2019 WRX fog light curse: please help!

[Nadine07]

Sweet mother, after having owned a base model 2007 Impreza for 11 yrs, I had hope that Subaru would've resolved the issues with their fog lights by now. After having bought a 2019 WRX, I've come to find out that I was very much mistaken by making that assumption.

After my last visit to the dealership for maintenance, the lighting issue surfaced in my 2019 WRX. I've changed the bulbs, checked the fuses and what I could find of the relays, but nothing has worked. The switch has power running to it and shows up on the instrument cluster when switched on.

I bought this car brand new from this dealership. About a year later, I went back to have Subaru OEM fog lights installed so they would be under warranty since I know better from the experiences I've had with my aftermarket 2007 fog lights for the last decade. I made a promise to myself as I was buying the car, I will not modify this car myself until the warrant is up especially since it is my daily driver.

This morning, I gave the dealership a call hoping to speak with a mechanic, only for them to tell me they don't allow anyone to talk to the mechanics and that I would need to have them diagnose the problem. I live an hr away from this dealership and would have to take days off of work to have them tell me something to the effect of "its just one of those nuisances, we can't help you" or "its going to cost you dearly to fix this" or "your warranty doesn't cover that installation".

Does anyone have suggestions on how to fix/troubleshoot this? Has anyone else experienced this with the 2019+ model years? Am I missing something that may be critical to the function of these fog lights? Please help....I know fog light issues are menial, but I want to win this battle once and for all!


-founding member of the sad girls club

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[GoFrogs]

Originally Posted by Nadine07

Does anyone have suggestions on how to fix/troubleshoot this? Has anyone else experienced this with the 2019+ model years? Am I missing something that may be critical to the function of these fog lights? Please help....I know fog light issues are menial, but I want to win this battle once and for all!

-founding member of the sad girls club

This does not give me confidence on installing a (edit: actually bought the Mach V Motorsport kit) fog light kit into my 2019 base. (I should have bought the Limited WRX or Base STI, but long story; lessons learned)

So, sad girl, after 6 months, have you figured out the issue?

2 April Update: On my 2019 Base, the car came pre-wired for fogs. I've started my journey adding fogs to my 2019 Base. There was a connector taped up behind the switch panel and there was a 15A fuse already in the fuse panel (see photo). Bottom row, 3rd from the left




=============================

Do you have the wire diagram for the fog lights? Relays behind/under the glove box? any under the hood?

Are these lights only active with the low beams on?

What is the exact issue? Flickering? Won't turn on at all?

Do you have any voltage at the light socket? If no, then you need to work backwards through the system to each connector and relay (glove box) to figure out why.

The lights (should) get their power from the relays which are triggered by the switch (and low beam circuit), so I would start at the lights and trace back from there.

Things seem kosher on the switch side of the fog light equation.

On accessories, isn't there only a 12mo/12k mile warranty on said part if installed new?


Do tell/share where you are at in the process and if it was fixed.

[Nadine07]

Originally Posted by GoFrogs

This does not give me confidence on installing a (edit: actually bought the Mach V Motorsport kit) fog light kit into my 2019 base. (I should have bought the Limited WRX or Base STI, but long story; lessons learned)

So, sad girl, after 6 months, have you figured out the issue?

2 April Update: On my 2019 Base, the car came pre-wired for fogs. I've started my journey adding fogs to my 2019 Base. There was a connector taped up behind the switch panel and there was a 15A fuse already in the fuse panel (see photo). Bottom row, 3rd from the left




=============================

Do you have the wire diagram for the fog lights? Relays behind/under the glove box? any under the hood?

Are these lights only active with the low beams on?

What is the exact issue? Flickering? Won't turn on at all?

Do you have any voltage at the light socket? If no, then you need to work backwards through the system to each connector and relay (glove box) to figure out why.

The lights (should) get their power from the relays which are triggered by the switch (and low beam circuit), so I would start at the lights and trace back from there.

Things seem kosher on the switch side of the fog light equation.

On accessories, isn't there only a 12mo/12k mile warranty on said part if installed new?


Do tell/share where you are at in the process and if it was fixed.

12June2025
Revisiting after 4 years
Recently, I've been having a similar issue where one of the fog lights blows out. Did a quick google search to see if the wiring diagram or fuse panels have been put out into the world since the last time and stumbled on this thread. Skimmed it without checking the username, halfway through reading it, I'm wondering 'why does this person sound like me'. DUH it is me.

The fix to the original problem was a hidden relay not listed anywhere on the fuse box (expected bc base model). This is the information the dealership wouldn't tell me. Last time, said dealership caused the problem by removing it during a maintenance (why?!) and leaving it in my cupholder which to me sounds like they were planning some shady stuff and forgot to take the evidence with them. Backstory: this dealership has done me dirty several times in the last 4 years, this is no longer a surprise. No, I do not like nor suggest going to dealerships for maintenance, I'd rather do it myself but I'm getting old and lazy.

This go around, I do need to trace the wiring from the passenger fog to that hidden relay. Logic tells me its the relay or short in the wiring between them since only the passenger light keeps blowing. I still don't have the wiring diagram and the lights are on a switch that I always keep on. My theory is that the light get less of a workout if left on rather than the constant on/off and it has proven helpful to the bulb lifetime - no issues for 4 years.

Thank you for your suggestions and your detailed thread about your fog light install. That post is what I'd hoped to find to help troubleshoot 4 years ago and now you made it exist, so THANK YOU!

-President of the sad girls club

[Charlie-III]

If you're not blowing out other electrical items, I would rule out voltage variations. Since the light works until it blows, I would expect the issue to be within the light itself.
Are you using "super, killer, Xenon type, blue, OMG special bulbs"? They have a short life expectancy. I would stick to regular old halogen bulbs.
Is the light fixture loose? Excessive shaking can break the filaments.
Does that corner hit curbs or similar? That shock can break the filament.

[GoFrogs]

Originally Posted by Nadine07

Thank you for your suggestions and your detailed thread about your fog light install. That post is what I'd hoped to find to help troubleshoot 4 years ago and now you made it exist, so THANK YOU!

-President of the sad girls club

You are welcome. I hope most of the pics are still there. I do not fancy myself going back and reuploading them.

I have Youtube to thank for finding the hidden relay behind the dash. What a terrible place for the relay to live.

Sad to hear about your dealership experiences. I am 4 years removed from seeing my dealer too, but not because of shady things; only because they are 30 minutes away.

[C0lsanders_]

Maybe not the answer you're looking for, but I'll throw my 2 cents in.

Yes, the fogs are lowbeams only. At least OH code, they are only legal with lowbeams (cannot be on with highs, cannot be on without marker or lowbeams). Stupid law, as I also see other cars with DRLs mounted low, in fog positions.

Anyways, I rewired mine to be 100% independent of anything else (DRLs are also disabled, but that is a separate thing). Fog cables were cut, re-terminated, and run to my own separate switch. Now I can run them car off, with lowbeams, or with highbeams. I have 100% control, and the only failures are (none yet) are going to be my own system, my own relays, and I know where everything is.
If you don't want a separate switch, you could probably (especially since you found that relay) use the stock switch. Overall you'd gain control and remove the other internal intricacies from the system.