As much as I like an older enthusiast car with character, there’s still something alluring about a brand new set of wheels. Buying something with delivery mileage, you know it’s going to be safe and new and not have any picked boogers or crumbs in the footwells. Plus, it probably won’t go wrong for at least a few years, and even if it does, warranty coverage is there to help. However, why buy a boring new car when you can now finance a Subaru WRX at zero percent?
That’s right, Subaru’s sport compact car is getting discounted. We’re talking about a 271-horsepower turbocharged all-wheel-drive winter warrior with either a close-ratio six-speed manual transmission or, if you must, a CVT. Sure, the plastic-fantastic cladding is an acquired taste and the portrait-style infotainment system is occasionally as responsive as a PalmPilot, but throw a good set of winter tires on this thing, and it’ll get you where you need to go with a grin on your face.
For the most part, it’s an exceptionally well-calibrated car that’s delightful to row through the gears in. It shouldn’t be a surprise that discounts are relatively rare, so this subvented financing special isn’t something to sneeze at. Especially with a maximum zero-percent term length of 75 months. Over such a long period, you’d expect to save thousands of dollars in interest, but there’s a catch.
See, 2025 wasn’t a great year for WRX sales. Only 10,930 examples of this spicy sedan made it into American driveways, a decrease of 41.2 percent over 2025. Given how sales planning usually leans heavily on the volume of previous years, it shouldn’t be terribly surprising that there are a whole bunch of leftover 2025 models still on dealer lots in March. Some 257 from coast-to-coast, according to listings on Cars.com. As such, the zero-percent deal only applies to 2025 model year examples, as they need to move before 2026 WRX examples start to arrive. Especially because 2026 brings a value game-changer.
Back in late 2024, Subaru announced that it was discontinuing the cheapest base trim of the WRX for 2025. This meant that the least expensive WRX suddenly became the $36,920 WRX Premium, raising the barrier of entry by $3,065 over the base-model 2024 WRX. For 2026, the base trim is back with a sticker price of $33,690 including freight, while adding the previously-optional 11.6-inch portrait-style infotainment system—a significant usability upgrade over the dual-seven-inch screen setup of the 2024 base WRX. As such, a leftover 2025 WRX Premium isn’t going to be the cheapest way into a new WRX, even with the zero-percent financing deal.
Making matters more complicated, Subaru has also lowered the price of a 2026 WRX Premium by $3,730 over the 2025 model, and it doesn’t stop there. The 2026 WRX Limited is $3,110 cheaper than the 2025 model, the CVT-only 2026 WRX GT is $2,685 cheaper than the 2025 model, and the range-topping 2026 WRX tS is also $2,685 cheaper than the 2025 model. Simply put, just taking the finance savings on a leftover 2025 model might not get you the best deal on a new WRX.
However, it’s also worth noting that many of these leftover 2025 models have been on dealer lots for a long time, racking up interest charges due to the way dealerships finance their inventory. So, if you’re looking for a deal, the subvented financing can help level the playing field, while additional negotiation could make a leftover 2025 WRX worth it.
Top graphic image: Subaru
“See, 2025 wasn’t a great year for WRX sales. Only 10,930 examples of this spicy sedan made it into American driveways, a decrease of 41.2 percent over 2025.”
Did you mean “over 2024?”
I’m very much a potential target buyer for one of these but am struggling to get interested (currently own a 2005 Legacy GT wagon 5mt). On top of the controversial styling, you’re just not getting much car for your money with a WRX anymore, and Subaru has clearly slept on doing anything beyond the bare minimum with seemingly each generation trying less hard than the one it replaced. For not much more money I can get a GRC that has limited slip diffs and a bespoke engine instead of one that is shared with Outbacks and Ascents, as well as nicer brakes and a more sorted suspension and generally feels “special”. If you get into the TS trim you’re getting what arguably should’ve been the $36K Premium car but pushing over $45K for what is arguably still an inferior car to the GRC, outside of a nicer interior and even then I’d wager Toyota’s infocrapment is better than Subaru’s. And from the photos I saw the Base car everyone was lamenting had the cheapest and ugliest attempt at modern infotainment ever sold, between two crappy low res screens and a large gray plastic surround looked like something I’d expect in a Polaris.
The sad part is if they offered the Levorg here as a WRX wagon I’d probably still buy one in spite of the all the meh, and if the VA generation had been offered as a wagon I already would’ve bought one.
I’m with you.
I do not like Subarus, yet I keep buying them. I would grudgingly buy another if it checked the right boxes, but their cars are checking fewer of those boxes every time I shop.
What is the incentive to buy an older model for zero percent financing when the sticker for the new model is lower than what your are paying and saving on the old model?
Some of us remember when 0% financing wasn’t super rare. You could, and should, still haggle on the price, on top of getting that 0% financing.
You can also haggle on price for a new one. They may not be as flexible as they would on the leftover, but dealers know these things are not in high demand. They’d rather discount it now than come up with financing deals to clear it out in a year.
True, but if there are no big changes between those model years, buy the older one and save.
According to the article, there was no base model for ’25 but it came back for ’26. If you want a base, you’re already saving money over a leftover premium.
Other trim levels also have reduced pricing for ’26. I have no idea if there are any significant equipment changes for the new model.
I think there would be significant savings with having a 1 year old car in your local property taxes, and possibly insurance. I know every year the taxes I pay on my vehicles drop and the biggest change is the first few years.
Personally I would wait a few more years in the hopes that Subaru woke up and finally redesigned it by 2027 or 2028. But I know sometimes you just can’t push back that car purchase.
Tax savings here would be minimal (under $200) and only really in the first year.
I am past waiting for Subaru to get it right for me. They obviously found their market, it just doesn’t include me.
Make a boxy little wagon. Volvo isn’t doing it anymore. People (myself included) seem to want it. It can’t flop more than this version of the WRX.
I used to love them so much, but they almost ruined a nice car with horrible tech. The screen looks like some cheap touchscreen phone from Temu made for Seniors or Kids, lmfao!
It behaves like one too. The two screen setup they had before on the bottom trim was at least unique.
So much ranting about the current wrx from the middle aged engineers I know that bought them. Especially having to buy black because the cladding. And the it’s basically the last thing on the market like this. Subaru always seemed happy to sell them and keep inventory kind of tight. All the Subaru dealers seem flooded with everything desperately calling anyone they can probably some deals to be had on anything.
All the cladding reminds me of the “off-road” trucks they make now. Since when did PLASTIC = OFF-ROAD hahah
Probably because plastic hides scratches easier, versus painted plastic or metal. My ’26 Land Cruiser (a $70-something-K car) has a lot of it.
But I think Subaru just makes its cars gratuitously ugly on purpose. The only thing they sell that’s well-styled is the BRZ.
Plastic don’t rust.
No, but if poorly designed, it traps debris & moisture, promoting rust on the sheet metal underneath.
Yep. i.e. my Suzuki SX4. Holy crap was that cladding hiding a bunch of rot.
Same with my Vehicross. It looked like a decent project car until I removed the front cladding. Oof.
Plastic fades in sunny states pretty badly, though. Maybe better in new cars, but it’s just an eyesore after a few years, especially after a nice wash, to see washed-out plastic that isn’t quite black anymore.
Bless your heart, as the southerners say, for buying a brand new car. I really like the new Land Cruisers, though! If only they had some better clear coat that can protect against scratches better, I guess they have some clear vinyl, but I dunno it’s out of my league. The plastic is just so ugly, and in sunny states, it looks worse from the sun after not too long.
They look like the plastic fender flares you get to hide your rust on your old truck . I blame those because they are the only ones going off road anyway. Maybe the rapor too but they tend to end up in ditches more then off road. The back is something else. They could have at least paint matched that. Like they do with most of their other models.
I think they’re kinda fine styling wise, the main killer for me is the lack of a hatchback. Would have considered one when I bought my GRC if they existed.
Agreed on the styling. Do I love it? No. Do I hate it? Also no. Find one in a fun color, slap a matching wing on it, and enjoy!
Me with prior ’02 WRX and ’01 2.5RS before that, now in a new(ish) ’23 GR Corolla.
I just can’t with the plastic cladding, otherwise the WRX checks a lot of boxes as it always has.
I know 3 people that bought the current generation.
1 bought the dark gray so the cladding is hidden
1 wanted a dark gray but couldn’t find one on the lot so ended up with dark blue
1 got red so it was different than his old STI
I don’t know when I’ll be in the market, but I hope at that time I can either get a hatchback or a more scantily clad one. Ideally both.
It’s funny to try to match your car color to the cladding so that the cladding is less visible LOL! We kinda did that with my wife’s CUV. We both liked the black anyway, but agreed it had the added benefit of making the stupid cladding less visible.
There are actually a couple people in the office who’ve recently picked up a leftover WRX 6MT. All of whom rant/rave like Miata owners (or vegans / crossfit people) to espouse how much they love them.
I’m holding out until the bring back the hatch.
I have a ’23 and it’s fantastic. The FA24 engine has a great, flat torque that makes it easy and fun to drive.
If you wait on the hatch here in the States you’ll likely never get one.
If you want one of these please do all of us a favor and go buy one. Subaru is absolutely champing at the bit to kill off their enthusiast cars and focus solely on crossovers. I really don’t want to hear all the kvetching about how tragic it is that we lost an affordable, manual performance car and have to deal with the “actually the VB was pretty great” revisionist history that eventually leads to one selling for $100,000 on Doug and Bids….I’VE SEEN THIS MOVIE TOO MANY GODDAMN TIMES
They have essentially killed it with this version of the car. I’m pretty sure the new one sold less than the last year of the outgoing model.
That means Subaru completely struck out. I don’t know why they don’t just drop it from their lineup. It would be cheaper than engineering a new one with so little appeal that they can’t move them.
They have killed off all their manual transmission in the last ten years (except for the BRZ and WRX) and they even made the original top version of this body style a CVT-only offering. If they ever understood enthusiasts, those employees must have moved on by now.
But, no, I’m not going to buy a car that has two things I want (turbo, manual) wrapped up with so many things I don’t want (sedan, infotainment by Leapfrog, plastic fender trim) in the hopes that Subaru will get it right on the next one. This isn’t kickstarter.
I agree with this sentiment. I could find something majorly wrong with every vehicle in this segment, but this is just the modern car buying experience at this point. We can complain endlessly about stupid aesthetic choices or about shitty infotainment systems, but goddamn, at least it isn’t a crossover.
The idea that voting with your wallet (by buying nothing) will result in improvements is a lie. The result will be a cancelled model, replaced by a Forester trim with more orange detailing. You can copy and paste this for every brand drooling at the prospect of eliminating their performance models.
The consumers did not let Subaru down with this new one.
Subaru designed and built it. I assume they have market studies and focus groups and all sorts of hoops to jump through. They built the new WRX for people who do not buy WRXs.
Should I spend $35k to support their bad decisions? I’ll be sad to see the WRX go, but I’d also be sad if the next gen was a CVT-only 4300 pound PHEV sedan.
I’m not against buying something else that competes with it. But more often than not the person who complains that they’d buy one without the cladding or with a better screen ends up buying nothing at all. Which is fine but makes the cancellation of all non-crossovers sort of a self fulfilling prophecy.
I agree that this WRX is a letdown. It should be a hatch, the cladding sucks, etc. But if this is otherwise the perfect car for someone and it’s just the cladding that’s keeping someone in their 18 year old Civic? At some point the lack of compromise will end with the ultimate compromise. A sad compact crossover.
I’ve considered a the WRX the last three times I shopped new cars.
I bought every time, just not a WRX. I wouldn’t even say that I’d buy it if, because if they do the one thing I think I want, they’ll somehow introduce something I never even expected.
I mean, who saw plastic fender trims coming?
Even I wasn’t so cynical as to see the cladding coming, lol.
I see your point but when a brand goes off the reservation and designs a truly subpar vehicle and then wants a premium price it isn’t lack of buyers it is lack of intelligence. But the decision makers never say we got it wrong, they’d rather shut down a popular model than admit they are wrong. Remember when the little British sports car was discontinued because no one wanted it any more? Then Miata then every car like a Miata. Hello the first Miata didn’t have any more power than an old LBC but Mazda figured out improvement keeps the sales going
The infotainment system is a dealbreaker. It is a horrible, laggy mess.
Is it different than the rest of the Subaru range? I’ve not had an issue on the other car with both Carplay & AndroidAuto.
But I also set my music & waze when I setoff and don’t usually interact with it underway.
No, it’s the same. To be fair, they did improve it a lot since they came out with it in 2019. My folks had a ’20 Outback which had to go to the dealer a few times to fix the infotainment, and I think it still occasionally glitched when they traded it in for a ’25 (Side note, the salesman had a weak poker face about the not-yet-publicly-unveiled ’26 model. Now we know why.).
The revised version is no more user friendly, but it does work reliably.
Ah, ok.
I recall doing a software update to the Subaru about 1-2 years ago that had completely resolved the glitching (knock on wood).
But as for lag, I’ve not noticed that.
I sure didn’t care for it when I had my ’22 Outback. Occasionally, it would crash entirely, taking with it all the EyeSight functionality. The system in the ’26 Outback, which I suspect will gradually propagate across the rest of the range, has been hailed as an improvement by basically everyone…and it even has physical controls.
What a great color (purple), damn shame the new WRX is a ugly sad mess.
Including the fact that you would have to take delivery of a new WRX, which has at least one horrible design attribute in your face whether you are inside or outside of it – I would say there at 2 ‘catches’ to this deal.