There are 5 stored owner reports matching the engine leading-label group for the 2019 Subaru Impreza in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 5 of 5 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)Owner’s manual calls for 87 octane fuel. Vehicle engine pings on anything less than 91 octane. Subaru should issue an update to prevent engine damage.
Low speed throttle application vehicle fails to respond. Does not happen all the time. A near collision almost happened while making a left hand turn with oncoming traffic. Has been happening repeatedly, usually within a parking lot.
While driving on highway, knee contacted key causing the ignition to turn off engine. Car began to decelerate. While care was still in drive, turned ignition switch on and engine returned.
When driving the vehicle the engine was not getting enough power and it was shifting oddly. I took it in and was told there was excessive carbon buildup on the heads, and there is not a good fix for the problem. Without having the engine torn apart this could of caused the car to not speed up properly or the engine to malfunction while driving the vehicle. This could have caused serious injuries to me or others on the road if the problem would not have been addressed. The vehicle was taken to the Subaru dealership, where the engine had to be taken apart and the heads had to be machined to get the carbon off. I was also told there was no preventative maintenance to avoid this problem. There were no warning lamps, lights, or other warnings to notify me of the problem other than the engine not having normal power when over 2000 RPM. It has also taken the dealership almost 3 months and counting to find and address the issue.
CAR CAUGHT FIRE ON THE MORNING OF SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 2020 WHILE STATIONARY IN A PARKING LOT. THE CAR HAD BEEN STATIONARY FOR APPROXIMATELY 12 HOURS. THE ATTENDING FIRE DEPARTMENT FELT THE FIRE STARTED IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT, AND CONSUMED THE ENTIRE CAR BY THE TIME IT WAS EXTINQUISHED. THE CAR WAS A TOTAL LOSS. THE CAR RAN PERFECTLY UNTIL THEN, AND HAD IT'S ROUTINE 1ST SERVICE BY A SUBARU DEALER AROUND 5,000 MILES. MORE PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.