Other engine problem on the 2005 Subaru Impreza
Only 3 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When other engine problem gets reported
There are 3 reports of other engine problem on the 2005 Subaru Impreza, 3 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 10th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 90,000 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $300–$4,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 16 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2017, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2007 at 110,000 miles.
By volume the 2013 carries the most reports, with 50; the 2005 has 3. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
When in to star subaru for a turbo change and my engine went 1 week later. My check engine light went on 2days after got car back from star suburu service and less then a week the engine went. Had car towed back to star subaru and my piston had shattered. Now they are said that it was do to the way the car was driven and so the subaru warranty now doesn't want to pay to fix it. My understanding is that they just put in the new turbo without checking the airfuel were it was at or they may had forgotten to put in the oil. I am fighting the case and they don't want to accept that they didn't do what they were suppose to. My car has been in and out of the subaru since I got it I bought it with 32,000 and now it has about 48,000. I only have the have 1 1/2 year. It has been a nightmare with this car and dealing with star subaru and the subaru warranty. *tr
Everytime I start the car in even the mildest to coldest temperatures, the car has an extreme gas smell in the cabin of the car. I have taken it to the shop and they claim they don't even smell it and cannot service it. There is a recall for model 02 and 03 of this car but does not cover my year. It's gotten to the point where the car is not drive-able during cold weather. The recalls also do not cover the state of maryland, which is ridiculous because we've been getting cold snaps putting us below 0. Considering the problem is detectable even in 40 degree weather, this does not seem reasonable. *tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 subaru impreza. While driving 20 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that some codes needed to be cleared. The vehicle was repaired; however, after the repairs were performed, the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle, but the failure recurred on numerous occasions. The contact spoke with a dealer and independent mechanic who stated that the vehicle needed to be idling for sometime in order to allow the vehicle relearn the idle. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.
Also reported on the 2005 Subaru Impreza
Fuel leak or fuel odor
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Other fuel system problem
Other suspension problem
Other body or interior problem
Strut, shock or spring failure
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 3 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 3 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other engine problem happen on the 2005 Subaru Impreza?
Across 3 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 90,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other engine problem on the 2005 Subaru Impreza?
3 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed