1996 SUBARU IMPREZA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 18 complaints · 3 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (4 complaints · 22.2%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 4
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 4
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1995 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution AIR BAGS appears in 4 of 18 owner complaints (22.2%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 4 complaints, 22.2% of reports AIR BAGS 4 · 22.2% · 3 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 3 complaints, 16.7% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 3 · 16.7% · 1 fire reports WHEELS: 3 complaints, 16.7% of reports WHEELS 3 · 16.7% SUSPENSION: 2 complaints, 11.1% of reports SUSPENSION 2 · 11.1% ENGINE: 1 complaints, 5.6% of reports ENGINE 1 · 5.6% FUEL SYSTEM: 1 complaints, 5.6% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 1 · 5.6% SEAT BELTS: 1 complaints, 5.6% of reports SEAT BELTS 1 · 5.6% · 1 crash reports VISIBILITY: 1 complaints, 5.6% of reports VISIBILITY 1 · 5.6% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 17 complaints, 94.4% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 17 · 94.4% · 4 crash reports 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
AIR BAGS 4 22.2% 3 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 3 16.7% 0 crashes · 1 fires
WHEELS 3 16.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 2 11.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 1 5.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 1 5.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 1 5.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 1 5.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 17 94.4% 4 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Apr 1996; the first recall shown was reported in Aug 2008. 1996-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 1996 May 2009 Recall campaign 08E050000 ◆ Recall campaign 08E050000 Recall campaign 09E012000 ◆ Recall campaign 09E012000 Recall campaign 09E025000 ◆ Recall campaign 09E025000
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q2 Owner reports 1
1997-Q2 Owner reports 2
1997-Q3 Owner reports 3
1997-Q4 Owner reports 2
1999-Q1 Owner reports 1
1999-Q2 Owner reports 2
1999-Q3 Owner reports 3
2000-Q1 Owner reports 1
2000-Q4 Owner reports 1
2002-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q2 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 08E050000
Recall campaign 1 09E012000
Recall campaign 1 09E025000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (3)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 08E050000

    Report date
    Component:
    EXTERIOR LIGHTING
    Consequence:
    WITHOUT THE AMBER SIDE REFLEX REFLECTORS, THE LIGHTING VISIBILITY MAY BE AFFECTED, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
    Remedy:
    K2 MOTOR WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND OFFER A FULL REFUND. THE RECALL BEGAN ON DECEMEBER 17, 2008. OWNERS MAY CONTACT K2 MOTOR AT 1-909-839-2992.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 09E012000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    DECREASED LIGHTING VISIBILITY MAY RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
    Remedy:
    SABERSPORT WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND OFFER A FULL REFUND FOR THE NONCOMPLIANT COMBINATION LAMPS. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON MAY 11, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT SABERSPORT AT 1-909-598-7589.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 09E025000

    Report date
    Component:
    EXTERIOR LIGHTING
    Consequence:
    DECREASED LIGHTING VISIBILITY MAY RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DOPE, INC. WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND OFFER A FULL REFUND FOR THE NONCOMPLIANT COMBINATION LAMPS. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON JULY 28, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT DOPE, INC. AT 1-626-272-1798.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 18 complaints · page 1 of 1

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources