The story: Back in 2002, when the Subaru WRX hit our shores a friend of mine wasted no time in picking one up. He being a rally enthusiast, it was no surprise to me. He ended up buying a brand new World Rally Blue, wingless WRX sedan. I credit this car as one of the things that pushed my interest with cars into a full blown addiction. He owns the car to this day. It has been kept in immaculate condition, all the maintenance covered, and 100% stock. Even with harsh MN winters, there is not a spec of rust on the car. Or so it seemed.
After a visit to the Subaru dealership for some AC work last week, the owner was informed that the front subframe was in need of replacement due to rust. He was surprised to say the least. With only 104,000 miles, it just didn't make sense.
Here is where I come in. Being the grease monkey that I am, he came to me, to replace the subframe as the dealership was looking for an obscene amount of money to do the work. I was a little surprised, I would have never thought this car would have this kind of issue. I agreed to do the work, and at the same time, the owner wanted to replace the clutch, as well as refresh the engine, and replace any leaking seals/gaskets.
I decided to just go ahead and pull the engine out. This way I could go over it, replace the clutch, and have good access to the front subframe.
Getting to work.
Besides being a little dusty, the car is darn near mint.
Starting to remove all the little plastic bits.
And accessories.
And the intercooler, and the rest of the stuff under there. Then I hooked it up to the cherry picker.
The motor is in need of a wash.
Ok, back to my story. With the motor out I got a good look at the subframe. Having seen the bottom side earlier, I was not surprised by how far the nasty had gotten. This subframe ties together the whole front end, linking the radiator core support to the engine cradle and LCAs, all the way back to the front of the floor pan frame rails.
The 3 plastic plugs you see in this last picture cover the actual bolts that attach the subframe to the unibody.
Ok, I pulled the subframe today. The damage goes even further than I had previously imagined.
The bottom side of the subframe, check out that massive hole on the passenger side. It is easily 14" long.
And the drivers side isn't far behind.
And the side of the subframe, more holes.
The other side.
The top side doesnt look as bad, right.
You also might notice the rust all over the driveway. The subframe is full of it. Every time I turned or moved it, it would spill out of all the holes.
I just don't get it. This is a huge safety issue, the structural rigidity of the whole front end is compromised. Then it hit me. If this one is so bad, then there must be more out there just like it. After just 2 minutes of searching, I was able to find at least 5 other cases of this exact same issue. Almost every hit on the first page of google was a different car with subframe rust complaints. I even found people complaining about it as early as 2008 for an 02. I also happen to work with a guy who has a nice 05 WRX, and I wondered, what if. I took a peak under the car, and I was surprised to see that it already had severe surface rust on much of the front subframe.
I cant imaging these cars retain any of their factory crash worthiness in this condition.
Is it possible that Subaru doesn't know how bad this problem had become?
Subaru, I really like your cars, and you have always held yourself above many of the other auto manufacturers, but this is worrisome. This is my first step in bringing this issue to the attention of the public, but I may decide to take it further.
I will pull the subframe tomorrow morning, and get some better pictures of the damage.
