Loss of braking on the 2002 Subaru Wrx
4 crashes 1 injury 5 of the 17 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When loss of braking gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Subaru Wrx report loss of braking at a median of 20,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 25,000 miles, from 10 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 78,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 10,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 35,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 22,795 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
90% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9,905 miles | 19,000 miles | 20,570 miles | 27,336 miles | 32,700 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
Of these reports, 4 a crash and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $400–$3,000 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.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 3 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2003, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2009 at 75,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
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.
The vehicle experienced sudden loss of brake pressure: [I have submitted one previous complaint, but I cannot find it here. Since this problem has yet to be resolved (at least 18 months after it was first reported) I would like to post my complaint again.] on two (2) separate occasions I have lost almost all braking force when attempting to stop abruptly on smooth, dry_ pavement. In both instances I hit the brakes quick and hard, let up momentarily, then reapplied. In both cases it was on the second application that the pedal went to the floor and the car seemed to be almost coasting freely. Luckily, in both instances I had an escape route. The first failure was on northbound georgia ave., approaching a red light. The weather was mild, pavement clear, dry and smooth. Speed upon initial brake application was approx. 45 MPH. (another northbound driver pulled in front of me without warning). Tires were bridgestone re730's. Brakes stock. The second time was on northbound I-270 at exit 31. Again, the weather was mild and the pavement was smooth and dry. Speed upon initial brake application was approx. 65 MPH. (a driver entering I-270…
While returning to las vegas from a camping trip on ventura freeway near the tarzana exit our 2003 wrx experienced a loss of braking at approximately 25 MPH in stop and go traffic on clear, dry, rain grooved highway. My wife was driving the wrx at the time and she reported that the ABS kicked in and then "let go" causing her car to roll into mine (pulling our camp trailer), she struck the trailer doing about 5 to 7 MPH. Damage to her wrx was in excess of $5k, damage to trailer and my car was cosmetic only. A similar incident occurred while I was driving the wrx on the way to camping site, same symptoms but no traffic to avoid...I assumed that road condition was probable fault. My wife noticed that the ABS seemed too sensitive shortly after purchase of vehicle. After about a month it went away. Problem returned after warranty work was performed to replace clutch system components last month. Vehicle is presently being repaired and then will be sent to dealer service (in van nuys) to inspect brakes and ABS prior to our taking possession after repair. Insurance and dealership has been informed that we believe that this accident was…
While returning to las vegas from a camping trip on ventura freeway near the tarzana exit our 2003 wrx experienced a loss of braking at approximately 25 MPH in stop and go traffic on clear, dry, rain grooved highway. My wife was driving the wrx at the time and she reported that the ABS kicked in and then "let go" causing her car to roll into mine (pulling our camp trailer), she struck the trailer doing about 5 to 7 MPH. Damage to her wrx was in excess of $5k, damage to trailer and my car was cosmetic only. A similar incident occurred while I was driving the wrx on the way to camping site, same symptoms but no traffic to avoid...I assumed that road condition was probable fault. My wife noticed that the ABS seemed too sensitive shortly after purchase of vehicle. After about a month it went away. Problem returned after warranty work was performed to replace clutch system components last month. Vehicle is presently being repaired and then will be sent to dealer service (in van nuys) to inspect brakes and ABS prior to our taking possession after repair. Insurance and dealership has been informed that we believe that this accident was…
Also reported on the 2002 Subaru Wrx
Fuel leak or fuel odor
Other fuel system problem
ABS module or sensor failure
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Engine bay fire
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 17 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 loss of braking happen on the 2002 Subaru Wrx?
Across 10 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 20,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 25,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is loss of braking on the 2002 Subaru Wrx?
17 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 12 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