Sign inCreate free garage
Problems · NHTSA complaints

1996 Subaru Impreza problems

Owners filed 26 complaints about the 1996 Subaru Impreza with NHTSA between Mar 1996 and Jun 2003. The most-cited component is air bags (7).

Full 1996 Impreza research
Complaints
26
Filed with NHTSA
Crashes
5
Reported by owners
Fires
1
Reported by owners
Injuries
6
People reported injured
Deaths
0
Reported to NHTSA
01 —By component

Complaints by component

One complaint can cite several components
  1. Air bags7
  2. Service brakes, hydraulic5
  3. Engine and engine cooling3
  4. Wheels3
  5. Suspension2
  6. Seats2
  7. Tires1
  8. Visibility1
  9. Seat belts1
  10. Equipment1
  11. Fuel system, gasoline1
  12. Vehicle speed control1
  13. Other / unknown1

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API · synced Oct 28, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
02 —Trend

When complaints were filed

Does it get worse with age? Complaints per calendar year filed
View as table
Model yearComplaints filed per calendar year
19963
19979
19982
19996
20003
20010
20021
20032

Mileage at failure isn’t a structured field in NHTSA complaint data, so we don’t chart it. Some owners mention it in their reports below.

03 —Owner reports

Top problems in owners’ words

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first

Air bags

7 reports5 crashes
“VEHICLE WAS INVOLVED IN A FRONTAL COLLISION AT 35MPH, AND THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. ALSO SEAT BELT DID NOT RETRACT. DRIVER SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES. THE DEALER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED. *AK”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Aug 2, 1999Air bags, Seat beltsCrash reportedODI 844059
Get this fixed

Service brakes, hydraulic

5 reports1 crash1 fire
“BRAKES FAILED AND STARTED TO SMOKE ON A HILL. I HAVE DRIVEN FOR 20 YEARS, WITH MANY DIFFERENT CARS. IF TRAFFIC HAD BEEN SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT MY WIFE AND I COULD BE DEAD. *AK”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled May 26, 1999Service brakes, hydraulicFire reportedODI 706896
Get this fixed

Engine and engine cooling

3 reports
“WHILE DRIVING AND WITHOUT WARNING HEAD GASKET BLEW CAUSING FLUID TO LEAK. DEALER NOTIFIED.*AK”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jun 18, 2003Engine and engine coolingODI 10024335
Get this fixed

Wheels

3 reports
“ONGOING PROBLEM WITH WHEEL COVER: CAPS NOT STAYING ON. DEALER/MANUFACTURER WERE NOT NOTIFIED. *AK”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 7, 1999WheelsODI 841775
Get this fixed

Suspension

2 reports
“AT 61629 AND 63512 MILES WHEEL BEARINGS HAD TO BE REPLACED. THEY HAVE BEEN REPLACED THREE TIMES AT DEALERSHIP. BEARINGS WERE BEING GREASED WITH WRONG KIND OF GREASE AND THE AMOUNT OF GREASE WAS NOT SUFFICIENT FOR PROPER USE. *AK THE DEALER REPLACED BOTH LEFT AND RIGHT REAR WHEEL BEARINGS. *YH”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jan 9, 2002SuspensionODI 8001837
Get this fixed

Seats

2 reports
“VEHICLE HAS NO HEAD RESTRAINTS; ALSO, SEATBACK IS SHORT. ONE COULD GET A BROKEN NECK IF IN THE REAR DURING AN ACCIDENT. *AK”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 10, 1997SeatsODI 518127
Get this fixed
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Oct 28, 2026

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.