2018 Subaru WRX
This year drew an ordinary 42 complaints for a Subaru WRX — the model's median is 14. What they were about is the unusual part: 19% of them mention wheel, against 2.2% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 42 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 14 |
| Involving a crash | 5 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| EPA combined | 21 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- wheel — 19% of this year's complaints, against 2.2% across the model's other years (8.7×).
- being — 28.6% of this year's complaints, against 10.4% across the model's other years (2.8×).
- valve — 7.1% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the model's other years (35.7×).
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
THE FRONT PASSENGER DOOR WAS SLAMMED ON MY 2018 SUBARU WRX. THIS CAUSED ALL OF THE SIDE AIRBAGS TO DEPLOY- INCLUDING THE AIRBAG IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. THE VEHICLE WAS STOPPED WITH THE ENGINE ON. THERE WAS NO IMPACT ASIDE FROM THE DOOR BEING SLAMMED FROM THE OU…
Battery dies and vehicle is unable to start after short periods of being turned off. This has left me stranded in unsafe areas and can pose a major safety hazard. Vehicle has been inspected and no issues found by Subaru dealer. No warning lights or other notif…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V587000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 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 2018 Subaru WRX? What happened to yours?
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