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.