In March of 2009 I purchased a 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX with a manual transmission from the dealer. At that time the car had 580 miles on the odometer. After taking the car home I began immediately having problems when attempting to place the car in reverse and also noticed a foul odor when taking off and occasionally when switching gears. When I contacted the dealership I was told that these issues were normal for the WRX and that the "clutch smell" was common and nothing to worry about. At the first oil change I expressed concerns again and was told a similar story. I asked about the issue again over the next several months and then I took my car to a different Subaru dealership at the end of December 2009 for extensive maintenance and asked them to look at the clutch for me because I was noticing the "clutch smell" a lot and was now having problems shifting into reverse and first gear and the tachometer would jump around occasionally with no identifiable cause. I picked my car up on January 2, 2010 and was told that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the clutch and that my car was fine. On January 31, 2010 my clutch failed catastrophically leaving my vehicle disabled in the middle of a major interstate. There are only 22,000 miles on my car. It was towed to yet a third Subaru dealership and inspected by a representative of Subaru of America and I was told that my clutch would not be covered under warranty because it had been "misused" and I was informed that they felt I had been "launching" the car. This is absolutely inaccurate and a direct defamation of my character as I have never done any such thing in my vehicle. My car is used for my normal daily commute to work and long distance road trips. A brief internet search also found multiple case reports of other consumers with very similar complaints (clutches failing at very low mileage with Subaru of America blaming the consumer for the failure).

- Silver Spring, MD, USA