One of the most important aspects of vehicle ownership is reliability. If you’re buying decision points towards a sedan, chances are your preferences lie towards a robust and reassuring build. Many marques have been known to offer peace of mind and a hassle-free ownership experience. With minimal repair and running costs, the obvious contenders are of course Japanese. The JDM scene has given us a lot of cars that are built to last. Generally, longevity and low running costs are the attributes that made Japanese cars a success across the globe.
One among them is Subaru, a Japanese industrial manufacturer that gave examples of some of the finest works in automotive engineering. Fast forward to modern times and Subaru has become a household name with a variety of sedans and SUVs gracing driveways across the country. One of their prime offerings is the WRX, a sporty yet family-friendly proposition.
With respect to recent reports, reliability ratings of the WRX have been found to be questionable. Many point to an unimpressive ownership experience, Is it true? Let’s find out.
About The WRX
Revered for its abilities, Subaru launched the latest generation of the WRX and WRX STI in 2014. Due to its outstanding performance benefits at a bargain price, Subaru saw huge success with the WRX among the car community.
The Subaru WRX is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged flat-4 engine. Referred to as the boxer engine, it pumps out 268 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. The WRX gets a 6-speed manual transmission sending power to all four wheels. A more hardcore version called the WRX STI pumps the numbers to 310 horsepower and 290 lb-ft of torque from a 2.5-liter boxer-4. The STI boasts a tweaked all-wheel-drive system and the same tranny with revised ratios.
The Subaru WRX starts from $27,495 for the base whereas the STI starts from $36,995 and goes to $41,695 for the top of the line STI Limited. While the argument for ‘which WRX is the better value’ prevails, it’s fair to say that regardless of your choice, the WRX is sure to put a smile on your face every time you drive it.
J.D. Power Rating
According to J.D.Power reports, the 2020 Subaru WRX scores an overall reliability rating of 82 on 100. Generally, anything above 80 is considered to be pretty good as per J.D power. Further breakup of the scores can be had in terms of driving experience, resale, dealership experience, quality, and reliability. The WRX scored 88 for the driving experience, 85 when it comes to resale, 82 for dealership experience (which is common to the Subaru brand), and a score of 77 in terms of quality and reliability.
In terms of reliability and build quality, the WRX lags behind its rivals. While J.D power comments on the score being respectable, consumers on the other hand tend to think otherwise.
Ownership Experience
As per Consumer Reports’ analysis, they’ve given the Subaru WRX a score of 3 out of 5 when it comes to customer satisfaction. Although the number seems fairly good, customers tell a different story. CR hands out various queries to actual consumers on their website wherein the responses are evaluated to give out the conclusive score.
One of the questions pointed out whether they would buy another WRX given the chance and around 67% gave positive feedback of yes. However, almost 43% of them are hesitant in buying another WRX which, to be honest, is not something good.
Recalls
According to NHTSA, there has been no official recalls for the 2020 WRX, which is good news. However, there is a complaint lodged wherein a customer reported brake failure along with airbags failing to deploy during a crash. This is quite an alarming issue and resulted in the complainant consulting the dealership. Folks there advised to directly contact the manufacturer who is yet to respond. The issue has not been reported by any other customers, which deems it a one-off case. However, this is certainly a matter of concern and should be investigated.
Technical Service Bulletins
The last thing you want to show up is a set of warnings on your OBD and finding a resort to fixing it. However, TSBs are quite different, Technical Service Bulletins for the 2020 WRX are official communications between Subaru & their dealerships that describe how to troubleshoot or fix certain common problems. All vehicle manufacturers are required by U.S. law to make their TSBs available to the public. There are currently 87 TSBs active for the 2020 WRX which is definitely not a good sign.
If you go ahead and re-evaluate the points, there are legit arguments that lead to the WRX being unreliable. Again, this could be partly due to the fact that the current WRX is almost 7 years old and the next-gen 2022 WRX would definitely iron these out; at least we hope they do.
Sources: NHTSA, J.D.Power, Consumer Reports
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