2009 SUBARU IMPREZA Complaints

2009 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX, ~25K MILES. DRIVING ON A BACK ROAD, ALL OF A SUDDEN ENGINE STARTS KNOCKING. HAVE TO GET IT TOWED TO SUBARU DEALERSHIP. THEY NEED TO REPLACE THE ENGINE. I WAS ON MY WAY BACK TO BOSTON VISITING FAMILY WITH MY DOG IN THE CAR. THIS CAUSED ME TO HAVE TO PAY FOR A FLIGHT BACK HOME AND MISS HALF A DAY'S WORK. MY CAR IS OUT OF COMMISSION IN NJ WHILE I'M UP IN BOSTON FOR 2 WEEKS. THIS PROBLEM HAS HAPPENED TO OVER A HUNDRED PEOPLE SO FAR WITH THIS MODEL CAR. SUBARU ADMITTED A DEFAULT IN MANUFACTURING FOR THOSE PEOPLE WITH CARS IN A BUILD DATE RANGE OF 7/08 AND 8/08 BUT DID NOT SEND OUT LETTERS TO OWNERS IN THAT BUILD DATE RANGE. THIS IS A CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE AND SHOULD RESULT IN A RECALL, ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY KNOW ABOUT THE ISSUE AND REFUSED TO DO ANYTHING TO NOTIFY THE USERS OR PREEMPTIVELY FIX THE PROBLEM. BY WILLINGLY KNOWING THAT A CUSTOMER'S ENGINE COULD FAIL AND WAITING UNTIL THE FAILURE OCCURS, CAUSING HARDSHIP ON THE OWNER, THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION THAT WARRANTS A RECALL. *TR

MOTOR FAILURE LEAVING ME TO ROLL THOUGH AND STALL IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION. *TR

PASSENGER AIR BAG WILL NOT WORK IN 09 IMPREZA SUBARU; SUBARU WILL FIX THE CAR TO OPERATE WITH ADULT OVER 100 LBS. OCCUPANT DETECTION SYSTEM WILL NOT EVER OPERATE AND SUBARU FEELS THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE AND CLAIMS IT PASSED FEDERAL SAFETY AND CLAIMS THERE IS NOTHING TO FIX. *TR

2009 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX WAGON HAS 5960 MILES WAS A NEW VEHICLE PURCHASE IN OCTOBER 2009. VEHICLE NEW CAR GUIDELINES WERE FOLLOWED AS WERE THE MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES. THE VEHICLE ENGINE I FEEL HAS A MECHANICAL DEFECT IN THE ENGINE. THE ENGINE HAS SPUN A BEARING BLOWN A ROD AND DAMAGED THE CRANKSHAFT. THIS FROM WHAT HAVE RESEARCHED IS NOT AN UNCOMMON PROBLEM. *TR

FOR THE SECOND TIME THE CAR STALLED WHILE IN MOTION. AFTER THE FIRST TIME WE HAD REPORTED TO GALLES & DAVIES SUBARU IN ABQ, NM ON 9.17.09. THEY DID THE INSPECTION AND WERE NOT ABLE TO FIND THE REASON. ALSO WE HAVE STILL RECURRING PROBLEMS WITH NOISES FROM AIR INTAKE, WHICH HAS BEEN REPAIRED 4 TIMES(!). *TR

REAR WINDOW DEFROST IS INADEQUATE -- WILL NOT CLEAR LIGHT SNOW OR FROST UNTIL IT HAS BEEN OPERATING FOR 15-20 MINUTES. IMPEDES REAR VISION IN NORTHERN STATES. *TR

IN MARCH OF 2009 I PURCHASED A 2009 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX WITH A MANUAL TRANSMISSION FROM THE DEALER. AT THAT TIME THE CAR HAD 580 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. AFTER TAKING THE CAR HOME I BEGAN IMMEDIATELY HAVING PROBLEMS WHEN ATTEMPTING TO PLACE THE CAR IN REVERSE AND ALSO NOTICED A FOUL ODOR WHEN TAKING OFF AND OCCASIONALLY WHEN SWITCHING GEARS. WHEN I CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP I WAS TOLD THAT THESE ISSUES WERE NORMAL FOR THE WRX AND THAT THE "CLUTCH SMELL" WAS COMMON AND NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. AT THE FIRST OIL CHANGE I EXPRESSED CONCERNS AGAIN AND WAS TOLD A SIMILAR STORY. I ASKED ABOUT THE ISSUE AGAIN OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL MONTHS AND THEN I TOOK MY CAR TO A DIFFERENT SUBARU DEALERSHIP AT THE END OF DECEMBER 2009 FOR EXTENSIVE MAINTENANCE AND ASKED THEM TO LOOK AT THE CLUTCH FOR ME BECAUSE I WAS NOTICING THE "CLUTCH SMELL" A LOT AND WAS NOW HAVING PROBLEMS SHIFTING INTO REVERSE AND FIRST GEAR AND THE TACHOMETER WOULD JUMP AROUND OCCASIONALLY WITH NO IDENTIFIABLE CAUSE. I PICKED MY CAR UP ON JANUARY 2, 2010 AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CLUTCH AND THAT MY CAR WAS FINE. ON JANUARY 31, 2010 MY CLUTCH FAILED CATASTROPHICALLY LEAVING MY VEHICLE DISABLED IN THE MIDDLE OF A MAJOR INTERSTATE. THERE ARE ONLY 22,000 MILES ON MY CAR. IT WAS TOWED TO YET A THIRD SUBARU DEALERSHIP AND INSPECTED BY A REPRESENTATIVE OF SUBARU OF AMERICA AND I WAS TOLD THAT MY CLUTCH WOULD NOT BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY BECAUSE IT HAD BEEN "MISUSED" AND I WAS INFORMED THAT THEY FELT I HAD BEEN "LAUNCHING" THE CAR. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY INACCURATE AND A DIRECT DEFAMATION OF MY CHARACTER AS I HAVE NEVER DONE ANY SUCH THING IN MY VEHICLE. MY CAR IS USED FOR MY NORMAL DAILY COMMUTE TO WORK AND LONG DISTANCE ROAD TRIPS. A BRIEF INTERNET SEARCH ALSO FOUND MULTIPLE CASE REPORTS OF OTHER CONSUMERS WITH VERY SIMILAR COMPLAINTS (CLUTCHES FAILING AT VERY LOW MILEAGE WITH SUBARU OF AMERICA BLAMING THE CONSUMER FOR THE FAILURE). *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX. HE STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 40 MPH THE ENGINE STARTED TO MAKE A NOISE WHILE APPROACHING A STOP SIGN AND SHUT OFF. HE WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE AND DRIVE TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER; HOWEVER, THE NOISE BECAME LOUDER AND MORE FREQUENT AND THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO STALL. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER AT THEIR EXPENSE. THE DEALER CONFIRMED THAT THE ENGINE WAS DESTROYED AND COULD NOT BE REPAIRED. THE DEALER ALSO STATED THAT BEFORE THE VEHICLE LEFT THE FACTORY THAT THE ENGINE WAS NOT INSPECTED PRIOR TO BEING INSTALLED IN THE VEHICLE. THE ENGINE WAS REPLACED PER THE WARRANTY. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 1400 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 1600.

PISTON RINGLAND FAILURE AFTER 10K MILES ON BRAND NEW 2009 SUBARU IMPREZA STI. ENTIRE ENGINE BEING REPLACED BY SUBARU UNDER WARRANTY. *TR

THE TPMS SYSTEM IN THE 2009 SUBARU IMPREZA IS FLAWED. WHEN I SEASONALLY CHANGE MY TIRES TO THE SPARE SET, I MUST GO TO THE DEALER TO HAVE THE TPMS SENSORS RESET. THE SYSTEM SHOULD BE DESIGNED TO RECOGNIZE MORE THAN 4 TIRES; 8 WOULD BE A MINIMUM AND 9 WOULD BE PREFERRED FOR THE SPARE TIRE. THE IMPACT OF THIS FAULTY SYSTEM IS THAT IF I WANT MY TPMS SYSTEM TO WORK AS FEDERALLY MANDATED, I MUST PAY $50 TWICE PER YEAR TO THE DEALER OR TIRE SHOP TO RESET THE SYSTEM. BY LAW, THERE IS NO WAY TO DISABLE THE SYSTEM I.E. FOR WINTER RIMS AND TIRES. THE CONSUMER, ONCE AGAIN, IS GETTING PRICE GOUGED FOR A "SAFETY FEATURE" THAT HAS AN INHERENT DESIGN FLAW. PLEASE REMEDY THIS PROBLEM SOON AS ALL NEW CARS ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE THIS FEATURE AND CONSUMERS IN MANY STATES FREQUENTLY CHANGE THEIR TIRES DURING THE WINTER MONTHS. *TR