Subaru WRX Is Brand’s Least Reliable Model With Transmission Problems

I have a 2015 Subaru WRX. Check engine light came on. Now all of a sudden I lost forward movement. I can only driving my car in reverse. I will never buy a Subaru again. I’m at 50,000 miles. The mechanic said I need a rebuilt transmission or replacement. Quoted me $4000 to $10,000 from the dealer.

2016 WRX purchased new. Almost immediately there was an errant noise, think harmonic vibrations, every so often. Reported to original dealership. "Not a problem." Continued to report this as it became more persistent. "Not a problem." Mind you no documentation made by them for a long time about this. Eventually they replaced the TOB under warranty. Or said they did. Same problem. Dealership told a Subaru Rep they test rode with me and said it was clutch slipping (I have the email from the Rep). They never did. The documentation the dealership gave me after having the car a month said they couldn't make it make the noise. Changed dealerships. They were awesome. They recognized the noise wasnt right. TOB changed again. Then car wouldn't go in to gear while actively driving it leaving me stranded. Then clutch assembly, shift cable, and 5th and 6th gears rebuilt. Still not right (they had it 3.5 months). Subaru of America doesn't understand what the problem is though all documentation qualifies for VA "Lemon Law." I have a 2004 WRX still going strong. I will never purchase another Subaru after all of this. Much time wasted trying to get resolution of a "high quality" car running properly with an outcome of it sitting in the driveway.

2015 WRX - 54K miles. No modifications never driven hard and the engine is blown. I heard today that Subaru will not fix it as an act of good will.

I own a 2007 WRX TR with the 5 MT. It has around 75k miles. I am the original owner. I am still on the original clutch. Major things I have had to do it were an axle shaft, new bushings after 10 years, and rotors after 60k. Sounds like I don't want to get a new WRX or STI anytime soon based on comments here. I was having thoughts of the S209, but I have no reason to get rid of my Rex. I honestly think I will drive it until the wheels fall off, or it develops an issue where the cost is not worth repairing the car for. I have lucked out with this car and how good it has been to me. My dealer for the most part has been fair. I still take it there. I guess sometimes you get lucky or maybe the older WRX's are more reliable.

I have the 2016 wrx limited and I haven’t had any transmission issues but I’ve had the famous head gasket issue at about 63k miles. But other than that I haven’t had any other issues with it. I personally think it’s a fairy comfortable ride compared to what this review talks about. Car shifts perfectly and doesn’t ride stiff at all. Even after upgrading to a higher performance clutch.

My MY17 WRX always had issues with very Inconsistent clutch and 1 gear synchro.
Now they are fixing the gearbox under warranty and they said clutch only has about 10k km left and I have to pay for a new clutch. Total distance travel is only 42000km.
I had a 5 MT Nissan SSS which I did over 100,000km with the clutch. Very disappointed with short life of the WRX clutches.

I find it hard to believe these cars barely last 30k. I have a 2012 Kia Forte 6 spd manual, with a 130k on it. I do nothing but beat on it and I have no problems. how can a sports car that cost 2x more than a low end $12,000 car not last. I think ya all don't know how to drive.

I own a 2019 WRX with the performance pack. At present I have 11k miles on the car, and I had the front and rear diff fluids changed out at 7k miles as being over cautious against wear metals.

I change the engine oil and filter every 4k miles with AMSoil Boosted XL 5w-30 with a Subaru filter, and then I have a lab analyze the oil sample to determine how the engine is breaking in and also how much oil protection is left in the sample.

The two samples so far all show excellent breaking in of the new engine as well as “plenty” of protection left. The lab suggest a 6k mile oil change interval, but I will stick with 4k miles because I like the added safety net.

I will have the front and rear diff fluids changed out by a dealer once annually, and I always allow the car to warm up (190F oil temps on the factory gauge) before I get in to boost.

Warm oil protects better than cold oil, and a warm engine is less likely to suffer shock from any “higher” boost pressure. I view anything over 5psi as higher boost on a cold motor. It only makes sense also to assume that a warm transmission and rear diff are better suited to aggressive driving than cold ones are. The WRX isn’t a race car, but it is an excellent fun to drive performance bargain so long as basic maintenance and driving habits are habitually followed.

I have friends in Houston with 2015+ WRX’s who maintain their cars along the same lines as I do, and some have cars with 80k + miles and no reported incidents of failure. Some of their cars are tuned on E85 and produce 330+ whp on a mustang dyno. That’s a helluva nice result on a platform that many complain about being too fragile. It also tells me that it can’t just be the car that’s the problem.

This is my 1st ever Subaru, but not my 1st performance car. I have owned over 12 performance cars in 22 years of driving them, and I am looking forward to seeing if my plan for my WRX will net me a long and mostly trouble free relationship.

Wish me success!!

64,000 miles and NO problems

Wow thanks guys. I was about to go pull a trigger on a 19 WRX for my 40th birthday but I said let’s check into the reliability. I love the WRX body design. I can’t believe what a POS the engine and tranny they put in these beautiful cars.

I have been driving Toyota’s for years and I’m a spoiled brat with Toyota reliability. Nice job Subaru. You just lost a customer.

I drive my 2017 WRX hard, but properly maintain it.
I drive it in and out of NYC every workday.
It is the most reliable car I have ever owned.
64,000 miles and no problems.
No problems with the 6 speed manual.
I have had some other performance cars (GTI, S4, S6, Mustang GT)
Also, it has been the best car for the money.
I recommend the WRX without reservation.

2019 STI, clutch went out at 9000k. very disappointed. Had 2005 legacy GT. 287000 on the sport-shift tranny, never any problems. I'm really disappointed and worried. going to get the car from my dealer of 14 years in an hour or so....

OK, so now my 2016 WRX at 27,000 had to have the throw-out bearing and clutch replaced...$1800...not fun. Drives great now but with all the stop and go traffic I drive through, it's only a matter of time before I need to get it replaced again...going to eventually trade-in for an automatic something...

I'm the second owner of my 2016 WRX base. My Subaru dealership recommended replacing the original clutch at 98K miles when they fixed an issue with my camshaft bracket (SOA covered the repair thanks to my 100K mile CPO warranty). My WRX is now at 109K miles, and has none of the problems previously mentioned in this thread!

To be honest reading this thread has started to make me question if I should jump ship and buy a Toyota Corolla... Didn't realize this many people have had transmission problems!

Well, I’ve got a 2017 premium WRX, I had the throw out bearing replaced at 35k, and now i’m having to replace the whole clutch assembly at 49k. Oh and ive got a bad axle that also has to be replaced. I have no mods on the car and i don’t drive it on a track or drive crazy. I mean you can’t even heel/toe this car. Plus the body paint chips just looking at it....
Had a 1998 Saab unitl 2 years ago and never had axel or clutch issues..... Both cars have gone to same shop, so it’s not the driver or the service.
The subaru “love“ is gone on this end...

2016 with 160K. A LOT of problems. First time something failed in the center/front diff and the whole thing was trashed. Thankfully that was covered. The TOB failed not long after. Out of warranty (highway miles, what can you do?) I had the dealer put on a new clutch, flywheel and TOB. They didn't notice the failed TOB that had a service bulletin on it before the first problem, this ended eating into the shaft and I had to take it else where to fix it out of pocket, once again. My new clutch was destroyed, but I was able to put a repair sleeve on the gouged shaft and resurface the flywheel. I've been driving it for about 65K miles with the clutch engaging on the floor and difficulty shifting. I got a longer shift knob just so I have more leverage to shove it in lol. I also had to replace my turbo at 110K, but that's pretty normal. Other then that I love the car, the engines been rock solid and is defiantly the platform of the future for them. Not sure If I want to replace it with another wrx trans or spend the 7K to stick a STI transmission in it and set up the after market controller for it.

I've got a 2016 sti roughly 84000km and no issues yet. Steering feels a little loose, but that's from drifting to one side too often

2017 wrx sti 4 th gear grind and power steering leak dealer avoiding to fix trans they have every excuse it will be my last subaru as it is junk

Reading these comments is really making me wonder if I should even consider the WRX. I am due for a new car this year. I’ve had multiple manual transmission VAG performance oriented models (2 GTIs and a Jetta GLI) over the last 15 years and put close to 500.000km combined on them with zero catastrophic failures. They are maintenance heavy vehicles and I’ve done my own work for 90% of services, and to be honest was ok with the WRX needing more maintenance than your typical civic/Corolla... but this is next level. For people to need transmission repairs and bearing replacements at such low mileages really blows my mind. I have yet to ever need to change a clutch on a vehicle and never sold one with less than around 175k on it. It looks like I’ll be staying away from Subaru...

I have a 2020 Subaru WRX Premium 6 speed. My manual transmission slips. I’ll be in 4th gear and it says I’m in 3rd. I have 6,525 miles on it! I’m 62 years old so no I don’t race it or drive it crazy. I’ve had multiple manual transmission vehicles

2015 WRX manual purchased new. 96k on this car now. 30k service required a new battery and needed new tires which I bough somewhere else, the dealer didn’t have any tires is stock.
First clutch replaced at 59k along with the synchros in 3rd gear. At the 90k point I noticed a burning oil smell and I kept hearing clutch noise. They dropped the engine to replace the valve cover seals, the oil leaks were causing the burning oil smell. The clutch noise turned into another whole clutch setup.
Now the car is going back this week because of grinding while down shifting 6 to 5.
I’m headed to a different dealership this time for service. The original dealer was terrible, seemed every time the car came back, another component was broken or missing and/or another dent in the car.
I am the sole driver of this car, it’s used as a daily driver, I’m over 60 years old and of all the manual transmission cars I have owned, and it’s been a lot, this is the worst.
Subaru of America fessed up $500 on the second clutch, not much really considering I can get a clutch replaced at a local mechanic for about $500 less than the dealership anyway.
The car handles well, great in the snow for trips to the slopes. I just got back from a 2200 mile road trip, 70% of the miles on this car are freeway trips.
The gas mileage is impressive, the brakes are better than any other car I have had, I did the first break job at 82k, pretty impressive.
There have been a few other minor issues usually costing less than a couple hundred so that’s not too bad. Overall it’s an expensive car to own because of the engine and clutch issues. Certainly the ongoing issues with the transmission are frustrating.
Actually looking at another brand of car, this particular Subaru needs to go away.
This is the first Subaru I have owned, after this experience I’ll probably not buy another one. It’s a shame because I like the way the car handles, the stiff ride is all part of the suspension that makes you feel connected to the road, especially at high freeway speeds. To be sure it’s a great looking car.

I have a 2015 WRX and the engine had a recall and needed to be replaced. My timing belt needed to be replace, my brakes needed to be flushed and changed at 20,000 miles. My car has had two transmissions replaced by 75,000 miles. Still fighting with the dealership. Car sucks.

I have a 2020 WRX premium with 19k miles, and it's about to go to the dealer for suspension AND transmission problems.

The front suspension clunks over bumps on both sides. It's done that since about 10k miles.

Shifting to 2nd gear while going straight is fine, but if I'm turning and need to shift to 2nd, it either grinds or is VERY notchy (the kind of notchy that feels damaging). It doesn't matter what rpm or how quickly or slowly I shift. Every car I've owned since 2003 has been a manual, and I've never had any issues, so I'm confident it has nothing to do with anything I'm doing.

So far I'm pretty disappointed with the WRX. It feels fragile - which isn't what you'd expect from a car that's known for rally. In the past I've owned a 2000 mustang GT, 2003 350z, 2003 G35 coupe, and 2015 FR-S. All of them modified. The WRX is stock and easily the most troublesome.

I bought a 2017 wrx premium with 7 miles on it off the lot in 2016 and in 2018 at 48,000 miles a shift fork broke and a small piece jammed it in neutral. The dealership Jenkins Subaru in Bridgeport WV pushed all the blame on me and Subaru backed them even after two ase certified mechanics said that this was no fault of my own and the clutch was likely to not have been adjusted properly when it came off the truck at the dealership.

Bought a 2019 WRX Premium. At 8,000 miles the a rear axle snapped moving from gravel to pavement without being aggressive. Looked like I took a cut off wheel and cut it in half the break was so clean. Axle replaced under warranty. At 11,XXX miles, I was driving like a grandma, reached the posted speed limit and went for 6th. I heard a slight grinding noise, immediately went into 5th and went back for 6th which resulted in the complete lock up of the transmission. I was around a corner in a dangerous position so I tried to get the car off the road but was soon overwhelmed by the clutch smoking on the seized flywheel. I was angry and brought the car to the dealer again. This time I was informed Subaru was not covering the vehicle under warranty because it was determined “I launched the vehicle resulting in clutch failure which then caused transmission damage. They wanted $13k to fix it and I was beyond mad. I called until I got ahold of someone high up at Subaru of America and they just kept repeating that I abused the vehicle. This was my 3rd Subaru and second 2002 WRX, the 2nd was a 2006 STI. The 2002 was still going at close to 300,000 miles with the SAME clutch in the 5 speed MT, and I sold it. Talking with a tech at the dealer over the relatively week looking internal of the transmission, he said I could have been putting slight pressure on the reverse lockout and this allowed the transmission to bypass the reverse lockout almost pushing it out of the way and caused the bypass to remain open. .I lost thousands on it, and couldn’t do anything about it. The dealer was sympathetic but Subaru of America was ridiculously impertinent. They kept telling me “launched” the vehicle which any Subaru driver knows is nothing but unpleasant for the driver and the car: