- 2022 Impreza hatchback 5MT Sport.
WHAT I DONT LIKE
(UN)heated seats SUCK!! Feel a very slight warmth, thats it. I have another Japanese vehicle and the heated seats in 30 seconds would burn your ass.
I've had the opposite opinion of the heated seats, leaving it on high will almost burn me it feels like. Which car did you come from?
What gear is my shift on? Wont tell you until after you let go the clutch, by then its too late.
I have driven a 2012 or 11 Tacoma 5 speed before this, and in comparison, the gear shift in the Impreza is much easier to find and know which gears. Let's just say one time in the taco, I tried to start in 3rd.
3) the 3 upper center gauges are useless, oil temperature in actual numerical degrees, engine temp, only "normal" (but you never know actual temperature).
Average speed gauge (what the hell you need that for?) Anyways after a 10 hrs trip at 75mph the gauge its stuck at 39 and been there for 3 months.
You can change the gauges on the display, when parked, navigate the screen with the "info" button to the "settings screen" and then press and hold the 'set/i' button on your wheel. In the favorites setting, you have the choice of many more gauges. I for one use the coolant temp, oil temp, and accelerator% displays. While the coolant temp doesn't show a numeric value, the analog gauge surrounding it uses the same ratio of the oil temp gauge, so the values are usually pretty nominal on normal driving.
The start button is hiding behind the steering wheel you need to twist your neck like a flamenco to see it.
I've gotten well at knowing its location by muscle memory. My Isuzu has a harder to find keyhole than the Impreza does, but everyone's seating position is different and that accounts for some of the reachability of certain touch points.
Engine is noisy and vibrates. Im getting bad mileage @ about 29mpg highway. The fuel lid release lever is at an odd place.
The Impreza is an economy car, you're going to hear many more noises than in an Avalon or Lexus branded car. Vibration wise, I feel more of the vehicle while driving, which is certainly nice with a stick, as it tells me more about how the car is responding to the road and my inputs. Mileage is going to be pretty rough in Winter due to the additives, but the 5spd is not the mpg king of Subaru. The CVT has better efficiency if that is what your primary concerns are with the drivetrain.
The infotainment system is not worth the plastic its mounted on, has 100's of glitches the most annoying is it randomly drops your android apps and the starlink icon goes gray then you have to disconnect and reconnect the USB to reset it while you re driving 75mph. by the way, the USB ports are in the most inconvenient and difficult spot possible.
I've had plenty of glitches with CarPlay, and Android Auto, you're definitely right here. Most of my issues with CarPlay I don't recall, as I switched to a Google Pixel, and had Android Auto fail to launch for me a few times. This was fixed after I restarted my phone, and stopped using non-oem cables. (I have two Google Official cables that I use in my cars, and relegate the other Anker cables to charging and software dev use)
Stock headlights are the primitive halogen kind although for $80 I changed them myself to LED (AND WHAT A DIFFERENCE)!
You need a whole football field to make a U turn.
The clutch,brake n accel. pedals are too tight together. Sits too low and on high snow you aint going anywhere.
The stock headlamps are pretty rough when Subaru themselves makes a LED assembly. Be careful with the bulbs you get because some have good light spread but a terrible pattern and can surely blind other drivers.
As for the handling of the car, the only better vehicle I've driven was a WRX, my Isuzu, and previous vehicles, a Tacoma, Nissan Altima, and a Forester all in the family, have much larger or worse turning radiuses or body roll. Not to mention only the Forester has AWD, whereas the Isuzu is the only 4WD.
Keep in mind, you picked a small economy car. The AWD is considered best in class, especially since it's std on every model and trim (except the BRZ). Economy cars aren't built for snow. You'll need ground clearance for any off-road or snow driving should the snow exceed the ride height of the car. In this class, no other car is going to clear the snow either.
Oh, yea...I still cant figure out how to shut the radio off without shutting the whole screen off, you can only mute it until restart.
There s more I just cant remember right now.
There re 3 things I like.
Looks, handling and gorgeous interior. Car has less than 5K miles Im so extremely disappointed that trading it in keeps crossing my mind. This is my 1st Subaru and definitely last
Others have already addressed the radio issue, but all that aside:
Not here to lambast you, you've definitely had a rough experience with your first Subaru. And while I'm sure that we may not convince you it's a phenomenal car like many of us here believe it to be for the price, I do believe anyone here can help provide insight or answer any questions you have about the car. I for one have been happy with my purchase, though I've definitely had a few nitpicks like the coolant temp not entirely numbered, lack of old iPod support, no lumbar adjustment in the fabric seats, nor more adequate lighting in the cargo area. Some of these things, like the iPod support can be worked around, other like the cargo area lights, or the headlamps, can be modified. Even the ride height can be modified.
Others may require an adjustment to. I for one am happy with the gas mileage, because my Isuzu gets me at most 18-19mpg on a good day. While you may not have had a test drive before you purchased the car, when the car was delivered to you, before signing, a test drive should have been completed, and you would still have had the ability to walk away should the car not have been up to your standards. If this wasn't apparent by the dealer, then they did you wrong.
