Used 2016 Subaru WRX Sedan Consumer Reviews

Great performance value

2016 WRX 1 year and 26,000 miles later

Bought one after being urban and car-free for 2 years. Had SAAB turbos before and wanted something fun with a stick which is becoming harder and harder to get in the US. Always wanted a WRX and was hoping for a 2nd hand clean STI which turned out harder to find than I though. Bought new since the Prem was within my budget (should have ordered Limited for the lights alone). The Good: Nothing offers AWD and this much fun for the price. Tons of aftermarket goodies for tuning. Good fuel economy for a near 300 hp car. Little turbo lag. Beast in the snow when I put snow tires on it. Far better interior quality than that FisherPrice plastics that Subies have been known for. The Bad: Interior is still cheap with a lot of rattles. Stock ECU tune is crap... falls flat on its face at 4,300 rpm and a COBB tune is a must (or a pro-tune). Headlights on prem and base have poor output. Interior ergonomics are 3/10.... One-touch window for driver only (in 2016!!!), no light sensor to adjust dashboard brightness (in 2016!!!!). A lot of engine movement which leads to sloppy shifter feel. Good car for the money but you will spend a lot of time and $$$ on aftermarket bits to remove/resolve some of the penny pinching that Subaru did.

Practical and a blast to drive.

This is my second AWD turbo (I had a 91 Eagle Talon TSi AWD for about 16 years) and first with an automatic. I picked up my white WRX in August of 2015. I love a manual with AWD, but with a 5 speed Mach 1 as my other car, I wanted one of my cars to be an automatic. The CVT in the WRX really mimics a manual very well. Responsive and not too smooth, so that you feel like you are driving a performance car and not a family sedan. Not gonna deny that a manual would be awesome in this car, but the CVT is not time spent in the penalty box at all. The technology in this car is pretty amazing. Never thought I would ever drive a fun, sporty car like this with so many bells and whistles. Lots of safety technology too. Maybe my all time favorite interior (I like it even better than my previous 2011 VW GTI). Seats are comfortable and the instrumentation looks terrific in red. The upgraded (HK) stereo really sounds amazing. The car is fast and feels fast. Very satisfying to drive. Love the signature hood scoop and the quad exhaust looks very sharp. I haven't had one regret about buying this car. Practical (4 doors, plenty of rear seat space, spacious trunk), safe (blind spot monitoring, lane change alert, rear camera, awesome AWD), and fun (great acceleration, nice exhaust note, athletic handling) all combine to make this car a total package. No boring drives in a WRX. Update (2/8/18): I had a Borla Catback Exhaust installed recently and it made a big difference in the sound. Factory exhaust was fine, but a bit tame. The Borla Exhaust added more tone and a lot more personality to the car. It simply has made a fun car to drive, even more fun to drive. Not “over the top” loud, but definitely noticeable in a good way. Update (8/10/18). The addition of the aftermarket catback (Borla) has continued to impress me and transform this CVT equiped WRX into a great sounding car. The extra tones coming out of the exhaust make you feel like you are driving a manual WRX. The CVT’s attempt to mimic shift points is enhanced by the rewarding growl of the exhaust. It is as much fun to drive now as my 5 speed manual 2003 Mustang Mach 1. Particularly in 8 speed sport sharp mode. Plenty of performance, awesome AWD, practicality of 4 doors/roomy back seats, and now a sound to match the performance make this car a cut above the rest.

Really enjoy my WRX!

Extremely well made car that is a blast to drive. It performs well, and looks great without drawing too much attention. It's fun to drive every single time I get into it.

Can't Find Much to Like

I hate this car. Maybe I'm just too old (55), but I struggle to find anything I like about it. OK, the handling is definitely great, and the climate control, too, but that's about it really. The acceleration, while good, is uneven and falls off suddenly at higher RPMs. But even that is OK, it's just everything else. Most of my complaints are small issues, but when added up just make for a crappy experience, especially considering this is a 30k-ish car in premium trim like mine. My biggest gripe is comfort. I heard nothing but good things about the seats when reading reviews, but they just don't work for me. I've had chronic neck and shoulder pain since the day I bought it. The arm rest with the extension and heated seat switch positions are a ridiculous afterthought. Add to that, that the engine races when started cold, even on warm days, and takes a long time to settle into a solid normal idle, the clutch feel is poor (I've driven sticks all my life, I know), the transmission is reluctant (maybe it's the STI short throw in mine) and sometimes will not go into first when the light turns green leaving you screwing around letting the clutch out and retrying. The interior materials are pretty substandard, it's ride overly harsh (they should save that for the STI), lots of road noise, and perhaps worst of all is the stereo, so you can't even drown out all the annoyances with some good music. I'll close with the comment that my 16 year old Jetta GLX was a better car in every respect except acceleration (not that bad with the vr6) and handling (too soft). I really miss that car... Be warned, this is not an enjoyable daily driver. [12/19/16] Update. After trying to live with this for a year, I finally sold it. I never warmed up to this car, and never looked forward to driving it. The transmission shifting that I complained about was the only thing that improved with time. That said, after about 1000 miles the throwout bearing started making noise on cold mornings. Reading up on that issue revealed comments that said "they all do that" and others that said they went to the trouble of trying to get it fixed, only to have it do it again in short order. I totally lost confidence over that issue. In spite of me saying I liked the climate control, that changed to not liking it when the weather turned warm. On hot days It just continues to blast you with cold air, never seeming to get a clue when enough is enough. I'd have to turn it up to 85 to get it to stop, otherwise it would just blast cold my whole 10 mile ride home from work. Never had that issue with my VW, it would almost immediately start dialing it back automatically. One of the final "last straw" issues for me was when one cool damp day I left it out and the side windows were all misted - I thought, "oh, I'll just roll the windows down to wipe them clean". Good luck with that, the windows in this piece of crap don't even touch the wiper trim. I literally had to push out on the windows while rolling them down and up to try to get them to wipe clean. Give me a freakin' break! If you have ever had a nice car and you buy this, you will forever be disappointed. I did have a happy ending, though. I managed to get out of the WRX and into a GTI for almost a wash due to the deep discounting at VW, and in the process picked up everything I was missing including leather interior, an awesome Fender stereo, push button entry/start, adaptive xenon lights, rain sensing wipers, etc, etc. If you must buy a WRX, I would advise buying a base model, spending more for any higher trim level is a waste, and will not somehow transform it into a better experience. It's like putting lipstick on a pig. It is what it is, a track weapon, not an enjoyable daily driver.

fast fun car electronics suck

I bought this car the day after Christmas and I love the handle and acceleration, I have a 2006 Miata 213,000 miles which I love and kept, the new Miata looks nice but driving it was very disappointing the new Miata is a dog because of the electronics. I wanted a manual transmission, yes corporate America not every is lazy and wants an automatic, some people like driving and hate cars that drive themselves. I love the acceleration of the car and the handling is awesome, once you shut off all the electronics crap that is. I hate the electronics, the hill assist I would not have bought the car if I could not turn hill assist off because it screws up driving the car, I shut the traction control off unless I forget, I wish I could shut off the antilock brakes, those suck. The airbags are dangerous, my daughter sits in the front and the airbags do not work by weight but by electric capacity and you can't shut them off so I am looking at how to disable them so my daughter doesn't get killed. The radio is the biggest piece of crap, it has 9 options which most of them try to connect to your phones internet, I want to delete those apps but can't. Touch screen radios in my option should be outlawed and I will be removing that crap radio from the car. They put a lot of annoying electronics in the car but if you search the net you can shut a lot of it off, wish I could shut off their annoying driving suggestions that come up when the car starts or it's icy out, I know how to drive, don't need a car telling how to drive. On the plus the car has tons of room inside even in the back seat, more room than you would think for the cars size, they kept the interior simple which I like, I hate a lot of fancy crap, the truck is huge which is a plus because the new Miatas trunk was no bigger than a back pack. Acceleration is incredible, when you hit the throttle the car launches, it is more fun than the Lamborghini Galardo I drove because of the manual transmission. The handling is awesome too, not as nimble as the old Miata because it weighs 1000lbs more, it is still great for windy roads, lots of fun. I like the styling and you can get it real colors instead of just silver and black, I got bright blue, looks awesome. I wish I could have got a sun roof but they only came with leather and I will never own a car with leather so I will have to add the sun roof later. If you want a fun car try a wrx, they for people who like to drive, I like to drive and will never own a self driving car.

Nice ride

This car is fast and fun, but it's also nice to drive smoothly. It can also get great mileage (29+MPG) around town if you are mindful.

More than I expected!

I had been looking for a brand new 4 door affordable Japanese performance sedan that offered a 6 speed manual for a while and the only options for me while I was looking were the WRX and the Honda Civic Si. I ended up with the WRX because of the fact that I may be moving somewhere with snow and would like the AWD, although I am skeptical about the reliability of a turbocharged car, this being my first one ever. I know for sure an Si would last a lot longer than the WRX but I was willing to take the leap and so far I am not disappointed. My previous car was a 2008 Hyundai Elantra which I had for the past 8 years since new, and compared to the WRX, the cabin was bigger and the chairs were a little more comfortable, as well as the trunk was bigger, so those are the main differences I notice body wise. The WRX interior quality is high in my book, with me looking at it as a turbocharged AWD Corolla/Civic/Elantra, and compared to my old Elantra as well as our 2011 Corolla S, the leather and metal accents as well as quality plastic make it a lot better than both my Elantra and Corolla, although I do wish there were more compartments. The headliner fabric is really old school with the fuzzy fabric, but they upgraded that on the 2017 to the material they have in most new cars (and on the sun visors for some reason), and I wish the doors would lock automatically after 30 seconds like on my Hyundai as well as if you could just open the door when it is locked in the inside and it would unlock (on the front doors) like on most other Toyotas, Hondas, Hyundais, etc. My main complaint is that the audio system is horrible, being that sound is flat, no bass at all, etc. My stock Hyundai system was as good as my Logitech computer speakers producing rich bass and great treble as well. I had a Costco Executive 50% off discount so I upgraded to the Kicker Speakers (6) for around $300 (including labor) without the sub and it improved it by a bit, but it's still only 60% of the sound quality as my Hyundai's, although it's now bearable. There is only 1 USB port and I plug my USB drive with music into it; it takes about 30 sec-1 min to start playing from when I start the car. The Starlink system overall is not great but it works, since it's laggy compared to the system in my 2013 Honda Accord which is faster, with bluetooth taking about 10 seconds to connect too. I drive on average 300 miles in about a 10 day period and get about 22-24 MPG AVG since it's mostly local, but when I have driven all freeway for day trips, the best I have gotten is 32.7 MPG but I usually average around 29-30 depending on if I engage boost often or not. The shifting is notchy which I like, and there is rev hang, but you are able adjust your shifting technique to accommodate (although if you get the Cobb Accessport and do the Stage 1 Tune it will rid of it, but that's if you are ok to risk your warranty before 36K miles). The AWD launches the car flat, totally different from FWD and RWD, and the suspension is stiff enough for taking corners but still good enough for daily driving. The main part that makes the car fun is the usable boost from the low to mid range, from around 2K-5.5K RPMS which is what makes it so great! I got the World Rally Blue which is a bit flashy, but I feel like you must get the signature color for this. The rims (on my Premium) are just dark gray 18' Enkei's from the 2011-2013 STI (previously Silver), but it really brings the exterior all together, making it look aggressive and perfect. I feel no need to change anything on the exterior as it already looks so good stock. Overall, if I could go back, I would get the Harmon Kardon audio upgrade since I don't really like aftermarket, and the car would be exactly the way I want it! The Kicker speakers are bearable so I don't see the point in spending more to upgrade again, since I do like listening to that turbo whistle once in a while! Basically if you want a practical, reliable?, economical, powerful, affordable, and fun small sedan that can perform in any weather, this is it!

Everyday Dad Mobile!!!

This car can easily fit a family of 5 as long as your kids are all 12 and under. A lot of fun to drive and extremely easy to drive. I do agree the clutch is a little touchy compared to others I've had before. I see myself enjoying this car for years to come, and who knows I might get another one when I pass this on to the kids!!

Very Happy with NEW WRX2016!

Needs premium gas as it is a performance car. The 4-cylinder turbo boxer engine is on Ward's Top Ten Best Engines list for 2016! Fun to drive...makes me smile every time! SM