Owner-reported complaints naming the transmission system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming the automatic or manual transmission, including shifting behaviour, shudder, slipping and transmission control modules. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2002 Subaru Impreza submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 20 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
THE TRANSMISSION GEAR WON'T MOVE FROM PARK TO DRIVE. I CALLED TOWING. HE OPEN THE LITTLE COVER AND PUSH IT WITH A KNIFE. THEN, I WAS ABLE TO SHIFT. WAS THE PART DEFECTIVE? I HAD MY MECHANIC CHECK IT BUT I CAN'T RECALL IF HE FIX IT. I HAVE TO CHECK WITH HIM. NOW IT IS WORKING. I AM WONDERING IF OTHER SUBARU OWNERS HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. *TR
WHILE DRIVING 25 MPH, THE DRIVER WAS UNABLE TO SHIFT TO SECOND GEAR. THE DRIVER TRIED NUMEROUS TIMES AND THE VEHICLE STALLED. THE DRIVER TRIED TO RESTART THE VEHICLE AND WAS NOT ABLE TO DO SO. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION. THE MECHANIC INFORMED THE DRIVER THAT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. PLEASE PROVIDE FURTHER DETAILS. *JB
2002 SUBARU WRX - I TOOK THE CAR IN FOR 30,000 MILE SERVICE, CAR WAS RUNNING FINE, NO COMPLAINTS. WHEN I GOT THE CAR BACK, I NOTICED THAT IT WAS DIFFICULT TO DOWNSHIFT INTO FIRST GEAR, AND I WAS SOMETIMES MISSING THE SHIFT - GRINDING GEARS. I HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM LIKE THIS IN ANY CAR BEFORE. THE PROBLEM IS MORE SEVERE AT HIGHER SPEEDS, AND IS GETTING PROGRESSIVELY WORSE OVER THE LAST 5000 MILES. I HAVE TAKEN THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALER TWICE, THE FIRST TIME THEY "COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING WRONG", THE SECOND TIME THEY NOTED THAT THE "SENCROS" WERE GOING BAD. I HAVE JUST RETURNED FROM THE DEALERSHIP AND TALKING TO THE SERVICE TECH, WHO CLAIMS THIS IS A PROBLEM HE SEES A LOT ON WRXS, AND THAT "THERE ISN'T ANYTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT"!! THE DEALERSHIP HAS PROMISED TO "LOOK INTO WHAT WE CAN DO", BUT MEANWHILE THE CAR IS GETTING LESS AND LESS FUNCTIONAL. I AM DEEPLY CONCERNED THAT THE INTENTION OF THE DEALERSHIP IS TO STALL TILL THE WARRANTY RUNS OUT (I'M GETTING CLOSE) THEN TELL ME IT'S MY PROBLEM TO DEAL WITH. I BELIEVE THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE NOT BEING ABLE TO SHIFT INTO FIRST GEAR HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE A CHAIN REACTION PILE-UP, AS THERE ARE STOPLIGHTS HIGHWAYS ON HILLS NEAR WHERE I LIVE. AN INCIDENT OF STALLING DUE TO SHIFTING PROBLEMS COULD CAUSE FOLLOWING TRAFFIC TO BADLY MISJUDGE THE SPEED OF THE STALLING CAR IN SITUATIONS WHERE THE LIGHT HAS CHANGED AND THERE IS SLOW MOVING TRAFFIC FOLLOWED BY FASTER TRAFFIC (PREVIOUS LIGHT TURNS SOONER, LIGHTS NOT COORDINATED).*AK
I HAVE A 2002 SUBARU IMPREZA RS, THIS VEHICLE SEEMS TO BE LIKE LOTS OF OTHERS, THE VEHICLES SHUDDERS AND JERKS ALOT WHEN I'M PULLING OFF IN THE MORNING, EVENING, WHETHER ITS COLD OR HOT. I TOOK IT TO SHELORS WHICH WANTED TO TEAR IT APART AND CHARGE ME, WHEN THE CAR IS STILL UNDER WARRANTY. THIS VEHICLE DOES THIS ATLEAST 3 TIMES A WEEK. THE CAR ONLY HAS 35588 MILES SO ACTUALLY ITS STILL UNDER THE NEW CAR WARRANTY. I HAVE A HARD TIME SOMETIMES GETTING THE CAR INTO REVERSE (MANUEL TRANS.) I HAVEN'T HAD ANY ACCIDEN'T AS OF THIS DATE SO, I'M PUTTING THE DATE THAT I'M FILLING THIS OUT INTO THE INCIDENT DATE BOX.*AK
CLUTCH SHUDDERS IN FIRST AND SECOND GEARS UNTIL ENGINE WARMS UP (~20MINS). VEHICLE HAS LESS THAN 17,000 MILES AND THIS HAS BEEN A PROBLEM SINCE THE FIRST DAY OF OWNERSHIP. I BROUGHT THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THIS WAS NORMAL. I FIND THAT EXPLANATION UNACCEPTABLE SINCE MANY OTHERS HAVE COMPLAINED WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. I FIND THIS TO BE A SAFETY ISSUE SINCE I HAVE TO REV THE ENGINE UP TO GET THE CLUTCH TO ENGAGE, POTENTIALLY LURCHING ME INTO TRAFFIC AND CAUSING AN ACCIDENT. *JB
WHILE DRIVING TRANSMISSION LOCKED UP BRINGING THE VEHICLE TO A SUDDEN STOP. OTHER PROBLEMS WITH VEHICLE INCLUDE THE STEERING PUMP, BRAKES AND THE WINDSHIELD.*AK *MR
VEHICLE HAS PROBLEMS SHIFTING GEARS WHEN DRIVING.*MR WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT GO INTO GEAR . AS A RESULT THE VEHICLE STOPPED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. THE VEHICLE WAS NEW WITH ONLY A FEW THOUSAND MILES. THE VEHICLES TRANSMISSION HAS BEEN REPLACED ONCE UNDER WARRANTY BUT NOW THAT THE TRANSMISSION FAILED AGAIN THE DEALER REFUSED TO REPAIR IT. THE VEHICLE HAS BEE AT THE DEALER FOR ALMOST A YEAR. *PH *NLM
CLUTCH SHUTTERS UPON STARTUP. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS A NORMAL CLUTCH FUNCTION AS SUBARU MENTIONS. I'VE HAD THE CAR FOR 1 YEAR AND WOULD LIKE TO SELL IT. THE PROBLEM, HOW DO I SELL THIS CAR TO SOMEONE ELSE WITH A CLUTCH THAT VIOLENTLY SHUTTERS WHEN COLD. IT'S A MATTER OF GOOD ETHICS WHICH SUBARU DOESN'T HAVE. *JB
WAS BRAKING V AFTER DRIVING 20MPH. WHEN WHEEL LOCKED UP, VEHICLE FAILED TO SHIFT INTO 2ND GEAR. HAD VEHICLE TOWED TO DEALERSHIP. MECHANIC INDICATED PROBLEM COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED AND WAS NOT RESOLVED.*AK
CONSUMER STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AND WITHOUT WARNING TRANSMISSION GEARS WOULD NOT SHIFT, CAUSING A DISTRACTION TO THE CONSUMER. DEALER NOTIFIED. *AK
CONSUMER CALLED COMPLAINING ABOUT HAVING PROBLEM WITH MANUAL TRANSMISSION. DEALER FIXED IT TWICE. LAST WEEK TRANSMISSION BROKE, AND VEHICLE WAS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY. SO HE HAD TO PAY FOR THIS. VEHICLE ONLY HAD 37616 MILES. *AK
WHILE MAKING A TURN , VEHICLE SLID OFF THE ROAD, WITHOUT CAUSE OR WARNING. THE DEALERSHIP CANNOT LOCATE THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM.
TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS. *AK
CONSUMER STATE OF HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSMISSION. DEALER WAS CONTACTED, THIS PROBLEM WAS INITIALLY REPORTED WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS ONLY 4 MONTHS OLD, THE PROBLEMS INCLUDED GRINDING SOUNDS BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND GEARS, CLUTCH NOISE, AND TRANSMISSION POPPING OUT OF GEAR WHEN GOING DOWNHILL, WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS 10 MONTHS OLD THE GEAR TEETH ON FIRST GEAR FAILED, THE DEALER REFUSED TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE UNDER WARRANTY. MR *NLM
THE TRANSMISSION SHUDDERS WHEN THE CAR STARTS FROM A STOP, IN FIRST GEAR (FROM ZERO MPH), BOTH WHEN THE ENGINE IS COLD AND WARM. THIS HAS CAUSED DELAYED AND UNCOMFORTABLE STARTS.*AK
THE CLUTCH SHUDDERS AND SLIPS HORRIBLY ON COLD STARTS IN 1ST GEAR. THE WHOLE CAR WILL SHAKE DUE TO HOW HORRIBLE IT IS. STOPS SHUDDERING AFTER 15 MINS OF STOP AND GO. DEALER SAID IT IS NORMAL AND MANY CUSTOMERS COMPLAIN, BUT THAT IS THE WAY THE SUBARU CLUTCH BEHAVES. -- BTW: THIS SITE DOES NOT SEEM TO SHOW ANYWHERE NEAR THE AMOUNT OF CLUTCH SHUDDER ISSUES I HAVE HEARD OF, AND IT SEEMS THAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE POSTED CLUTCH SHUDDER ISSUES UNDER THE WRONG PART DEFECT.*AK
SEVERE CLUTCH SHUDDER AT START OF FORWARD MOVEMENT. AFFECTED BY LOWER OUTSIDE TEMPS. IF CAR SITS IN COLD WEATHER AT FIRST USE OF CLUTCH SEVERE SHUDDER VIBRATES WHOLE VEHICLE. AS CLUTCH WARMS UP SHUDDER LESSENS BUT NEVER GOES AWAY. *TS *NLM *DIMSII IVOQ ENTRY POSTED AFTER 12-12-02 CUT OVER TO ARTEMIS***761550
SEVERE CLUTCH SHUDDER DURING LOW SPEED OPERATION ( IN 1ST GEAR AND STARTING TO MOVE FROM A STOP) WHEN CLUTCH COMPONENTS ARE COLD. SHUDDER CONTINUES TILL PARTS WARM UP. SHUDDER NEVER COMPLETELY GOES AWAY.*AK
TRANSMISSION/DRIVETRAIN RATTLES AND/OR GRINDS AT 2ND AND 3RD GEAR SHIFTS. *AK
FIRST GEAR IS A MAJOR ISSUE IN MY VEHICLE. I CAN ONLY ENGAGE FIRST GEAR, IF IM AT A COMPLETE STOP. SO IF IVE SLOWED DOWN TO 5-10MPH IM FORCED TO GO INTO 2ND GEAR, WHICH NOT ONLY WEARS OUT MY CLUTCH PREMATURELY, BUT COULD ALSO CAUSE AN ACCIDENT IF I NEEDED TO BUILD SPEED QUICKLY. THE TRANSMISSION OVERALL SEEMS TO BE A BIG ISSUE WITH WRX OWNERS. PLEASE GO TO WWW.I-CLUB.COM AND UNDER FORUMS DO A SEARCH FOR TRANNY AND ALSO 1ST GEAR, YOU WILL SEE A SLEW OF ISSUES.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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