2015 SUBARU WRX Complaints

ONCE, THREE MONTHS AFTER PURCHASING, AND A SECOND TIME EIGHT MONTHS LATER, MY VEHICLE SUDDENLY WOULD NOT ENTER GEARS FROM NEUTRAL. IN THE FIRST EVENT, THE CAR WAS STILL WARMING UP, DRIVING QUICKLY. IN THE SECOND EVENT, THE CAR WAS AT RUNNING TEMPERATURE, DRIVEN FOR ONE HOUR, DRIVING CONSERVATIVELY. IN BOTH SITUATIONS, I HAD TO PULL OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND CALL A TOW. ~1 HOUR LATER, THE VEHICLE WORKED FINE. NO BURNT CLUTCH SMELL, NO CHANGE IN THE FEELING OF THE CLUTCH/GEARS. DEALERSHIP COULD NOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM, CORPORATE IS DENYING THE PROBLEM.

PURCHASED THE VEHICLE NEW WITH LESS THAN TEN MILES ON ODOMETER. FROM NEW, THE VEHICLE PRODUCED A STRONG ODOR OF BURNING OR MELTING PLASTIC EVERY TIME IT WAS DRIVEN. CLUTCH BEGAN SLIPPING AND THEN CATASTROPHICALLY FAILED AT 5100 MILES. TOWED TO DEALERSHIP, CLUTCH REPLACED. AT 7,200 MILES, CLUTCH THROW-OUT BEARING FAILED, DEALER REPLACED. AT 11,709 MILES, THROW OUT BEARING FAILED AGAIN, DEALER DISCOVERED CLUTCH WAS ON THE VERGE OF SECOND FAILURE DURING SERVICE. A SECOND REPLACEMENT CLUTCH HAS BEEN ORDERED. ADVISED BY SERVICE MANAGER THAT CAUSE OF ALL FAILURES WAS THAT A "PLUG" OF SOME SORT HAD WORKED LOOSE, CAUSING CLUTCH TO REMAIN ENGAGED AT ALL TIMES, LEADING TO CLUTCH FAILURE. IF CLUTCH FAILURE OCCURRED AT INTERSECTION OR RAIL CROSSING, THIS MANUFACTURING DEFECT COULD LEAD TO THE SEVERE INJURY OR EVEN THE DEATH OF OCCUPANTS IN THE DISABLED VEHICLE, AS THIS FAILURE RENDERS THE VEHICLE IMMOBILE.

2015 WRX 2.0L MANUAL TRANSMISSION WHILE DRIVING THE CAR IN EVERYDAY SITUATIONS I HAVE HAD (3) DISTINCT PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ENGINE/THROTTLE/IDLE. 1) GHOST BLIP: WHEN COMING TO A STOP, AROUND 5-15 MPH, PUT IT IN NEUTRAL COAST TO A STOP IDLE WILL INEXPLICABLY SPIKE FROM ~700RPM (IDLE) --> ~1.2-1.5K RPM (FOR A SECOND OR TWO...LIKE A GHOST BLIPPED THE THROTTLE). NO PRESSURE APPLIED TO ACCELERATOR. 2) ROUGH IDLE: WHILE SITTING AT A STOP, IN NEUTRAL, ~700RPM (IDLE) --> WILL DIP TO ~650-600RPM FOR A FRACTION OF SECOND & REOCCUR EVERY 2-4 SECONDS. FEELS LIKE SOMEONE LIGHTLY SHAKING YOUR SEAT FROM LEFT TO RIGHT. 3) NEAR STALL: WHILE SITTING AT A STOP, IN NEUTRAL, ~700RPM (IDLE) --> WILL DIP THE RPMS LOW ENOUGH THAT THE WHOLE CAR NOTICEABLY SHAKES...SIMILAR TO THE SHAKE YOU WOULD EXPERIENCE IF THE ENGINE WERE ACTUALLY ABOUT TO STALL. THE RPMS WILL FUMBLE AROUND A BIT AND THEN HICCUP BACK TO NORMAL IDLE AFTER 4-5 SECONDS. ALL THREE ITEMS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE LOCAL SUBARU DEALER ON (2) OCCASIONS W/ THE REPLY UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE PROBLEM AND/OR IT IS NORMAL.

DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AT NIGHT, A LIGHT CAME ON MY DASH THAT DISPLAYED, "HEADLIGHTS DISABLED." THE HEADLIGHTS WERE STILL FUNCTIONING, SO I IGNORED THE MESSAGE. FEW HOURS LATER, THE LIGHT FLICKERED ON AND OFF REPEATEDLY FOR ~15 SECONDS AND THEN WENT AWAY. THE NEXT DAY, DRIVING AT NIGHT ON THE FREEWAY, THE LIGHT CAME BACK ON AND BOTH HEADLIGHTS TURNED OFF. I CAUTIOUSLY PULLED OVER, AND SET MY EMERGENCY LIGHTS ON. I FLICKED THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH ON AND OFF REPEATEDLY AND THEY CAME BACK ON. DROVE FOR ANOTHER 10 MINS AND THE DRIVER SIDE HEADLIGHT TURNED OFF, AND THE PASSENGER HEADLIGHT STAYED ON. I MADE IT HOME SAFELY, BUT THE LIGHT NEVER CAME BACK ON. THE NEXT DAY, THE MESSAGE IS STILL DISPLAYED, BUT BOTH HEADLIGHTS ARE FUNCTIONING. I FEEL IT VERY UNSAFE FOR ME TO DRIVE MY VEHICLE AT NIGHT, WHICH IS A HUGE INCONVENIENCE, AS THE HEADLIGHTS MAY TURN OFF AGAIN. *TR

THREE SEPARATE OCCURRENCES OF THE LED HEADLIGHT MALFUNCTION LIGHT COMING ON, TOTALLY DISABLING HEADLIGHTS, DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS, AND BLINKERS. THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY CONCERN AS I PRIMARILY DRIVE TO WORK AT NIGHT AND HEADLIGHTS ARE OBVIOUSLY NEEDED. THIS PROBLEM OCCURS IN COLD WEATHER, THE LAST OCCURRENCE AT -6F. STEPS TO REPLICATE ISSUE: 1) WARM CAR UP ABOUT 5 MINUTES. 2) DRIVE TO DESTINATION. TURN CAR OFF AND LET IT SIT 5-10 MINUTES. 3) START CAR BACK UP AND THE LED WARNING LIGHT APPEARS. WHEN THIS LIGHT COMES ON, YOU CANNOT TURN ON THE LIGHTS WITH AUTO, OR MANUAL. THE LAST OCCURRENCE HAPPENED DURING THE DAY FORTUNATELY, BUT THE HEADLIGHTS WERE IN THE OFF POSITION. THIS HAS BEEN TAKEN TO A DEALER, BUT THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO SINCE THE LIGHT WAS OFF EVEN THOUGHT I HAD STRESSED TO THEM THIS WAS A SAFETY CONCERN THAT NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT. .....UPDATED 12/15/15 *BF *TR UPDATED 9/25/2017*CN

HEADLIGHTS DISABLED. STARTED THE CAR, "HEADLIGHTS DISABLED" MESSAGE ON DASHBOARD. HEADLIGHTS WERE NON-FUNCTIONAL. THIS WAS IN VERY COLD WEATHER, APPROXIMATELY -10F. AFTER ABOUT 2 HOURS THE HEADLIGHTS STARTED WORKING AGAIN, MESSAGE ON DASHBOARD WENT AWAY. DEALER SERVICE COULD NOT DUPLICATE THIS PROBLEM. IF ALL THE HEADLIGHTS HAD BECOME DISABLED WHEN DRIVING AT NIGHT, A MAJOR SAFETY PROBLEM IS CREATED BY THIS ISSUE. NOTHING SHOULD BE ABLE TO SUDDENLY DISABLE ALL THE VEHICLE HEADLIGHTS WITHOUT WARNING. .....UPDATED 12/15/15 *BF

I DO NOT DRIVE MY VEHICLE VERY OFTEN AS I DRIVE MY WORK TRUCK SIX DAYS A WEEK. I GOT INTO MY VEHICLE BEFORE GETTING ON THE FREEWAY AND REALIZED I NEEDED GAS BEFORE I LEFT. I GOT TO THE GAS STATION WITH MY GAS LIGHT ON AND PARKED. AFTER PAYING FOR GAS I REALIZED MY GAS CAP ACCESS DOOR WAS NOT OPEN, AS I THOUGHT I OPENED IT. I TRIED MULTIPLE TIMES OPENING THE DOOR WITH THE RELEASE LEVER ON THE FLOOR BY THE DRIVERS SEAT. AFTER TWENTY MINUTES OF CONFUSION I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY TOLD ME TO BRING IT OVER RIGHT AWAY ( GOOD THING THEY ARE DOWN THE STREET FROM ME). AFTER WAITING FOR ABOUT AN HOUR AND TALKING TO THE TECH AND SERVICE WRITER I WAS ABLE TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ON THE CAUSE OF THIS (SOME WHAT). THERE IS A PART ON THE RELEASE MECHANISM THAT IS WEAK AND FAILS CAUSING YOU TO NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS YOUR GAS CAP. THIS COULD BE CATASTROPHIC IF YOU ARE ON A ROAD TRIP OR AWAY FROM ANY DEALERSHIP. THE SERVICE WRITER ALSO HAD SAID THIS IS FAIRLY COMMON WITH THE NEW 2015 WRX AND THEY ARE GETTING ABOUT TWO VEHICLES COMING BACK WITH THE SAME PROBLEM PER WEEK. SUBARU NEEDS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR FAULTY DESIGN AND RECALL ALL VEHICLES AFFECTED. THIS SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED IMMEDIATELY. *TR

AVOIDING A VEHICLE IN BLIND SPOT. THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF THE TRUCK IN FRONT OF ME HIT HIS BREAKS CAUSING THE TRUCK IN FRONT OF ME TO HIT HIS BREAKS, I CLIP THE RIGHT FRONT FASCIA INTO THE LEFT SEAT CORNER OF THE TRUCK. THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY AND THE SEAT BELT TENSIONER DID NOT WORK. I PULLED OVER, TURNED MY VEHICLE OFF AND MY VEHICLE CAUGHT FIRE. MY VEHICLE COMPLETELY BURNED DOWN TO THE FRAME AND IS A COMPLETE LOSS. *TR

SON HAD JUST PURCHASED CAR. TOOK THE CAR TO AN AREA WHICH HAD AN UNPLOWED PARKING AREA TO TEST THE HANDLING OF THE CAR IN THE SNOW. CAR DIED WHILE DRIVING AND THERE WAS AN IMMEDIATE STRONG SMELL OF THE CLUTCH BURNING. COULD NOT START THE CAR WITH THE CAR IN GEAR AND THE CLUTCH PUSHED IN. CAR WOULD ONLY START IN NEUTRAL. WHEN CAR STARTED COULD NOT GET THE CAR TO GO INTO GEAR. WAS ABLE TO GET THE CAR PUSH STARTED AND DRIVEN APPROX. 0.2 MILES TO A SECURE AREA AND THEN HAD CAR TOWED TO DEALERSHIP WHERE THE CLUTCH WAS FOUND TO BE BURNED OUT. DEALERSHIP CLAIMS IT WAS DRIVER'S ERROR BUT THEY SENT PICTURES TO ME AND IT LOOKS LIKE THE DAMAGE DOES NOT LINE UP WITH WHAT THEY SAY THE PROBLEM WAS. *TR

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WAS IN MANUAL MODE. LEFT STOP SIGN AND USED THE UPSHIFT PADDLE SHIFTER TO CHANGE GEARS. CAR WOULD NOT UPSHIFT. HAS OCCURRED 4 TIMES IN THIS 6200 MILES SINCE PURCHASED. *TR