2002 Subaru WRX Suspension Problems

“Control arms were recalled in 2011 for rust issues and failure on the hanger brackets. Got the parts checked at the time of the recall by a certified Subaru dealership, the dealership sprayed a rust proofing agent on the control arms. Three years later I was driving down my road and lost control of the vehicle completely. The driver side lower control arm had rusted through and broken at the hanger bracket. Subaru of america will not cover the repairs as the recall had been performed already (even through it did not prevent the issues from happening).”

“I owned the car for 5k miles and the front wheel bearings are bad. This is an expensive repair for a 2 year old car. I searched the internet and found this to be a common problem for subarus. The drivetrain is noisy, so it is hard to detect during normal driving and can really damage the car if not found.”

“Lower control arm for my 2002 subrau WRX rusted completely and broke, which also caused the sway bar to be ripped off. Thankfully it only happened pulling out of the driveway and not on the highway.”

“The passenger side lower control arm on our 2002 Subaru WRX wagon snapped rendering the car inoperable. The car has been towed to a mechanic. When I looked under the car you could see the arm was rusted through. Once the car was loaded on the rollback there was a visible pile of rust on the pavement.”

“Driving southbound on I-55 for morning commute in the leftmost lane when with no discernible cause the car began to drift back and forth across the center lane and left lane. The car minimally responded to any steering inputs. I had to crank the wheel almost a turn and a half to get my car over to the shoulder. Fortunately, there were no cars near me when this happened so I did not strike any vehicles. I got the car towed to a local shop and the service person quickly glanced around underneath it and immediately noticed that the control arm had rusted through on the passenger side. …”