2020 Subaru Impreza problems & reliability
85 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2020 Subaru Impreza, alongside 1 safety recall campaign. Last verified Sep 23, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several components.
2 complaints report injuries (2 injured).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2020 Subaru Impreza vehicles were involved in 18 fatal crashes with 9 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility/wiper → | 52 | 61% |
| Unknown / Other | 17 | 20% |
| Service Brakes | 5 | 6% |
| Electrical System | 4 | 5% |
| Visibility | 4 | 5% |
| Air Bags | 3 | 4% |
| Engine | 3 | 4% |
| Forward Collision Avoidance | 3 | 4% |
| Exterior Lighting | 1 | 1% |
| Latches/locks/linkages | 1 | 1% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
All 14 reported components →Mileage when problems occurred
Among the 42 complaints that included a usable odometer reading, the median reported incident mileage was 7,000 miles (middle 50% between 2,125 and 12,275 miles).
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“The electrical system failed and battery then exploded. The vehicle is behind held at a tow yard and has been inspected by allied insurance CPI of tower federal credit union. It is available to be inspected for the time being but will be scrapped soon. Both my safety and the safety of others was at risk- this occurred…”
Electrical System · filed Jun 24, 2026
“For the second year in a row my windshield has cracked. Nothing hit it, or happened to make it crack. Both cracks were long and coming from the bottom of the windshield under the passenger wiper blade. I noticed it today, 4/28/26 and the same thing happened in the beginning of April last year with the same…”
Visibility/wiper · filed Apr 28, 2026
“I have now had 4 windshields crack and break and need to be replaced. It seems like every time one little rock hits the windshield boom another full replacement is needed. Every time I go for a road trip this keeps happening the must be a defect with the design or type of glass used for the subaru impreza 2020 models.”
Visibility/wiper · filed Feb 2, 2026
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Technical service bulletins
399 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2020 Subaru Impreza. The 10 most recent:
This bulletin provides a procedure to address customer concerns of surface rust accumulating in the top center retaining nut area of the front strut mounts. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.
05-62-18R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 31, 2026
This Announcement provides diagnostic assistance for CVT issues.
SubaruNet Announcement (C · Other · issued Aug 21, 2026
This bulletin provides guidance when diagnosing chain slip, judder, shudder, and hesitation concerns on the TR580 model CVT transmissions used in the models listed.
16-158-26 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 20, 2026
This Service Information Bulletin announces the release of a new diagnostic assistance application for TR690 and TR580 CVT-equipped vehicles. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.
16-154-25R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 20, 2026
This Service Information Bulletin outlines a systematic procedure for diagnosing parasitic draw (dark/standby current) in vehicles experiencing battery drain when the ignition is off, leading to no-start conditions or…
15-308-23R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 20, 2026
This Bulletin provides updated diagnostic procedures to follow and a brief questionnaire to complete when diagnosing an alleged Chain Slip condition on the TR580 and TR690 model CVT transmissions used in the models…
16-132-20R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 20, 2026
This Bulletin has been developed to outline the steps for gathering basic but essential information during diagnosis of Infotainment concerns. (This is an revised version of the original bulletin.)
15-304-22R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 13, 2026
Techtips newsletter locator index.
Article Locator · Other · issued Aug 5, 2026
This bulletin contains illustrations of exchange components and their manufacturer as well as a description of the proper exchange procedure. This is an revised version of the original bulletin
15-333-25R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 1, 2026
This bulletin announces the design change made to the high-pressure fuel pump developed to prevent DTC P0087 (Fuel Rail/System Pressure – Too Low Bank 1). (This is an revised version of the original bulletin.)
09-123-24R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 28, 2026
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2020 Subaru Impreza has 1 NHTSA recall campaign — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2020 Subaru Impreza?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Among complaints with usable mileage, the median reported incident mileage was 7,000 miles. This does not predict when a particular vehicle will develop a problem.