2012 Subaru WRX STI
Complaints about this year name light far more often than the model's other years — 33% of them, about 82× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 240 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 3 |
| Involving a crash | 10 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 2 |
Also unusual this year
- seat — 31% of complaints, 78× usual
- off — 30% of complaints, 75× usual
- subaru impreza — 29% of complaints, 72× usual
What owners wrote
WHEN A PASSENGER OF 215LBS OR MORE SITS IN MY 2012 SUBARU IMPREZA PASSENGER SEAT FOR MORE THAN 10MILES THE AIRBAG LIGHT COMES ON AND THE PASSENGER AIRBAG IS TURNED OFF.
WHEN DRIVING MY VEHICLE THE PASSENGER AIRBAG WARNING WOULD GO OFF WITH NO PASSENGER IN THE VEHICLE. WHEN I HAVE A PASSENGER IN MY VEHICLE, THE AIRBAG SENSOR CAN'T DETECT A PASSENGER WHICH IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. ALSO, FOR WHATEVER REASON THE DRIVERS SEAT ISNT…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 14V311000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 14V830000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Subaru WRX STI 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 2012 Subaru WRX STI? What happened to yours?
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