5th gear synchro replaced under warranty

**Soobvirgin** · 02-16-2013 01:44 PM

After buying my 2012 WRX in June of last year, straight away I thought the gearbox felt pretty terrible. 5th gear was always a little difficult to get into. I'd have to hold the stick there for a moment before it would slip in. But worse that that, for me, was the aggressive feeling of the clutch, which I likened to an on/off switch. It meant I simply couldn't make a smooth shift. I figured I'd give it a little time to see if things just needed to wear in, so didn't even mention it when I took the car in for its 3750 mile oil change.

But, by 7500 miles, nothing had changed. So I asked the service dept. to drive it when it was in for its oil change. They said the tech drove it and definitely felt a problem with 5th gear. No mention of the clutch engagement. So they said the tech would take a look when he had the car apart. They weren't able to look at it that day, so I made another appointment and dropped it off this past Monday. Got a call to say they were replacing the 5th gear sychro. When I asked about the clutch I was told the tech had driven the car again and felt something, but it was only intermittent. Picked it up today and... it feels exactly the same. So, we'll see if something needs to wear in or if this is just how it's going to be. But I've read a lot of complaints about the gearbox and clutch here and just assumed this was how the car was going to be (it may still be!). So I wanted to suggest to anyone who's not happy with their car to take it in to the dealer. At least that way if there's a problem or something breaks/wears out early, they can't claim you didn't tell them.