How many miles will a Subaru WRX last?
Half of the 699 NHTSA owner complaints on the Subaru WRX that list mileage came after 44,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 99,000 miles. They cover the 2002–2026 model years in NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026, and each records the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the car lasted.
Buying a high-mileage WRX? Check its VIN.
Complaint mileages describe the model, not one car. Decode its VIN free, then decide whether to buy the odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file.
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 699 complaints on the Subaru WRX that list mileage, the middle half came between 24,000 and 73,000 miles; 10% came after 100,000 miles, 1% after 150,000 and under 1% after 200,000.
Check the odometer record before you buy
VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a high-mileage WRX.
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For $14.99, VIN Lookup delivers an original ClearVIN vehicle-history PDF for the Subaru WRX VIN you enter: title brands, odometer readings, accident and auction records on file. ClearVIN is on the U.S. Department of Justice’s list of approved NMVTIS data providers; VIN Lookup sells that original report. The records returned vary by VIN.
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How many miles is too much for a used WRX?
There is no hard cutoff. NHTSA's file records when owners reported problems, not when a WRX wears out, and how a car was maintained matters more than any one odometer figure.
Where the complaints cluster: the middle half came between 24,000 and 73,000 miles, and 1% came after 150,000 miles (10 of 699).
Complaint mileage rises with a model year's age: older WRX years were reported at higher odometer readings because they had more time to cover miles. The table below shows when owners of each year reported problems; it does not rank the years.
Complaint counts by model year, every year compared: Subaru WRX years to avoid →
Subaru WRX mileage at failure by model year
Each row is a WRX model year with 10 or more NHTSA complaints that list a mileage, with the median of those mileages: half of the year’s complaints came at or above it. Years with fewer are left out. Medians rise with a year’s age, so the table does not rank the years. A linked year opens that model year’s own page: its problems by component and its recall campaigns.
| Model year | Complaints listing mileage | Median mileage at failure |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 WRX | 327 | 40,000 |
| 2003 WRX | 49 | 23,800 |
| 2004 WRX | 35 | 69,990 |
| 2005 WRX | 17 | 48,000 |
| 2006 WRX | 13 | 66,870 |
| 2008 WRX | 61 | 80,000 |
| 2009 WRX | 46 | 65,689 |
| 2015 WRX | 42 | 34,500 |
| 2016 WRX | 18 | 20,000 |
| 2017 WRX | 33 | 36,000 |
| 2018 WRX | 21 | 14,500 |
| 2019 WRX | 10 | 25,000 |
Subaru WRX problems by component, with typical mileage
The five NHTSA component categories named most often in the 2002–2026 WRX complaints that list a mileage, with the median mileage of each. A complaint can name more than one component. Owners named the fuel system most often: 255 complaints, half of them after 51,000 miles.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 255 | 52,000 |
| Power Train | 139 | 56,000 |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 68 | 18,000 |
| Structure | 52 | 70,000 |
| Engine | 51 | 50,000 |
What these mileages can and cannot tell you
- They are self-reported. The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only cars whose owners reported a problem; a WRX that ran without one never appears in it, so these figures do not say how long a typical WRX lasts.
- Young model years pull the figures down: a car a few years old cannot have reached high mileage when its owner complained.
- A complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding, and the count rises with how many cars were sold.
- 289 of the Subaru WRX complaints in these model years give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every figure.
- NHTSA names counted: WRX and IMPREZA WRX. Through 2014 NHTSA files the WRX as IMPREZA WRX, or as IMPREZA WRX/STI together with the STI; those years are counted here.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the mileage on its first row; a page is published only when its model holds 100 or more complaints that list a mileage. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-mileage.mjs.
Subaru WRX mileage questions
How many miles will a Subaru WRX last?
Half of the 699 NHTSA owner complaints on the Subaru WRX that list mileage came after 44,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 99,000 miles. Of the 699 complaints on the Subaru WRX that list mileage, the middle half came between 24,000 and 73,000 miles; 10% came after 100,000 miles, 1% after 150,000 and under 1% after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no WRX that never had one.
How many miles is too much for a used WRX?
There is no hard cutoff. NHTSA's file records when owners reported problems, not when a WRX wears out, and how a car was maintained matters more than any one odometer figure. Where the complaints cluster: the middle half came between 24,000 and 73,000 miles, and 1% came after 150,000 miles (10 of 699). Complaint mileage rises with a model year's age: older WRX years were reported at higher odometer readings because they had more time to cover miles. The table below shows when owners of each year reported problems; it does not rank the years.
How do I check the mileage of a used WRX?
Compare the odometer with the readings on file for its VIN: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. A reading lower than an earlier one, or a long gap, is worth asking about. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a high-mileage WRX.