2009 SUBARU IMPREZA Complaints

FRONT END COLLISION, VEHICLE TOTALED. SEAT BELT FAILURE. BRAKE FAILURE. AIRBAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. MULTIPLE INJURIES SUSTAINED. *TR

CAR USED AS DAILY DRIVER TO COMMUTE LESS THAN 14 MILES ROUND TRIP FOR WORK. CLUTCH BEGAN TO DEVELOP A POP NOISE WHICH THEN TURNED INTO A LOUD SQUEAK FOLLOWED BY MORE THAN A 1/2" OF MOVEMENT TO THE LEFT THAT THE BRAKE PEDAL WOULD START TO MOVE WHEN THE CLUTCH WOULD BE DEPRESSED. AFTER FURTHER INVESTIGATION OF READING LOCAL OWNERS THREADS AND ASKING AROUND I HAVE FOUND THAT THE WELDS THAT HOLD MY BRAKE AND CLUTCH TOGETHER HAVE BROKEN AND ARE CONTINUING TO BREAK WHICH COULD LEAD TO MY CLUTCH PEDAL ASSEMBLY FALLING DOWN TO THE FLOOR BOARD WHICH COULD POTENTIALLY RENDER ME FROM USING MY BRAKE PEDAL. THIS IS A COMMON ISSUE WITH ALL SUBARU IMPREZA WRX AND STI OWNERS WHICH CAN BE FOUND ON MULTIPLE LOCAL OWNERS CLUB WEBSITES AND COULD AFFECT BODILY HARM TO DRIVERS OF THE CARS AND OTHER DRIVERS ON THE ROAD! SUBARU REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS IS A PROBLEM AND IN MOST CASES WILL NOT COVER REPAIR COSTS! *TR

MY CAR STARTED MAKING THIS REALLY LOUD POPPING NOISE EVERYTIME I WOULD ENGAGE THE CLUTCH. WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST WHEN I PRESS ON THE BRAKE PEDAL MY FOOT HAS SHIFTED OFF THE PEDAL DUE TO A FAST SUDDEN MOVE FROM THE CLUTCH AND BRAKE ASSEMBLY. I DROVE THE CAR TO TEXAS TO VISIT FAMILY AND DECIDED TO TAKE THE CAR FOR OIL CHANGE BEFORE RETURNING TO CALIFORNIA. THERE THE SERVICE MANAGER AT SUBARU IN TEXAS, WHICH DROVE MY CAR TO THE SERVICE AREA, ASKED ME IF I HAD NOTICED THE CLICKING NOISE AND I TOLD HIM YES. HE THEN INFORMED ME THAT MANY 2008-2009 IMPREZA WRX HAVE PROBLEMS WITH WELD SPOTS WHICH HOLD THE BRAKE AND CLUTCH ASSEMBLY TO THE FIRE WALL THAT THEN FAIL AND BRAKE OFF. HE GAVE ADVICE ON HOW TO LOOK FOR BROKEN WELDS, SO AS SOON AS I ARRIVED TO CALIFORNIA I FURTHER INSPECTED FOR THE BROKEN WELDS AND SURE ENOUGH HE WAS RIGHT. SO I CONTACTED SUBARU OF AMERICA AND DESCRIBED THE DEFECT ON MY CAR TO HAVE THEM REPAIR IT SINCE IT'S A SAFETY DEFECT, SPECIALLY WITH CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF THE CAR WHICH ARE THE CLUTCH AND BRAKE PEDAL. AS OF TODAY 11/5/2014 THEY HAVE YET TO DECIDE IF THEY ARE COVERING THE REPAIRS BECAUSE MY CAR IS CURRENTLY 85K AND ITS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY. ALSO, THEY ARE BLAMING THE CLUTCH BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN REPLACED PRIOR TO ME PURCHASING THE CAR WITH AN OEM REPLACEMENT CLUTCH. I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED SUCH A NIGHTMARE WITH ANY VEHICLE THAT I HAVE EVER OWNED. I REALLY HOPE NHTSA DOES SOMETHING BEFORE ANY FATALITIES OR ACCIDENTS OCCUR. I AM CURRENTLY GOING THREW THIS RIGHT NOW, SO I HAVE YET TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO DO WITH MY CAR. I REALLY NEED HELP FROM NHTSA, EVEN IF THEY FIX MY CAR, SUBARU NEEDS TO NOTIFY OWNERS OF THIS YEAR AND MODELS OF THIS PROBLEM. ALL OVER THE INTERNET THERE ARE PEOPLE WITH THE SAME ISSUE AND OTHERS THAT ARE YET TO GO THREW. OWNERS NEED TO BE AWARE AND CAUTIOUS ABOUT THIS IMPORTANT FABRICATION DEFECT. *TR

WHILE DRIVING ON I-74 BETWEEN CINCINNATI OH AND INDIANAPOLIS IN I NOTICED THE DEVELOPMENT OF A ENGINE KNOCK AT AROUND SHELBYVILLE IN. NO WARNING LIGHTS WERE ILLUMINATED BUT I PULLED OVER AND INSPECTED THE ENGINE AND COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING OBVIOUSLY WRONG SO I CONTINUED ON MY TRIP. AFTER REACHING I-465 IN INDIANAPOLIS THE KNOCK BEGAN TO GET PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. AT THE INTERSECTION OF I-465 AND I-65 THE CAR WITHOUT WARNING ENGINE SHUTDOWN AND I LOST ALL FUNCTIONALITY (POWER STEERING, TURN SIGNALS, ETC). AT THE TIME OF POWER LOSS I WAS TRAVELING AT APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH DURING RUSH HOUR IN THE FAST LANE. LUCKILY THE DRIVER BEHIND ME WAS FOLLOWING AT A SAFE DISTANCE AND I WAS ABLE TO AVOID A COLLISION AND SAFELY GET ONTO THE LEFT HAND SHOULDER. I WAS THEN ABLE TO GET THE CAR RESTARTED AND ATTEMPTED TO GET OFF OF I-465 FOR MY SAFETY. HOWEVER, AT THE NEXT EXIT THE ENGINE ONCE AGAIN SHUTDOWN. I WAS ONCE AGAIN ABLE TO SAFELY GET TO THE SHOULDER BUT WAS UNABLE TO GET THE CAR STARTED AGAIN. BASED ON FEEDBACK FROM THE DEALER AND MY EXPERIENCE AS A MECHANICAL ENGINEER I BELIEVE THAT THE CAUSE OF THIS CATASTROPHIC FAILURE WAS A FAILED BEARING WITHIN THE ENGINE. THE FACT THAT THIS POTENTIALLY FATAL FAILURE COULD OCCUR WITHOUT WARNING ON A CAR THAT IS LESS THAN 6 YEARS OLD WITH LESS THAN 100K MILES IS VERY CONCERNING TO ME. IF THE OTHER DRIVERS ON THE INTERSTATE HAD NOT BEEN PAYING AS CLOSE ATTENTION AS THEY WERE I BELIEVE THAT THIS CRASH COULD HAVE BEEN FATAL TO MYSELF AND POTENTIALLY OTHERS. MY CAR HAS HAD ALL SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE AND OIL CHANGES AND IS WELL CARED FOR SO THE EARLY CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF THE ENGINE CANNOT BE DUE TO NEGLECT. SUBARU HAS ESTIMATED THE COST OF THE REPAIR AT $11K FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF THE ENTIRE ENGINE AND IS CURRENTLY NOT OFFERING TO COVER ANY OF THE COSTS EVEN THOUGH THE FAILURE WAS CAUSED BY A DEFECTIVE ENGINE AND NOT DUE TO LACK OF MAINTENANCE. *TR

STARTING TO HAVE PROBLEMS SHIFTING INTO GEAR ESPECIALLY GETTING INTO REVERSE. I TOOK MY VEHICLE TO A LOCAL AUTO REPAIR SHOP. THE TECH WANTED TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE BOX PEDAL CLUTCH ASSEMBLY. AFTER THE PEDAL BOX WAS RECEIVED THEY NOTICED IT WASN'T THE BOX AT ALL, BUT THE FIREWALL WELDS HOLDING THE CLUTCH/BREAK PEDAL BOX WERE BROKEN ON THE FIREWALL. BECAUSE THE WELDS SNAPPED THE CLUTCH/BRAKE CAGE MOVES AND IT CAN'T LET THE CLUTCH TRAVEL FAR ENOUGH TO PROPERLY ENGAGE CAUSING THE CLUTCH TO WORK PROPERLY AND ALSO THE BREAKS CANT BE PRESSED CORRECTLY TO STOP THE CAR. THE MECHANIC TOLD US NOT TO DRIVE THE CAR FOR SAFETY SAKE TILL THE WELDS WERE REPAIRED OR WE COULD HAVE AN ACCIDENT. *TR

WAS STARTING TO HAVE PROBLEMS SHIFTING INTO GEAR ESPECIALLY GETTING INTO REVERSE. TOOK MY VEHICLE TO A SUBARU DEALERSHIP FOR A CAUSE. THE TECH WANTED TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE CLUTCH ASSEMBLY FOR 1800 BUCKS. I TOOK MY VEHICLE TO ANOTHER SHOP FOR A SECOND ANSWER, IMMEDIATELY WAS TOLD IT WAS THE FIREWALL.THE WELDS HAVE SNAPPED. BECAUSE THE WELDS HAVE SNAPPED THE CLUTCH CAN'T ENGAGE PROPERLY CAUSING ONE TO HAVE EITHER TERRIBLE SHIFTS OR POSSIBLY GRINDING OF GEARS! *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 SUBARU IMPREZA. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH, BURNING FUMES WERE EMITTED INTO THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT MENTIONED THAT WHILE ATTEMPTING TO MERGE TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, BLACK SMOKE STARTED COMING FROM THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT AND PASSENGER IMMEDIATELY EXITED THE VEHICLE AND MOMENTS LATER THE VEHICLE WAS COMPLETELY ENGULFED IN FLAMES. NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE FORENSICS EXAMINER DETERMINED THAT THE ABS FLUID LEAKED ON THE ENGINE CAUSING THE FIRE. THE VEHICLE WAS DESTROYED. THE DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 28,000.

WHEN ATTEMPTING TO FUEL THE VEHICLE (THE TANK WAS LESS THAN ONE-QUARTER FULL), THE GAS SPLASHED BACK OUT OF THE VEHICLE ON ME AND ALLOVER THE GROUND. I TRIED SEVERAL TIMES TO FUEL, BUT THE TANK WILL NOT ACCEPT GAS. THIS ISSUE CAN CAUSE INJURIES FROM THE GASOLINE SPLASH, AND IT CAN CAUSE STRANDED DRIVERS BECAUSE THE VEHICLE CANNOT BE REFUELED. IT MUST BE INVESTIGATED. THERE ARE PLENTY OF FORUMS ONLINE WHERE PEOPLE COMPLAIN OF THE SAME ISSUE IN THEIR 2009 IMPREZAS... THERE MUST BE A KNOWN DEFECTIVE PART, BUT SUBARU IS NOT RECALLING IT? PLEASE INVESTIGATE. *TR

I AM EXPERIENCING ISSUES WITH THE FIREWALL WHERE EVERYTIME I DEPRESS THE CLUTCH THE FIREWALL FLEXES AND IT IS MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO SHIFT GEARS UNDER NORMAL OPERATION OF THE VEHICLE. *TR

EXCESSIVE FIREWALL FLEX AND POSSIBLE BROKEN WELDS HAVE LEAD TO PREMATURE CLUTCH FAILURE, MOVEMENT OF BRAKE PEDAL DURING CLUTCH OPERATION, AND LOUD CLICKING SOUND WHENEVER CLUTCH IT RELEASED. SUBARU OF AMERICA HAVE REFUSED TO TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS KNOWN MANUFACTURING DEFECT, DESPITE MY CAR STILL BEING COVERED BY A SUBARU ADDED SECURITY WARRANTY PLAN. *TR