How UNreliable are WRX's?

[Draco-REX]

You shouldn't have to do anything. The bank should cancel the lein, record doing so, and send you the title....

 

I had an 02 wrx. Rear end went out when I got it. I'll blame that on the previous owner. The tranny went out and I'll blame that on me launching it hard. The only thing that was subarus fault was the junk fuel lines across the intake that would leak gas when the temperature got below 30. All in all a good car if taken care of.

 

I think the most common issues are that people mod them without a tune, or put a off the shelf tune on the car that isn't specific for the particular car. As far as my experience with my 2008 2.5L WRX it was driven hard a few times and I put 50K miles on it and never had any issues at all. Of course, I was the first owner. As far as insurance goes, I just told my company I had an Impreza, which it is, and gave them the vin#. It's not my fault they labeled it wrong, lol.

 

wrx's are very reliable if you take care of it. Most wrx's blow up due to lack of maintence/ or they abused the hell out of it. You can drive the wrx hard, but then you gotta maintain it as well. You can't just put a Intake/Turbo back and start beating the hell out of it. You would need a reflash/tune. My wrx blew up because of the previous owner was an idiot. But the motor was rebuilt by PTM and it runs like a champ now. The weakest part of a EJ205 is the rodbearings, if a wrx blew up, that is the most likely cause. Some people think it is okay to run Mobil 1 5w30 extended performance for 7500+ miles because the oil said so. But Mobil 1 lasts about 3k in the wrx motors and needs to be changed, extended performance or not. The wrx's are good cars. Just gotta find one that is well taken care of.

 

Lots of truth here.

 

There is no common issue from the manufacturer that leads to engine failure.

The common issue is the owners. Modifying without a tune will destroy the engine. Running Mobil 1 too long or not doing oil changes regularly on a turbocharged car will destroy the engine. Driving it like an idiot and thinking 6k RPM clutchdrops are ok will destroy the clutch and transmission.

 

Subarus are very reliable, and the turbo cars are no exception. They just have a lower reliability rating because people rag on them.

 

My WRX is an early 03, so it has the "glass" transmission. It has 130K miles on the original engine, and the original transmission. The last two and a half years I've been Rallycrossing it with a year of Stage 2 power as well. Stage 2 power *alone* is supposed to be the death of the early WRX transmissions. But this one has no issues. I did change the transmission this year, but that was for the better gearing, front LSD, and beefier design.

 

The engine, with 120K miles, an up-pipe leak (cheap ebay UP), and a stage 2 tune made about 225 awhp (IIRC) on IPS' dyno. That's not awesome, but it's FAR from what thrashed engine would be making.

 

The hardest thing about buying a WRX is finding one that has been treated well. Not babied, but taken care of.

 

They are horrid on gas from what I hear, but I have no persoanl experience with them other than a few trans swaps.

I wouldn't say horrid. But for a small 4cyl, it's on the poor side. I average about 27-28 on the highway. My daily driving fill ups which include a lot of regular driving average around 18-19. If I drive gently and try to stay off boost, I can get about 20mpg during city driving. That's for both the Stage 2 tuned WRX, and the mostly stock power STI.

 

Subaru's average mileage is the one thing that disappoints me. They're going to have issues meeting minimum averages in the future now that they don't have any other car to push up into the SUV class. The Forrester and now the Outback were enlarged slightly to make them SUVs to keep the company average down.

 

Hopefully the Direct Injection engines they're working on will solve some of the problem.

[cinergi]

You have to be careful that the previous owners haven't beat the piss out of it. I have had three wrx's and have had only one problem out of all of them and that was an oil line to the turbo, which was a $60 part. Other than that I am a huge fan of daily driving them. Just make sure you don't have a lightened flywheel or 6 puck clutch and you will be good to go.

[thorne]

Lots of truth here.

 

There is no common issue from the manufacturer that leads to engine failure.

The common issue is the owners. Modifying without a tune will destroy the engine. Running Mobil 1 too long or not doing oil changes regularly on a turbocharged car will destroy the engine. Driving it like an idiot and thinking 6k RPM clutchdrops are ok will destroy the clutch and transmission.

 

Subarus are very reliable, and the turbo cars are no exception. They just have a lower reliability rating because people rag on them.

 

My WRX is an early 03, so it has the "glass" transmission. It has 130K miles on the original engine, and the original transmission. The last two and a half years I've been Rallycrossing it with a year of Stage 2 power as well. Stage 2 power *alone* is supposed to be the death of the early WRX transmissions. But this one has no issues. I did change the transmission this year, but that was for the better gearing, front LSD, and beefier design.

 

The engine, with 120K miles, an up-pipe leak (cheap ebay UP), and a stage 2 tune made about 225 awhp (IIRC) on IPS' dyno. That's not awesome, but it's FAR from what thrashed engine would be making.

 

The hardest thing about buying a WRX is finding one that has been treated well. Not babied, but taken care of.

 

 

I wouldn't say horrid. But for a small 4cyl, it's on the poor side. I average about 27-28 on the highway. My daily driving fill ups which include a lot of regular driving average around 18-19. If I drive gently and try to stay off boost, I can get about 20mpg during city driving. That's for both the Stage 2 tuned WRX, and the mostly stock power STI.

 

Subaru's average mileage is the one thing that disappoints me. They're going to have issues meeting minimum averages in the future now that they don't have any other car to push up into the SUV class. The Forrester and now the Outback were enlarged slightly to make them SUVs to keep the company average down.

 

Hopefully the Direct Injection engines they're working on will solve some of the problem.

 

I bet if we put that car back on the dyno she can make more.

[Bam]

So is a 2002 wagon w/ 115k on it worth $7500? Or what should I try and get it for?

[SpaceGhost]

02 has the glass tranny.

[Bam]

pooey, otay thanks

[Rally Pat]

pooey, otay thanks

 

Just try the tranny out, especially check out 2nd gear. It all depends on how they were treated and maintained. Hell, there are people autocrossing on the stock tranny still.

[Draco-REX]

About mid way through 03 Subaru redesigned the tranny.

 

2003 WRX wagon, 102K, $9994. Looks unmolested; intake and muffler look original.

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?tracktype=usedcc&csDlId=&csDgId=&listingId=40768687&listingRecNum=5&criteria=prMx%3D11000%26sf1Dir%3DDESC%26prMn%3D0%26alMdId%3D21295%26mkId%3D20041%26stkTyp%3DU%26mdId%3D21295%26rd%3D150%26crSrtFlds%3DstkTypId-feedSegId-mkId-mdId-pseudoPrice%26zc%3D43221%26rn%3D0%26PMmt%3D1-1-0%26stkTypId%3D28881%26sf2Dir%3DASC%26sf1Nm%3Dprice%26sf2Nm%3Dmiles%26alMkId%3D20041%26rpp%3D50%26feedSegId%3D28705&aff=national

[Vulcan900]

I have 2 2002 WRX, all stock except for a catless up pipe. One has 160k on it, the other has 135k on it. All I have done so far is regular maintenance items.

[thorne]

that 02 for 7500 add in 2500 to get a RA tranny maybe 3500. Now you have a really nice plat form to build on.

 

add in a EJ22e for another 600 rebuilt.

[Bam]

lol thorne, i dont want to heavily mod it. maybe a tune that's it, it'd just be my daily/kid hauler, but thanks for the ideas.

[mrs.cos]

There are a few nice ones for sale on COS, in you are shopping seriously. Our members tend to be pretty anal about their cars..

[Bam]

There are a few nice ones for sale on COS, in you are shopping seriously. Our members tend to be pretty anal about their cars..

 

tried to register, apparently i used to have an sn there, i made a help post, can you get me in so i can see these cars forsale?

 

thanks

[mrs.cos]

tried to register, apparently i used to have an sn there, i made a help post, can you get me in so i can see these cars forsale?

 

thanks

ill fix it.. give me a moment

[Stoopid Hipster]

my friend has 190,000 on his 02 original motor trans and so on and its pretty much a stage two and no probs just dont be a dumb ass and do stupid shit in it or to it careful while tuning cause those ecu's brick pretty easy and get a good cai if you do it and recirculate the blow off valve

[SpaceGhost]

my friend has 190,000 on his 02 original motor trans and so on and its pretty much a stage two and no probs just dont be a dumb ass and do stupid shit in it or to it careful while tuning cause those ecu's brick pretty easy and get a good cai if you do it and recirculate the blow off valve

 

Um no. Get no intake for a stock turbo. That is the rule.

[Stoopid Hipster]

he has a cobb intake or something like that and its great he just has the stock turbo ported and a bunch of other stuff like parallel fuel lines and tgv deletes duel fpr turbo back and other goodies the intake was the newest piece of the puzzle and still running great!

[Bam]

ill fix it.. give me a moment

 

thanks! i posted in the thread about the 2004wagon, we'll see what happens.

[SpaceGhost]

The issue with the 02's tranny and buying used is just that, you have hardly a clue on how the tranny was treated. Sure if you don't beat on one it's fine, but can you really trust a seller you don't know? Best to stay away from 02s, 04s and up look better any way.

[thorne]

my friend has 190,000 on his 02 original motor trans and so on and its pretty much a stage two and no probs just dont be a dumb ass and do stupid shit in it or to it careful while tuning cause those ecu's brick pretty easy and get a good cai if you do it and recirculate the blow off valve

 

I'm sorry your very incorrecting..

 

Becareful while tuning because they are brickable?

Do you realize the 16bit subaru ecu is damn near unbrickable?

Even when you have a laptop die during a flash. (BSOD?)

Nothing about the tune will brick the ecu. Only a bad flash can, Even with that the boot loader has a recovery mode.

 

A CAI is the number one death of WRX's in my opinion. Young kid buys XYZ intake. Car runs lean. Kids beats on the car because of the cool sound the CAI makes. KABOOM.

 

Only way I suggest a intake on a subaru is with a proper maf calibration.

 

The factory BPV is a Recirc. If you want a woosh get a Hybrid BOV.

[thorne]

Um no. Get no intake for a stock turbo. That is the rule.

 

Stock airbox is capable of 300awhp.

[thorne]

he has a cobb intake or something like that and its great he just has the stock turbo ported and a bunch of other stuff like parallel fuel lines and tgv deletes duel fpr turbo back and other goodies the intake was the newest piece of the puzzle and still running great!

 

Subarus do a very good job of compensating for fail in most condition. That assume that the car LEARNS to add or remove fuel in the proper learning table. What do I know right?

 

And why would he do that to his fuel lines? The factory subaru fuel system is capable of 450awhp with a fuel pump and injectors.

[thorne]

Tripple bitches.

 

 

If you bring over a WRX to me at the shop I'll take a peak no charge.

[copperhead]

The only good thing about the 03 I had was the transmission...

[Stoopid Hipster]

thorne you no the guy im talking about you sold him injectors he has the white 02' from Delaware josh lahman? and sorry about the wrong info on the ecu I thought they were pretty easy to break from what I heard and understood form reading he was always really worried about his laptop dieing while tuning the wrx idk... his runs like a champ either way pretty modded and tons of miles