Used 2012 Subaru Impreza Hatchback Consumer Reviews
Used Impreza for sale
Sweet HB
kanjii, 01/13/2012
updated 03/12/2021
2012 Subaru Impreza 2.0i Sport Premium PZEV 4dr Hatchback AWD (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
19 of 25 people found this review helpful
Loved the car when I first test drove it with the CVT tranny, but wanted the 5 speed manual. Very happy with the decision. I love the secure feel of AWD and the car is roomy inside. Stereo was OK when listening to the stations, but much better sounds from CDs and MP3. Exterior is beautiful and the rims are awesome. Engine is good, not a racy type of engine at all. Throttle response is slow, but still fun to drive, especially around curves. The Yokohama tires hold the dry pavement great, but will know soon about the wet and snow. Update 3/12/2021: It's been almost 10 years now since I purchased it on Xmas eve 2011. Overall it's still a fun car to drive. Haven't had any bad problems except oil consumption, which I immediately let my dealer know. Had the short block changed twice I believe. Currently have 72k on her and had the yellow oil light come on once in the past 30k on new block. Currently on an oil consumption test again. But that's the only problem with this Impreza. Paint and metal of the car is weak and soft, and 1st to 2nd gear is bad, but handling is great. Adding a rear spoiler made this one hot looking Subie and swapping out the rear sway bar for a STi one made it more fun to drive.
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A car built to last until the warranty expires.
WhereHaveTheManualsGone?, 06/12/2021
2012 Subaru Impreza 2.0i Sport Premium PZEV 4dr Hatchback AWD (2.0L 4cyl CVT)
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
For those who don't know, Subaru is a subsidiary company of parent Company: Fuji Heavy Industries. So while Subaru promotes itself as a clean, environmentally friendly company, they're just as bad as the rest. We'll get into that in a moment. I am driving a 2012 Impreza Wagon with the CVT transmission, and it currently has around 104k miles. The interior is fairly bland, but it seems to have help up well over the last 10 years. I appreciate the simplicity of the interior, especially compared to most modern cars with overly-complicated infotainment systems. Having a normal tuner-dial for changing radio stations, and normal HVAC controls is fantastic If you've driven any mid-range car with a semi-modern infotainment system, I'm sure you'd understand this. For it's small size, it does a pretty good job at giving both front and rear passengers plenty of room, and decently comfortable seats. It was an overall good car, but... Subaru seems to think CVT transmissions are the way of the future, but this idea should be reconsidered. Almost every single CVT Impreza will have a transmission failure between 90-115k miles. My car is no exception. Right around 103k miles, my gauge cluster lit up like the northern lights, except it was just a bunch of warning lights, including a flashing "AT Temp" light. An independent repair facility did a diagnosis of the car, and said it would need a whole new transmission, costing around $8k installed (Denver, CO). Doing some research, it seems this repair usually costs between $6-9k, depending on local labor rates. But digging a bit deeper, the transmission didn't need to be replaced at all, or even removed from the vehicle. The only thing wrong with the transmission, is a golf-ball sized $80 solenoid on top of the transmission, under an inspection cover, and attached to the valve body. Quoted $8k for something that can be repaired for under $200. And I'm not the only one, this seems to be a common issue. Now back to Subaru's claim of being "environmentally friendly". The $80 solenoid I mentioned before, Subaru will not sell it to you. They don't even have a part number for it. Instead of selling you a tiny electric solenoid, Subaru will only sell you an $800 valve body, weighing in at ~20lbs, and made completely of aluminum. They won't even offer to "rebuild" the valve body inside your car, they will only replace it with a brand new one at a cost of $1,200-2,000. This is a common practice in the German auto industry, but this is the first time I've seen something this dimwitted within the lower-end Japanese auto industry. When Subaru could offer up these small parts and save the waste, they intentionally force you to discard 20lbs of aluminum for a 3oz part. How "green" of you, Subaru (Fuji Heavy Industries). But luckily for those of us who experience these transmission issues, there are third-party sellers offering aftermarket replacement solenoids on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. It's impossible to know the quality or longevity of these parts, since they are no OEM parts. But they do turn a $2k repair bill into a couple crisp-Benjamins. If you're willing to get your hands dirty, shed a little blood, and have some basic tools laying around, this seems to be the best option at the moment. Disregarding some mistakes I made during the repair, it took me about 6-hours to fix. It's not a particularly enjoyable experience, but avoiding a $2k repair bill makes up for it. I'll be listing my car for sale soon, or hopefully trade it for something with a stick-shift transmission. Anybody looking for this car in particular, I'd suggest you do the same.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
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tbuchanan, 02/21/2012
2012 Subaru Impreza 2.0i 4dr Hatchback AWD (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
11 of 14 people found this review helpful
I owned a 1999 Subaru Impreza and loved everything about it until it died. I just (less than a week ago) leased a 2012 Subaru Impreza Hatchback, the 5-speed. Being a lover of the stick shift I was pleasantly surprised. My last stick shift could barely make it up a specific hill in 3rd gear and let me tell you this impreza cruized on up in 5th gear - at 6mph none the less! Some claim the interior is less than perfect, but come on when has Subaru been on the leading edge of sync technology or anything like that. If you are driving a subaru it is becuase of the AWD and reliability. So far I love it, but then it has only been 3 days. I will post an update in a few weeks/months!
My First Brand New Car
jaycab, 02/03/2012
2012 Subaru Impreza 2.0i Sport Limited 4dr Hatchback AWD (2.0L 4cyl CVT)
14 of 19 people found this review helpful
Did not regret my decision on my purchase. Love my Subaru especially in Ohio. Awesome to be one of the first owners in this head turner. The only thing that bothers me is the MPG. I have been only averaging 28 MPG in the last 400 miles the car ran so far. And the drive is mostly highway. But other than that it is still worth every $$.
2012 Impreza Sport
dead_duck, 05/06/2013
2012 Subaru Impreza 2.0i Sport Premium PZEV 4dr Hatchback AWD (2.0L 4cyl CVT)
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Good car. This is my first NEW CAR so I was looking for it to be perfect. There are a few things that you can not get a feel for when you test drive or search online. Like the fact that being a taller person, it takes a bit of a drive to realize your comfort level would be better with 3 more inches of track on the seat. Also, MPG are NEVER as advertised.