After Subaru lowered WRX prices earlier this year, buyers came back in a big way.
These days, the bread and butter for any automaker is their SUV lineup. That’s as true for Subaru as anyone, but the halo cars still matter to enthusiasts. After price creep throughout Subaru’s U.S. portfolio looked to spook people away from buying the four-door WRX, though, some folks were wondering just how much road was left for the last road-going rally car standing.
Then Subaru dropped the baseline price for the WRX earlier this year, and it seems we have our answer, at least right now. Last month, sales surged a whopping 191%. Year-to-date, the WRX managed to improve 37.7% on what, by several accounts, was an absolutely dismal performance in 2025. Here, at least, the model’s sales figures are back into five digits with 10,324 new examples finding buyers as of the end of August.
Right now, with three sales months left in the year, Subaru dealers managed to move as many units as they managed throughout all of 2025. That’s a good sign, if you’re a particular fan of manual, turbocharged all-wheel drive cars (and I’ve been loving my WRX over the past year I’ve owned it).
Subaru, for its part, says that the model “continued to represent its unique presence in the market as an affordable manual option for enthusiast drivers.” See, affordable is the key word there, because the return of the Base trim at $33,690 looks a hell of a lot more appealing than 2025’s $38,920 price tag. In fact, that’s what drove me right toward the used market, because as much as I wanted to try out the new VB generation myself, I ended up saving about $12K off that MSRP by going a couple years older (for fundamentally the same car).
Not only did Subaru slot a base model back into the range, but it also made all the other trims noticeably more affordable, too. Even the top-end tS, which gets bells and whistles like a digital gauge cluster, Brembo brakes, STI-tuned suspension and Recaro seats, now comes in $2,695 less than it did last year. Sure, you could argue that $46,190 is still expensive for a 271-horsepower sedan, but at least the situation is a bit more reasonable than it looked back then.
Going back to the base model for another moment, you also get more standard equipment this time around. Every 2026 Subaru WRX, including the Base, gets the 11.6-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, keyless entry, push-button start and 18-inch alloy wheels (or larger, on higher trims).
Turns out offering more at a lower price brings buyers out of the woodwork. Who knew?
