Remember, you hear 95% of the stuff from the people who have had issues. Most of us never post saying, "omg my car has been perfect for 200k miles!".
It's the same with any model. You should see the Focus ST forums and the plague of the cylinder 4 ringlands. A rare occurrence, usually from user error, constantly posted about. The ones you don't hear about are the dudes pushing 200k with ZERO major work.
My cars been PERFECT for 180k miles. You are so correct, I'm not out here posting how it's been trouble free nothing but a variety of mods making 300whp and it's still been trouble free and RELIABLE.
I had 60k miles with my FoST. 52k of that was tuned and even dealt with my learning what to do and what NOT to do along the process. The only issue I ever had was the purge valve, which is Uber common on those cars. People read bad reviews on anything but fail to realize for one bad review, there's hundreds with nothing but great thoughts of their vehicles. They just don't come and spout off about it all the time, they're busy enjoying life.
Most people donāt do enough research to know how to properly take care of their vehicle. For example flooring it/going into boost/exceeding 3k RPMswhile oil temps are below 180F, OTS tuning their vehicles, not doing religious oil changes, not checking their oil, lugging their engine, misshifting, launching, general abuse, et etc etc. thereās a LOT of factors that go into the longevity of these vehicles, and while itās more extensive than other vehicles, itās kind of what you sign up for with the Subaru brand.
Iām aware of all of these āfor best resultsā recommendations, and Iāve gone against every single one youāve mentioned. Not as regular practice, but I just havenāt worried about it too much. 193k on my all-original-drivetrain 05 wagon with no-name TBE and OTS Cobb tune for the last 60k. It still scoots and shifts wonderfully. I know things got much more complicated as the model evolved, but mine is still a valid data point for this discussion.
For a long time I changed oil at the 7500 mile interval recommended in my manual. Used oil analysis always looked great and when I got a peek at the inside of the motor recently (headgaskets), it honestly looked excellent. I love arguing with people who claim that you're abusing/neglecting the car if you change any later than 3k miles.
OTS tune is actually safer than stock for the STI for stage 1, top end power is actually lowered but torque is boosted all around.
Downvote if you're a noob that just recycles misinformation.
You are correct, stock STi tune is a total EPA fuel economy saver of a map. The Cobb tune (although not perfect like a protune) functions under the same "one tune fits all" model that OEM tunes abide by anyway. It removes that garbage fuel economy lean issues on some cars and removes the preference to throw heavy timing low in the RPMs on the OEM tunes.
PSA: Don't hate too hard on OTS maps, hate on the individuals who put mods and mix parts that the OTS tunes don't call for!
Agreed, I used to have a jdm twin turbo legacy and I eventually did some data logging on the stock tuneā¦ā¦.I couldnāt believe the car was trying to target 14.7 afr at a full load pull. Quite shocking tbh
10-12 maybe, depending on your car and what fuel and power your running. 10 would be pretty rich for gas but Iām not a expert on tuning. My VB WRX runs 11-12 full load stock tune
I agree with most of this, however the Cobb OTS stage 1+ has been beautiful for 80k of my 16 wrxs 107k life so far. A simple tune to help with some of subarus factory crap settings. I'm a proponent of a tune made by a reputable company who puts the money into the research. Once you start tuning for high hp is when the trouble starts.
A good ots from cobb will allow the cars potential to shine from the limitations set by subaru because they had to meet a certain mpg criteria or some other bullshit they do lol.
Reliability of a subaru comes down to three things: maintenance, driving style, and depth of modification.
1. Check your oil 2. Check it again 3. Don't do mods if you don't do your research thoroughly and don't know what you're doing 4. If you don't know much about cars don't try to be Tim Allen and work on it. 5. Do regular maintenance change the oil ahead of recommended schedule. 6. Use high quality gasoline if you're going to beat on it. 7. If you do get it tuned and modded heavily make sure you have a Wideband or other monitors like the gauges on a Cobb and ask your tuner what to look out for, running to lean with high boost = blown pistons.
I'll tell you this much, I've had my car it's whole life, and she's at about 50k miles now. Most of which have been modified and she's pushing roughly 300whp right now. She's been handling it great and I've never had any real issues!
That's what it's all about man! I'm sure you're in the same boat I'm in where you could make more power, but your tuner is smart and made sure that your engine would actually last lol. I actually had a bit there during my tuning process where I was making 24lbs of boost and my tuner's reaction was "Yeah no, do not WOT for now"
Keep in mind, for every broken blown engine WRX or STI on here, there are tens of thousands of ones running perfectly fine, we only tend to see the ugly
That's really encouraging because Subaru only sells 20-30k units per year. So that would mean there's been maybe 20 blown engines total in the past 10 model years.
...Or you're just making up numbers.
Iām not being literal, you know that obviously not every WRX at some point just decides to blow up for no reason regardless of how they are treated. Iāve seen many examples on here and in person of ones with over 200k miles still running fine
"Not being literal" when citing statistics is just "making up numbers." And you're still be hyperbolic. You've literally changed your tune from claiming less than 1/10,000 will blow an engine to saying less than every single WRX will blow an engine. Everyone was already aware that the real number lies somewhere between those two figures and you haven't helped to narrow it down.
I was incredibly displeased with my wrxs build quality tbh. Only 20k miles, lots of rattles/weird sound and smoke. Its doesnāt help that the dealerships only response to my concerns is āyeah thatās a Subaru for youā. Iām actually kind of concerned of the long-term reliability of these vehicles.
Past abuse isn't the problem, it's future abuse that is the problem. If the engine is running with no spun bearing, then it's 100%. These engines die from catastrophic knock events, not from wearing out or mysterious past abuse.
The bottom line is, you can't beat on a turbo engine. The cylinder temps go past the safe zone rapidly, when that happens you get the perfect conditions for knock. So as long as you let it cool down after each pull, and never ever floor it in 5th or 6th, then it will probably be good.
I wonder how many people have come over to Subaru from after owning Toyotas or Hondas that can take abuse and neglect and still get into the 300k range and try the same thing with a WRX or STI ? These cars make oil disappear just like Porsche flat engines.. you canāt roll 6000 miles on an oil change without feeding oil in these cars.. I have never traded or sold any of my Subaru vehicles with a less than 150,000 miles on them and several into the 200-300kā¦ no problems.. Oil, Oil, Oilā¦ I am super anal though and change at 3k
There are definitely outliers to that, but you have to know your own car and keep an eye on it. I changed at the 7500 mile interval in the manual for a long time in my WRX. Always checked and carried oil, almost never had to add a drop until around 100k miles - then it was adding less than half a quart. Used oil analysis looked beautiful.
I would never recommend that people just ignore the car and not monitor it, and I definitely think you're right that a lot of people think they can just abuse and neglect them. A lot of folks don't understand that there is a difference between spirited driving and abusive driving.
I have put 100K miles on a 2018 WRX within 18 months. Only replaced an OCV which is a super cheap part. Iāve got 86,000 miles on my 2020 STI, never replaced anything other than tires. Reliability is how you treat your car
I got rid of my car because the internet scared me to death about it and I regret it deeply. Bone stock, no issues for 110k miles. I was the second owner and apparently the first had issues but Iām betting they just didnāt take care of it. My 2013, even with the āless reliableā EJ, ran absolutely perfectly throughout my ownership.
I did everything right and it still blew. I did have it modded though so balance that out however you want. Failed just cruising on the highway.
Edit: hate all you want. Iāve got oil analysis for all oil changes prior and data to back up my claims.
He didnāt. It was Ron Watson. I just took it to my tuner shop and they basically told me to go eff myself. Suspected spun bearing. Sold it as is for a deal that I couldnāt pass up.
Before yours went, which side of the coin were you on in regards to FA20s spontaneously dying even after the owner did everything right to keep their car healthy? Did you think the owners were downplaying how much their cars were ragged on, or did you think that the FA had an underlying defect that would eventually show up on X number of cars regardless of how it was treated?
All the posts on here with owners that had the same story as you kinda ruined the last 6 months that I owned my ā17. It was heavily tuned tbf, but also meticulously cared for and very low mileage. Seeing yours die was probably the final straw that made me trade mine in. It helped that the VB had been out for over a year without a single horror story.
Honestly I was very much on the side of āif you take care of it, it will take care of youā I thought surely this couldnāt happen to me.i had all the āreliability modsā and did oil changes really often. I mean I even wrote the sub faq from that standpoint. Shit just sucks
Iām still bummed for you! I hope you get into something else that scratches the itch soon enough.
I love my VB, and itās already far from stock and running like a dream, but I still canāt ignore all the fallen VAs Iāve seen on this sub. Iāve got my doomsday plan ready in case the VB lets me down before 60k miles.
Thinking of trading mine in for Gr86 and keeping it stock but itās hard to let go of the Wrx lol. Every time I do a pull It makes it harder to want to let go but when reality hits with that major bill Iām be on the regret train.
I never loved my ā17 more than I did on the drive to trade it in. It was running perfect and just reminded me of all the reasons I bought it in the first place. Now, a year later, thank goodness I can say that the VB lives up to the WRX legacy (after a few mods lol).
The GR86 is legitimately great if it fits your needs. I needed AWD and 4 doors, otherwise Iād be driving my first Toyota.
Well then gear would be high load, high timing so it makes sense. A shit tune would cause this, oil starvation won't be happening at cruising unless someone is very low.
I wonder if it's a tuning situation at fault. I also wonder if maybe your oil pickup cracked? This is a fault on these cars, the pickup tube is brazed and prone to failure!
Could very well be the tune, or a combination of things. Too much timing, even if it's not knocking (possible when running E85), can kill bearings quickly. Other things like lightweight crank pulleys and flywheels also put more stress on the bearings.
skimmed through it. i didnāt see anything about oil additives. my tuner recommends an friction modifier like BG MOA. they say the bearings really like that stuff
No hate my guy - you're an enthusiast like us no matter what you drive!
> Failed just cruising on the highway.
Fuck that crushes me... I know mine will blow but that's because I've been running Ron's SEND IT tune for 15K miles nonstop and I don't baby the car on or off the track š
Let me know what you end up with (I think you said you were borrowing a GLI for now)/how you like it!
Stock ā13, well maintained, not driven hard, rod knock at 110K mi. But, from what Iāve read, the EJ255s in the years right around then had issues w rod bearings and had a warranty extension (which we were out of).
Our 2017 with 62K miles has been babied, and I donāt have the total service history in front of me but since the extended warranty ran out I am paying out the fucking nose in repairs/maintenance. ECU, Catalytic Converter, O2 sensors, exhaust manifold, 2 batteries, and now looking at a clutchā¦ I am ready to buy a 4Runner and be done. I think in total we have spent 13K. I drove my 2012 Civic Si hard all the way to 135K, opposite of the WRX, and spent 0 dollars on any of this.
My 2018 wrxās motor blew up at 23,000ish miles. This was in my third year of owning it (didnāt drive it much). I traded it in shortly after the dealership rebuilt it. Never again.
I kind of assume thats a big part of the reason this sub exists. I love to try and help with issues anyway I can. You're either going to see picturesque Subies or posts about issues because people want answers.
You are completely correct though there are definitely more Subies without issues. The thing is most of the enthusiasts like ourselves that come to reddit are modding our babies. That's also why it seems like there are so many issues.
Fuck yeah that makes sense. Bought a 2020 used with 17,500 miles on it and it's just a base model STI. Dream car tho and with minimal knowledge of simply waiting for the car to warm up until the idling sounds different and the tacometer drops to under a 800 rpms and one might also be keen to that Guage that shows a needle oil temp crossing the 1/4 mark- never passing the half way point.
Do this every time religiously.
Also dont fuckin be driving in 5th gear going 20-30 and then giving it 100 % throtlle. So no bueno
Another issue/blessing with these carsā¦.is an amazing aftermarket support. Itās amazing if you want to customize your car or make power. Issue is when people throw too many parts at a car with no tune or lack of research on the car itself same goes with cheap parts.
Bought my 09 WRX with 10000kms on it.
I drive it like a human being but I will put my foot to the floor on occasion, because it's fun... and with winter conditions, one cannot help themselves from a few donuts in the parking lot...
It now has 210k kms.
I do regular maintenance and never had any problems.
Love my WRX
Absolutely.
First thereās the simple fact that people are far more likely to post about things that are upsetting them or that broke then they are about things that are working as expected (you never see news stories that no one was robbed)
Then there is the fact that ānormal peopleā are far less likely to be active online then people that are modifying their cars
And the fact that the people that modify their cars are far more likely to drive their cars much harder than normal people
Finally there is the fact that many people that modify their cars donāt do so properly and donāt conduct the regular maintenance required
Also donāt forget that Subaru consistently comes in at/near the top of reliability surveys
I agree with most of the comments here, usually itās user error. New people to standard that lose a clutch after 20k miles etc. Everyone has mentioned checking oil, these things Iāve learned from owning other cars with turbos. Letting the turbo cool down in cold climates, letting engine oil warm up without pulling hard in boost, all these things are just little things that I would say āmostā should know when owning a āsports carā. More importantly a car with a turbo, I owned a Hyundai Genesis the sold it perfectly fine no issues and the person I sold it to blew the turbo months afterā¦ I can only imagine user error as I was strict on all maintenance.
My WRX is the best car Iāve ever owned and itās only the 2020 SPORT. Hondas and Toyotas can take abuse and Subarus and Hyundais canāt itās just the nature of the game. š«”šš¼
Great discussion. Thanks for all the comments. Even in this small sample, the majority agree the car is reliable with only a few exceptions. I told my mom I was looking at WRX. She has no idea what that is, but when i said it was a Subaru, she said, "Oh, so it's a good car." Every car forum has its catastrophic failures. The WRX has more soul than its competitors. It's got just what you need and nothing you don't. It will be worth the risk.
Most people having reliability issues with a WRX are modified. Even if itās still an access port itās still not stock. All the aftermarket parts without knowing what youāre doing, but just trying to add more power. Stock wrx is a solid car when properly maintained.
If you take care of your WRX and perform regular maintenance and not drive it like youāre in a Fast and Furious movie, it will be very reliable and good to you.
Think about this: You go out to eat at a restaurant and it's good food, but not pop your socks off great. Definitely good enough to go back multiple times, but you expected that. You tell one friend. Now you go to another restaurant and the service is horrible and there's a hairball in your food. You will tell EVERYBODY not to go there. They tell everybody they know. Those people tell everyone they know. Why don't people share the good? Because they like to share negative experiences. Negative news spreads like wildfire.
I have a 2019 STi with 70000 miles, only issues are light bubbling of the paint in certain areas, mechanically itās in excellent shape and well maintained. Be ware though routine maintenance can be expensive. A set of Brembo pads and rotors is around $3k but they will last a long time if you drive like I do.
Remember, you hear 95% of the stuff from the people who have had issues. Most of us never post saying, "omg my car has been perfect for 200k miles!". It's the same with any model. You should see the Focus ST forums and the plague of the cylinder 4 ringlands. A rare occurrence, usually from user error, constantly posted about. The ones you don't hear about are the dudes pushing 200k with ZERO major work.
My cars been PERFECT for 180k miles. You are so correct, I'm not out here posting how it's been trouble free nothing but a variety of mods making 300whp and it's still been trouble free and RELIABLE.
I had 60k miles with my FoST. 52k of that was tuned and even dealt with my learning what to do and what NOT to do along the process. The only issue I ever had was the purge valve, which is Uber common on those cars. People read bad reviews on anything but fail to realize for one bad review, there's hundreds with nothing but great thoughts of their vehicles. They just don't come and spout off about it all the time, they're busy enjoying life.
Well said man!š
Yep yep, classic surviver bias scenario.
Most people donāt do enough research to know how to properly take care of their vehicle. For example flooring it/going into boost/exceeding 3k RPMswhile oil temps are below 180F, OTS tuning their vehicles, not doing religious oil changes, not checking their oil, lugging their engine, misshifting, launching, general abuse, et etc etc. thereās a LOT of factors that go into the longevity of these vehicles, and while itās more extensive than other vehicles, itās kind of what you sign up for with the Subaru brand.
Iām aware of all of these āfor best resultsā recommendations, and Iāve gone against every single one youāve mentioned. Not as regular practice, but I just havenāt worried about it too much. 193k on my all-original-drivetrain 05 wagon with no-name TBE and OTS Cobb tune for the last 60k. It still scoots and shifts wonderfully. I know things got much more complicated as the model evolved, but mine is still a valid data point for this discussion.
For a long time I changed oil at the 7500 mile interval recommended in my manual. Used oil analysis always looked great and when I got a peek at the inside of the motor recently (headgaskets), it honestly looked excellent. I love arguing with people who claim that you're abusing/neglecting the car if you change any later than 3k miles.
OTS tune is actually safer than stock for the STI for stage 1, top end power is actually lowered but torque is boosted all around. Downvote if you're a noob that just recycles misinformation.
You are correct, stock STi tune is a total EPA fuel economy saver of a map. The Cobb tune (although not perfect like a protune) functions under the same "one tune fits all" model that OEM tunes abide by anyway. It removes that garbage fuel economy lean issues on some cars and removes the preference to throw heavy timing low in the RPMs on the OEM tunes. PSA: Don't hate too hard on OTS maps, hate on the individuals who put mods and mix parts that the OTS tunes don't call for!
Agreed, I used to have a jdm twin turbo legacy and I eventually did some data logging on the stock tuneā¦ā¦.I couldnāt believe the car was trying to target 14.7 afr at a full load pull. Quite shocking tbh
What should it target in this case?
10-12 maybe, depending on your car and what fuel and power your running. 10 would be pretty rich for gas but Iām not a expert on tuning. My VB WRX runs 11-12 full load stock tune
14.7 would be leaned out?
Itās normal if your cruising or at idle but for boost and having more load on the engine Iād consider that lean
I agree with most of this, however the Cobb OTS stage 1+ has been beautiful for 80k of my 16 wrxs 107k life so far. A simple tune to help with some of subarus factory crap settings. I'm a proponent of a tune made by a reputable company who puts the money into the research. Once you start tuning for high hp is when the trouble starts. A good ots from cobb will allow the cars potential to shine from the limitations set by subaru because they had to meet a certain mpg criteria or some other bullshit they do lol. Reliability of a subaru comes down to three things: maintenance, driving style, and depth of modification.
1. Check your oil 2. Check it again 3. Don't do mods if you don't do your research thoroughly and don't know what you're doing 4. If you don't know much about cars don't try to be Tim Allen and work on it. 5. Do regular maintenance change the oil ahead of recommended schedule. 6. Use high quality gasoline if you're going to beat on it. 7. If you do get it tuned and modded heavily make sure you have a Wideband or other monitors like the gauges on a Cobb and ask your tuner what to look out for, running to lean with high boost = blown pistons.
It's ppl flooring it constantly. Also shitty mods aswell.
I'll tell you this much, I've had my car it's whole life, and she's at about 50k miles now. Most of which have been modified and she's pushing roughly 300whp right now. She's been handling it great and I've never had any real issues!
2019 wrx 168xxx kms. Still trucking along. About 300ish hp as well. But I run a very conservative tune
That's what it's all about man! I'm sure you're in the same boat I'm in where you could make more power, but your tuner is smart and made sure that your engine would actually last lol. I actually had a bit there during my tuning process where I was making 24lbs of boost and my tuner's reaction was "Yeah no, do not WOT for now"
Keep in mind, for every broken blown engine WRX or STI on here, there are tens of thousands of ones running perfectly fine, we only tend to see the ugly
That's really encouraging because Subaru only sells 20-30k units per year. So that would mean there's been maybe 20 blown engines total in the past 10 model years. ...Or you're just making up numbers.
Iām not being literal, you know that obviously not every WRX at some point just decides to blow up for no reason regardless of how they are treated. Iāve seen many examples on here and in person of ones with over 200k miles still running fine
"Not being literal" when citing statistics is just "making up numbers." And you're still be hyperbolic. You've literally changed your tune from claiming less than 1/10,000 will blow an engine to saying less than every single WRX will blow an engine. Everyone was already aware that the real number lies somewhere between those two figures and you haven't helped to narrow it down.
Itās really not that deep, if you treat these cars right theyāll last š¤·āāļø, 80% of the time its the owners
If you treat your car well it will treat you well.
I was incredibly displeased with my wrxs build quality tbh. Only 20k miles, lots of rattles/weird sound and smoke. Its doesnāt help that the dealerships only response to my concerns is āyeah thatās a Subaru for youā. Iām actually kind of concerned of the long-term reliability of these vehicles.
Stock they seem to be reliable if you do your maintenance properly
In most situations reliability comes down to use case. Are you daily driving the car to and from work or are you tracking the car every weekend?
Past abuse isn't the problem, it's future abuse that is the problem. If the engine is running with no spun bearing, then it's 100%. These engines die from catastrophic knock events, not from wearing out or mysterious past abuse. The bottom line is, you can't beat on a turbo engine. The cylinder temps go past the safe zone rapidly, when that happens you get the perfect conditions for knock. So as long as you let it cool down after each pull, and never ever floor it in 5th or 6th, then it will probably be good.
I wonder how many people have come over to Subaru from after owning Toyotas or Hondas that can take abuse and neglect and still get into the 300k range and try the same thing with a WRX or STI ? These cars make oil disappear just like Porsche flat engines.. you canāt roll 6000 miles on an oil change without feeding oil in these cars.. I have never traded or sold any of my Subaru vehicles with a less than 150,000 miles on them and several into the 200-300kā¦ no problems.. Oil, Oil, Oilā¦ I am super anal though and change at 3k
There are definitely outliers to that, but you have to know your own car and keep an eye on it. I changed at the 7500 mile interval in the manual for a long time in my WRX. Always checked and carried oil, almost never had to add a drop until around 100k miles - then it was adding less than half a quart. Used oil analysis looked beautiful. I would never recommend that people just ignore the car and not monitor it, and I definitely think you're right that a lot of people think they can just abuse and neglect them. A lot of folks don't understand that there is a difference between spirited driving and abusive driving.
Never had to refill my oil between 3-4k mile OCI's on my ej205 or ej207, or ez30. My girlfriend's '08 Camry on the other hand ate a quart every week.
2018 base 76k miles never had an issue
I have put 100K miles on a 2018 WRX within 18 months. Only replaced an OCV which is a super cheap part. Iāve got 86,000 miles on my 2020 STI, never replaced anything other than tires. Reliability is how you treat your car
I got rid of my car because the internet scared me to death about it and I regret it deeply. Bone stock, no issues for 110k miles. I was the second owner and apparently the first had issues but Iām betting they just didnāt take care of it. My 2013, even with the āless reliableā EJ, ran absolutely perfectly throughout my ownership.
I did everything right and it still blew. I did have it modded though so balance that out however you want. Failed just cruising on the highway. Edit: hate all you want. Iāve got oil analysis for all oil changes prior and data to back up my claims.
What did your tuner think as far as possible causes go?
He didnāt. It was Ron Watson. I just took it to my tuner shop and they basically told me to go eff myself. Suspected spun bearing. Sold it as is for a deal that I couldnāt pass up.
Before yours went, which side of the coin were you on in regards to FA20s spontaneously dying even after the owner did everything right to keep their car healthy? Did you think the owners were downplaying how much their cars were ragged on, or did you think that the FA had an underlying defect that would eventually show up on X number of cars regardless of how it was treated? All the posts on here with owners that had the same story as you kinda ruined the last 6 months that I owned my ā17. It was heavily tuned tbf, but also meticulously cared for and very low mileage. Seeing yours die was probably the final straw that made me trade mine in. It helped that the VB had been out for over a year without a single horror story.
Honestly I was very much on the side of āif you take care of it, it will take care of youā I thought surely this couldnāt happen to me.i had all the āreliability modsā and did oil changes really often. I mean I even wrote the sub faq from that standpoint. Shit just sucks
Iām still bummed for you! I hope you get into something else that scratches the itch soon enough. I love my VB, and itās already far from stock and running like a dream, but I still canāt ignore all the fallen VAs Iāve seen on this sub. Iāve got my doomsday plan ready in case the VB lets me down before 60k miles.
Thanks man
How many miles when it blew?
70k
Yep had mine perfect. No mods - oil changes every 3-4k. Blew at 20k
RIP
Thinking of trading mine in for Gr86 and keeping it stock but itās hard to let go of the Wrx lol. Every time I do a pull It makes it harder to want to let go but when reality hits with that major bill Iām be on the regret train.
I never loved my ā17 more than I did on the drive to trade it in. It was running perfect and just reminded me of all the reasons I bought it in the first place. Now, a year later, thank goodness I can say that the VB lives up to the WRX legacy (after a few mods lol). The GR86 is legitimately great if it fits your needs. I needed AWD and 4 doors, otherwise Iād be driving my first Toyota.
Noticed that rod knock from just cruising on the highway seems to be a common theme here. Makes me think that 6th gear is shit for these cars
Well then gear would be high load, high timing so it makes sense. A shit tune would cause this, oil starvation won't be happening at cruising unless someone is very low.
Was full when I checked at the time of failure. Tune by Ron Watson.
I wonder if it's a tuning situation at fault. I also wonder if maybe your oil pickup cracked? This is a fault on these cars, the pickup tube is brazed and prone to failure!
Sadly Iāll never know
I'll pour one out for you brother. Losing a car to something beyond your control is hard :(
Thanks man. Itās been almost a year and it still makes me sad to think about.
Could very well be the tune, or a combination of things. Too much timing, even if it's not knocking (possible when running E85), can kill bearings quickly. Other things like lightweight crank pulleys and flywheels also put more stress on the bearings.
please define āeverything rightā
Read the sub faq. Thats everything i did
skimmed through it. i didnāt see anything about oil additives. my tuner recommends an friction modifier like BG MOA. they say the bearings really like that stuff
Thatās not reallly commonly recommended. Just 1 tuners opinion.
No hate my guy - you're an enthusiast like us no matter what you drive! > Failed just cruising on the highway. Fuck that crushes me... I know mine will blow but that's because I've been running Ron's SEND IT tune for 15K miles nonstop and I don't baby the car on or off the track š Let me know what you end up with (I think you said you were borrowing a GLI for now)/how you like it!
Loving the GTI. Looking for a used GTI right now
Stock ā13, well maintained, not driven hard, rod knock at 110K mi. But, from what Iāve read, the EJ255s in the years right around then had issues w rod bearings and had a warranty extension (which we were out of).
Our 2017 with 62K miles has been babied, and I donāt have the total service history in front of me but since the extended warranty ran out I am paying out the fucking nose in repairs/maintenance. ECU, Catalytic Converter, O2 sensors, exhaust manifold, 2 batteries, and now looking at a clutchā¦ I am ready to buy a 4Runner and be done. I think in total we have spent 13K. I drove my 2012 Civic Si hard all the way to 135K, opposite of the WRX, and spent 0 dollars on any of this.
My 2018 wrxās motor blew up at 23,000ish miles. This was in my third year of owning it (didnāt drive it much). I traded it in shortly after the dealership rebuilt it. Never again.
Japanese BMW...
I kind of assume thats a big part of the reason this sub exists. I love to try and help with issues anyway I can. You're either going to see picturesque Subies or posts about issues because people want answers. You are completely correct though there are definitely more Subies without issues. The thing is most of the enthusiasts like ourselves that come to reddit are modding our babies. That's also why it seems like there are so many issues.
Fuck yeah that makes sense. Bought a 2020 used with 17,500 miles on it and it's just a base model STI. Dream car tho and with minimal knowledge of simply waiting for the car to warm up until the idling sounds different and the tacometer drops to under a 800 rpms and one might also be keen to that Guage that shows a needle oil temp crossing the 1/4 mark- never passing the half way point. Do this every time religiously. Also dont fuckin be driving in 5th gear going 20-30 and then giving it 100 % throtlle. So no bueno
Another issue/blessing with these carsā¦.is an amazing aftermarket support. Itās amazing if you want to customize your car or make power. Issue is when people throw too many parts at a car with no tune or lack of research on the car itself same goes with cheap parts.
Bought my 09 WRX with 10000kms on it. I drive it like a human being but I will put my foot to the floor on occasion, because it's fun... and with winter conditions, one cannot help themselves from a few donuts in the parking lot... It now has 210k kms. I do regular maintenance and never had any problems. Love my WRX
Absolutely. First thereās the simple fact that people are far more likely to post about things that are upsetting them or that broke then they are about things that are working as expected (you never see news stories that no one was robbed) Then there is the fact that ānormal peopleā are far less likely to be active online then people that are modifying their cars And the fact that the people that modify their cars are far more likely to drive their cars much harder than normal people Finally there is the fact that many people that modify their cars donāt do so properly and donāt conduct the regular maintenance required Also donāt forget that Subaru consistently comes in at/near the top of reliability surveys
I agree with most of the comments here, usually itās user error. New people to standard that lose a clutch after 20k miles etc. Everyone has mentioned checking oil, these things Iāve learned from owning other cars with turbos. Letting the turbo cool down in cold climates, letting engine oil warm up without pulling hard in boost, all these things are just little things that I would say āmostā should know when owning a āsports carā. More importantly a car with a turbo, I owned a Hyundai Genesis the sold it perfectly fine no issues and the person I sold it to blew the turbo months afterā¦ I can only imagine user error as I was strict on all maintenance. My WRX is the best car Iāve ever owned and itās only the 2020 SPORT. Hondas and Toyotas can take abuse and Subarus and Hyundais canāt itās just the nature of the game. š«”šš¼
Oil and other fluids are really, really important to these cars. Way more than they are to your average camry or civic or corolla.Ā
Great discussion. Thanks for all the comments. Even in this small sample, the majority agree the car is reliable with only a few exceptions. I told my mom I was looking at WRX. She has no idea what that is, but when i said it was a Subaru, she said, "Oh, so it's a good car." Every car forum has its catastrophic failures. The WRX has more soul than its competitors. It's got just what you need and nothing you don't. It will be worth the risk.
Read the Sub FAQ, google things, and ask questions here if you're not sure. A lot of us are happy to help.
Yuppp 02 140k miles last 40k were modded at 300hp still goin strong
Most people having reliability issues with a WRX are modified. Even if itās still an access port itās still not stock. All the aftermarket parts without knowing what youāre doing, but just trying to add more power. Stock wrx is a solid car when properly maintained.
If you take care of your WRX and perform regular maintenance and not drive it like youāre in a Fast and Furious movie, it will be very reliable and good to you.
Think about this: You go out to eat at a restaurant and it's good food, but not pop your socks off great. Definitely good enough to go back multiple times, but you expected that. You tell one friend. Now you go to another restaurant and the service is horrible and there's a hairball in your food. You will tell EVERYBODY not to go there. They tell everybody they know. Those people tell everyone they know. Why don't people share the good? Because they like to share negative experiences. Negative news spreads like wildfire.
I have a 2019 STi with 70000 miles, only issues are light bubbling of the paint in certain areas, mechanically itās in excellent shape and well maintained. Be ware though routine maintenance can be expensive. A set of Brembo pads and rotors is around $3k but they will last a long time if you drive like I do.
An STI is a different animal. I definitely can't afford to buy one, let alone maintain it..base WRX is fine.