2002 SUBARU WRX — Complaint #515562
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER:DELIVERY:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS filed January 5, 2005
NHTSA complaint #515562 (ODI reference 10105827) concerns a 2002 SUBARU WRX and was filed on January 5, 2005. The owner reports the failure occurred on January 5, 2005. The report was geocoded to Washington based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as fuel system, other:delivery:hoses, lines/piping, and fittings, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same SUBARU WRX cohort independently describe similar fuel system, other:delivery:hoses, lines/piping, and fittings failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2002 SUBARU WRX shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TODAY I STARTED MY CAR, IT WAS ABOUT 35 DEGREES OUTSIDE. AS I RELEASED THE EMERGENCY BRAKE AND TURNED UP THE HEAT, I SMELLED GASOLINE. THOUGHT IT WAS JUST BECUASE IT WAS SO COLD THAT THE FUEL DID NOT BURN ALL THE WAY. AT LUNCH I DROVE TO BURGER KING AND STILL SMELLED THE HORRIBLE FUMES. ON MY WAY HOME IT WAS STILL THERE AND I HAD TO HAVE THE HEAT ON BECAUSE IT WAS SO COLD OUT AND I WAS STUCK IN TRAFFIC. SO NEEDLESS TO SAY I HAVE A SPLITTING HEAD ACHE AND AM VERY FRUSTRATED AT THE INFORMATION I FOUND ON THE WEB. WITH THE MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS CAR COMPANIES MAKE YOU WOULD THINK THAT WHEN THERE IS A PROBLEM OF THIS MAGNATUDE THEY WOULD BE MORE THAN WILLING TO FIX THE PROBLEM. WHAT IF THE FUMES FROM THE GASOLINE HAD KNOCKED ME OUT WHILE I WAS DRIVING HOME AND RAN INTO SOMEONE AND KILLED THEM WOULD'NT IT BE CHEAPER TO BE PROACTIVE THAN REACTIVE?*AK
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 515562 |
| ODI Number | 10105827 |
| Date Filed | January 5, 2005 |
| Failure Date | January 5, 2005 |
| VIN | JF1GD29662G |
Similar FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER:DELIVERY:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS Complaints for 2002 SUBARU WRX
I HAVE THE FUEL LEAK PROBLEM COVERED IN RECALL NUMBER 09V468000 IN MY 2002 SUBARU IMPREZZA WRX BUT MY CAR IS REGISTERED IN CALIFORNIA AND APPEARS NOT TO BE COVERED. I CAN SMELL GAS AND SEE IT POOL ON
I HAVE THE FUEL LEAK/ SMELL ISSUE COVERED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 09V468000, NHTSA ACTION NUMBER: EA09011. I HAVE HAD THE PROBLEM FOR SEVERAL YEARS BUT IT APPEARS TO BE WORSE THIS WINTER IN THAT
I HAVE THE FUEL LEAK PROBLEM COVERED IN RECALL NUMBER 09V468000 IN MY 2002 SUBARU IMPREZZA WRX BUT MY CAR IS REGISTERED IN PENNSYLVANIA AND APPEARS NOT TO BE COVERED. I CAN SMELL GAS AND SEE IT POOL
THE CAR SEEMS TO HAVE A TEMPERATURE RELATED FUEL LEAK THAT ALWAYS OCCURS IN COOL OR COLD WEATHER AND MAKES NO DIFFERENCE IF THE ENGINE IS COLD OR WARM. THERE IS AN EXTREMELY STRONG FUEL ODOR IN THE PA
STRONG FUEL SMELL IN PASSENGER CABIN, TEMPERATUER WAS ABOUT 10 F. THIS SEEMS TO BE KNOWN PROBLEM, BUT I WISH TO ADD TO THE LIST. DEALER TOOK 2 WEEKS TO ORDER PARTS, AND IT WILL COST ME $475 DOLLARS
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.