2004 Subaru Impreza: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Apr 6, 2010 · Suspension · 12,000 miles · LA

1.at about 12000 miles,the right rear of vehicle began to make a knocking noise while going over bumps,braking or accelerating is more evident at low speeds but is still present at higher velocities. 2.the failure is currently still existent,the right rear of vehicle has about 1/4 in loose play before the rear strut binds. This affects handling of vehicle during turns or emergency maneuvers as the suspension is not well controlled by strut binding. When coming to a stop,one can feel the right rear corner of vehicle settle and hear a knocking sound. This issue twice sent the vehicle out of control while turning to the left on bumpy roads and fortunately no one was injured and no damage was done. This defect has been talked about at great length in various subaru impreza sti forums and is referred to as the"rear strut clunk" and it can affects both sides of vehicle. Model year 2004 and 2005 subaru impreza sti are involved in this. It is possible that my 2006 and 2007 are as well but I haven't checked. 3.the dealer has replaced the upper strut mount a few times to no avail. The defective parts are still on the vehicle.

Filed Dec 15, 2006 · Suspension · 35,000 miles · NV

Rear struts (and possibly front) are making a clunking noise when car is driven at slow speeds. The noise is quite apparent and would not be items inside the trunk and/ or car.

Filed Nov 3, 2005 · Suspension · 15,000 miles · CA

2004 impreza sti - rear clunking noise from right rear suspension. Occasional strut lockup in compressed position. Dealer attempted to fix this problem three times before realizing it was a faulty rear strut. Many other owners of the same car have reported the same problem. I was fortunate as my dealer properly diagnosed and repaired the problem. After the repair, the strut issue went away. Subaru of america should be required to recall this model to check for this strut problem. Not only does the strut make noise when compressing, but it sometimes locks in the compressed postion, changing the handling and performance dynamics of the car in an extremely unsafe and potentially lifethreatening way. By replacing the strut, the problem should be corrected. Due to the large number of instances of the same strut failure on these cars, as demonstrated by the number of same complaints to the federal safety agency here at this website, one can only assume subaru of american is well aware of the problem.

Filed Mar 30, 2005 · Suspension · 10,000 miles · PA

The rear strut of my 2004 wrx sti clunks all the time. Any range of speed all the way up to 50-60. This is a known problem with the sti's over as little as 5,000 miles. Subaru has done nothing about this!!!

Filed Mar 29, 2005 · Suspension · 25,000 miles · MA

For some time both rear struts in my car have been making a loud clunking noise. It has gotten worse to the point where they will now get stuck in a certain position. This can be very dangerous when driving at highway speeds as it makes the car wander all over the road. I have complained to the dealership and to subaru of america with no resolution. This is a very common problem with many of these particular cars. They have been like this since the car had about 25,000 miles on it.