A little insight from the Sig Forum members is requested.

I got rid of my Porsche Boxster S. Too hard to get in and out of plus 80% of the work had to happen from underneath the car. I'm getting a bit old for crawling around on cement floors. I loved driving it but hated the maintenance.

Long story short. I'm seriously looking at a one owner 2019 WRX (According to CarFax). It is sporty, fun to drive, and has the AWD which I really like in the winter. The one thing I've learned about that model of Subaru is you have a hard as hell time finding one that hasn't been "modded". I found one with all the extras (leather, nice factory sound system, blind spot detection, etc.) but... The original owner did a few things that I might consider a mod. When the car was purchased the dealer added factory WRX STI wheels with low profile tires, factory WRX STI exhaust, and few interior WRX STI items. All were Subaru factory parts and installed by the dealer. I have not had the car checked to see if it has had a performance tune done to any of the computer chips.

I would be buying the car from a (non Subaru) dealer so I can't talk to the original owner but I have seen all the dealer invoices for the parts and work done.

Side note: The car does have a Sport Lineartronic CVT sport transmission. (I know, I know, but I do a ton of rush hour stop/go driving)

Three questions:

1) In general is a performance tune to a modern car a bad thing and should I be concerned if one was done?

2) The exhaust and wheels and a few body work items are all Subaru factory parts and dealer installed. They did not come with the car as delivered. Anything I should be concerned about with those additions?

3) I've had really good luck with >2015 Subaru. Am I missing any thing on the WRX that I need to look into.

Thanks In Advance

You don’t share where you live so don’t know if you have winter or “winter”

When I lived in Anchorage, the only Suburu owner who routinely didn’t make it into the office was a WRX owner. Too low of ground clearance to get out of the neighborhood to the sooner plowed major streets.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
You don’t share where you live so don’t know if you have winter or “winter”

N Utah. My previous Porsche with Blizzaks got around pretty well in the winter so I'm not too concerned about car ride height with AWD. Currently I'm driving a Subaru Legacy an it is really good in snow.

I have owned numerous Subarus but never a WRX so take this with a grain of salt. I can’t imagine dealer installed factory parts could ever cause you issues beyond standard car issues. No idea about the engine tuning except that I thought that was a software issue that could be easily reversed if needed. So I would say no reason to not buy it.

Look into the engine failure issues. This car is LONG out of warranty.

Multiple head gasket failures, piston ring failures, bearing failures. Subaru not covering the damage.

Many have RTV clogging up the oil pickup tubes, starving the crank and rod bearings.

CVT would be the deal-breaker for me.
Subaru makes a good one & I liked it in a rental Impreza hatch & nearly bought an Outback a couple years ago.
But in a WRX I'd want the manual.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
This car is LONG out of warranty.

Long?

A 2019 WRX has a 3 yr/36,000 mile warranty, and a 5 yr/60,000 mile powertrain warranty.

So depending on its exact mileage and exactly when it first sold, it's probably just out of the basic warranty, but likely still has 1-2 years left on the powertrain warranty.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
A 2019 WRX has a 3 yr/36,000 mile warranty, and a 5 yr/60,000 mile powertrain warranty.

So depending on its exact mileage and exactly when it first sold, it's probably just out of the basic warranty, but likely still has 1-2 years left on the powertrain warranty.

The car has 45,000 miles. So there's a bit of powertrain warranty left.

Strongly suggest call your insurance agent first (More accurate if you can give them the vin#). I was this close to buying a new base WRX in '17, insurance was DOUBLE that of an equally priced Tacoma. My Agent said it was purely statistics; my good credit, clean driving records and existing relationship with them had nothing to do with it. The WRX had a lot of expensive technology that pushed up the costs of repairs and/or increased the chances of being totaled. The % of WRXs in accidents by any measure was also higher... Thus the higher rate to offset their risk. Calls to two other name brand agents yielded about the same quote.

^^^Regardless, I'm pretty sure the insurance will be SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than that for the 'Porsche Boxster S' the OP was previously driving...

I just checked the insurance, it's about a wash adding the WRX and dropping my Legacy, Thanks for the suggestion though. I was doing more research about the can than asking fundamental questions

I own a 2013 WRX Hatchback, with 150,000+ mostly trouble free mile. I say mostly because I'll get a code every once in awhile (in summer) that it's not up to operating temperature.

With Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 on it I have to keep telling myself that there snow on the road.

The rest of the year I'm running General G-MAX AS-05 and it eats up dry or wet pavement.

Driving conservatively going back and forth to work on back country roads and highways I get 24 MPG, I have on the interstate driving conservatively gotten over 30 MPG.

Even driving "sporty" I still get reasonable fuel mileage.

I use Motul X-clean EFR 5W30 oil, @ every 7500 miles, and every 2 months add fuel system cleaner to the tank, all other routine maintenance is done on schedule and I have upgraded to synthetic products if not used from the factory.


ARman

quote:

1) In general is a performance tune to a modern car a bad thing and should I be concerned if one was done?

2) The exhaust and wheels and a few body work items are all Subaru factory parts and dealer installed. They did not come with the car as delivered. Anything I should be concerned about with those additions?

1. In my experience, nothing to be worried about if the tune was a mild tune. Do you know if the car was tracked? If the previous owner was using it only for street driving, it's likely not too wild of a tune. Likely small things such as setting the fans to come on at a lower temperature, throttle response, etc.

2. Being OEM parts, I would not have concerns with that. I don't see someone who would've ran it hard going to the dealership to have parts installed. I would think that's someone concerned with warranty and keeping the car as original as possible.

The 2019 has the 2.0 engine, very reliable. I own a 2020 WRX manual transmission, 22k miles on it so far, no problems. I have a COBB tune in mine that still runs on premium pump fuel.

I wouldn't be too concerned about any mild tunes done on that car, unless the boost exceeds 20 lbs.
Don't know enough about the newer CVT's to comment.

You can't get AWD and a turbo much cheaper. BUT

On those cars previous history is everything. Post EJ-engined WRXs are a crap shoot from what I see. They have oil starvation issues that must be corrected before they are run on a track, but properly set up cars are in the minority.

Younger guys hate hearing it but they are not designed for racing like the older ones were. The beancounters won and ruined the breed after 07.

Street driven wrxs have far fewer issues.

My wife sold Subarus for awhile.


I would not own one based on her experiences. Im sure most are fine, but when you get a bad one, you get a bad one. She described them as being every bit as reliable as an Italian car while as beautiful as a Japanese car…

I think she is exaggerating. I’ve had 3. A Forester and 2 Crosstreks. My older sister has an Impreza. They have all been as reliable as the Toyotas and Honda I have owned. I too have heard horror stories, the classic being the oil consumption of the 2.5’s. I have had warranty issues but nothing to do with reliability.

They sure do have a following for cars with the “reliability of Italian cars”. Lol

I can't answer the question exactly. I have 4 STI's and an outback. I would have zero issues of subaru factory add on parts, in my experience they are top quality (but at an above average price) and there is zero to worry there.
The tune is a different issue. Need to find out if its there, who did it, for what reason and what level, etc. Of course its probably illegal and voids whatever warranty is left. I would pass depending on what are the facts, but a basic tune wouldn't bother me too much. The warranty loss might depending on other factors. IN general these (despite the internet) are very tough and reliable cars. The CVT I have no experience but that would be a hard no for me just given the vehicle, but to each their own...

We picked up our 3rd WRX today. Traded in a 2018 low mile one for the 2022. If you had posted yesterday, I could have offered you a 2018 with 12543 miles on it, with a 6 speed and loaded for a very good price. We have had great luck with Subaru. 4 Foresters and 3 WRX, but the 3rd WRX only has 21 miles on it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: scratchy,

I’ll give you a few reasons not to own one.
Money pit. Too many aftermarket mods available.
Too fun to drive. It’s a cheap Porsche.
Tuning availability is probably more than Porsche. That said Tim Bailey of Cobb Tuning in Tigard Oregon can extract more power from your Subie, reliably, without damage, than any other tuner.

If you’re seriously considering one, I have a friend with a 2016? WRX STI with low miles. I have texted him for details, and will update this thread when he replies.

It’s a one owner car, fairly loaded. Comes with an Invidia exhaust, Cobb downpipe, Cobb Accessport.

He’s not a street racer and hasn’t hammered the car. He’s just a guy that built a car because, why not? Now he has kids, wife, house payment and is in school, so the car has to go. Car is in Lacey Washington.