Buyer Research

2019 Subaru Impreza — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $14,000–$19,000. There is 1 high-severity known issue 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

Third year of the fifth-generation Impreza on the Global Platform, and a record of 194 complaints that is two-thirds about seeing out of the car: 32% is the headlight-reflector recall, which owners spent years waiting for parts on, and 31% is windshields that crack on their own while parked. Neither is a mechanical fault, and the car underneath has a modest engine and transmission file — but there are five recalls, and three of them are stalls: two for a low-pressure fuel pump that can quit and one for an ignition coil the ECM keeps powered after shutdown. Batteries that die every few months are the other real complaint. Buy it with all five recalls closed on the VIN, a windshield you have inspected edge to edge, and a battery that passes a load test; that version of this car is a good, safe, efficient compact. A seller who cannot say whether the fuel-pump recalls were done has not looked.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 194 owner complaints for the 2019 Subaru Impreza, and 5 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 — the lights. 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.

5 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 2019 Subaru Impreza

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

Headlight reflectors do not meet the lighting standard — recall with a long wait for partsMedium

Sixty-three complaints, the largest cluster on the car, and nearly all of them are the same story: recall 22V624 covers 2017–2019 Imprezas whose side reflex reflectors and left low-beam reflector do not reflect enough light, the remedy is a complete pair of headlamp assemblies, and for more than a year dealers had no parts and some told owners they might never come. Owners describe dim beams, other drivers flashing them, and night driving they did not trust. Parts have since shipped; on a car this age the recall should show closed with new assemblies. Look at the VIN lookup and, at night, at the road ahead — if the low beams look dim or aimed low, this is why.

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

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the lights (63); 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Windshield cracks on its own, often from the bottom edge while parkedMedium

Sixty complaints and the word is windshield, 123 times. Owners watched a crack start at the seal with the car in park, found an eight-inch line the morning after a cold night, or had a barely-visible chip run across the glass by the end of the commute. Owners of several Subaru models from these years have sued over the glass, and Subaru has replaced some under goodwill; ask a dealer whether this VIN has had a windshield claim. One rear-view mirror came off the glass with a chunk of windshield attached. Run a fingernail along the bottom edge of the glass under the wipers and around the EyeSight camera housing looking for chips and short cracks; a replacement on an EyeSight car also needs the cameras recalibrated.

Repair cost (estimate): $500–$1,200 for the glass; $200–$400 to recalibrate EyeSight

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under glass, wipers and mirrors (60).

Low-pressure fuel pump can fail and stall the engine with no restart (two recalls)High — wallet impact

Recalls 20V218 and 21V587 both cover the 2019 Impreza: the low-pressure fuel pump inside the tank — the Denso pump behind a wave of stall recalls across several makes — can stop working, and when it does the engine stalls and will not restart. The second campaign widened the population after the first. The remedy is a free pump. Six fuel-system complaints sit in the record. This is a VIN-lookup item: both campaigns must show closed, and a seller who does not know should find out before you drive it. A car that hesitates or bucks under load on a low tank is the symptom before failure.

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

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the fuel system (6); 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Batteries that die every few months, ECM keeping the ignition coil powered (two recalls), and EyeSight dropping outMedium

Nineteen electrical complaints and 'battery' is the word: owners on their third or fourth battery within two years, a car that rolls to a stop and stalls and needs a jump, and a seller-installed trickle charger to cope. Subaru settled a class action over parasitic battery drain on several of its models from these years; ask a dealer whether this VIN was covered. Recalls 19V743 and 21V264 both address an ECM that keeps powering the ignition coil after shutdown, which can short a coil, blow a fuse, and stall the car — the fix is a software update and new coils, and the second campaign followed the first. EyeSight disabling itself at random and rodent-chewed wiring are also here. Load-test the battery, check the coil recalls on the VIN, and watch the EyeSight status on the dash.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $150–$300 for a battery; $300–$900 to chase a parasitic drain

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (19); 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

FB20 direct-injection engine: one fire, a handful of stalls and rough runningLow

Ten engine complaints, one a fire, against a record dominated by glass and lights — the direct-injected FB20 in this generation does not carry the oil-consumption file of the 2012–2015 engine. What is here is stalls that overlap the fuel-pump and coil recalls above, rough running, and one owner who kept finding rodent damage. Check the oil cold, scan for codes, and confirm the stall recalls are closed before you attribute a stall to the engine itself.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$600 for coils, plugs or a rodent-chewed harness section

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (10).

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Any of the five recalls open on the NHTSA VIN lookup — the fuel pump and coil campaigns are stalls
✗Chip or short crack at the bottom edge of the windshield or near the camera housing
✗Low beams that look dim or aimed at the ground at night
✗A battery less than a year old with no explanation, or a trickle charger in the trunk
✗EyeSight warning or the system switching itself off during the drive

Good Signs

✓All five recalls closed on the NHTSA VIN lookup, with the new headlamp assemblies fitted
✓Windshield replaced with an OEM glass and an EyeSight recalibration invoice
✓Battery passes a load test and the charging system reads 13.8–14.4V
✓Subaru dealer confirms the fuel pump and ignition coils were replaced under recall
✓A clean scan with readiness monitors set