The car began making a loud squealing noise when the clutch was depressed, it stalled out 5 times in 11 blocks, and it started to smell. I stopped at the nearest mechanic to my work and they were nice enough to let me leave it there for the day even though they do not do clutch work. After numerous discussions with Subaru service, they finally seemed to agree to work with me and investigate why this happened. At first, they seemed to want to disregard the problem because I am a woman and they really made it sound like I was to blame (ie, bad driving). I explained to them over and over that my other car is a 15 year old manual jetta with the original clutch, so the problem is not bad driving. After much back and forth, Subaru paid for the entire replacement of the clutch and throwout bearing, as well as some hydraulic hoses and even the tow to the dealer. In the end, I was happy with the end result, but I really think that Subaru needs to own up and admit that something is wrong with the 2008 Impreza clutch.

- Collingswood, NJ, USA

This car is a lemon. I previously owned 2 Subaru (both used), that I had virtually zero problems with, then bought this new from apple Subaru in york, pa. It has experienced problems before it even hit 50,000 miles. The tranny they replaced under warranty; but it took them 3 weeks to do so, and only completed job when they needed the loaner car back within 24 hours. Less than 6,000 miles later, on christmas eve, the clutch throw out bearing failed, I had to pay for towing to and from the dealership. They called ON12/26, and informed me that it would not be covered under warranty ( even though they easily could have rushed the tranny job and caused this), that it was a "wear point." When I heard $1700, asked to speak with the service mgr., who inferred that I was ignorant, and hung up on me! I have never replaced a clutch in nearly 40 years of driving manual transmission autos. Motor now taps at 69,000 mi.; needs replacement because one of the connecting rods is bent, and I am beginning to lose oil. Because of this, I am going to take a 50-75% reduction on the sale/trade value of this haunted vehicle. I am the third family member that Subaru has screwed, sure hope they treat their other loyal, decades-long customers better than they have treated us.

- York, PA, USA

A loud squeak is occurring when I press and release my clutch. I had my clutch replaced about 10K miles ago due to a seized throwout bearing. I brought it to the dealer, they lubed it all up but squeak is still there. The tech said the noise is actually coming from the bracket that is mounted to the firewall under the dash. After a few hours of research, I have found numerous posts about this issue and it lies with the welds holding the bracket being faulty and breaking. This causes the firewall to flex and the whole pedal assembly, clutch and brake, to move around while in operation.

- Huntsville, AL, USA

A loud squeak is occurring when I press and release my clutch. I had my clutch replaced about 10K miles ago due to a seized throwout bearing. I brought it to the dealer, they lubed it all up but squeak is still there. The tech said the noise is actually coming from the bracket that is mounted to the firewall under the dash. After a few hours of research, I have found numerous posts about this issue and it lies with the welds holding the bracket being faulty and breaking. This causes the firewall to flex and your whole pedal assembly, clutch and brake, to move around while in operation.

- Huntsville, AL, USA

I bought my car used, 38 months old and 33,000 miles, and noticed the clutch was very hard to press down. I thought since its a performance driven car, that's just the way it was. After driving for about 3000 miles I was shifting from 1st to 2nd and when I pressed in the clutch there was a loud pop. The throwout bearing seized and completely disabled the clutch assembly. I was told that the throwout bearing wasn't sliding all the way out so the clutch was always somewhat engaged and this is what caused the failure. They said everything needed to be replaced; throwout bearing, clutch plate, pressure plate, and flywheel.

- Huntsville, AL, USA

I bought used 11/2009 with approximately 27,000 miles. The clutch was always very stiff which I assumed was normal. Shortly after purchase I began to notice a squeak when I depressed the clutch. The squeak was fairly intermittent but became progressively worse for a time and then turned into a clicking noise. It was frequent enough to be annoying but I just assumed the clutch assembly was squeaky and there was no other problem. Over the last few months I have been having more and more difficulty engaging the clutch and assumed that I needed a new one. I took the car into a mechanic to replace the clutch but was turned away because of what he found: When the clutch pedal is depressed, it, along with the brake pedal, move to the left and forward. Furthermore, the slave cylinder inside the engine compartment moves out and up when the clutch pedal is depressed. After doing some research online I have found that this is not an uncommon problem for the Subaru clutch assembly, though no recall has be initiated. What happens is that the welds on the firewall break, causing the abnormal movement of the clutch and brake pedals and even a warping of the firewall, not allowing the clutch to disengage.

- El Cajon, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX. The contact stated that he experienced difficulty shifting gears at various speeds. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the clutch assembly broke loose from its weld. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to take the vehicle to an authorized dealer. The failure mileage was 130,000.

- Arlington, TX, USA

Vehicle started with a noise in the clutch pedal. Went away with lubricant. Then began to make a clicking sound and the clutch and brake both started to move as I depressed the clutch. The shifting of gears became difficult from the start of reverse or first gear. Then it be came real loose I had a mechanic look into it and mentioned that a weld has broken and did not recommend him fix but to have the dealer take a look at it because its a safety issue and if it breaks completely that it may cause the car to be unable to stop. So I took it to the dealer and mentioned it was out of warranty. But they will look at it. Currently they mentioned they cannot fix it under warranty so currently I cannot afford to get it resolved so im unable to drive the car.

- San Jose, CA, USA

Welds on clutch pedal assembly failed causing poor clutch feel and excessive noise. There are several spot welds on the assembly the clutch pedal mounts to which attach it to the firewall. Some of these welds broke and now give the car an unusual feeling response to the pressing of the clutch. In addition there is now excessive noise from the clutch assembly that is persistent. With some of the welds no longer functioning the clutch assembly is no longer adequately secured to the firewall and there is a risk the remaining welds could break. This would cause complete clutch failure possibly during use on the road. With a sub-par connection to the firewall now there is noticeable bending and flexing of the firewall inside the engine compartment near the clutch cylinder and the brake master cylinder. The flexing of the firewall could eventually impact the ability of the brake master cylinder to performance at top performance or possibly fail.

- Summerville, SC, USA

The pedal assembly of my vehicle has disconnected from my firewall due to faulty welds. My clutch and brake pedals now have an unsafe amount of play and is causing issues with braking and disengaging my clutch. Subaru of America refused to repair the problem with my car.

- Littleton, CO, USA

Loud groaning noise coming from clutch pedal each time pedal is depressed to shift the car. On closer inspection of the noise come to find out that the entire (clutch and brake) pedal assembly is flexing and the firewall of the car is deflecting each time the pedal is actuated. Looking at how the pedal assembly is attached to the vehicle believe that with enough cycles the pedal assembly could become displaced due to failure of the pedal assembly. While my vehicle has high mileage this is due to long distance travel for work. An owner living in an urban area may have a higher duty cycle with the pedals and experience issues sooner.

- Birdsboro , PA, USA