[WRX John]

I am not the first to note that their 2017 WRX has a warping problem with its passenger-side, top-of-dash speaker, next-to-the-A pillar. The "clips" that hold the speaker in place are cast in/integral with the grille (one can not just replace the clip or "modify" it to hold the grille in place), and the warping gets worse the hotter it gets. And this problem was already known to my Subaru dealer, their having already run into the identical issue with a new Forrester (second grille replacement problem in that one also), and in both cases, getting a new one from the factory did not solve the issue. Must be at least a batch of mis-manufactured parts. They are also only finding it on on the passenger side, regardless of whether it's the WRX or the Forrester, and all of them on the identical corner of that speaker grille alone. Issue might also be present on 2016's and/or other Subarus. Just communicated with Clint Kachnowski, Heuberger's Internet Sales Director, and yes, this issue has effected more cars than just the two of us who have posted on this forum.

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Interestingly, when they put the replacement grille in at the dealership yesterday, it only stuck up half as much as in the picture, but after I came back from dinner where it was sitting out in the 90 degree sun, the dash facing the southwest, it had warped more. The tech is thinking that the problem is not just that one corner's bad integral clip, but that the plastic grille itself may be cast in a "warped position." Either way, he took pics, filled a report and sent them to to Subaru of America.

 

[quality_sound]

Weird. My '17 is fine. It's about a month old and it gets hot as balls here. Hopefully they figured it out.


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[WRX John]

Glad yours is staying in its proper place. That gives me hope that this is not a Subaru design problem, but a supplier making a "bad batch."

Thank you quality_sound!

And this is my first thing that has been an issue (a VERY small one at that), and certainly has not dampened my enthusiasm for my car. I love this car!

 

[The Fast Life]

mine does that but its on the drivers side

 

[WRX John]

You are unique so far in having a driver side grill issue (or at least the first post I have seen of it). Sorry you are also experiencing this, and hopefully you are still on warranty.

 

[pizza_pablo]

I was sitting in a silver limited, that arrived at my local dealer, about 2 weeks ago and I noticed the passenger side dash grill looked just like the one pictured. I pressed on it and it just flexed and popped back up, after releasing pressure. I thought, "how did they miss that during receipt inspection?". Now I know how / why.
While a small issue, I'm pretty CDO and that lifted grill staring me in the face every day would be irritating. Hopefully they've figured it out, as my Limited is to arrive the last week of September.
Thanks, for the info, John!

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[quality_sound]

Is it just Limiteds or cars with HK that are having the issue?


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[pizza_pablo]

Is it just Limiteds or cars with HK that are having the issue?


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I would think all, in the range of the bad batch. The speaker grills themselves are the same, no matter the version of speaker, mounted underneath.

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[quality_sound]

I would agree that the grills are the same, but the drivers underneath may be placing different pressures on the grills.

 

[pizza_pablo]

I would agree that the grills are the same, but the drivers underneath may be placing different pressures on the grills.

Seems more like a manufacturing defect, but of coarse I could be completely incorrect.

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[gmorphanAt]

My passenger side speaker grill did the same thing on my 2016. The locking tab just wouldn't stay locked. My dealer ordered a replacement grill.

 

[pizza_pablo]

My passenger side speaker grill did the same thing on my 2016. The locking tab just wouldn't stay locked. My dealer ordered a replacement grill.

What date was the replacement ordered?
Did that fix it, once and for all?

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[gmorphanAt]

What date was the replacement ordered?
Did that fix it, once and for all?

The dealer ordered the replacement back in May and they called me the following week to come in.
They left me the old one and I think if you warm up the one locking tab and bend it out, it would probably lock and stay just fine.
It's just a molded poly part and some tabs probably take a bad set from the way they're packed before the factory installs them.

 

[mikester]

Subaru has a service bulletin out on this issue now. I just had mine replaced. Fits perfectly now and stays put.

 

[WRX John]

Mine was fixed last November after waiting four months for a revised/better-molded Subaru part and it has remained perfect ever since. However, most of us experiencing the problem in the first place noticed that it was hot weather that caused it to pop up. Hence, revised part or not, I will not declare the new part being a final fix until we get really hot weather (in fact a cycle of hots days, cooling nights, etc).