2017 Subaru WRX
Complaints about this year name went far more often than the model's other years — 17% of them, about 42× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 53 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 14 |
| Involving a crash | 8 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 1 |
| EPA combined | 21 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- own — 13.2% of this year's complaints, against 5.1% across the model's other years (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: own, assist.
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.
Also unusual this year
- steering — 15% of complaints, 38× usual
- bearing — 15% of complaints, 38× usual
- warning — 13% of complaints, 33× usual
What owners wrote
WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH, THE STEERING WHEEL BECAME DIFFICULT TO TURN AND WAS UNCONTROLLABLE. THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS APPLIED, BUT THE VEHICLE FAILED TO RESPOND. AS A RESULT, THE VEHICLE [VIN] AND CRASHED INTO A DITCH. THE DRIVER AND PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED A…
WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, AN UNUSUAL NOISE WAS HEARD COMING FROM THE WHEELS WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO REEVES SUBARU TAMPA ([phone], LOCATED AT 1111 N FLORIDA AVE, TAMPA, FL 33612) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE BEARINGS FAILED AND NEE…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 22V522000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Subaru WRX 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 2017 Subaru WRX? What happened to yours?
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