2002 Subaru WRX fuel system problems
308 complaints about fuel system have been filed for the 2002 Subaru WRX, which is 67% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.
At a glance
- Complaints
- 308 67% of this year's complaints
- Typical mileage
- 49,000 miles 238 complaints with mileage
- Crashes and fires
- 0 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 3 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
When fuel system problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 20 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 70 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 60 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 37 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 31 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 11 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 5 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 238 fuel system complaints that report mileage, the median is about 49,000 miles, and 63% were reported before 60,000 miles.
These complaints mention 2 fires, 3 injuries.
What owners wrote
This is a follow up to complaint 10144181. I tried to call in a follow up and was treated with total indifference. The weather is now in the -8 to +5 range here in western ne and the fuel leak does not stop, ever. After driving 20 miles to work and parking the smell is so strong I felt light headed, headache and nauseous. A co-worker parked 2 spaces away could smell it getting out of his car. I have parked the car. I will not subject myself of my family to the health and fire risk.
I bought a 2002 subaru wrx in september and didn't notice the raw fuel smell until it started getting cold. I noticed it every time I started the car when the temperature was below 30 degrees f. One night I let is run to warm up and saw a large puddle of what appeared to be oil/gas mixture coming from underneath the car. From research I understand that many other 2002 wrx owners seem to have this same problem due to a fuel line leak. I believe that subaru should have a recall to fix this dangerous problem.