Subaru Impreza ball joint problems

Filed Apr 3, 2025 · Suspension · 235,000 miles · NY

The contact owns a 2004 Subaru Impreza. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH and hard braking, the vehicle started shuddering violently and the steering wheel was not operating as needed. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to the residence at 20 MPH. The contact then inspected the vehicle and confirmed that the front driver's side control arm had fractured. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 11V464000 (Suspension). The dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure and confirmed that the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 235,000.

Filed Mar 14, 2025 · Brakes, Suspension · 126,000 miles · CO

The contact owns a 2012 Subaru Impreza. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed and went to the floorboard. The vehicle failed to stop immediately. The brake warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the control arms and brake lines were severely corroded and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 14V311000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The failure mileage was approximately 126,000.

Filed Feb 3, 2025 · Brakes, Electrical · 164,964 miles · PA

The contact owns a 2012 Subaru Impreza. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30-40 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality and was driven with manual steering. The failure occurred while driving at various speeds. The contact stated that approximately four days after the first failure, the steering wheel failed to move. Additionally, the vehicle was losing oil and one quart of oil had to be added every month. The contact stated that the power steering, ABS, TPMS, transmission automatic transmission fluid (ATF), and 4-WD failure warning lights were illuminated. The passenger occupant sensor chimed for the passenger to secure the seat belt consistently even though the occupant was seated with the seat belt buckled securely. The contact who is a certified mechanic had replaced the rack and pinion. The contact noticed that the threads on the tie rods were close in proximately risking the chance of damaging the tie rods. The ABS module had been replaced. The contact believed that the engine needed to be replaced but the engine was not replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case. The manufacturer confirmed there was no recall for the failure. The manufacturer referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 164,964.

Filed Jul 18, 2023 · Suspension · NJ

The front control arm bushings are failing. The RF link is broken to the suspension too.

Filed Oct 13, 2022 · Steering, Suspension · NY

Car passed inspection in May of 2022 and just last month (September) the passenger side control arm completely rotted out. I had to make emergency repairs but then discovered there is a recall.

Filed Dec 16, 2021 · Suspension · 170,000 miles · MI

The contact owns a 2002 Subaru Impreza. The contact stated that while reversing, the vehicle felt as if there was a flat tire on the vehicle. Upon inspection, the contact noticed that the front driver's side tire was about to detach. Additionally, the driver’s side front lower control arm was fractured. Prior to the failure, the contact had driven over a railroad track and lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle had previously been serviced under the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 11V464000 (Suspension). The failure mileage was approximately 170,000.

Filed Jul 15, 2021 · Suspension · IL

The passenger side lower control arm failed due to corrosion. There was a previous recall to address this issue with an anti corrosion coating, but it did not prevent the control arm from corroding and failing. I had this addressed at the dealer, and they mentioned the issue was addressed. Recall the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 11V464000

Filed Jun 8, 2021 · Steering, Suspension · VA

The passenger side lower control arm was rusting out without my knowledge and while driving, a part of it broke in half which caused my front passenger side while to turn the wrong way and ripped apart the CV Axle causing me to swerve to the left and promptly stopping the vehicle causing cars behind me to swerve out of the way. Thankfully, I was in the far left lane which avoided me smashing into another car. After research, I found a recall that included my car's make, model, year, and VIN range but was not applied to my car due to it not being registered in a "salt state". Had this car been treated in the first place like other same model cars were, it would not have had this issue. The car was purchased and has been in the Northern Virginia area for its whole life. Virginia is not a salt state, however, this car has been in and out of WV, MD, PA & DC which are all salt states. This car was originally purchased in Alexandria, VA which borders Washington DC. the federal safety agency Campaign Number is: 11V464000 (SUBARU’S SAFETY RECALL NUMBER WVX-34). I reached out to Subaru Dealerships in my area which helped me open a case with Subaru of America. My case representative said that Subaru of America is not authorized to add vehicles to a recall and that only the federal safety agency can do that. I emailed the federal safety agency who then recommended that I submit a formal complaint with the federal safety agency.

Filed Dec 10, 2020 · Suspension · 205,000 miles · MO

On the night of 12/6/2020 I was backing out of a friends driveway to drive home, when I reached the street, I heard a loud clunk and a grinding noise. I got out of my car to investigate what had just happened and the front portion of my passenger side front lower control arm had completely lost all structural integrity. Fortunately my car was at a low speed and I did not lose control (pictures attached). Had this happened while driving down the highway, this would have been a catastrophic failure and I would have lost control of the vehicle the events on 12/6/2020 indicates the remediation steps proposed by subaru are not acceptable as this part failed catastrophically after these steps had been performed. The safety recall remediation steps in question are that of: "type: safety | safety recall: wvx34 | the federal safety agency campaign: 11v464000" according to subaru's website for this vehicle, the safety recall was completed: https://www.subaru.com/vehicle-recalls.html/VIN=[xxx] according to the carfax report, the safety recall was performed on 2/7/2012 only 5 months after the recall was issued. (screenshot attached) the nature of the failure and the description of the original safety recall show that the testing steps and remediation steps are not suitable for a completed safety recall as the part did end up failing after the additional coating of anti-corrosive had been applied to the lower control arm of my vehicle. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Aug 5, 2020 · Suspension · 54,000 miles · NY

Hello, I hope this message finds you safe and well. My problem is as follows: control arm failure exactly as described in previous recall from 2011 (lower control arm broke at hangar bracket; safety recall: wvx34|the federal safety agency campaign: 11v464000). I was never personally notified of the recall, the catastrophic failure leading to a near accident at highway speeds is what alerted me to the problem. I was driving straight, approximately 50mph, when the hangar broke compromising the steering and causing me to nearly crash. According to subaru of america, they 'fixed' the problem with a rust-proofing spray, and are denying me any good faith repairs citing that it was addressed, despite the fact that it failed anyways and subjected myself and others to potential severe personal injury. After many (not returned) phone calls, they have told me they would look at it (incurring 'assessment fees') and the woman I spoke with today from subaru of america told me they would offer minimal if any financial support for the issue. All I want is my vehicle to function as the manufacturer intended, not for someone to slap a bandaid on the issue, call it 'fixed' and basically give me - a loyal customer to subaru - the finger. This is totally unacceptable for a company to behave in this manner, especially for a problem that was clearly incorrectly addressed to begin with. My car has been sitting for almost 2 weeks and is not driveable. I am incurring intense psychological and financial burden from not being able to utilize my vehicle to carry out tasks that are required of me as a medical student. I have invested significant time and energy into this, only for soa to feed me the same line of bs that they're not at fault and they've 'fulfilled their obligation' for this recall. Attached is a picture of the affected control arm (front passenger).