The thermo control valve lands on this year alone — and Subaru covers it for fifteen years, which makes this the best-protected Crosstrek in the range.

The item with no programme behind it. An owner reports the viscous coupling and centre differential failing on a car with under 40,000 miles, with the symptom being an inability to turn at low speeds, and describes the bill as 'a several thousand dollar repair that happens right after warranty.' That is a single complaint rather than a cluster, but the failure mode is easy to check and expensive to miss, and it sits in the drivetrain that is the whole reason to buy this car. The test costs nothing: on a dry, open surface, drive slow full-lock circles in both directions and listen and feel for binding, shuddering, hopping or clunking through the driveline. A healthy symmetrical all-wheel-drive Subaru does this smoothly.

Still here, and still stranding people. An owner writes: 'The DCM on our 2021 Subaru Crosstrek is causing a parasitic drain on the battery. It left us stranded several times. We replaced the battery twice in the past 15 months.' The DCM is the Data Communication Module, the telematics box behind Subaru's Starlink connected services, and it keeps drawing current after the car is switched off. Another owner needed a new battery two days after buying the car and was stranded at an airport within months. Subaru's telematics warranty extension in the Crosstrek bulletin record covers 2016 to 2018 cars, so it does not reach this one. Ask how many batteries the car has been through; if the answer is more than one, ask the dealer to measure dark current before you buy.

Recall 23V755, Subaru code WRQ-23, covers 2021 Crosstreks along with the 2022 Forester and 2021 to 2023 Legacy and Outback. An insufficient weld lets water into the inhibitor switch, the switch that tells the car which gear it is in, and the switch fails. The consequence is specific and easy to overlook: the reverse lights stop illuminating and the rearview camera image stops displaying when you select reverse — so nobody behind you knows you are backing up and you cannot see them. Dealers replace the switch free; letters went out in January 2024. One owner in this year's file complains that the recall had been issued but their car was not listed. Confirm it by VIN, and check the reverse lights and camera physically before you buy.

Applies solely to the Crosstrek Hybrid, the plug-in version. Recall 23V080, Subaru code WRD-23, covers 8,413 cars across the 2019 to 2022 model years: the harness terminal carrying low-voltage power from the converter to the 12-volt battery can corrode and break, the 12-volt battery then stops charging, and drive power can be lost. Dealers replace the converter terminal mounting bracket free, plus the 12-volt output harness and terminals if corrosion is found. A 2021 Crosstrek Hybrid owner in this year's file reports the fault returning after the recall repair at around 125,000 miles, with the inverter connector corroded again and the underbody wiring damaged by water, salt and sand. On a salt-belt car, inspect the underbody regardless of recall status.

Two smaller items with specific mileages. An owner had both front lower control-arm bushings found damaged at 48,840 miles, with the dealership citing a Subaru bulletin for cracking; another reports rear rotors delaminating at 33,000 miles. A second-generation problem review adds two more of the same character for this era: front sway-bar bushings that squeak on rough roads in cold weather, for which an upgraded bushing pair in a different material is available, and a rear driveshaft centre-support bearing that growls on cars regularly driven in mud or snow, for which an updated driveshaft with water-blocking flanges exists. None is a safety matter; all are worth using as price leverage and worth checking on a lift.

2021 is the first year the Crosstrek offered two engines: the 2.0-litre boxer that carries the range, and a 2.5-litre boxer worth 182 horsepower on the sportier trims — 30 more than the 2.0, per a used-buyers guide. Both are direct-injection engines, and the second-generation problem review flags one habit specific to the 2.5: carbon building up in the intake ports and around the intake valves, causing rough idle and hesitation under acceleration, with walnut blasting of the ports recommended roughly every 100,000 miles. Subaru's own bulletin record carries a matching procedure for removing accumulated carbon deposits from fuel injectors and internal engine components. On a higher-mileage 2.5, a rough idle is not automatically a fault — it may be carbon, and it is a maintenance job rather than a repair.