2013 Subaru Impreza
Complaints about this year name engine engine far more often than the other years of this generation — 7% of them, about 17× the usual rate of 0.4%.
Generation 3 of the Subaru Impreza, which began in 2012 and ran to 2016. 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 | 249 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 75 |
| Involving a crash | 13 |
| Involving a fire | 7 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 24.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- cooling — 9.2% of this year's complaints, against 2.3% across the other years of this generation (4.1×). Owners wrote it as: cooling, engine engine, engine cooling, distribution.
- comes — 8% of this year's complaints, against 3% across the other years of this generation (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: comes, light comes, common issue.
- malfunction — 6.4% of this year's complaints, against 1.6% across the other years of this generation (4×).
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
- engine cooling — 7% of complaints, 15× usual
- distribution — 6% of complaints, 15× usual
- red — 6% of complaints, 10× usual
What owners wrote
A RECALL NOTIFICATION FOR NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 18V772000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). KEARNY MESA SUBARU (4797 CONVOY ST, SAN DIEGO, CA 92111, (858) 278-7100) INITIALLY STATED THAT THE PART WOULD BECOME AVAILABLE IN MID FEBRUARY OF 2019, BUT THEN LATER STATE…
NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 18V772000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE [VIN] EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. CARLSEN SUBARU (480 VETERANS BLVD, REDWOOD…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V149000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 16V738000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 13V061000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 18V772000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 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 2013 Subaru Impreza? What happened to yours?
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