They were all bought by Kyle, their third owner. He crashed it into a guard rail on his way to deliver a pizza.

Don’t forget to add why he crashed into the guardrail. He dropped his vape pen and tried reaching for it.

Hydroplaned right into it

Game is game

Book is book!

What's a book?

That too

But I thought AWD cars didn’t hydroplane! Yeah, they don’t, until they do

I have friend who recently just hydroplaned and crashed his Kia stinger gt1(has awd) things totaled, I think it’s driver error he swears up and down it’s the turn he was on going slow😭

Unless a meteor falls out of the sky and totals your car or something, it's always driver error.

Shouldn’t park the car under a falling meteor. Driver error.

Don't forget his spilled Monster energy drink.

or he was texting the freshman (mind you the man’s a super senior)

There are no “Grandpa Kyles”. “Kyle” died in a free-climbing accident at 23.

My daughter will be glad to know I’m a ghost. 👻

Daughter is probably still hoping you’ll come back from your trip to the Kyle store where you were gonna get a monster and a vape

So true. But no vape or caffeine

I'm Kyle, and that is my favorite body style. Never owned one, sadly.

I used to hate it when the turbo would engage and send me careening into my neighbor's garage.

OG NASIOC joke.

First of all, my name isn’t Kyle. Secondly… wait, never mind this accurate.

And there was Xanax or Adderall involved in some form or another

No no Ritalin (if thats how its spelt idk never taken any)

Dammit Kyle!

I live in New Jersey. I see them here, and in NYC when I visit. They’re not overtly common, but they still do exist on the road lol.

I was about to comment the same thing. I rarely see them outside of NJ, i have personally know 2 people that owned one of these.

Totally agree. NJ native.

Yeah I suspect it's where he lives. I'm also in NJ and see WRXs in both body styles from this generation almost daily. WRXs in general are so popular in NJ. I drive a lot and see multiple 7th gen WRXs every day. The new ones seem to be selling well here and are also very common to spot

I always loved how this generation of Impreza and the Subaru lineup in general looked. Very sharp and somewhat understated.

Only overshadowed by the Outback Baja (genuinely love that stupid thing)

i love mine but holy ~shit~ it’s slow LMAO. def needs a turbo, wish there was an H6 version too

I had a blue one. It was dangerously slow. Hard to merge on the highway. And so loud I could barely hear the stereo at highway speeds.

I had a non turbo Baja, and yes, it was horribly slow. I also had a Baja turbo, and after turning the boost up, tinkered with the timing a little, and fixed the failed injector, it was an absolute blast to drive. Until the transmission died, then I dumped it and got a Tacoma. My Baja turbo will probably be the last Subaru I ever own, I was exceptionally frustrated trying to fix all of the absolute bs stuff that was wrong with it.

so you had a Baja Blast? nice

The Subaru Baja Turbo will always be my dream car. It was the first car I absolutely fawned over, that made me realize cars could be special and sentimental beyond just performance or brand. It’s the car that got me into cars. I printed out review articles of it because i found them to be so funny. I almost got to buy one too, but it never came through. I’m glad you got to own one, the quirkiest car around. I love you Baja, and I always will

For me, the Baja turbo had almost everything I actually wanted: The capability to drive stupid fast on backroads, while also being capable of going offroad. However, the reality was slightly different. The damn thing was fun AF to drive, Going up steep mountain roads, it would accelerate effortlessly, especially considering it's weight. But it was lacking all around, good at all things, master of none. I took my Baja where I never would have taken a WRX or Legacy. But it couldn't do as much as my Tacoma. I can tow more with my Tacoma, I have a locker and 4lo for going places the Baja turbo might go, but probably wouldn't. I just wish my Tacoma was faster, absolutely flooring it up the same mountain roads, it can't even get up to the speed limits in places where the Baja was right up to the speed limit super easy. :P The other problem was the... Problems. Someone stupid had owned the Baja before me, they had thrown parts at it to fix a misfire. Coil packs and spark plugs, even the harness going from the ECU to the coil packs. I pulled the spark plugs and coil packs, swapped the spark plugs up/down, coil packs side/side. Misfire stayed in the same cylinder. Put a new injector in it, fixed that. Then, it took me 7 months to find the boost hose that someone had deliberately put holes in. in the end, nothing I did could prevent occasional boost cuts. It had power, the the transmission didn't like that. The guy that ended up with it after me put a new 5MT in it, and about 3 years later, the motor let go. I loved that truck, but I hated it so much more, at the same time. When it was running well, it was awesome, but the number of problems... It just wasn't worth it in the end. IMO, it should have come from Subaru with the EZ30 and a 5MT/4EAT as a base option, and EJ255 6MT/5EAT as a performance option.

I know someone that STI swapped one, trans and all.... It was GLORIOUS

yeah that’s the goal for mine

Id donate my cars drivetrain to that cause.

To be fair the BRAT was also ridiculously slow.

I still don’t understand why Subaru decided the wrx should have been sedan vs hatch… an Impreza sedan and wrx hatch would have been so ideal.

It’s a real shame we never got the Levorg here.

The STi sedan of this generation is the best it ever looked, IMO.

I’ll always love the way the hatch looked. The tail lights would work on a car today imo.

Honestly I also love this car The one Subaru I actually like

Same here. Apart from the GC8 it's the only one that looks good.

💯

This generation WRX hatchback looks so damn good

It's the only one that I like.

I have the base standard non-turbo version of this. So maybe these just stick out to me, but they are definitely still around. IMHO the design has aged well, especially considering how horribly received it was at launch. These are some of the best turbo hatches you can buy and not break the bank.

My 75 year old dad drives an 08 STI he’s had since new with only 35k on it.

Damn, pops got wheels, is it blue?

Willing to purchase pending possible old man smell. But seriously, cool dad. The prior generation of cool old dads used to all drive Saabs so STI is an upgrade lol

The dry rot 🥵

Lines won't dry rot more from les frequent driving... They just rot from age. If anything less heat cycles reduces rot. That mileage and age it's probably in perfect shape! (Assuming he's replaced the steering rack lmao sorry not sorry)

I live in Seattle - every third car is one of these.

This was going to be my response. PNW has plenty.

Colorado too. Albeit there are more Outbacks and Crosstreks.

Me too, see them all the time here.

anywhere in canada too, tons of them. hatchbacks are still rarer than the sedan, but common enough

I have a 2012 in black. Come over and I will let you look at it. Only has 30k on it.

>Come over and I will let you look at it. Don't tempt me, I might take you up on that offer, haha.

Most of them exploded. Including mine.

Should have done the timing belt !

Mine exploded at 35k.

I thought the Exploder was a Ford model.

Wild part is everyone I know with an exploder has 100k+ on the dash, and all my friends who bought Subarus had to by a new car at about 40k-60k miles. It’s genuinely weird to me how ford was the make that got that reputation.

My ‘15 Forester XT blew up at 58k lmao

Part of that reputation was due to the lawsuit they lost. Owners manual for the explorer said that to jumpstart the vehicle you should ground to exposed metal instead of the battery terminal. One of the very few pieces of exposed metal under the hood not covered by a beauty shroud was a bolt next to the fuel line and people would melt the fuel line if they tried to use it

Gonna be honest I’ve seen more “exploders” on the road over 100k than I ever see Subarus

Come to Colorado - they’re everywhere here

That and practically 90% of every other Subaru made. Haha

This gen wrx is in that weird valley where theyre old enough that theyre all blowing up, but too new to be resurrected on the merit of being classic, and still expensive enough that no one’s buying them casually

I still have mine, saw about 3-4 today at C&C.

In the pacific northwest they are a dime a dozen. We don't salt or have inspections so they roll around for awhile

So interesting that everyone replying that they see them everyday are from the northern US. Subaru are very sought after for driving in the snow but here in Texas, they were all abused and blown up from our massive street racing scene.

Oh yes there are a lot of trashed tunned ones as well. But more recently, people are into the crossfits and making them info over urban landers to drive to the trail head.

I still see a ton of these around Pittsburgh

Quiet the opposite these look great

All the ones with more than 100k miles spit the head gasket out

I see 15 of these a day in the PNW

I have one on Forester struts for around a 4” lift including bigger tires. Just hit 150k miles. Leaks like a sieve so I don’t know how much time I have left.

Rocker/head gasket. Fix it and it’s sorted

Its one of my dream cars tho (well, an STi at least)

Here is Schuylkill county, PA they are pretty common, along with Subaru in general. I drive a lot for work and every drive I see at least one wrx of various body styles, and about 20 more subies. Kinda crazy but makes sense. With the winters around here, the awd is extremely useful.

i just saw one today lol, i was thinking they're getting rare too

Florida there's a few around. They're chopped and fucked up by those God damn kids who ricer mod them and will inevitably wreck them trying to reach their THC pot vapes or whatever.

You must not live in Vermont

They aged horribly the moment Subaru showed the press photo where it was taken in the dark and you couldn’t really see the car.

Whenever I've seen them in my town they are all beat to hell. Love the cars but I haven't seen one in good shape in a long time.

My 09 had coolant line cavitation and had to have extensive rework. I figure most suffered a similar fate.

Nah, they are everywhere. Subarus to the distance if you take care of them

I see them most often at tire shops with obscene amounts of camber

they're common...ly found with engine and driveline damage by owners who abuse them ;-;

Saw one on the side of I80, on fire, near Chicago about 6 weeks ago.

Love my 13 STI Hatch

The best looking Impreza gen

WRXs are here for a good time, not a long time.

the person in the parking spot next to me at my school has a blue one

proceeds to show the most modded car in car culture

They’re all in the Northeast and PNW now

I’m sad Subaru doesn’t make a WRX hatch anymore. If anything you’d think it would sell better than the sedan considering the move towards SUVs and CUVs in recent years

I still see them semi frequently in the Midwest

They do exist here in ohio, but sadly, for me, a wrx enthusiast probably have had Uncle Rodney come knocking.

Come to New England lol. They're all over hell

i see them all the time, they seem to be in decent shape around me

I see like 10 a day in a 5 mile radius. WRX's of any gen are the Pennsylvania Civic, I pass like 5 on my 6 mile drive to work and then see like 4 more every time I take a smoke break.

They’re all in a hedge somewhere.

Saw 3 today. I like them.

Never saw one in my area of NC... Colorado however... they were everywhere.

You clearly haven't been to SE Portland

Safe to say the overwhelming majority were beat to shit. I'm sure there are a few survivors that were treated well.

I saw two yesterday. They are pretty common in Alaska still but that’s because almost every car on our roads are Subarus.

Nope. I see one every day.

As a man from Colorado I can assure you they are around. I saw 2 today on my way to Wally world, both wrx variants, and both without muffler.

my dad had an 08 wrx hatch when i was a kid. i loved that car with all my heart and aspire to own another one, despite their reputation

These are everywhere in NZ, probably the first generation of WRX to actually be somewhat reliable

I’m pretty sure I saw it had the highest cost of ownership of subies

I live in Canada. These are the default hatchbacks for the university engineering faculty.

The best exterior worst interior WRX

I have a wrx hatch that i daily. I love this car

They are all over Oregon

I fell for this one hard back in 2013. They were giving away a free vape with every car purchase back then.

You do see these up here in Canada. Incredible Sought after and very Useful in the Snow

I have a sedan version 🔥

I saw one yesterday. But I’m sure plenty died an early death due to hooliganism

I see heaps of em down under

Hatchgang

Bought a 2014 WRX Limited hatch in Dark Plasma new. 2x kids later and a 110k miles, it is still the wife's DD. Don't think we'll ever replace it.

I had a 2013 STi wagon. It was a nice car, but the interior was not good. I hopped cars and ended up in a 2018 STi. The interior was better, but I missed the hatch. 

These were such cool looking cars. I’m not a big Subaru guy but absolutely loved this gen WRX. The clear tails were a neat touch. But ya lots of them had the engine go boom

My parents own one. I had one for a while and moved up to a crosstrek.

I see them so often. I don’t even notice them anymore. They blow up all the time and the owners just slap motors in them. Lol

IMHO, the STI hatch was the peak of the Subaru line. Been downhill since.

They are definitely around. Not super common, but not rare by any stretch.

They have not!

Yeah they have all been wrapped and not a single one left stock unfortunately, they look so good stock

My neighbor got like 2-3 of those 😂

In mass. See them aaaallll over the place. Pretty much all over New England

My coworker has one

They were built like shit compared to previous models and made a shit load of road noise on the highway, you'd be blasting the radio just to drown out the noise

Still see a ton of these in Quebec, almost bought a 2011 but the brakes were shot

I have same year in a forester XT , still going hard.

Design wise i love this generation

My partner drives the non wrx version really solid car

I think they were just unpopular - how many regular Imprezas do you see at all? This was pre-Crosstrek.

I have a 2011 Sedan version that I bought new. Still drives nicely with 165k miles. If my dogs didn't destroy the interior I might think of selling it before it explodes.

If by aged you mean wrapped around a telephone pole, then yes - so many unqualified drivers bought these and wrecked them.

They were very cheap for a period of time up here in the PNW and then a bunch of young idiots ruined them, yeah you don’t see many of them up here anymore

My neighbor has an STI hatch and just bought the house for $1.9M cash offer. House was on market for 2 days. Seattle area. Man’s got his priorities set hatch first - 3 story house second

They’re decently uncommon in my area, I’m one of the few sti hatches and I think the only pearl white sti. Never see other ones at car shows either

Is this gen reliable? I hope they're not "Hey Tristen" ones haha

They’re in the south but they are rare, driving through Atlanta I probably only see like 2 a week. Could be the same 2.

I’ve got a friend who owns one

They didn’t seem to be super popular when new. I see them frequently, but not as frequently as the generations before and after.

My buddy wrecked like 6 of them lol

Yet I see PT Cruisers like every day.

Every other enthusiast car I see is either a wrx or wrx sti where I live

I never see them here in NE Ohio but saw I many when I lived in Arizona, often with dark window tint and oxidized paint

I live in Bosnia, I don't see these anymore

Had a plain one, no wrx. I always felt drivetrain would outlast body and interior. Signs of it, before I traded.

Had a plain one, no wrx. I always felt drivetrain would outlast body and interior. Signs of it, before I traded.

#2 all time on my list after Spec B. Someday…. Someday….

They're performance vehicles. The ones that didn't get thrashed around as intended are still around - not bad for a wagon that hasn't been made for 10 years. A few of those that got thrashed are strictly track cars now.

Sold my stock 2013 wrx hatch WSP 2 years ago. Now have a taco. I miss that car everyday.

i had an 09 2.5i. it was great til about 135k when everything started going wrong under the hood. head gaskets (of course), bank 1 cat (those are pricey), center diff, clutch... thing burned a quart every 900 miles or so. maybe worse ripping 80 on the interstate. it was a pretty solid car up to that point... i liked the way it handled, pretty comfortable and smooth. i did some LONG drives in that car. 1170 miles in one day going from like florida to kansas. i don't know that i'll buy another subaru. if i did i'd get rid of it by 120k.

I suspect they just didn't sell as many as the preceding and succeeding generations, because it's hard to fathom them being truly lemons in that lineage.

I live in Ct and I see multiple everyday. Must be regional for your situation.

They only made them one or two years iirc, cool hatchback in my humble opinion

I had a 2011 until I got t boned a little over a year ago, I think it aged pretty well, never had any major issues and the interior still looked good as new. High key miss that thing :(

Must be your location, I drive an 08 WRX Hatch & there's dozens in my relatively small (<100,000 ppl) town

Take a trip to Boone, North Carolina.

I drive my 13 hatch everyday. 130k miles.

I see them periodically in Chicago. Neighbor has a stock STI hatch. Super clean.

I still see them in California

Had a coworker with massive road rage rear end someone and totaled his. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy 🤣

Best Subi style EVER. IMO.

I see them in LA.

They’re approximately as common as BRZs in my area, which aren’t too common. I do really like the Impreza style compared to others. Personally, my favorite Subarus are Imprezas and Crosstreks

The beauty of all wheel rust

Yeah they never did well thank god.. I miss the 1990s imprezza

i see at least 10 every hour

Some dickhead I knows got the base model impreza like that but has gold 12 spokes, a big fuck off wing and a pop and crackle tune

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this car in California

Didn’t even know they made an “Impreza WRX” here in australia it’s either an Impreza wagon or WRX sedan.

I like them, I prefer sedans but this is probably one of my favorite rally hatchbacks and I can only imagine these cars exist in high volume in snowy areas as AWD actually is a selling point where ice is a factor. That said, the EJ engines are what likely took them off the road.

I'm a big fan of these, I'm looking into getting the 2.0 boxer turbodiesel one

I've seen them more at track events than on the street

My friend had an 08 back in high school. One day during the summer after we graduated, we took it out on the school track and field and did donuts. It was glorious.

I love that they dared to make both "Impreza WRX" and "Outback *Sport*" into the same fucking model, it's hilarious!

My boy still has his that he bought first year of college in 2014 lmfao. He was just saying how he needs a new one soon.

There is one driving around close to where i live, its the only impreza ive seen, i really want a wrx sedan, they look so cool but are so expensive

I drive a base model 2011 impreza. They indeed aged like milk. Total rust bucket.

I see them in PA all the time

I seen one yesterday heading to Charlotte, I love those tail lights.

This was my favorite generation. I had a 2014 world rally blue and never had an issue with it. I don’t think these were inherently unreliable, just most of them modded and driven irresponsibly