2005 Subaru Impreza
This year drew an ordinary 75 complaints for a Subaru Impreza — the model's median is 75. What they were about is the unusual part: 22.7% of them mention fuel, against 2.1% across the model's other years.
Generation 1 of the Subaru Impreza, which began in 2002 and ran to 2007. 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 | 75 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 75 |
| Involving a crash | 10 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| EPA combined | 20 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- fuel — 22.7% of this year's complaints, against 2.1% across the model's other years (10.9×).
- arm — 21.3% of this year's complaints, against 5.7% across the model's other years (3.7×). Owners wrote it as: arm, control arm, suspension, lower control.
- lost — 20% of this year's complaints, against 6.6% across the model's other years (3×). Owners wrote it as: lost, live, safely, operating.
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
I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN I LOST CONTROL OF MY CAR. I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY PULL OFF TO THE SIDE, AND HAVE THE CAR TOWED HOME. THE CONTROL ARM ON THE PASSENGER SIDE WAS RUSTED AND SNAPPED SNAPPED WHILE MY CAR WAS TRAVELING STRAIGHT. MY CAR IS AFFECTED BY…
WHILE THE CONTACT'S WIFE WAS DRIVING 40 MPH, SHE HEARD A SNAP IN THE ENGINE THAT CAUSED HER TO LOSE CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE CONTACT'S FATHER'S HOME WHERE HE DISCOVERED THAT THE FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARM WAS FRACTURED.…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 20V001000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 20V003000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 20V002000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 11V464000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 15V323000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 23V076000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
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 2005 Subaru Impreza? What happened to yours?
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