Other fuel system problem on the 2009 Subaru Impreza
Only 4 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 fuel system problem gets reported
There are 4 reports of other fuel system problem on the 2009 Subaru Impreza, 4 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 90,000 miles. It is the 12th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 38,383 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–$2,200 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 11 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2017, at a median of 1,300 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 115,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 52; the 2009 has 4. 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.
On friday 7/8/11, my 2009 subaru impreza wrx failed to fill up gas even though the tank was empty. Instead, gas spewed all over the floor creating a puddle of gasoline and a safety hazard to occupants of the vehicle and also the environment. The car was towed to the subaru dealer on friday and they have no clue how and when it will be fixed. I contacted subaru today and was told their is no recall on the vehicle and they have not heard of such an incident. However, there are numerous postings on subaru forums stating otherwise. This can be a detrimental safety issue if someone gets hurt from this. My wife and 1 yr old son was in the car during this incident. Luckily, she was able to stop the gas from continuing to spew over and get my son to safety. *tt
The first incident was in 2010. The check engine light came on (steady, not blinking) and after that I attempted to put gas in the car. The tank was down to approx. 1/4 but the car would not take gas, and when I attempted to add gas it back splashed all over me. The dealer said it was a problem with spider webs in the line causing a pressure problem in the tank, and replaced the pressure valve. Since then this has happened 4 additional times - I am now on my 3rd pressure valve. This is a safety issue on several fronts: unexpected backsplash of gas, possibility of running out of gas and not being able to add it (I.e. Being totally stuck far from home) and pressure in the tank (seems this could result in fire or other danger). The dealer does not have a fix for this - a recall is necessary to force subaru to acknowledge this issue and coming up with a fix to prevent spider entry (mazda and honda have addressed this same issue - mazda recalled 50k + cars). *js
When attempting to fuel the vehicle (the tank was less than one-quarter full), the gas splashed back out of the vehicle on me and allover the ground. I tried several times to fuel, but the tank will not accept gas. This issue can cause injuries from the gasoline splash, and it can cause stranded drivers because the vehicle cannot be refueled. It must be investigated. There are plenty of forums online where people complain of the same issue in their 2009 imprezas... There must be a known defective part, but subaru is not recalling it? Please investigate. *tr
Also reported on the 2009 Subaru Impreza
Manual clutch or hydraulics failure
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
Head gasket failure
Airbag inflator rupture
Other brake problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 4 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 4 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 fuel system problem happen on the 2009 Subaru Impreza?
Across 4 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 40,000 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 fuel system problem on the 2009 Subaru Impreza?
4 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