2002 Subaru Impreza WRX from North America - Comments

I bought my wife a WRX wagon in May of '02, with 6 miles on the clock. It's now January of '03 and I'm very unhappy with this car. I honestly believe it's not merchantable in an area such as the one in which we live. (Wyoming)

It's advertised as an all-weather car, and shown thrashing about on dirt roads. It looked great for us, as we live in Wyoming on 8 miles of dirt. I read every magazine and E-zine review I could find on the WRX before buying one, and all reviews sounded really favorable.

That said, our WRX wagon is a total let-down, ESPECIALLY considering how it's billed! Why do I say that? Here you go...

1) All door seals leak dirt. We have just 4300 miles on our car, and the sides of all the black seats are red with dust from our road. We only drive on the dirt road to get to pavement, so in reality, only 10% of those miles are on dirt.

2) Front door glass rattles TERRIBLY if not fully up, when driving on the slightest washboard, or hitting a tiny bump.

3) Windshield wipers can't deal with ANY snow at all. Because they "park" below the windshield defrost ducts, they almost instantly freeze over with ice when the car is driven in snowy weather.

4) Windshield defogger can't keep just one occupant's breath from condensing and freezing on the inside of the windshield in temperatures below 25ºF. To keep the windshield only SOMEWHAT clean, you must run the defroster on HIGH FAN, HIGH HEAT, and it literally bakes your eyeballs out of your head with the dry, high-velocity air slamming you in the face.

5) The 4-wheel ABS is worthless on dirt. Considering Subaru's ad campaign showing a WRX sliding around on a dirt road, they should have included a "kill" switch. I have an old Chevy pick-up with NO front brakes, and I can stop it on a dirt road quicker than the WRX. It's like having no brakes at all. And in snow, FORGET IT, don't even go for the brake pedal, because it isn't going to do anything for you. Sure ABS helps you steer better, but sometimes we ALL need to just STOP!

6) We've been to the dealer THREE TIMES to get the marker lights to work properly. They quit working on the way home from the dealer when we bought it, and it's been a hassle ever since.

7) Our WRX has required both toe-in and caster adjustments after just 4300 miles of driving. (About 430 miles of dirt road.) Remember, this is my WIFE'S car, and she doesn't know the meaning of "spirited driving." She goes PAINFULLY slow on our road.

If you're thinking of getting a WRX, please consider that there is MORE to a car than the engine, hoodscoop, and boost gauge.

Subaru has taken an interesting drivetrain and installed it in a nicely-displayed, but VERY cheesy automobile which may leave buyers unsatisfied.

If you want a multi-purpose car that can be a grocery-getter for the wife, and a fun car for the husband, look elsewhere. (Especially if you live or drive on dirt roads or in a snowy climate.)

I regret spending every one of my 24,000 dollars on this car. I'll NEVER own another Subaru in my life.

You obviously had no idea of what you were buying.

WRXs are a sealed road sports car, whatever th dealer told you. I'm amazed you didn't read that in all your reviews.

Coming from Australia we know all about red dirt and let me say I would NEVER take a Rex off road, EVER.

The car is great, specially the Sti, but it isn't an off-roader (SUV whatever u guys call them). It's a street machine.

I disagree. I've driven a 2002 WRX sedan since August 2001 and have been very pleased with the performance of the car on gravel (backwoods fire roads), dirt, even deep sand roads (Arizona and Utah), and every year in relatively mild snow (Pacific NW).

All-weather touring tires (H-rated) rather than street/performance tires (V-rated) really help on this score, although you have to persuade a tire installer to do the downgrade. The stock tires don't do well in heavy rain.

The WRX isn't an SUV, but it makes a surprisingly fine road trip car, for all of the above reasons. (The downside to driving it on long road trips is a dramatic decrease in the car's resale value from putting on the miles.)

It goes nearly anywhere. One road and one road only has given us trouble, and that was a steep curvy hillside climb covered with ice; we had to retreat from that one or risk losing the car entirely.

Only two things it's not great for: commuting in stop and go traffic -- it eats up tons of premium gas -- and staying under the 25mph speed limit on neighborhood streets. I have had to resort to the cruise control to overcome that!

If you wanted an off road subaru... why didn't you get an Outback instead on a WRX? As said before, the WRX is a street machine.

Sounds like you are in a unique situation that requires a unique approach to buying a car. As someone who used to be a car dealer and who knows cars inside and out I would suggest one of two things, either a) buy an older car that you can just beat up without any worry. Sounds like you have an old pickup you use like this. I have a 1977 F150 that would love a dirt road like yours. b) Buy a new car and make modifications for your purposes.

As time goes by roads get better and car designers build cars for highways, not dirt roads. When you see that Subaru on TV in the dirt it is usually modified for rally racing. If you're going down as much dirt road as you are I would suggest that you get suspension lifted up, true dirt tires, and some added protection on the bottom of the car. Unfortunately as time goes by you will only find that cars are getting more sensitive, and alignment will become more of a problem for you.

If I were in your situation I would totally get into modifying cars for my unique purposes, old Toyota Land Cruisers, Jeep CJ7, even some Hummer H1s and the like. Any car you get will frustrate you when it deals poorly with the elements. Oh, and throw out any tire that comes with a car, the manufacturer rarely puts tires worth anything on their car.