2017 Subaru Impreza

The 2017 Subaru Impreza represents a notable inflection point in this generation's federal record, as complaints jumped to 125 from just 75 the prior year, recalls surged from 1 to 7, and TSBs climbed sharply from 349 to 551 — a pattern consistent with a major redesign introducing teething issues that Subaru would address over subsequent model years. The complaint arc continues upward from here, peaking at 191 complaints in 2019 before subsiding to 85 in 2020, which places the 2017 at the front end of a three-year deterioration rather than at a stable point. The top complaint areas — Exterior Lighting (30), Visibility/Wiper (18), Unknown or Other (13), and Electrical System (9) — alongside 10 crash complaints and 3 fire complaints suggest early-production quality concerns, though the data does not specify root causes. The 551 TSBs, the highest in the entire dataset at that point, indicate Subaru was actively issuing technical guidance to dealers, which is a double-edged signal: it confirms widespread issues but also means many were addressed under warranty or via service campaigns. For a used buyer, the takeaway is that 2017 is a first-year redesign with elevated risk — if you're set on this generation, a later year like 2018 or 2019 with the same issues at least benefits from more mature TSB coverage, but the 2017 specifically should be purchased only with thorough service records confirming that recall and TSB work was completed.