1998 Subaru Impreza drivetrain & axles problems
Owners reported drivetrain & axles problems in 20 complaints for the 1998 Subaru Impreza, 36% of the complaints on file. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.
At a glance
- Complaints
- 20 36% of this year's complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 0 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
What the data shows
None of the drivetrain & axles complaints mention a crash, fire, injury or death.
What owners wrote
I believe there is a sub-standard part being used in subaru impreza rear wheel bearings. Besides my 2 failures, I know of dozens of other people in my car club with similar rear wheel bearing failures. Currently the failures are being handled under warranty, but as the cars age, the wheel bearing failures seem likely to continue and will start to get expensive.
Transfer clutch on the powertrain of my 1998 subaru impreza bucks and binds in turns, apparently due to the transfer clutch hanging up and staying applied. This has occurred at least since the 50,000 mile mark and continues to date. Despite this problem falling under subaru's powertrain warranty, two separate subaru dealers have refused to fix it under warranty, and instead have "added limited slip differential additive" to the differential-a fix I have been told by another subaru dealer is not an authorized fix…