2002 Subaru Impreza Steering Problems

“Nhtsa campaign id 11v464000 (Subaru safety recall wvx-34) covers 2002-2007 imprezas, as well as other models. The safety recall covers cars registered in 20 rust belt states. My vehicle has never been registered in those states, so it is technically not covered, but it is driven there regularly since we live only a few miles away. Subaru of america did not treat or replace my lower control arm since it technically didn't meet the recall criteria. The control arm broke due to rust while driving - control of the vehicle was luckily maintained at time of failure. …”

“Took my car in for tires and along with bad wheel bearing, I was told by the mechanic that the front subframe was almost rotted out. As I live in a cold snowy area and I often drive my grandchildren around in this vehicle, I'd like to know what is being done about this? I see that there are other owners of the same model, year, make that have similar complaint. I am also very upset that I was sold this car in 01/12 and was not informed of the front control arm recall. 5 months after I bought this car, I had to have this replaced. …”

“See previous complaint w/same vehicle----failure of right side lower control arm on 1-14-2011 at odo 49093. This current complaint is failure of left side lower control arm on 8-28-11. 2002 Subaru Impreza 2.5ts wagon with 51764 miles. Always best of preventative maintenance. Driving slowly on city street. Clunking sound from left front, difficulty steering. Recognized problem from previous failure of right side lower control arm. Returned to my driveway (less than a mile) and called wrecker. Repair cost: $458.95. …”

“2.5 ts with 49,093 miles. Wagon was always given best of preventative maintenance. Driving slowly on city street. Clunking sound from right front wheel area. Some difficulty with braking and steering. Assumed it was ice buildup on brakes/suspension. After about 10 minutes increased speed on country road and became much worse, almost lost control of steering but got off the road safely. Lower control arm had broken and caused rust-riddled front subframe to collapse. Replaced lower control arm, front stabilizer link and front subframe. $1218.02.”

“The passenger side lower control arm was rusting out without my knowledge and while driving, a part of it broke in half which caused my front passenger side while to turn the wrong way and ripped apart the CV Axle causing me to swerve to the left and promptly stopping the vehicle causing cars behind me to swerve out of the way. Thankfully, I was in the far left lane which avoided me smashing into another car. After research, I found a recall that included my car's make, model, year, and VIN range but was not applied to my car due to it not being registered in a salt state . …”