We are the original purchasers of 2005 Impreza WRX and need to know if there are any other problems like ours. In Feb.06 the entire manual transmission was replaced and tech told us it was a defective part that caused the problem @ 13k miles. We requested it be checked during a service at the dealers last summer and it was ok. Now 10 months later @ 24k miles we broke down again on the side of the road. They are saying it is 2nd gear and the clutch and that the warranty will not cover us. We are asking for a meeting with the factory rep as repairs are over $4,000. per the estimate. Are there any other WRX owners having transmission issues. The tow company said he brings many cars to the dealership with transmission issues. Please help as I cant afford these kind of repair costs.

Did "they" explain why this failure isn't covered by the 3yr/36000mi new car warranty?

Yes I have an 02 WRX with 54k miles on it and it will be receiving a new transmission this week. I have a friend who owns a dealership so he's giving me the transmission at cost and his mechanic will be doing the work. From my experience and what I have read is that the transmission is a poor design and is not strong enough to support the horsepower that is put down to all four wheels. Granted my car has seen its share of launches and races, it seems like many others have had problems without having launched their car. Unfortunately they will try to tell you that you abused that car so they won't cover it but if you call SOA and complain about the dealer, they should help you. Anyways, good luck with everything.

i have had no problems with my transmission.

the thing i dont see about even modding a 04-05 is that the tranny was redesigned with wider gears so that they wouldnt break as the 02 and half of the 03's did. AFAIK they didnt change much to strengthen the 06+ tranny and that 2.5L STOCK puts down ~202whp and ~230wtq...my stage 2 05 wrx just dyno'd 220whp and 210wtq...so im putting down less tq than a stock 06+ and ~20 more whp...i dont see how that could break a tranny if the 06's are stock not far off ;)

considering no ABUSE...

It really depends, some people will say they drive their car like its stolen, and that the stock tranny can handle up to 300whp. Others will tell you how they broke their car without even trying. One thing is for sure, you are taking a risk by modding these cars and having fun with them. The wrx has to be treated like a baby if you don't want to risk taking a hit.

Every wrx breaks the transmissions no matter what year...

haha u cant say every ;) i know a fella driving an 05 wrx with vf22 at 320whp on stock clutch and tranny...no signs of problems at 40k

Yeah but the guy is right about every year having issues. 06s even, you see it here on Nabisco every few months someone has an Issue with their tranny. Its almost as though some people are unlucky. Its so easy for Subaru to claim abuse, why would they care about stronger transmissions. by the way SOA won't help you.

My 1st gear syncro and gear broke at 18,000 miles-fixed under warranty.
1,000 miles later my 3rd gear set broke-Not covered says it was "abuse". My car was stock at the time. I dont understand how they can say ABUSE-If it broke by abuse or default-In the end the gear is mashed up and broke. Who is to say what happened. Now I have to pay $2125 to pay for this damage.

My 1st gear syncro and gear broke at 18,000 miles-fixed under warranty.
1,000 miles later my 3rd gear set broke-Not covered says it was "abuse". My car was stock at the time. I dont understand how they can say ABUSE-If it broke by abuse or default-In the end the gear is mashed up and broke. Who is to say what happened. Now I have to pay $2125 to pay for this damage. ....just to clarify, your car was stock at the time you brought it into the dealer (not before). You were stage 2 which in itself would be a good excuse for them to deny your claim based on abuse. As Brian (North Ursalia) explained in your other thread, there are signs that a trained eye can spot which are indicative of abuse vs. a defect. Either way, it seems to me that the damage in your case was either caused by an actual defect, improper reassembly by the dealer (after the first repair) or past abuse (possibly causing a latent problem and eventual failure under normal load). ……it appears the dealer/SOA seem to think it’s the latter.

ALK,
This is not a "cut & dry" issue. There are many factors folks should consider when reading these types of "claim denial" threads/posts (i.e. driver habits/abuse, past/present modifications, is the car new or used, past repairs, possible abuse by others, etc.). You should also realize that you are usually only hearing one side of the story. .......and in some cases relevant information is either missing or intentionally left out.

I don’t doubt that there are legitimate claims. However, after sifting through most of these stories, I realize you sometimes need to take them with a grain of salt (rather than at face value).

BBB should fix em if i have any problems they dont wanna deal with...they need to not make crappy cars if they cant afford to fix them for people who DONT abuse them.

they shouldn't be putting turbos in wrxs if the tranny can't handle the power with the awd, they can save the turbo for the STi for all I care, this way I wouldn't have even wasted my time with a wrx.

Bad drivers break the wrx transmissions no matter what year...


fixed!

Best of luck with your tranny. I'm not siding with Subaru, but I can't say I've ever been a passenger in a manual car that seemed to have similar drivers. Every person shifts differently at different points. When one person says "I don't get it, I didn't do anything!", there is probably a passenger that would say "are you kidding me?"

Regardless, one of the main reasons for me getting the STi was reading about numerous WRX transmission problems. Driving habits are difficult to change, but perhaps you might want to try babying second? Again, not putting blame on you, just offering some suggestions.

they shouldn't be putting turbos in wrxs if the tranny can't handle the power with the awd, they can save the turbo for the STi for all I care, this way I wouldn't have even wasted my time with a wrx.

:rolleyes:

Why aren't you banned yet?

:rolleyes:

Why aren't you banned yet?

Hmmm, maybe because I haven't done anything that would cause me to be banned?:rolleyes: did you ever think of that?:confused:


Anyway, here on Nasioc people don't like to talk about the Wrx's tranny issues, but if you go anywhere else, evo forums srt forums mustang forums, where people are not biast, you see that it is common knowledge that wrx transmissions break very frequentely under what should be normal driving conditions for a turbocharged sport compact car. The wrx transmission is not strong enough to support the turbo and the awd, without being treated like a baby.

Hmmm, maybe because I haven't done anything that would cause me to be banned?:rolleyes: did you ever think of that?:confused:


Anyway, here on Nasioc people don't like to talk about the Wrx's tranny issues, but if you go anywhere else, evo forums srt forums mustang forums, where people are not biast, you see that it is common knowledge that wrx transmissions break very frequentely under what should be normal driving conditions for a turbocharged sport compact car. The wrx transmission is not strong enough to support the turbo and the awd, without being treated like a baby.

Just because you are not a smart enough driver to prevent the tranny from breaking under abuse doesnt mean it's weak. Have you considered the Mustang forums, SRT forums, and Evo forums really dont have much first hand experiance with the car (compared to this site) and just "hear say" from joe racer (your type) that beat the crap out of their cars and complain when they break? Until I REALLY sat down and started doing research I to felt the tranny was WAY under powered. No I realize it's fine even slightly modded if you dont beat it to crap and back.

Driving a Mustang and SRT was very different from this car. Over power the gear box and you'll break the wheels lose. Overpower the gear box in a wrx and you'll be griding teeth.

Bottom line is you bought a entry level performance vehicle. If the gears were an issue then EVERYONE would be having problems not a select few. If you wanted to be joe racer you should have did your research and saved up for a STI (or ask mom and dad for one).

Your constant subaru bashing is really old and you always show that you know nothing about these cars. You had a bad run in, and so have others, doesnt mean subaru built a horrible car that you cant drive. There are several people with over 300 whp who are on the stock gear box. Get over yourself and over subaru.

Anyway, here on Nasioc people don't like to talk about the Wrx's tranny issues.

:lol: , there's nothing NASIOC likes more than complaining or looking for help with current problems.

Anyway, here on Nasioc people don't like to talk about the Wrx's tranny issues ....quite the opposite. The problem however is that some members choose to take a "blanket" view of the topic rather than looking at each case objectively. .....although the "glass tranny/SOA sucks" rhetoric may seem more prevelant, I agree that the bias can come from both sides of the fence.

05, 27k on the clock, very spiritedly driven, no problems.

with hundreds of autocross runs and 90k I've had no tranny problems. If anyone should have broken a gear it was me.

02 (the ones that ALWAYS break) with 87k of spirited driving and it functions as good as the day I purchased it.

Spirited as in 13.6@101 quarter mile.

Curt

I'm up to 38k miles,vf34 300whp and no signs of tranny problems.

haha u cant say every ;) i know a fella driving an 05 wrx with vf22 at 320whp on stock clutch and tranny...no signs of problems at 40k

I'm about in the same neighborhood of power and tq. I DON'T have any issues.
stock clutch(feels maybe a little worn at best...)
stock tranny/drivetrain
40k+
original owner boughten brand spanken new off the lot


p.s. oh yeah and it's definately NOT been babied if you know what I mean :devil: :devil: :devil:

5 speed in the WRX are not good. Luckily for SOA they can just say that you abused the car and looked the other way.
Note to self and friends: Do not buy any Turbo charged Subaru with 5 speed manual transmission.

16,000 on my '05 WRX. Firt 8,000 had stock power, just an axleback. Been Cobb Stage II since then, and the tranny has held up fine. I just installed a FMIC and 18g, and will be getting tuned on tuesday, so we'll see how well the tranny holds up :o

I don't baby the transmission, but I don't launch it or shift that hard.

I am replying to the initial posting, which states "the entire manual transmission was replaced at 13k miles". I can't believe they authorized that!!!! I work for a Hyundai dealer, and on the rare occasion we have to service and replace components in a manual gear box we replace only the faulted components, not the whole box!!! Its not that difficult to remove and tear down a manual transmission (for a competent mechanic with automotive lifts and air tools at his disposal). Something catastrophic must have happened for the whole box to have been replaced. I would like to know if thats what really happened and what the defective part was.

I have an 05 WRX 5 speed. I'm still getting used to the car (I purchased it 1 month ago and have done approx 1,000 miles). The car shifts fine, when its cold out I've noted that I have to be careful with 2nd gear for the first few shifts until the gear oil starts to warm up. I've noted the best technique is to shift it quick, but not hammer it when cold into second. If I shift it too slow its notchy into 2nd. I don't think anythings wrong with it/like I said, I'm still getting used to the car. Issues such as what this thread initially stated are usually down to one thing: Poor or Abusive driving techniques!!!!

Poor or Abusive driving techniques!!!!


That can't be!!! :lol:


<----- 385 lbft , many mid-high 12 second passes, 45k.

Two transmission problems, both due to the lovely Royal Purple gear lube (bearing and synchro failiures)

The best case of a situation like this was when a guy in his early to mid twenties brought in a Tiburon to me which he "never abused or drove aggressively" with an apparent clutch failure at approx 22k miles. He had no idea why the clutch failed so soon, after all-he only did normal driving in the car, no racing or aggressive driving at all. Too bad for him the local drag strip in my area uses shoe polish to put the numbers on cars when they go in for a bracket racing (its difficult to get the numbers off completely, at least it was for him). I wish I still had the digital camera photos, needless to say the warranty claim was denied (Hyundai warranties clutches for wear for 1 year or 12,000 miles). Its situations like that that cause me to have a cynical viewpoint when major transmission repairs have been required on a car on 2 seperate occuasions with mileage this low.

60k miles on an 04 and I drive it like I stole it every day... no issues at all.

I've seen a WRX in for warranty work on a tranny with time slips and a bracket racing rule book in the glove box! Come on people!!!

Approaching 94k in my 2002 WRX and no problems at all, knock on wood. Has been autocrossed, rallycrossed, and ice raced numerous times. But, I do double-clutch all aggressive downshifts and most aggressive upshifts, which probably has helped somewhat. If you don't, you should.