2024 Subaru WRXRecalls, problems, MPG & safety

“Vehicle: 2024 Subaru WRX (Manual Transmission) Description of Safety Hazard: While operating my 2024 Subaru WRX at normal highway speeds in clear conditions, the vehicle suffered a sudden and catastrophic drivetrain failure. Without any warning lights, unusual noises, or prior symptoms, the front differential experienced a violent mechanical lock-up. This unexpected locking of the drivetrain instantly disrupted the vehicle's forward momentum at highway speeds, threatening control of the vehicle and creating an immediate risk of a high-speed collision with surrounding traffic. I was forced to navigate the vehicle to the shoulder under extreme mechanical resistance. The vehicle was towed to an authorized Subaru dealership, where a catastrophic internal failure of the front differential/transaxle assembly was confirmed. The vehicle is 100% factory stock with no modifications, and has been serviced exclusively at authorized Subaru dealerships according to the manufacturer's maintenance schedule. A sudden, uncommanded mechanical lock-up of the driven wheels at highway velocities represents a severe, life-threatening manufacturing defect that requires federal tracking and investigation.”

“I understand that every manufacturer is racing to get these vehicles autonomous or something similar to it and I can fully appreciate a world that would be as I'm sick of distracted drivers as it is these days and the police's complicity or the lack of enforcement doesn't help. That said, the pre-collision system in Subaru needs a bit of an overhaul or an option to shut it off permanently and not every single time we start the vehicle. There were two separate instances where the collision warning picked up "something" that caused it to brake unexpectedly and hard causing ABS to trigger and everything getting thrown off the seats. I have no idea what even caused it. One other instance is when the vehicle in front of me suddenly braked unexpectedly. Seeing as I do not tailgate, I had plenty of time to move over to the other lane. In the process of this, the car detected the braking vehicle in front and just slammed the pre-collision brakes on me causing all sorts of panic for myself and every driver around me. The car tried to stop on the parkway at 55 mph because I wanted to merge left (and had plenty of space to do so) whereas the car just wanted to stop. The…”

“The component failing is the side skirts or, as officially described in the Subaru parts diagram, the „Side Spoiler“. It can also be found as part numbers 96051, and 96051A. It can be easily visually inspected. This puts others at risk because it may end up dragging on the road, or falling off entirely which poses a major safety risk to other drivers because it is a piece of plastic nearly the length of the entire wheelbase. After talking with other owners, they have had the same issue, and in my case I had the issue a few months after purchasing the car. Then when the rear of the car was replaced and fixed due to an accident, they fixed this issue, but it came back a month after being repaired. I do not know if it has been inspected by Subaru or police or insurance, but they may see it as a recurring issue. There were know warning lamps or messages. I only noticed when inspecting my car before use or while washing it.”