Buyer Research

2016 Subaru WRX — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $14,000–$24,000. There is 1 high-severity known issue you need to know before handing over a check.

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Kestrel Take

Second year of the VA-body WRX: a 2.0-liter direct-injection turbo (FA20DIT) with a six-speed manual or a CVT, and the STI above it with the old 2.5 (EJ257) and its own six-speed. NHTSA holds 34 complaints, which is small for a car this popular, and two of them are fires. The record splits three ways: electrical (batteries that drain in a week, a secondary air pump that ran for days and burned through its housing, backup lights and camera that quit — the last one a recall), engine (a turbo intake duct that can crack and stall the car, recalled, and owners who say the replacement duct cracked too; an oil pickup screen packed with factory sealant; overheating), and the clutch on manual cars, which owners report failing under 15,000 miles and being called wear. What the record cannot show is the thing that matters most on a ten-year-old WRX: whether it has been tuned and driven hard. A stock, unmodified car with oil-change receipts and all three recalls closed is worth buying; a car with an aftermarket intake, downpipe or a tune on it is priced like a gamble because it is one. A record this thin says how few filed, not that the car is sound.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 34 owner complaints for the 2016 Subaru WRX, and 3 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. The largest single group is electrics and electronics at 29%. That is notable without being overwhelming — worth checking, not worth panicking about.

3 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 2016 Subaru WRX

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

Turbo air intake duct cracks and can stall the engine — recalled, and owners say the new duct cracks tooHigh — wallet impact

Recall 16V162 covers 2015–2016 WRXs built April 10 to October 21, 2015: the plastic duct between the airbox and the turbo can crack, the engine draws unmetered air and can stall while driving. Dealers inspect the duct and replace it by lot number, free. The catch is in the record: one owner's replacement duct cracked the same way, and a forum thread he cites has 2015–2018 owners saying the same. Another shop found a boost leak at the top-mount intercooler on a car lacking power and getting poor mileage. Check the recall on the VIN, then open the hood cold and trace the duct from the airbox to the turbo inlet with a flashlight, looking for cracks at the corrugations and the clamps. A rough idle after start-up or a stumble under light throttle is the symptom.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $150–$400 for a replacement duct or intercooler coupler outside it

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (9); 3 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Overheating, low oil pressure from a sealant-clogged pickup, and knock — the FA20DIT and EJ257 punish neglect and tuningMedium

Nine engine complaints, one with a crash and one a fire after a deer strike. Among them: an STI that kept overheating with no smoke and no cause found at the dealer; a car that hesitated under load and ran hot; and an owner who pulled the oil pan after a rattle and found the pickup screen packed with RTV sealant from the factory pan seal, starving the engine of oil pressure. On the 2.0 turbo, oil starvation and a hard tune are the two roads to the ringland and bearing failures owners talk about, and the 2.5 STI has its own long history of ringland and head-gasket trouble. The record is too mixed to call this a signature fault, so we have rated it medium; the bill if it goes is not. Start it cold and listen for rattle in the first five seconds, watch the temperature gauge on a long drive, check the oil for level and colour, and have a shop pull the oil pan if there is any rattle at all. The single most useful question is whether the car has ever been tuned.

Repair cost (estimate): $300–$700 to reseal the oil pan and clean the pickup; $6,000–$10,000 for a replacement short block if the engine is damaged — around 53% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (9).

Battery that drains in a week, and a secondary air pump that ran for days and burned through — one fireMedium

The largest cluster at 29% of complaints. Several owners describe a car that will not start after sitting a week or less, batteries replaced by the dealer and dead again within two years, and one suspects a network fault keeping modules awake. The fire report is different: the secondary air injection pump, which should run for a minute after a cold start, stayed on for days, overheated and burned a hole in its housing, then took out the relay and other electronics. On this engine a stuck air pump relay is a known way to cook the pump, and the pump itself is not cheap. At the car, check the battery date and ask how often it has been replaced; after a cold start, listen for the air pump whir under the intake side to stop within a minute or two; and have a shop do a parasitic-draw test if the car has been jump-started more than once.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$300 for a battery; $200–$500 for a draw diagnosis; $600–$1,500 for a secondary air pump and relay

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (10).

Backup light switch corrodes — reverse lights and rear camera stop working in reverse (recall)Medium

Recall 22V522 covers every 2015–2021 WRX: the switch on the transmission that senses reverse can corrode and stop working, so the backup lights do not come on and the rear camera does not display when the car is in reverse. Dealers inspect and replace the switch free; letters went out September 16, 2022. One 2016 owner filed exactly this — dead reverse lights and a camera that stays blank — before finding the recall. It takes ten seconds to test: have someone stand behind the car while you shift into reverse, and watch for both lights and the camera image. If either is missing, check the VIN and get the switch done before you rely on the camera.

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

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (10); 3 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Clutch fails early on manual cars — stiff pedal, stuck in neutral, hard to get into first — and Subaru calls it wearMedium

Four complaints, all manual cars. One clutch died at 14,000 miles and 15 months and was refused as wear and tear; another went stiff and unusable on the road and the mechanic traced it to a failed clutch fork pivot; a third owner could not get the car into any gear with the pedal down at 580 miles; a fourth describes first gear blocked at every traffic light. The VA-body six-speed is known for a notchy first-and-second shift when cold and for throw-out bearing and fork trouble, and a clutch on a turbo car that has been launched is a clutch that will not last. On the test drive, from cold, shift into first at three consecutive stops and feel for a block; on the move, listen for a chirp or grind with the pedal down; and press the pedal fully with the engine off to feel for notchiness in the pivot. A CVT car sidesteps all of this and has its own service interval to ask about.

Repair cost (estimate): $1,200–$2,500 for a clutch, fork and throw-out bearing

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the transmission and drivetrain (4).

EyeSight pre-collision braking may not react to an obstacle — a software recall on cars that have the systemMedium

Recall 15V366 is a reprogramming of the EyeSight driver-assist system on cars built into spring 2015 across Subaru's range; on the WRX that means only cars ordered with EyeSight, which was tied to the CVT and the Limited trim. The automatic pre-collision braking might not act on an obstacle in the car's path, and the fix is a free software update. Separately, two complaints on this year describe ABS, cruise control and the driver-assist features all switching themselves off while driving at night, which one owner notes was recalled on the 2011–2015 cars; the 2016 is not in that campaign. If the car has the twin cameras behind the mirror, check the recall on the VIN, then drive it at night and watch for the cruise and EyeSight lamps going out on the dash.

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

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under stability control (2); 3 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Passenger-side low-beam headlight bulb burns out again and againLow

Two complaints filed under lighting and several mentions inside the electrical cluster: the low beam, most often the passenger side, burning out repeatedly on cars with the halogen projector headlights. Owners of this generation report replacing the bulb every few months, and the usual reasons are heat in the housing, a bulb touched with bare fingers on install, or a connector that has browned. It costs little unless it points at a wiring problem. Turn the headlights on at the car, walk around the front, and look at the connector and the bulb base for discolouration when the hood is up. Cars with the LED headlights on the Limited trim are a different story and a much more expensive assembly if one fails.

Repair cost (estimate): $20–$60 for a bulb; $150–$400 if a connector or pigtail is burnt

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the lights (2), electrics and electronics (10).

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Aftermarket intake, downpipe, blow-off valve or an Accessport in the glovebox
✗Rattle in the first seconds after a cold start, or a temperature gauge that climbs on a long drive
✗First gear that blocks at a stop, or a chirp with the clutch pedal down
✗Reverse lights or rear camera that do not come on in reverse
✗Battery with a recent date sticker and a jump pack in the trunk
✗Cracks or soft spots on the intake duct between the airbox and the turbo

Good Signs

✓All three recalls shown closed on the NHTSA VIN lookup, with the intake duct and backup switch on dealer invoices
✓Factory ECU calibration confirmed by a Subaru dealer, and a stock intake and exhaust under the hood
✓Oil changed every 3,000–5,000 miles with receipts, and clean oil at the correct level on the dipstick
✓A smooth cold start with steady oil pressure and a quiet engine for the first minute
✓Clutch replaced with an invoice naming the fork and throw-out bearing, or clean shifts into first at three cold stops
✓Reverse lights and camera coming on instantly every time the car is put in reverse