2000 Subaru Impreza RS review from North America

There have been 5 transmission failures.

First failure began at 9 thousand miles.

At 38,000 miles I had to purchase a new transmission. Subaru refused to warranty the transmission even though there were 4 prior failures, and the car was well within the 60k mile power train warranty.

Subaru has given me different reasons why the would not warranty the vehicle. The first is that the car had mud on it. Secondly, they said that the car was put in reverse while moving forward. As this was not the case I complained to the dealer about the reasoning. The chief mechanic stated that the Impreza has a reverse lock out and cannot be put into reverse while moving forward. Lastly, they said the car would not be warranted as I had an Exedy clutch installed. This is a stock replacement clutch that was made by the original supplier of Subaru clutches. I have contacted Exedy, and they stated that their clutch would not cause a transmission to break. Also, keep in mind that the original failure happened at 9k miles, long before I had a clutch installed.

Now with only 50 miles on the new transmission, I am getting a loud clattering from inside the transmission. A new transmission is down, and I have been without my vehicle for a total of two months, spending close to $4,000. I cannot afford to keep this vehicle, and I should have never bought it.