1998 Subaru Impreza Recalls

No recalls on record Updated July 2026

No NHTSA recalls on record for the 1998 Subaru Impreza. That means NHTSA has no open safety campaign for this vehicle — it does not guarantee the absence of problems. Owners have filed 55 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the suspension. Last updated July 5, 2026.

Complaints by component

SUSPENSION:MULTIPLE AXLE
8
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
7
POWER TRAIN:AXLE ASSEMBLY:AXLE SHAFT
4
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
4
POWER TRAIN:CLUTCH ASSEMBLY
3
AIR BAGS
2
POWER TRAIN:AXLE ASSEMBLY
2
SUSPENSION:FRONT:WHEEL BEARING
2
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
1
1crashes1injuries
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION
1
Total complaints55

What owners report

Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.

“Air bag recall and impending suit against air bag company”

AIR BAGS · reported 2016-09-01

“98 subaru impreza 2.5rs. I had the head gaskets replaced under warranty the first time . Around a year after that,the car over heated again. I had it towed to a auto repair shop that I worked at and had them test the car to see the problem. It was a blown head gasket again. They determined this by…”

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE · reported 2006-09-12

“1998 subaru impreza 53,000 miles and the auto tech at subaru says I have a piston slap, $2500.00 to pull engine and check this out. I have changed oil every 3,000 miles brought it in for the 30,000 mileage over all check up - what is up with this motor? *jb”

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE · reported 2004-06-17

“Intermittent failure/short of power to the main computer (ecu) at appox. 120k miles. Car would not start, no check-engine light. After waiting for tow truck, it starts and runs fine. Took to mechanic, and he says nothing wrong. Two weeks later, same thing. Hook up obd ii monitor and it says ecu…”

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION · reported 2004-06-04

“The engine kept overheating and air would appear in the radiator. Antifreeze would be pushed out of radiator and the heater would blow cold air. The car had to be shut off repeatedly and allowed to cool down and the antifreeze replaced. A check of the cooling system detected no leaks. We were took…”

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE · reported 2003-12-15

“This car needed replacement of both rear wheel bearings at slightly over 67,000 miles. No other subaru I have owned or heard of needed such repairs. My previous subaru had over 100,000 miles on it with no defects. The shop personel at the dealer said this was a problem with some other imprezas, as…”

UNKNOWN OR OTHER · reported 2003-09-15

“This car needed replacement of both rear wheel bearings at slightly over 67,000 miles. No other subaru I have owned or heard of needed such repairs. My previous subaru had over 100,000 miles on it with no defects. The shop personel at the dealer said this was a problem with some other imprezas, as…”

WHEELS · reported 2003-09-15

“The wheel bearings failed prematurely.*jb”

SUSPENSION:FRONT:WHEEL BEARING · reported 2003-02-26
Sources & methodology

Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1998 Subaru Impreza as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.