Problems · by component

2012 Subaru Impreza power train problems

26 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2012 Subaru Impreza cite power train, 11% of all 243 complaints for this model year.

Complaints
26
11% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the power train

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“Hello car just stopped on the Fla turnpike because bad valve body on transmission seem subaru knows about this problem and offered a extended warranty 10 yr or 100k but they did this during covid with stay at home orders and never sent any type of Notification my wife was almost killed when this happened to her our car has only 70k I feel they should have sent us letter we had the car since new this is a very dangerous situation for anyone owning a Subaru imprezza from 2010 to 2015 and many other Subaru have this problem as well”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jan 27, 2024Power trainODI 11568258
“I was on the highway in mixed traffic for a couple hours. There was a burning smell in the cabin and then the warning lights came on including a check engine light and transmission light. The car started to jerk erratically when I accelerated and ultimately it would not accelerate. I pulled over and turned the car off as recommended in the owner's manualAfter following the manual's instructions to let the engine cool down, I attempted to turn the car on and put it in gear. It would not move when I put it in reverse or drive. The transmission failed entirely. Previous to my taking the car on this trip, I brought the car to my Subaru Dealership because I smelled the same burning in the cabin along with a strange whirring sound and the transmission light came on then too. At that time, I pulled over and read the owner's manual and did what it recommended. The car started working again after 10 minutes of cooling. This is why I brought the car to the Subaru dealership to have this issue inspected. At the time they recommended that I change the CVT fluid and that the issue would then go away. The issue did not go away. When I informed them that the car was unsafe…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Nov 5, 2023Power trainODI 11553701
“The car will not allow me to turn it off and remove the key from the ignition. This is apparently caused by a known issue with the gear box/transmission stick not making proper contact with a metal plate within the box.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jun 12, 2022Power train, Unknown or otherODI 11468885
“Two instances of CVT Transmission failure. First: Occurred at 102,926 miles, car only 8 years old. While driving, suddenly many warning lights came on and the car started shuddering. The lights were Check Engine, Oil Temp, Cruise Control, vehicle dynamics, and ABS. I drove my car to a transmission shop, who read the codes 2764 and and 0700. He replaced the TCC Solenoid and valve body on 11/18/2020. I drove the car for 6 more months to ~106,000 miles successfully, until... The Second Issue: On 6/6/21 while driving my car, it stopped accelerating. I couldn't go above 18 mph! This was a huge safety issue. I had to drive on major roads with a speed limit of 50mph going only 18mph, with my hazard lights on. I'm so fortunate it happened to be at 10pm on a Sunday night, or I could have gotten in an accident. Once I got home, I called AAA and had them tow my car back to my transmission mechanic (because I couldn't get to my mechanic without getting on the highway, which would obviously be unsafe at 18mph). My mechanic said it was an issue with the same solenoid again having shorted out, which means that it's actually a deeper issue with the CVT transmission burning…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jun 20, 2021Power trainODI 11421581
“WAS DRIVING AT 60 MPH NORMAL HIGHWAY SPEED AND BUNCH OF LIGHTS CAME ON THE DASH WHILE DRIVING. TROUBLE CODES PULLED ON SCAN TOOL WERE P2764 AND P0700, THESE CODES INDICATED BAD SOLENOID ON CVT TRANSMISSION VALVE BODY THEREFORE HAD TO REPLACE THE CVT VALVE BODY. CAR HAS 146,000 MILES HOWEVER CVT HAS BEEN PROPERLY MAINTAINED AND CVT FLUID REPLACED EVERY 30,000. SUBARU IS HIDING THE ISSUES WITH THE CVT MODEL TR-580 AND PURPOSELY EXTENDING THE WARRANTY ONLY UP TO 100,000. I BELIEVE THEY KNOW THE CVT WILL FAIL AFTER 100K AND DON'T WANT TO PUT OUT THE MONEY TO ISSUE A PROPER RECALL. THE OPTIONS TO FIX THE ISSUE ARE EITHER CVT VALVE BODY REPLACEMENT OR FULL TRANSMISSION REPLACEMENT WHICH ARE BOTH VERY COSTLY. SUBARU NEEDS TO ISSUE A PROPER RECALL BECAUSE I WORRY THAT MY REPLACEMENT OF VALVE BODY COULD MEAN I STILL NEED TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE CVT TRANSMISSION IF SOMETHING ELSE FAILS ON THE INTERNALS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Sep 24, 2020Power trainODI 11360849
“TRANSMISSION WENT AT 154000 MILES EXTENDED WARRANTY NOT SURE IF I WAS TAKEN CARE OR AND NEEDED TO BY NEW ONE. IF IT IS GONNA BE A CONTINUOUS PROBLEM THEY SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT BACK THE YEARS WITH THE CVT ISSUE. YOU CAN PUT INTO DRIVE REVERSE AND PARK BUT WON'T SWITCH GEARS AND JUST REVS”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Aug 9, 2020Power trainODI 11344187

Showing 6 of 26 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Oct 28, 2026NHTSA vehicle page

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

Other 2012 Impreza problem areas