Buyer Research

2013 Subaru Impreza — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $7,000–$11,000. There are 2 high-severity known issues you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 15 Subaru Impreza years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

Second year of the fourth-generation Impreza and the new FB20 engine, and a record five times the size of the 2011's: 249 complaints, with two clusters that between them are 63% of it. Airbags at 32% is almost entirely the passenger-seat occupant sensor mat failing and switching the passenger airbag off; engine at 31% is the FB20 burning oil, a valve-spring recall, and stalls — with five fires. Then a blower-motor harness that melts and a key that will not come out of the ignition. This is a good-driving, efficient all-wheel-drive car that costs real money to keep right if you buy the wrong one. Buy it with the valve-spring recall closed, the passenger airbag indicator behaving with someone in the seat, and an oil-consumption history you can read. Without those three, keep looking.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 249 owner complaints for the 2013 Subaru Impreza, and 4 recall campaigns.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. 32% of them are about one thing — airbags. That much concentration is a genuine pattern rather than background noise, and it is the first thing to check on any example you look at.

4 recall campaigns cover this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2013 Subaru Impreza

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

Passenger seat occupant sensor fails — airbag light on, passenger airbag switched offHigh — wallet impact

Seventy-nine complaints, and the recurring words tell the story: passenger, seat, sensor. The weight-sensing mat in the passenger seat cushion fails, throws codes B1760/B1761, and the passenger airbag shows OFF with an adult sitting there; on some cars it only does it in humid weather. Subaru's fix is a new seat-bottom cushion assembly, four figures at the dealer, and owners were charged just to read the code. Ask a Subaru dealer whether any extended coverage for the occupant detection system applies to this VIN before you assume it is out of pocket. On the test drive, have someone sit in the passenger seat and watch the indicator: it should say ON within a few seconds and stay there. Four of the complaints are non-deployment reports after a crash.

Repair cost (estimate): $900–$1,800 for the seat cushion and sensor mat

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under airbags (79).

FB20 burns oil, valve springs can fracture (recall), and the car stalls or loses power at speedHigh — wallet impact

Seventy-six engine complaints, five fires. Recall 18V772 covers 2012–2014 Imprezas whose valve springs may fracture and stall the engine; the remedy is a free valve-spring replacement, an engine-out job that many dealers could not get parts for in 2019, so there are cars still open. The FB20 in this generation also burns oil — one owner refilled it every three days — and Subaru settled a class action over oil consumption on this engine in these years; ask a dealer whether this VIN got the short-block replacement under it. Owners also describe every warning light coming on at 60 mph with a flashing AT Oil Temp light and a sudden loss of power. Check the oil cold, ask what it uses per 1,000 miles, and look up the VIN.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $2,500–$4,500 for a short block if it burns oil — around 50% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (76); 4 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Blower-motor wiring harness melts, and the key sticks in the ignitionMedium

Thirty-three electrical complaints, two of them fires: the wiring between the climate fan switch and the blower motor overheats and burns, sometimes found by a mechanic before it went further, sometimes as a melted connector and a whole-harness replacement. The other pattern is the key refusing to come out of the ignition until the shifter is jiggled into park — Subaru issued a service bulletin, not a recall, and the fix is a shifter cable or ignition lock component. Some occupant-sensor complaints are cross-filed here too. Run the fan on high for ten minutes and smell behind the glovebox; shift into park and take the key out three or four times.

Repair cost (estimate): $200–$600 for the blower harness and switch; $150–$450 for the key-release fix

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (33).

Brake-light switch recall, and a brake cluster with six crashesMedium

Recall 19V149 covers 2008–2016 Impreza sedans and 2012–2016 wagons whose brake-light switch can stop working from contamination, so the lights never come on when you stop. Free switch replacement. Twenty-five brake complaints carry six crashes and a fire; the recurring theme in the ones we read is the pedal going soft or long and the car not stopping as expected. Have a helper confirm the brake lights, then on the test drive brake firmly from 40 mph on an empty road and feel for a pedal that sinks or pulses.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $300–$900 for a master cylinder or brake booster

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the brakes (25); 4 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Lineartronic CVT shudder, torque-converter stutter, and the AT Oil Temp warningMedium

Twenty-three powertrain complaints on the CVT: stuttering and stalling from a torque converter, the AT Oil Temp light flashing on a long uphill, and hesitation from a stop. Subaru extended the CVT warranty to 10 years/100k on many Lineartronic cars from these years; a dealer can confirm whether this VIN was included and whether it has any time left. A replacement CVT is a four-figure bill without it. Drive it from cold, accelerate gently from a stop, and hold a steady 65 mph watching the tachometer for hunting.

Repair cost (estimate): $1,200–$2,400 for a torque converter; $4,000–$7,000 for a CVT — around 78% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the transmission and drivetrain (23).

Remote starter fob can start the engine on its own (recall) and the turbo air-pump relay fire recallLow

Recall 13V061 covers 2012–2013 CVT Imprezas fitted with the dealer-installed Audiovox remote engine starter: the fob can start the engine by itself and run it for fifteen minutes, repeatedly. Free fob replacement, and only relevant if the car has the accessory. Recall 16V738 covers turbocharged 2008–2014 Imprezas, which in 2013 means the WRX and STI (still badged Impreza and filed that way by NHTSA): the secondary air-pump relay can stick on until the pump melts. The 2.0i has no turbo and no air pump, so it does not apply to a regular Impreza.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: 4 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Passenger airbag indicator reading OFF with an adult in the seat, or an airbag light on the dash
✗Recall 18V772 open on the NHTSA VIN lookup
✗Low oil on a cold dipstick, or a seller who tops it up between changes
✗Burning-plastic smell with the fan on high
✗Key that will not release from the ignition in park

Good Signs

✓Recall 18V772 valve springs replaced, shown closed on the VIN lookup with the invoice
✓Passenger airbag indicator switches ON within seconds of someone sitting down
✓Short block replaced under Subaru's oil-consumption programme, with paperwork
✓Subaru dealer confirms the CVT warranty extension applies to this VIN
✓Oil level checked at 1,200 miles after a change and found full