Faults:

All scheduled maintenance performed by me, or Subaru technicians.

Turbo (TD04) went out at 117k miles. I replaced it with a used TD04 from another WRX for $150.

Battery died at 124k.

2 front O2 sensors. I think those were about $70 each.

Clutch died at 180k miles :) I replaced it with a stage 2 clutch and lightweight flywheel.

Steering wheel has started to "wear" on the top center. I usually have my hand rested there as I drive; not bad, but it's a little rough after 182k miles.

IA-CV gasket, went out at 170ish'k miles. $12 fix.

Ball joints and front axles. These items wore out prematurely, as I drive extremely hard on my car. It is also tracked and auto-crossed.

General Comments:

The WRX does everything well. It may not be the "best" in every category, but it performs extremely well in every category.

Consumer Reports gave it a top pick.

My WRX is driven hard, is highly modified, and it still holds up with all the abuse I put it through.

Basic scheduled maintenance, and these cars will last a long time.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with the car.

General Comments:

This is the best car I ever owned.

The car is slow on takeoff, but accelerates great at higher speeds making highway passing a breeze.

It handles everyday driving very well making any commute fun.

We shopped around looking at other competitors such as the Toyota Matrix and the Honda CRV. Looks aside, the Impreza feels and behaves like a more expensive vehicle. We have been so impressed that we are adding a second Impreza next week. (2008 2.5i Sport Sedan)

Faults:

None.

General Comments:

My first car was a Ford Focus with no fun qualities to it at all. It was even the four door model.

To fix that problem I decided to upgrade to something more fun to drive and with only 2 doors. I feel in love with my 2004 Honda Civic Si on the first test drive. Unfortunately 4 months later I totaled it.

With my next car purchase I decided to get away from 2.0l front wheel drive non-force inducted vehicles. The WRX was the perfect choose. It's an all wheel drive turbocharged car. Sure it's a 2.0l, but it's a boxer engine instead of a straight 4 cylinder.

On to the performance. The Civic was great, but nothing compared to my Subaru once it's boosting. Boost comes on at about 2800 RPMs and if you launch it right it can put your head into the headrest. If your the conservative type and drive it regularly you won't even know there is a turbo.

The only problem I have is the stock tires have very little grip, so under steer when taking turns faster then you should is a problem, but that's nothing that a new set of 17 inch rims from something like the stock gold rims from the STI won't fix.

Great buy and worth every penny.

Faults:

The transmission has had to be replaced twice.

General Comments:

It's been driven fairly gently in the first 1000 miles so it's odd that we encountered this kind of problem so early.

Exterior is cheap, thin, easily dinged tin-like material.

Handles incredibly well.

Drinks a lot of gas.

Faults:

Transmission was hard to shift into second gear and grinding going into first gear the first day of purchase. Second gear went out completely within a week (800 miles). The dealer denied warranty coverage with claim of abuse. Missing gears because of tranny problem probably led them to their conclusion.

I purchased a second trannny (new) from dealership and It has started the same problem less than 2,000 miles, but it is hard to shift in all gears this time. I got it to the dealer before anything totally failed this time. They tried (special) tranny oil with no result. Now they are waiting on a decision from their rep. I wonder if abuse claim is going to be their out this time, even after I paid over $4,000 cash for my second transmission.

General Comments:

I bought car for performance and price.

Reliability and Subaru not standing behind their product is unacceptable.