Owners have filed 209 complaints on the Subaru SVX, covering 1992–1997. The system named most often is Power Train (158 reports). Worst years by volume: 1992, 1994, 1995; cleanest: 1993, 1996, 1997. 6 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 7.5 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Subaru SVX
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 209 SVX complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 158 Read
Transmission hesitated on highway and in reverse
While driving 100 mph transmission failed. Engine revved at a high rate. Then, vehicle lost power, and the consumer hit a wall. Vehicle was towed. The dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem
Constant problem with transmission. Had to be replaced with low original miles on it. Rear bearing failed. 4 times on rear pass side, 1 time on rear driver side. All fail at low miles on car. Under 60k, all highway miles
Suspension 19 Read
This is our third svx and all three have had wheel bearing failure
Rear wheel bearings failed
Rear wheel bearing malfunction
Service Brakes 6 Read
When driving in traffic and applying brakes extended stopping distance occurs intermittently. When driving at slow speeds the problem does not occur, dealer is not aware of the problem
Consumer experiencing excessive wear of the front brake rotors due to the type of materials used which is causing the brakes to wear offten. Consumer has contacted the dealer, dealer has replaced the rotors. Problem still occurs. Also, having problems with the engine smoking, dealer unable to determine the cause.…
Right rear caliper pin broke off
Steering 5 Read
I am requesting help to pressure suabru of america to recall this wide spread problem with the 1992 subaru svx. The trany problems that I have to date,the wheel bearing failure, steering box failure is a noted by most owners of this subaru model. This is costly to repair and unfair when a manufactor is aware but…
The transmission has failed twice. Once with the original one that I bought with the car, and again with the second won that I purchased. My power steering never quite works correctly. And I just waiting for the bearings to go bad, since everyone else that I know with the car has had their bearings go bad
Cd player failed
Vehicle Speed Control 4 Read
While driving and trying to stop the vehicle would not stop. Car went into a tree and stopped. Dealer is not aware of the incident or the problem
When you depress the accelerator in need of an emergency speed increase the car goes into neutral rather than going into a gear. An accident has not occurred yet, however I've had some rather dangerous situations that it would have been nice to not have the car fail to move in
Vehicle hesitates on acceleration. Takes 1-2 seconds for drivetrain to respond to acceleration and then vehicle takes off much quicker than anticipated. Happens from a stop or while moving, if veh is hot or cold and if it is dry or wet out. I feel this is a dangerous situation as veh lurches forward when proceeding…
Air Bags 3 Read
When vehicle was involved in a crash air bags failed to deploy properly. Both frontal air bags dribbled out about 5 seconds after impact. Vehicle was being repaired. Please provide any further information
Entering highway when air bags deployed. Passenger side bag broke windshield and rearview mirror. A transport restraining hook attached to a crossmember apparently hit the driveway ramp is being blamed for the deployment
False deployment of air bag when vehicle bumped garage.829213 dup of 539368; posted on 09-07-1999
Engine And Engine Cooling 3 Read
Engine short block/cam malfunctioned
ABS brakes failure light, engine oil seals, transmission failure. Transmission costs $3000-$4000. Mjs
The automatic transmission failed on my 1992 subaru svx at 88,000+ miles. Dealer serviced only and I was never advised by any dealer service representative or bulletin that I should bring my vehicle into the service department for maintenace prevention. I visited northpark suubaru in san antonio, tx. One week prior to…
Electrical System 3 Read
Started out with the alternator, and took out all electronics
Had just put key in ignition & started vehicle when the battery exploded under the hood, like a bomb
Consumer got in the car the alarm was off try to start car the alarm came on and lock consumer in the car, dealer had aready replaced the alarm kill the battery . Consumer states dealer repaired a loose wire that was shorting out the system causing all the problems, one loose wire was draining the battery which made…
SVX years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 1996 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 1995 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 1994 | Power Train | 1 | — | |
| 1993 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 1992 | Air Bags | 4 | 1 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 55 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.8 |
| Worst single series | 19 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.5 years |
A model average of 3.8 hides a worst series at 19. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the SVX?
By complaint volume, 1992, 1994, 1995 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which SVX years are the cleanest?
1993, 1996, 1997 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Subaru SVX have?
209 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1992–1997. Of those, 6 describe a crash and 1 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.