."

"CVT began leaking, dealership quoted $800 for the repair, turns out it was under an extended warranty program they didn't know about (but I did) so ended up getting it fixed for free."

"I got a flashing warning light, and was told to have the car towed. The problem was fixed under warranty."

"The automatic transmission temperature light came on. They had to replace something, I can't remember what."

"Transmission had a sensor problem that i had replaced at a local mechanic. Subaru later sent out a notice saying they would reimburse for transmission repairs. I sent them proof and they paid almost $1000. I am very pleased with Subaru."

"Solenoid on the top of the CVT went out. $1500 repair. Subaru paid for it."

"Key would not come out of ignition. When fixed, gear selector would not go into paddle (manual) mode. When dealer attempted to fix this, transmission would not go into any forward gear. I had to wait 3 days for parts to be received and installed."

"SD card became corrupted when battery died, manufacturer provides no way to fix this yourself, dealership insisted on installing new GPS"

"Pairing seems to be a constant problem. Sometimes it works just fine, other times it does not. Trying to re-pair has been frustrating due to complicated choices/controls"

"trouble connecting"

"with OS upgrade, continue to have pairing problems--likely need a firmware upgrade from the Subaru dealer"

"phone initial paired but sometime stopped and will not re connect"

"Pairing must be redone periodically"

"AM radio has connection issue when travelling over rough road. Radio to be replaced within two weeks"

"Satellite reception failed (occasional pickup). GPS also drops out at times. Probably related. FM still works, as does MP3."

"had car to dealer 5 times for a week at a time replaced radio times could not fix problem only would offer to pay for after market blue tooth voice command radio or Subaru accessores"

"The AC compressor failed suddenly while working fine. Fragments entered the condenser and it was also replaced."

"AC compressor locked up while car was at the dealership for the valve spring replacement recall. My biggest complaint is oil use- this car uses at least three quarts of oil between oil changes. Subaru did a test on it and said that the oil consumption is normal and they did nothing about it."

"A noise started creeping into the cabin and kept getting noisier. The A/C was not keeping proper temperature; it would blow a nice cool air and all of a sudden, it would lose the coolness, then it would be cool again. Took the car to 2 separate A/C places, both said it's the compressor. The second one told me to keep using the A/C and put in a bit of some oil and it's not making the noise. so, I don't know what to think, but, in the meantime, it's put money aside to have it ready when the noise comes back with a vengeance"

"Heater fan would only work on setting 4. Did not work on 1, 2, or 3"

"Malfunction of a wiring harness that controls heating system. $1500 and multiple days in shop. Heated seat failed twice."

"replaced heater control panel Broke when attempting to adjust fan for fogged up windows"

"Blower switch was stuck on A/C"

"dealer replased 2 o rings on refregeration valve 2 times 3rd time replaced the valve solved the probem"

"the system was blowing warm in 2018. I had it charged as the mechanic did not notice any leaks. This summer, not only was the system empty of refrigerant, but the compressor failed as well/ very expensive and obviously something that needed to be repaired."

"It was the steering kit that went bad. Meaning it pulled the car to the left."

"Needed to replace worn steering linkage"

"The steering wheel would vibrate off and on; it seemed to occur when the weather was warmer, but the dealer said it didn't matter. If the steering wheel vibrated, I turned off the car, waited a few minutes, then started and the vibration stopped"

"Both rear wheel (or axel?) bearings were replaced on or about May 29, 2020."

"Rear wheel bearing right and left had to be replaced"

"Airbag recall."

"The front passenger detector was intermittently defective, required replacement of entire seat."

"Support clamp welded to frame broke causing pipe to break. Eventually bought new muffler and pipes. Very expensive."

"Same comment as on muffler. All I know is that both had to be replaced according to the serviceman. System is fine now."

"service light came on and awd light came on andcruise control started flashing"

"Mechanic said fuel mixture was not correct."

"At approx 57000 miles my O2 sensor failed and needed to be replaced. I believe the sensor failed early (usually they last until at least 100k miles) because my car's engine failed an oil consumption test at approx 30K miles. I believe this engine leak caused oil to enter the exhaust leading to early failure. Subaru rebuilt my engine for free after the consumption test failure, and I've had no other problems with oil consumption."

"battery failed had to be replaced"

"Starter appears sluggish, especially compared to starter on Legacy. In cold weather (say below -15C) seems barely able to start engine. Changed battery to exclude that as source of problem Dealer checked and found nothing wrong"

"Failure of the power window motor and regulator on a rear window, causing the window glass to slide into the door body. Even with the opening tarped over, it was almost too noisy to drive the car, and impossible to keep the interior cool (this was the peak of summer). The only solution was to replace the entire power window assembly. Fortunately, my warranty package covered the cost for a small deductible."