BREWSKI

I just wanna know the general questions about WRX/STI's from past and present owners.

-As far as maintenance goes?
-Any known problems you have run into with your Subaru?
-Is DIY maintenance a pain in the ass?
-And the turbo rebuilds,if any and at what mileage?

Etc. just helpful information because im considering getting rid of my cars to purchase one.

Kim Jong Illin'

- maintenance is pretty standard. oil changes, alignments, filters, etc. major services are about every 30k.
- all the problems i've had stemmed from shit i've done to it. it's a fairly reliable car as long as it's not beat up or run ragged.
- DIY stuff is simple and won't cost you must. if you have any trouble, consult/search nasioc (about the only thing useful about the site, everything else is faggotry).
- i personally don't know of many instances where people have had rebuilds on turbos. if a turbo does fail, it's fairly cheap to find another used oem turbo or another used upgraded turbo.

Woodrow

It also wouldn't hurt to check out a few Subaru forums for some info.

As long as you follow the maintenance guide Subaru puts out you are fine.
https://www.subaru.com/my-subaru/mai...edule2009.html

As for known issues, the 02-03 WRX are known for a raw fuel smell when cold. There has been a recall for this in 13 cold states(this is NOT one of them) and they issues a warranty extension for this for up to 12 years.
The 5 speed in the WRX is a weaker transmission and doesn't take abuse very well unlike the STI's 6 speed.
The 2007+ STI's are known for their ringland issues.
2005+ are also known for oil pick up tube failures.
04-07 are well known for the rear strut clunk due to the rear strut mount.
2009 WRX motors are known to be bad and some have replaced 2 or 3 of them before 10,000 miles.

DIY maintenance isn't that bad. The timing belt isn't something a novice should do, but there are video's out there(Meaty's timing belt guide comes to mind) for that. The spark plugs aren't too bad either if you set aside some time.

As for turbo rebuilds, I have seen these go to 150-200k but I have seen some people have crapped them out long before that. People just replace them or upgrade.

Overall these are fun reliable vehicles.

sevendurt

I owned a 05 STI for about 8 months it had 110k on it and the only issues i had where:
-Turbo Oil Blow by (probably needed a rebuild)
-Pin hole leak in the upper radiator hose.
-rear struts knock.( If you do some research they are known for a rear strut knock due to poor design so i bought Coilovers)
-valve tick
Other than that it was a fantastic car installing the Turbo back Exhaust, Coilovers, and Cobb tuner where some of the easiest work i have done on a car. Spark plugs are kinda a bitch along with head removal. With the strut knock and the valve tick i did some research and if you have never owned a Subaru from what im told. "They just make noises" i had no real issues with mine and it was a hell of a car.

Darak

For the 02-03 fuel issue, I know my dad got his fixed. I thought they did it under the recall but maybe they didn't. The replacement lines definitely solve the problem (as long as the mechanic puts on the correct ones, the guy who did ours used a pipe marked expressly 'do not use for fuel').

The maintenance around 90-100k miles is a bigger chunk of cash than the others, since it's timing belt replacement on top of your other regular maintenance, and most people replace the water pump then since you have access to it during the belt replacement and it's otherwise due for replacement not much later. I think at a mechanic I was seeing numbers around 1k for the whole deal, though that may be wrong/have changed since it's been awhile.

DIY definitely isn't too bad, but there's definitely less access and room to work in the engine bay than some other common cars (civic, etc). Aside from that, it looks like the common issues got covered up above.

BREWSKI

Thanks to all with the info

JETSWU87

Do your self a favor and if you live in the 757 area, if you're planning on purchasing a car bring it to All Aspects for a presale inspection. This can save your thousands of dollars.

You'd have no idea how many times we've had people bring us car's a week after ownership.....broken.

BREWSKI

I appreciate this but i think ima just save me some time from the very begining and just purchase a new one. If i do go the used route i will def do whats stated above

spicy_mchaggiz

Any 2.5L WRX and ALL STI's have the chance for bad ringlands. I had this in my 06 WRX. It happens.

Maintenance is fine, and fairly easy to do. Some parts can be pricey.

eXploited

2008 STI owner here -

NO issues so far 30,000 Miles