On 8/25 my 2002 wrx wagon would not go into any gear,with engine on or off.I called the dealer and was told to have the car towed in,when it was dropped off I was there,the service person tried to shift it and got it to go into gear.when they tried to engage reverse,it ground the gears 4 times,they said the car was not stopped when they tried,I was standing right there,it was not moving!.this car has had transmission concerns before and has been to the dealer on three other visits where they could not duplicate the problem with grinding gears while driving,this could cause in my opinion a saftey issue ,distraction while driving.do we have to experience a transmission locking up causing injury or death before it is delt with?. I am sure I am not the only one with this problem.
2002 Subaru WRX transmission complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 16 of 16, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Car: 02 subaru wrx manual transmission the car suffers from the clutch judder described by many, and detailed in tsb 03-51-02. My car has 44000 miles. The basic warranty on the car is 3yr/36000. Powrtrain is 6 yr/60000. My dealer acknowledges my problem as being exactly as in the tsb. However, he informs me the repair is not to be fixed at no charge to me- since the basic warranty has expired. Given that the car is so difficult to drive, and there is an acknowledged manufacturing defect, in a powertrain component, I don't see the problem. Except subaru of america wanting to avoid paying for it by labeling it a 'wear' item, and therefore covered under 3yr/36k. Please advise.
2002 wrx wagon. Manual shift. Clutch problems on daily basis, no matter if the car is properly warmed up or cold. Car shudders. Also, it's hard to shift from 1st to 2nd and from 3rd to 2nd. Even when the clutch pedal is fully pressed, grinding sound appears. There's no specific pattern in this behaviour. It happens randomly during driving or moving from a full stop.
While returning to las vegas from a camping trip on ventura freeway near the tarzana exit our 2003 wrx experienced a loss of braking at approximately 25 MPH in stop and go traffic on clear, dry, rain grooved highway. My wife was driving the wrx at the time and she reported that the ABS kicked in and then "let go" causing her car to roll into mine (pulling our camp trailer), she struck the trailer doing about 5 to 7 MPH. Damage to her wrx was in excess of $5k, damage to trailer and my car was cosmetic only. A similar incident occurred while I was driving the wrx on the way to camping site, same symptoms but no traffic to avoid...I assumed that road condition was probable fault. My wife noticed that the ABS seemed too sensitive shortly after purchase of vehicle. After about a month it went away. Problem returned after warranty work was performed to replace clutch system components last month. Vehicle is presently being repaired and then will be sent to dealer service (in van nuys) to inspect brakes and ABS prior to our taking possession after repair. Insurance and dealership has been informed that we believe that this accident was caused by ABS failure.
The standard transmission commonly fails to go into gear. This has occurred at a stop and also while moving. Double clutching is commonly necessary in order to engage the desired gear.
Clutch slippage: strong vibration and rumbling sound when clutch is engaged (pedal released) in first gear when engine is cold. Problem started around 14,000 miles. No obd code reported from dealer. Dealer was unable to reproduce during test drive. However, several automotive magazines have reported same problem on their long term tests.
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