Open safety recalls, the components owners report failing most often, crash-test results and running costs for the 2012 Subaru Impreza Wrx/sti — assembled from NHTSA and EPA records.
Everything on this page applies to the model as a whole. Run its 17-character VIN to decode that exact car — its engine, trim, assembly plant and factory equipment — alongside these records. Free, no account.
Run a VIN →Recalls and complaints are filed against a specific model year, so figures differ from one year to the next even within a single generation. See every Subaru Impreza Wrx/sti year.
No EPA fuel-economy match for this model (naming may differ or it predates EPA records).
The parts named most often across 239 owner complaintsfiled with NHTSA for this make, model and year — the closest free answer to “what is likely to go wrong?”
2 crashes · 2 injured
3 fires
2 crashes · 1 injured
Complaints are self-reported and skew toward problems people find alarming, so treat this as where to look, not a defect rate.
The contact owns a 2012 Subaru Impreza. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed and went to the floorboard. The vehicle failed to stop immediately. The brake warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the control arms and brake lines were severely corroded and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V311000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The failure mileage was approximately 126,000.
The contact owns a 2012 Subaru Impreza. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30-40 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality and was driven with manual steering. The failure occurred while driving at various speeds. The contact stated that approximately four days after the first failure, the steering wheel failed to move. Additionally, the vehicle was losing oil and one quart of oil had to be added every month. The contact stated that the power steering, ABS, TPMS, transmission automatic transmission fluid (ATF), and 4-WD failure warning lights were illuminated. The passenger occupant sensor chimed for the passenger to secure the seat belt consistently even though the occupant was seated with the seat belt buckled securely. The contact who is a certified mechanic had replaced the rack and pinion. The contact noticed that the threads on the tie rods were close in proximately risking the chance of damaging the tie rods. The ABS module had been replaced. The contact believed that the engine needed to be replaced but the engine was not replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case. The manufacturer confirmed there was no recall for the failure. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 164,964.
The contact's son's father owns a 2012 Subaru Impreza. The contact stated that upon activating the heating system, a burning odor would emit from the vehicle without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the mechanic discovered melted plastic; as well as black soot, inside the vehicle's instrument panel and harness blower resistor. The contact stated that an unknown fuse and the heater motor were replaced; however, the failure returned. The vehicle was taken to a second dealer(Prestige Subaru of Turnersville NJ) where a diagnostic was performed and the contact was given an estimate for the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact reached out to the manufacturer but was offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 129,173
The Airbag warning light has been lit within the dashboard. The front passenger seat airbag is faulty and is not able to correctly sense when a passenger is within the seat or not, which disables the airbags. This can be deadly to the passenger if in an accident. The issue seems to be in the ODS passenger seat mat that determines when the airbag is active or not. If moisture is able to get within the mat, then it can short the circuit and cause airbags to not deploy. My car was "supposed" to already been fixed with the issue in 2015 on the recall #WQT55, NHTSA Campaign 15V419000, but I don't believe the underlying issue was fixed correctly or the same part has failed again. Looking further into recalls, the exact same issue is happening again with Subarus with #WRA-24 and NHTSA campaign 24V227. The dealer has asked me to pay over $1700 on to replace this part. Subaru America should fully cover the cost of any Passenger ODS issue especially when there have already been two recalls with the exact same issue.
The AC unit suddenly shutoff and there was a burning smell while I was driving. It turns out that the connector on the back of the climate control unit had either drawn too much current, or the resistance was too high, and the connector had started burning. Fortunately, the melted plastic interrupted the electrical connection, and the fire had went out on its own. It looks like this is not an isolated incident, and several others have dealt with similar when looking online.
The contact owns a 2012 Subaru Impreza. The contact stated that there was an abnormal whining sound coming from the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to several independent mechanics and the contact was informed that there was a defective gasket on the transfer case and the transmission needed to be replaced. The transmission was replaced. The contact stated that while a relative was seated in the front passenger’s seat, the passenger’s side air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic where a code reader determined that there was a defect with the front passenger’s side air bag sensor. A dealer was notified of the failure and an appointment was made to have the vehicle serviced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 88,000.
Hello car just stopped on the Fla turnpike because bad valve body on transmission seem subaru knows about this problem and offered a extended warranty 10 yr or 100k but they did this during covid with stay at home orders and never sent any type of Notification my wife was almost killed when this happened to her our car has only 70k I feel they should have sent us letter we had the car since new this is a very dangerous situation for anyone owning a Subaru imprezza from 2010 to 2015 and many other Subaru have this problem as well
The occupant control unit in my car has failed, and there is an open recall (Reference #WQT-55R) for the engine diagnostic code (B1650) for my specific part number for the occupant control unit, but the Subaru dealership is saying that my VIN number does not apply. The problem is a well known Subaru issue where the passenger airbag fails to turn on, and Subaru has recalled other vehicles of our make and model from this year (2012) for this problem.
Brake Lamp Switch failed in 2018 - we diagnosed the issue, based partly on information from other Subaru owners who had the same problem, and replaced the switch. Since that time, the brake lights have worked fine. We reported this in a letter to Subaru after their recall for the brake lamp switch replacement in 2019. They refused to pay for the part as we no longer have the receipt (not having a crystal ball, we couldn't see any reason to keep it for more than a year in 2018). We did not contest this - in fact, I had merely asked, in my letter, that they note that the part had already failed and been repaired in their records - however, they continue to flag the car as an open safety recall and insist that we bring the car in to replace a switch that no longer needs replacing. I am filing this complaint in the hope that an official record of the incident will fix the records on our car, as their constant recall notices are becoming increasingly more insistent and annoying, and they have also inaccurately noted it as an open recall at the DMV.
I was on the highway in mixed traffic for a couple hours. There was a burning smell in the cabin and then the warning lights came on including a check engine light and transmission light. The car started to jerk erratically when I accelerated and ultimately it would not accelerate. I pulled over and turned the car off as recommended in the owner's manualAfter following the manual's instructions to let the engine cool down, I attempted to turn the car on and put it in gear. It would not move when I put it in reverse or drive. The transmission failed entirely. Previous to my taking the car on this trip, I brought the car to my Subaru Dealership because I smelled the same burning in the cabin along with a strange whirring sound and the transmission light came on then too. At that time, I pulled over and read the owner's manual and did what it recommended. The car started working again after 10 minutes of cooling. This is why I brought the car to the Subaru dealership to have this issue inspected. At the time they recommended that I change the CVT fluid and that the issue would then go away. The issue did not go away. When I informed them that the car was unsafe and dangerous to drive because of the jerking and violent shuddering, they told me that I should trade the car in or pay for a new transmission. They did not tell me that the 2012 version of the car had a history of issues with its CVT, and that some of the repairs were covered under warranty.
The contact owns a 2012 Subaru Impreza. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, upon pressing the horn, he became aware that the horn was inoperable. The contact stated that the failure had previously been intermittent. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the steering roll connector. The vehicle was repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related it to NHTSA Campaign Number: 10V283000 (Steering) but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 80,000.
Transmission valve body failure causing dangerous erratic shifting while driving.
Showing 12 of 239 complaints.
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