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What 2 owners told NHTSA about the 2013 Subaru WRX STI

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (2)Engine (1)Fuel system (1)

1 of 2 complaints match · Fuel system · clear filters

Jun 27, 2019Fuel system

WHILE DRIVING, MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND THREE OTHER LIGHTS TURNED ON. MY CRUISE CONTROL STARTED BLINKING AND ANOTHER LIGHT WHICH MEANT I WASN'T ABLE TO USE IT OR SWITCH MY CAR INTO SPORT MODE. THESE LIGHTS NEVER WENT OUT. I WENT TO THE DEALERS AND TRIED TO DO A LOT OF RESEARCH AND FOUND OUT IT'S A PROBLEM WITH THE AIR PUMP RUSTING AND GETTING STUCK EITHER OPEN OR CLOSED. THE DEALERS QUOTED ME ANYWHERE FROM 2000-3500 TO GET THE PROBLEM FIXED. I HAD THE CAR FOR OVER A YEAR AND FOR THAT ENTIRE TIME THE PROBLEM PERSISTED. I WAS NOT ABLE TO PASS EMISSIONS TESTING, USE CRUISE CONTROL, OR SWITCH MODES IN THE CAR. THIS SEEMS LIKE A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE THE AIR INJECTION SYSTEM PUMP WAS STUCK AND NOT WORKING PROPERLY UPON THE STARTUP OF THE CAR. TALKING TO OTHER SUBARU OWNERS, I FOUND THAT THIS WAS A HUGE PROBLEM FOR COUNTLESS OWNERS EVER SINCE THE SYSTEM WAS INTRODUCED INTO SUBARU CARS IN 2006 OR 2007. THIS IS A RIDICULOUS PROBLEM AND SHOULD BE FIXED BY SUBARU, NOT BY OWNERS WHO FALL VICTIM OF THIS POORLY STRUCTURED SYSTEM. SOMETIMES, WHEN ALL THE LIGHTS WERE ON, THE CAR HAD TROUBLE STARTING AND WOULD STALL THE FIRST TIME UPON STARTUP. POTENTIALLY, THIS COULD START A FIRE OR ANOTHER PROBLEM. I HAD A SAFETY RECALL DONE ON MY CAR FROM 2016 FOR THE AIR PUMP, BUT THAT DID NOT AFFECT THIS ISSUE AT ALL AND THE PROBLEM PERSISTED.

NHTSA ODI 11223011

Working with the data? Download all 2 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 21, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2013 Subaru WRX STI verdict →