Quote Originally Posted by 92spoolin
I think who ever decided to include glass in the transmission making processes on the 02-03 should be shot. My cousins has an 02 with moderate mods and he's been through 2 already and the previous owner had to get it rebuilt. I would say don't chance it because if you lost 3rd 4th isn't to far away from going either. On a side note though at least yours was the transmission. My girlfriends brother bought a 05 wrx and had it for about a week and started to knock its self to death.
transmission issues are fault of the driver. I have an 03 and over 300 hp and tq with no problems. *knock on wood.* You just have to be easy on your shifts. As far as knock goes, that sucks. That's the problem with buying a used Subaru. If I had known of all of these problems I wouldn't have gotten mine used but a year later I haven't had any issues. *Knock on wood again.*

EDIT: the USDM wrx tranny is a POS, its the same out of a NA 2.5rs, and if you aren't careful very fragile with power.