2022 Subaru Impreza

Naturally aspirated 2.0L flat-four is the sole engine across the 2022 Impreza lineup (Base, Premium, Sport, Limited) in both sedan and 5-Door body styles; no turbo or hybrid option this year.

Same 2.0L FB20 engine and torque figure across every 2022 Impreza trim and both body styles.

Modest output and a CVT tuned for economy over speed put the Impreza near the bottom of the segment's acceleration range.

The FB20 boxer is smooth at low load but becomes coarse and vocal under hard acceleration, and the CVT lets revs flare during highway passing; adequate but unremarkable delivery for daily driving.

Subaru's Lineartronic CVT uses stepped 'shift' logic to mimic a conventional automatic and avoids the worst of classic CVT drone, but still hunts and holds high revs under sustained acceleration; the optional 5-speed manual on base trims is precise but slow-shifting by segment standards.

Subaru's Symmetrical AWD is standard on every 2022 Impreza trim and both body styles and both transmissions — a segment differentiator versus FWD-only rivals like the Corolla and Civic hatchbacks — but it is a basic full-time system with no low-range, torque-vectoring, or terrain-mode hardware.

A single naturally aspirated 2.0L engine across the entire 2022 Impreza range, with only a manual-vs-CVT choice on lower trims — no turbo, hybrid, or PHEV variant (those live on other Subaru nameplates).

EPA combined rating for the volume 5-Door CVT trim; all trims run the same 2.0L engine with standard AWD, so the spread across trims/body styles is narrow.

EPA city figure for the volume 5-Door CVT trim.

EPA highway figure for the volume 5-Door CVT trim.

Standard-issue compact fuel tank limits range despite decent MPG; every AWD Impreza trim shares the same 13.2-gallon tank.

EPA's standard annual cost estimate for the volume 5-Door CVT trim at 31 MPG combined on regular gas.

The Impreza's 2.0L engine runs on regular unleaded across every trim, with no premium recommendation despite standard AWD.

NHTSA's full 5-star overall rating with 5 stars in every sub-category (frontal, side, rollover) for the 2022 Impreza AWD, both 4-door sedan and 5-door hatchback body styles.

The 2022 Impreza 5-door earned IIHS Top Safety Pick (not the higher TSP+) for its 15th consecutive year. Crashworthiness is Good across small overlap front (both sides), moderate overlap front, original-protocol side, roof strength and head restraints, but the tougher updated side test drops to Poor. Headlights are Good only on the Limited's LED projector units; Base/Premium/Sport (the volume trims) carry halogen reflector headlights rated Marginal, which is why the award falls short of TSP+.

EyeSight (forward AEB, adaptive cruise, lane keep assist, lane departure/sway warning, lead vehicle start alert) is standard on every trim equipped with the Lineartronic CVT, which covers the Premium volume trim, but is entirely absent on manual-transmission Base/Sport builds. Blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert are optional on Base/Premium/Sport and standard only on the range-topping Limited.

IIHS rated EyeSight's front crash prevention Superior for vehicle-to-vehicle (avoided collisions at both 12 and 25 mph) and Superior for daytime pedestrian detection (avoided the child-crossing test, reduced adult-crossing impact speed). No nighttime pedestrian result was published for this test cycle, keeping the score just under the top band.

Blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert are alert-only add-on options on the Base, Premium and Sport trims and become standard only on the Limited 5-door. Since the volume Premium trim treats this as an optional package rather than standard equipment, coverage lands at the low end.

The Impreza's EyeSight suite offers lane departure warning and a corrective lane-keep assist/sway warning rather than true continuous lane centering — unlike the Gen 4 EyeSight fitted to 2022 Forester/Outback/Legacy/Ascent, the Impreza's camera-based system nudges the car back toward center rather than holding a smooth centered line.

EyeSight's adaptive cruise control operates across the full speed range down to a complete stop on CVT-equipped trims, but Subaru's own documentation cautions it is intended for highway/expressway use rather than stop-and-go city traffic, and it isn't paired with a more advanced highway-assist mode.

The 2022 Impreza offers no hands-free highway driving system (no BlueCruise/Super Cruise/FSD-supervised equivalent) at any trim; EyeSight's lane keep assist requires hands on the wheel at all times.

IIHS rated the Limited's curve-adaptive LED projector headlights Good, but the Base, Premium and Sport trims — the volume of the lineup — use halogen reflector headlights rated Marginal, without adaptive or high-beam-assist features.

Consumer Reports named the Impreza among the best-in-class for outward visibility in the compact-car/hatchback segment, citing thin pillars and a low beltline that give the driver excellent natural sightlines with no reliance on camera compensation.

IIHS gave the 2022 Impreza's LATCH system a Good+ rating, its top ease-of-use tier, reflecting easily located lower anchors and tether hardware and workable clearance for installing car seats in the rear seat.

Standard 5-passenger seating across every 2022 Impreza 5-Door trim (Base, Premium, Sport, Limited) — no 4- or 6-seat configuration is offered.

Front headroom figure for the 5-Door is consistent across independent spec aggregators for the 2022 model year.

Front legroom figure agrees across two independent spec sources for the 2022 5-Door.

Rear headroom is corroborated by two sources within a few tenths of an inch of each other (37.2 in and a rounded 37 in) for the 2022 5-Door; neither is a directly-fetched primary Subaru document.

Rear legroom is on the tight side for the compact-hatchback class — a known Impreza compromise reviewers cite when comparing rear-seat space to the Corolla Hatchback and Civic Hatchback.

This is the 5-Door hatchback's cargo figure specifically (distinct from the 12.3 cu ft sedan trunk some aggregators list) — a genuine strength versus most compact-hatchback rivals.

The Impreza offers unremarkable but adequate storage for the class: a modest center console box, door pockets sized for the compact segment, and no standout innovation like a giga-console or onboard power outlets.

Reviews describe the Impreza's seats as supportive and adequate for daily use without being singled out for long-haul comfort; the Sport trim's firmer bolstering trades some everyday comfort for lateral support, but the Premium volume trim keeps the softer, more accommodating base seats.

Reviewers consistently praise the standard-suspension Impreza's ride/handling balance as 'near-perfect' for the class, with well-controlled body motions over broken pavement; the harsher, thinner-sidewall Sport-trim setup is explicitly called out as transmitting more road harshness, but that isn't the volume Premium configuration.

At cruise the cabin is reasonably hushed, but the CVT lets the FB20 boxer flare and drone under harder throttle — a consistently cited noise complaint that keeps overall quietness at only average for the segment.

The volume Premium CVT trim carries the All-Weather Package as standard equipment — heated front seats, heated exterior mirrors, and a heated windshield wiper de-icer — a meaningful step up from the Base trim, which lacks it. No rear-seat climate vents, heated steering wheel, ventilated seats, or remote pre-conditioning are offered at any trim.

The entry point to the 2022 Impreza hatchback is the Base 5-door with the 5-speed manual at $19,295, landing at $20,255 with the $960 destination charge — one of the cheapest ways into a new all-wheel-drive car in the US and well below the bottom of the compact-hatch pricing band. 2022 is the last model year before the across-the-board $550 increase that hit every 2023 trim.

The Premium 5-door with the Lineartronic CVT is the volume configuration: it is the cheapest trim that carries EyeSight as standard equipment (standard on all CVT models for 2022) plus the All-Weather Package (heated front seats, heated mirrors, heated windshield wiper de-icer), SI-DRIVE, fog lights and STARLINK Safety and Security, for $1,400 over the Base CVT. The one option package on this trim — power moonroof, blind-spot detection with rear cross-traffic alert, keyless access with push-button start, power driver's seat — adds $1,970 to reach $25,625.

Subaru's 6-month/6,000-mile service interval means roughly twice as many dealer visits over five years as a Corolla or Civic on their 10,000-mile schedules, and CVT fluid plus 30,000-mile coolant/brake-fluid services all fall inside the window — that cadence, not repair frequency, is what puts the Impreza above the compact-hatch norm. The FB20 boxer and TR580 CVT in this fifth-generation car have a settled record by 2022, and the 3-year/36,000-mile basic plus 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain terms absorb most component failures, so the figure is overwhelmingly scheduled maintenance and wear items.

Standard all-wheel drive, Subaru's limited fleet exposure, and the historically elevated used-car values that persisted through the chip-shortage years keep the Impreza well ahead of the compact-car depreciation average. Estimates cluster from the high-50s to high-60s depending on methodology; the dollar-based Edmunds figure against the volume-trim sticker is the more conservative anchor and lands closest to the mid-to-high 50s the adjacent model years use.

Subaru's bumper-to-bumper coverage on the 2022 Impreza is the industry-baseline 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first — level with the Corolla Hatchback and Civic, and half the 5-year/60,000-mile basic term Hyundai and Kia put on their compacts.

The 2.0-liter boxer, Lineartronic CVT and symmetrical all-wheel-drive hardware are covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles — the segment floor, against the 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain terms on the Elantra and Forte. Rust perforation is the one term where Subaru beats the norm, at 5 years with no mileage cap.

Subaru includes no complimentary scheduled maintenance in the US, so every one of those 6,000-mile services is out of pocket from the first one — where ToyotaCare covers 2 years/25,000 miles on the rival Corolla Hatchback and Honda includes two years of service on the Civic. What the 2022 Impreza offers instead is 3-year/36,000-mile roadside assistance across the range plus a STARLINK Safety Plus subscription, and those connected services are standard only from Premium up — the Base trim goes without — which lands it in the middle of the band.

$23,655 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (59% retained, or about $13,956) leaves about $9,699 in depreciation. Add the projected $4,200 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $13,899 in total.

2022 is a pure carryover — the sixth model year of the fifth-generation (GK/GT) Impreza, with no mechanical or trim changes beyond a new Sapphire Blue Pearl color and the Limited trim becoming hatchback-exclusive — so forecasters are rating fully shaken-down hardware. J.D. Power's own page for this model year puts predicted reliability at 80/100, the upper half of its 70–80 "Average" band, and Consumer Reports separately calls it about average reliability compared with other cars of the same model year. Neither source claims a top-tier result, which is why this sits in the same average-but-solid place as the following year rather than higher.

The surveys contemporary with this exact ownership window are mid-pack-to-soft for the brand, not yet the top-five standing Subaru would reach a couple of cycles later. Consumer Reports' 2022 Annual Auto Reliability Survey (published November 2022, covering owner experience with recent-vintage vehicles including MY2022) had Subaru 7th of 24 brands, down one spot from 2021 — above average but outside the top five, marked down for transmission complaints across the range. J.D. Power's 2022 U.S. Initial Quality Study, the worst industry-wide IQS result in decades, put Subaru at 191 PP100 against a 180 PP100 average, worse than the brand's own 182 PP100 the year before. And the J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study that actually samples 2022-model-year cars (fielded three years later, in 2025) found Subaru at 212 PP100 versus a 202 PP100 industry average — again a step below the norm. All three land the brand mid-pack-or-worse for cars built in this window.

NHTSA's own recallsByVehicle query for the 2022 Impreza returns exactly one campaign: 22V712000, an incorrect paint clearcoat that weakened the windshield-to-body bond on a small build slice shared with the 2022 Outback, remedied by a vehicle exchange or repurchase rather than a component fix — small in scope (CarComplaints lists 42 units) though not trivial in consequence. The separate WRG-22 headlamp-reflector campaign (NHTSA 22V624) that surfaces in a keyword search of the same period is explicitly scoped to 2017-2019 Impreza production and does not touch the 2022 car. One narrow, non-powertrain campaign on a mature carryover year is a clean record; it isn't a perfect one only because a bonding defect carries real crash-risk language even at low volume.

The 2.0-litre FB20D boxer four paired with the Lineartronic CVT had been in this exact application since the fifth generation launched for 2017, so by 2022 it is a six-year-proven installation of an engine family that has run since 2011 without the head-gasket epidemic that dogged the older EJ series — roughly 200,000 miles is the commonly cited service life. Direct injection brings the usual carry-ons (intake-valve carbon accumulation, a timing chain and tensioner that punish stretched oil intervals), and the real ceiling on longevity is the Lineartronic CVT: independent shops still cite a 120,000-150,000-mile common failure window, though the current TR580-family unit fitted here is materially improved over the 2010-2015 boxes that drew Subaru's warranty extension. Base and Sport trims still offer a five-speed manual as an escape from the CVT, but the CVT is what the volume Premium buyer gets.

Reviews of this exact model year are more forgiving than later coverage of the same unchanged cabin: U.S. News credits the 2022 car with soft-touch plastics, cushy armrests and "impressive fit and finish," while still noting it isn't the class leader, especially at lower trims. Edmunds is cooler, describing the cabin as functional with clear, easy-to-use controls but nothing that helps it stand out against small-sedan/hatch rivals, and no feature content that's class-leading. Splitting the difference between a generally competent, occasionally soft-touch cabin and reviewers who stop short of calling it upscale lands this mid-band — ahead of "cheap-feeling and criticized" but short of class-leading materials for the price.

By the sixth year of the generation, the Subaru of Indiana Automotive line in Lafayette building this car had the process well settled, and U.S. News explicitly cites "impressive fit and finish" for the 2022 model rather than flagging assembly complaints. It is held out of the top band by two things contemporary with this exact ownership window: the year's one recall is itself an assembly/coating defect (incorrect paint clearcoat weakening the windshield bond), and the brand-wide J.D. Power Initial Quality Study for 2022 came in below the industry average (191 vs. 180 PP100) during the worst industry-wide IQS year in decades — a period signal that initial-assembly quality was under pressure fleet-wide, Subaru included, even though nothing in the Impreza's own owner-reported trouble spots points to rattles or panel-gap complaints as a pattern.

The J.D. Power Customer Service Index study that directly samples this ownership window — 64,248 owners and lessees of 2020-2022 model-year vehicles — ranks Subaru highest of all mass-market car brands for dealer service satisfaction, ahead of Mazda and Honda. What keeps it off the top of the band is network reach rather than experience: roughly 600-630 US retailers in this period is about half Toyota's footprint and a fraction of Chevrolet's, concentrated in the Northeast, Pacific Northwest and mountain states, leaving longer drives to a dealer for Sun Belt and Plains owners.

OEM supply is not the constraint: the Impreza shares its FB20 engine, Lineartronic CVT and Subaru Global Platform with the far higher-volume Crosstrek and Forester, so mechanical parts move in quantity, and the year's sole recall was remedied without a parts shortage. Running cost is the weak spot RepairPal quantifies directly: $653 a year in repairs and maintenance against a $526 compact-car average, with a 17% probability that any given repair is major versus 11% for the class, even though the frequency of unscheduled shop visits matches the class norm — boxer-plus-AWD service (opposed cylinder banks, a four-wheel driveline, matched-tire requirements) is inherently costlier to labor than a transverse front-drive Civic or Corolla. The enthusiast aftermarket is real through the WRX but small next to those two rivals' aftermarket scale.

The volume Premium trim carries the smaller of the two STARLINK touchscreens; only the Sport and Limited trims step up to the 8-inch unit. 6.5 in sits below the segment normalization floor.

The base STARLINK 6.5-inch system on the volume trim is widely characterized by reviewers as small, dated-feeling, and slower to respond than rivals' infotainment stacks of this era.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard across the 2022 Impreza lineup, but only via a wired USB connection — Subaru's STARLINK system did not gain wireless phone projection until the redesigned 2023 system. No 2022 trim, including the top Limited, offers wireless projection.

The Premium trim's base STARLINK system has only rudimentary built-in voice commands and no embedded native navigation — a TomTom app-based navigation feature is offered solely as part of the Sport/Limited Multimedia Nav Plus package, so most Premium buyers rely entirely on phone-projected maps and voice assistants.

The Premium trim runs Subaru's standard multi-speaker audio system; the Harman Kardon premium audio upgrade is reserved for the Sport and Limited trims, so the volume-trim buyer gets an adequate but unremarkable factory system.

The fifth-generation (GK/GT) Impreza retains analog gauges with a small monochrome multi-information display at every trim through 2022; a configurable full-digital cluster did not arrive on this nameplate until the 2024 redesign.

The 2022-generation STARLINK system has no meaningful over-the-air update capability — no whole-vehicle software updates and no over-the-air map refresh comparable to more connected rivals of this era.

STARLINK Safety and Security (the MySubaru app tier with remote lock/unlock, vehicle locate, and automatic collision notification) is standard on Premium and above but absent on Base — functional core remote features, though historically subscription-gated after an initial trial and without a digital-key feature.

The 2022 Impreza offers no factory wireless phone charging pad at any trim — Subaru's genuine wireless-charger accessory for this nameplate is listed only for the 2024+ model years — and USB provisioning is limited to a small number of USB-A ports up front with none for rear passengers on the volume trim.

Keyless access with push-button start is not standard on the volume Premium trim — it is bundled only into Premium's optional $1,970 package (alongside the power moonroof and blind-spot detection) — so the base Premium buyer uses a traditional key. No phone-as-key feature exists on this generation.

A standard-definition rear-view camera is included across the lineup, but the Impreza offers no 360-degree surround view or factory front/side parking sensors at any trim, even the range-topping Limited.

No head-up display is offered on the 2022 Impreza at any trim level.

LATCH hardware is rated Good+ by IIHS — easily located anchors and workable installation clearance for car seats — and the hatchback's rear doors and 20.8-cu-ft cargo area handle stroller/gear duty reasonably well, but 36.5 in of rear legroom is tight once a rear-facing seat is installed, a real compromise versus larger family cars.

The Impreza earns a full 5-star NHTSA overall rating and IIHS Top Safety Pick with EyeSight (forward AEB, adaptive cruise, lane keep) standard on the CVT-equipped volume Premium trim — a strong baseline. It falls short of Top Safety Pick+ specifically because the family-friendly Premium trim uses Marginal-rated halogen headlights (LED is Limited-only) and blind-spot/rear-cross-traffic monitoring is a paid option rather than standard on Premium.

Rear-seat space (37.2 in headroom, 36.5 in legroom) is on the tight side for multi-hour trips with growing kids, and the Premium volume trim has no rear climate vents or rear-seat entertainment; the hatchback's genuinely useful cargo capacity is the main compensating factor.

Best-in-class outward visibility, standard adaptive cruise via EyeSight, and a CVT tuned for smooth low-speed behavior make the Impreza relaxed in traffic; the underpowered 152-hp engine is a daily annoyance mainly on highway merges rather than in typical stop-and-go commuting.

31 MPG combined on regular unleaded is mid-pack for the class — standard AWD costs the Impreza several MPG versus FWD-only compact-hatch rivals that reach the mid-to-high 30s — and RepairPal pegs annual repair/maintenance cost at $653 versus a $526 compact-class average, driven by Subaru's 6-month/6,000-mile service interval.

The 5-Door's compact 182-inch length and standard rear camera make it manageable in the city, though its 35.4-ft turning circle is mid-pack rather than class-tightest for a subcompact-adjacent hatchback footprint.

The Impreza publishes no tow rating and offers modest cargo capacity (20.8/55.3 cu ft) — it is a passenger compact car with no work-oriented configuration, payload spec, or towing package at any trim.

The FB20 boxer/Lineartronic CVT combination has a settled, roughly 200,000-mile reputation by 2022 and standard AWD adds traction for rough-terrain access, but the Impreza is not marketed, trimmed, or interior-equipped for fleet or jobsite abuse the way a truck or commercial van is.

No onboard power outlets, tie-down provisions, or upfit/rack ecosystem exist for the Impreza hatchback — it has essentially no jobsite-oriented feature set.

A 409-mile EPA-estimated range and standard EyeSight adaptive cruise support highway touring, but engine drone under load and only average cabin quietness at speed cap the mile-eating experience below best-in-class.

Standard Symmetrical AWD on every 2022 Impreza trim is a genuine differentiator versus FWD-only rivals like the Corolla and Civic hatchbacks, giving it real light off-pavement and foul-weather usefulness for a compact car, though it lacks a truck-like ground-clearance advantage or low-range hardware.

60/40 split-fold rear seats and 20.8/55.3 cu ft of cargo space (behind seats / seats folded) give the hatchback genuine gear-hauling flexibility for the class, though roof rails for external gear are not confirmed standard on the volume Premium trim.

Reviewers describe the standard-suspension Impreza's cornering composure and body control as genuinely composed for the class, with 'quick steering' adding an extra sense of verve — but it is deliberately tuned for security and comfort over on-the-edge grip limits, so it doesn't reach the top of the class the way the Sport-oriented hot hatches in this segment set do.

Reviews are split: some praise the electric power steering as 'direct' and 'responsive,' while others note feedback to the driver is minimal — a common characterization of Subaru's EPS tuning of this era, landing it as precise but not particularly communicative.

No instrumented stopping-distance figures or specific brake-feel complaints surfaced in research for this model year; absent any negative signal, this is scored at a typical, unremarkable level for the compact-hatchback class.

The FB20 boxer is smooth and unobtrusive at light throttle and cruise, but drivability suffers under harder acceleration as the CVT holds revs high and the engine turns coarse — consistent with this vehicle's powertrain-category finding that refinement is 'adequate but unremarkable.'

The boxer engine's noise character is pleasant enough at idle and cruise, but full-throttle acceleration produces a persistent CVT-abetted drone that reviewers consistently flag as a weak point.

Turning diameter is corroborated across multiple independent 2022 Impreza spec sources and is unchanged across trims.

Consumer Reports rates the Impreza best-in-class among compact cars for outward visibility, thanks to thin pillars and a low beltline that give a clear driving sightline without leaning on camera compensation — a direct, load-bearing ergonomics advantage.

Reviewers are explicit that the base Impreza 'isn't sporty, in any sense of the word' — its suspension favors comfort and its engine is among the weakest in class for acceleration — though the genuinely balanced chassis keeps it from feeling appliance-like or unpleasant to drive.

The pitch is unanswerable at the price — symmetrical all-wheel drive standard on a $20,255 hatchback, and no rival supplies AWD at any price in the class — and EyeSight became standard on every CVT model for 2022, while the volume Premium bundles the All-Weather Package (heated front seats, heated mirrors, wiper de-icer), SI-DRIVE and fog lights for $23,655. But the equipment around the driveline is a generation behind: a 6.5-inch base screen where the Civic and Corolla were on 7–9-inch units, halogen headlights outside the new Limited trim, and single-zone manual climate below Premium. This is the sixth year of a 2017 car and the base spec shows it.

All-wheel drive, a 5-star NHTSA rating, Good marks in every IIHS frontal test and a Superior front crash prevention system for just over $20,000 — before the $550 price rise that hit every 2023 trim — is a genuinely hard package to price-match, and reviewers consistently credit the Impreza with costing less than most rivals. What the money does not buy holds it out of the top band: a 152-hp engine reviewers call underpowered and unrefined (0-60 in 9.4 seconds, near the bottom of the class), a 2017-vintage cabin, and fuel economy that trails front-drive competitors.

2022 is the year the lineup reached its widest US configuration: two body styles, a newly added Limited trim exclusive to the 5-door, and a 5-speed manual still offered on the Base sedan, Base 5-door and Sport 5-door alongside the CVT — a hatchback buyer picks from four trims, two transmissions and option packages. It falls short of the top band only because there is one engine and one drivetrain across the entire range, so the ladder is about equipment rather than capability.

2022 sits at the trough of an otherwise steady slide — around 30,800–32,300 US units, down roughly 7–11% from 2021 and less than half the 76,400 the Impreza sold in 2018 — compounded by the industry-wide chip shortage that constrained supply of every mainstream car that year. It rebounded 7.4% the following year on run-out pricing, which makes 2022 the low point rather than a stabilizing floor: a slow, declining seller in a shrinking segment.

Subaru carries one of the strongest owner-loyalty and brand-affinity records in the mainstream US market — standard all-wheel drive, a long safety-award streak and an outdoors identity that props up resale, all of which is a real halo for a $20,000 hatchback. The Impreza itself is the least aspirational car in the lineup, the entry point beneath the Crosstrek and Forester that carry most of the brand's image and nearly all of its growth, which keeps it out of the top band.

2022 was the peak of the semiconductor shortage: more than 80% of new-vehicle buyers nationwide paid at or above sticker price, dealer market adjustments of $5,000–$20,000 were common on popular models, and automakers largely abandoned rebates and incentive financing because supply couldn't meet demand. Subaru already runs one of the thinnest factory incentive programs in the mainstream market even in normal years, so on a constrained, still-desirable AWD hatchback 2022 buyers had essentially no negotiating leverage — squarely the bottom band.

This is the sixth model year of a generation that launched for 2017, with no facelift — the one running change is the addition of the Limited trim with LED headlights. Unlike the following model year, the sixth-generation replacement had not yet been revealed to the public for most of the 2022 selling season (the all-new 2024 car was shown in November 2022, near the tail end of MY2022 production), so 2022 buyers were not yet buying a car with a publicly known successor already on the way — an aging generation, but not yet one under the shadow of an announced redesign.

Reviews are respectful rather than enthusiastic and cluster in the upper-middle of the class: praise for standard AWD, a 5-star NHTSA rating and all-around safety, followed in every write-up by the same complaint about a slow, unrefined 152-hp powertrain. Unlike the following model year, 2022 did earn real award hardware — a Good result on IIHS's original side-impact test kept the LED-headlight Limited on Subaru's list of six 2022 Top Safety Pick winners, its 15th consecutive year of the award, even though the same car scored Poor on IIHS's newly introduced updated side test that would become the qualifying standard the following year.