Subaru has had a weird year with the WRX. The brand’s all-wheel drive, turbocharged performance sedan had its base trim axed at the end of 2024, leading to a huge increase in MSRP. For the past 12 months, the WRX—which is, at this point, a fairly outdated vehicle compared to its competition—was priced from $38,920 including destination—more than the Volkswagen GTI or the Hyundai Elantra N.
Coincidentally, the WRX had a pretty bad 2025, with sales falling over 41 percent year over year. Not terribly surprising, seeing as how you could get a whole Toyota GR Corolla—a much newer, more exciting vehicle to drive—for just $1,500 more.
Now, the base trim is back, which means the WRX is more than $5,000 cheaper than it was before. It’s priced more closely with the Civic Si, a car with fewer driven wheels and less horsepower. The WRX is a true value once again, and all feels right with the world.
Why Did The Base Trim Go Away In The First Place?
Subaru revealed in December 2024 that it would be dropping the base WRX because buyers were, for the most part, buying the more expensive trims anyway. Here’s what Subaru of America Car Line Planning Manager William Stokes had to say at the time:
Few buyers opted for the base trim level last year, while nearly half of all WRX buyers opt for features found on the Premium trim level, which is why it’s the entry point this year.
The WRX Premium, for those unfamiliar, is the next-highest trim level above the base car (and for all intents and purposes, was the base car for 2025). Notable features over the standard trim include heated front seats and exterior mirrors, LED fog lights, premium cloth upholstery, and a rear spoiler on the trunk.
Those extra features couldn’t help WRX sales from tumbling last year, from 18,587 cars in 2024 to just 10,930 cars in 2025—a decrease of 41.2%. For what it’s worth, Subaru claims the dip in sales was not due to slowing demand, but due to changes at the factory that lowered supply (at least in May and June). Here’s what the company told CarBuzz back in July:
Sales of the Subaru WRX were significantly lower in May and June compared with sales in March and April. The primary reason for this is a significant reduction in production and very low inventory levels. There are fewer than 500 units of WRX on the ground at the moment. The shift was made to increase Forester and Forester Hybrid production to meet demand for that carline, which currently has only a 25-day supply.
It’s also possible sales of the WRX have fallen because it’s just… kinda old. The current model is a significant refresh of the last-gen car, which came out all the way back in 2014. While the looks have changed and displacement from the turbocharged boxer-four has grown from 2.0 liters to 2.4, horsepower and performance have remained relatively consistent over the years.
The New Base WRX Is Actually Cheaper Than The Last Base WRX
In a world where even cheap cars are getting upsettingly expensive, the base WRX and its $33,690 starting price are deeply refreshing. Amazingly, despite the woes of inflation, the 2026 WRX is actually $165 cheaper than the 2024 model, despite having more features.
Specifically, the base WRX now gets push-button start and a dual-zone automatic climate control system as standard, two things that were previously unavailable on the base trim. The cheapest WRX also gets 18-inch alloys, 60/40 split-folding rear seats, LED headlights, and that gigantic 11.6-inch portrait-oriented infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There are cloth seats with red contrast stitching, which I actually prefer over leather.
My point is, this isn’t some featureless, stripped-out car. You still get a lot of useful stuff in the base WRX, and it represents an incredible value compared to the competition. Like every WRX, the base car gets a 2.4-liter turbocharged boxer-four making 271 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed manual is rightly the only available transmission in this trim. To get into a WRX with a continuously variable automatic transmission, you’ll have to jump all the way to the $41,190 Limited model. All-wheel drive is, of course, standard across the board.
If You Absolutely Need To Drop A Bunch Of Dough On A WRX, You Still Can
There are now six different WRX trims to choose from, with the upper end of the range on the pricey side. The GT model, which is only available with the CVT, starts at $46,190 and gets things like Recaro seats, a digital gauge cluster, and adaptive dampers. The tS takes things one step further, using STI-tuned adaptive dampers and adding drive modes, bigger brakes from Brembo, and 19-inch alloys wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza S007 summer tires. The tS is only available with a proper six-speed, and it’s priced identically to the GT.
If those shiny gold-painted Brembo calipers aren’t flashy enough for you, there’s also the $47,190 WRX Series.Yellow (yes, with a period in the middle). It’s basically a WRX tS underneath, except with a bright Sunrise Yellow paint job, matte black wheels, black badging, and a few yellow-themed interior touches.
While all of that sounds nice, if it were my money, I’d definitely stick with the base trim. Deliveries for the 2026 WRX start this spring, so if you’re in the market, keep an eye on dealer lots.
Top image: Subaru
Looks like they cut prices across the board. Premium and Limited are over $3k cheaper, GT and tS are $2710 less, so even if they hadn’t brought back the base the entry price would have been ~$35k with destination. Regardless of trim, the ~$37-38k entry was just too high, and they seem to have realized that if they’re going to move them. But I think a lot of it is as you say, it’s rather aged at this point.
I am the proud owner/operator of a base WRX. I had always dreamed of one after watching WRC Subies blasting down dirt roads.
Of course, I am a middle aged dude so I just use it as a daily commuter. An Impreza would probably be fine but they are very underpowered and I think they axed the manual. I would gladly get another base WRX.
I’ve said since this wet fart of a generation was unveiled that Subaru doesn’t want to make enthusiast cars anymore and is intentionally nerfing the WRX so they have an excuse to axe it. They’re over this shit. No matter what they do with the WRX the vapes and Brazzers memberships crowd will complain and they want to focus all of their resources on getting those sweet, sweet crossover bucks.
I’ve always liked the WRX and STI too, if you’re of a certain age they were pretty much THE cars for a while. But I really can’t understand buying one in 2026. Am Elantra N is around the same price, and while it isn’t all wheel drive it absolutely smokes the WRX in every performance metric, is also available in manual, and has a great automatic if you’d rather have that. A DCT vs a CVT in a performance car isn’t even up for discussion.
The GR Corolla is also right around the same price and better in pretty much every way…and also a hatchback! Also manual, also has an available auto that’s better than a CVT (although the general consensus is it still isn’t very good), and also all wheel drive. Both cars even get better gas mileage than the WRX even though the average shopper in this class doesn’t care.
Suffice to say, I guess if you get a fat discount on one of these (and to be fair, you can) that puts it right at or just under $30,000 they’re an appealing buy, but ultimately this is a car that the market has just kind of left behind, and I don’t think Subaru is all that upset about it.
I’m 47 and loved the original WRX, but even in my mid-20s, I was like “Not sure if I could DD this in respectable company.”
Around the same time, my dad grabbed a VW R32 and I had the opposite opinion — the tradeoffs in performance for the relative comfort and quiet seemed reasonable to me, doubly so today.
IMO if Subie wants the best of both worlds, the best solution is a new Forester XT. If we’re going to assume the WRX is dying on the vine, anyway, at least let its soul live on inside something that will sell well.
I’ve said this dozens of times, but I’d buy a fast Subaru wagon in a nanosecond.
I’m at peace with the lack of a manual in the WRX Wagon / Levorg, but if Subaru made a PHEV wagon with the 2.4 turbo it would be an instant purchase.
They’re still not painting the whole car though, eh?
The reduced price will certainly move the needle for a lot of folks, but it’s pretty long in the tooth and a nostalgia pick more than anything.
With how expensive cars have gotten, paint the whole damn body.
Or make the whole thing out of cladding and discount it by $3k!
Wildernough is Enough edition.
But without the cladding how would everyone know that it’s a tough outdoorsy car for hardcore rugged individualists like yourself?! And what if you hit a lamppost in the Target parking lot?!
I think they biffed it from the start on this one. The CVT is a miss, you can’t get the stick on the top dog, and the looks are questionable. The base model is great, but who knows how many of those will actually be on dealer lots once they start making them. Once you move up from the base, it’s competing with newer and nicer cars.
Didn’t realize Subaru was trying to move these with a $38K starting price. $33K seems much more appropriate. 19/26mpg on the EPA rating, though. Oink oink!
The bigger news to me is the GT trim. $48,000 + Recaro + See-Vee-Tee. Yuck. Who the hell is buying that expensive mess of contradictions? And they don’t call it a CVT on the site, they call it a “Subaru Performance Transmission”. That’s tacky.
This long time Subaru fan is sticking with his GR Corolla.