2010 Subaru Impreza
This year drew an ordinary 45 complaints for a Subaru Impreza — the model's median is 75. What they were about is the unusual part: 6.7% of them mention stationary, against 1% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 2 of the Subaru Impreza, which began in 2008 and ran to 2011. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 45 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 75 |
| Involving a crash | 3 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 15 |
| EPA combined | 21.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- stationary — 6.7% of this year's complaints, against 1% across the other years of this generation (7×).
- metal — 6.7% of this year's complaints, against 1% across the other years of this generation (7×).
- must — 6.7% of this year's complaints, against 1.4% across the other years of this generation (4.6×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
CAR IS 6 YEARS OLD, ~50,000 MILES ON IT, AND THE FUEL TANK IS RUSTED OUT. LEAKING ENOUGH THAT IT CANNOT BE FIXED AND MUST BE REPLACED. MY MECHANIC SAYS THIS IS HIGHLY IRREGULAR. DEALER SAYS THEY HAVEN'T HAD TO REPLACE A FUEL TANK IN DECADES.
THE DRIVER SIDE SUN VISOR NO LONGER STAYS UP. THE INTERNAL PLASTIC TENSION TUBING HAS BROKEN AND VISOR CAN SEPARATE FROM MOUNT ATTACHING TO THE CAR. PROBLEM OCCURS WHEN VEHICLE IS STATIONARY AND MOVING. PROBLEM WAS NOT [VIN] BY ANY ACTION OR ABUSE, IT SIMPLY S…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V149000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 19V007000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V008000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V009000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 20V001000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 20V003000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 20V002000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V297000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 15. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Subaru Impreza was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2010 Subaru Impreza? What happened to yours?
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