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What 13 owners told NHTSA about the 2021 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 (13)Transmission & drivetrain (6)Engine (5)Electrical system (2)Visibility & wipers (2)Fuel system (1)Seats (1)Steering (1)Suspension (1)

2 of 13 complaints match · Visibility & wipers · clear filters

Aug 23, 2022Visibility & wipers

I was de-frosting my windshield early in the morning when I watched a crack start at the base of the driver's side windshield and travel up the window and back down to the base of the windshield. The car was not moving, there was no impact to the windshield at all. I contacted the Subaru dealer and brought the car in to be inspected. They told me that the crack was because of a rock chip although there was never any rock chip impact and the car was not even moving when the crack developed. There was a previous class action lawsuit settled against Subaru for identical cracks developing in their windshields. I contacted Subaru of America to see what they would do and they gave a discount for a new windshield but the new windshield would still have cost over $700 out of pocket for a car that was less then one month old.

NHTSA ODI 11480723

Jan 3, 2022Visibility & wipers

Windshield cracked to the point of requiring repair from pinhead size chip that barely left a mark. The windshield is being replaced but photos are available upon request. The crack quickly spread to the outer edge of the windshield, causing further risk to the structural integrity of the entire windshield. The problem was confirmed by a glass shop as requiring a replacement.

NHTSA ODI 11446021

Working with the data? Download all 13 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 2021 Subaru WRX STI verdict →