Other powertrain problem on the 2002 Subaru Wrx
When other powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Subaru Wrx report other powertrain problem at a median of 35,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 25,000 miles and a quarter after 40,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 6th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 15,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 40,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 24,682 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
Reports bunched into a band this tight usually mean the component has a life of its own: it goes at roughly the same mileage regardless of who owns it.
56% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16,918 miles | 23,000 miles | 35,640 miles | 39,000 miles | 41,600 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 $400–$4,500 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 10 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2003, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2009 at 70,000 miles.
By volume the 2008 carries the most reports, with 22; the 2002 has 12. 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.
Clutch slippage: strong vibration and rumbling sound when clutch is engaged (pedal released) in first gear when engine is cold. Problem started around 14,000 miles. No obd code reported from dealer. Dealer was unable to reproduce during test drive. However, several automotive magazines have reported same problem on their long term tests. *nlm
Car: 02 subaru wrx manual transmission the car suffers from the clutch judder described by many, and detailed in tsb 03-51-02. My car has 44000 miles. The basic warranty on the car is 3yr/36000. Powrtrain is 6 yr/60000. My dealer acknowledges my problem as being exactly as in the tsb. However, he informs me the repair is not to be fixed at no charge to me- since the basic warranty has expired. Given that the car is so difficult to drive, and there is an acknowledged manufacturing defect, in a powertrain component, I don't see the problem. Except subaru of america wanting to avoid paying for it by labeling it a 'wear' item, and therefore covered under 3yr/36k. Please advise.*ak
Car: 02 subaru wrx manual transmission the car suffers from the clutch judder described by many, and detailed in tsb 03-51-02. My car has 44000 miles. The basic warranty on the car is 3yr/36000. Powrtrain is 6 yr/60000. My dealer acknowledges my problem as being exactly as in the tsb. However, he informs me the repair is not to be fixed at no charge to me- since the basic warranty has expired. Given that the car is so difficult to drive, and there is an acknowledged manufacturing defect, in a powertrain component, I don't see the problem. Except subaru of america wanting to avoid paying for it by labeling it a 'wear' item, and therefore covered under 3yr/36k. Please advise.*ak
Also reported on the 2002 Subaru Wrx
Fuel leak or fuel odor
Other fuel system problem
ABS module or sensor failure
Loss of braking
Other engine problem
Engine bay fire
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 12 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 powertrain problem happen on the 2002 Subaru Wrx?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 35,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 25,000 miles and a quarter after 40,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2002 Subaru Wrx?
12 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 8.4 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