Subaru Automobiles

[jyoutz]

You should never use cruise control on any vehicle in bad weather or heavy traffic.
Glad they don't make us all drive the same vehicles (yet). I wouldn't pay money for any of those you mentioned.

The '18 Outback has been good. I still prefer Toyota overall.

I like and have owned Toyotas. But the full time synchronous AWD system of the Subaru makes it the best for snowy/icy road handling. No other AWD system matches it for those conditions. It’s not a deep snow vehicle like a Jeep, 4Runner or 4wd truck, but it excels at slick roads and gets about 32 mpg.

 

[Torvy]

Ours has a power seat on the driver’s side, none elsewhere.

My bad maybe it was the Crosstrek that didn't offer it.

On AWD, absolutely love it, but also rarely have snow and ice around here (and when we do, everything shuts down anyway).

If we ever need to replace the Outback, we will get a RAV4 Prime (or the closest analog in an uncertain future).

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Have had a couple Subaru's, in the 80's they were kind of like my VW bugs. Gutless wonders of the world with that feeling of the rubber bands winding up to speed.
The 2006 Forester was a great car with decent acceleration. Never riden in the Legacy, but all the owners I talk to brag them up for ride comfort and the winter weather condition capabilities. I think they are a great car made in USA! (some foreign parts).

 

[MossRoad]

We test drove a 2023 Outback with the turbo. Pretty zippy. We went with the 2020 non-turbo as it was cheaper and just as nice inside and out. Yes, it is slower than the turbo, but that being said, we've had ZERO problems merging in and out of traffic, passing people, or keeping up with 85mph traffic in Oklahoma (or Chicago!).

 

[California]

We test drove a 2023 Outback with the turbo. Pretty zippy. We went with the 2020 non-turbo as it was cheaper and just as nice inside and out. Yes, it is slower than the turbo, but that being said, we've had ZERO problems merging in and out of traffic, passing people, or keeping up with 85mph traffic in Oklahoma (or Chicago

Mu uninformed opinion is that since a turbo runs much hotter, the quality of oil has to be higher, so more expensive, and timely scheduled maintenance becomes more important.

I'm pretty casual about oil change intervals because I'm long past the recommended time before I reach the recommended miles interval. (And I'm cheap). Stepping up to premium oil at exact intervals due to a turbocharger would increase my operating cost.

I've never had an oil burner in a car I bought new, so this don't-care approach seems to work for me.

Comments?

 

[tacticalturnip]

$3k, selling as a parts car; I'm sure one of you wants it.

 

[jmc]

Good experience with a 2013 Outback I bought new in 2012. Still have it and it could be the last car I ever need. New short block installed under warranty at 40k miles.(Subaru used the wrong rings so it burned oil before)

Started out shopping for an Audi A4 because they had good mileage, 4wd, AND a manual tranny available. So did Subaru and a local dealer had a cancelled order they might have been having trouble moving with that 6 speed stick. They were glad to see me.

Tie breaker between the Audi and the Outback was the Outback was/are made in Lafayette, Indiana.

 

[Pixguy]

I bought a 17 Outback for work and put 105k miles before Covid hit and then it wasn't getting used but 2k yr so I sold it for 14k in July. Great car but small for my daily needs now.

 

[Torvy]

Started out shopping for an Audi A4 because they had good mileage, 4wd, AND a manual tranny available.

Wife used to drive an A6. Premium fuel. Good car for her midlife crisis, but expensive to operate.

Outback (like the A6) has paddle shifters, so you can manually shift if you want.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Just hit 160K miles on my 2017 Forester. Still has original brake pads...
None of the fancy stuff on mine. They didn't even have apple radio yet. No adaptive cruise. But nice heated seats, and like the AWD. Have replaced both rear hubs, a notorious item.

 

[brutus54]

I'm driving my 3rd Forester. 1st one was a '14 Premium with 168,000 mi. 2nd was an '18 Premium with 144,000 mi. My 3rd is a '23 Forester Wilderness and have almost 18,000 mi since Feb 28th. They have all been reliable, dependable and economical driving cars. Average mpg on my Wilderness has been 32mpg.

 

[ericm979]

Mu uninformed opinion is that since a turbo runs much hotter, the quality of oil has to be higher, so more expensive, and timely scheduled maintenance becomes more important.

I'm pretty casual about oil change intervals because I'm long past the recommended time before I reach the recommended miles interval. (And I'm cheap). Stepping up to premium oil at exact intervals due to a turbocharger would increase my operating cost.

I've never had an oil burner in a car I bought new, so this don't-care approach seems to work for me.

Comments?

I've owned a number of turbo cars, many of them tuned. I change the oil every 5k miles and use good synthetic as recommended by the manufacturer. The oil for my VW is a little more expensive than to the 0w-20 synthetic I run in the Toyota trucks but the trucks take nearly twice the amount of oil so in the end they're no cheaper. I also change their oil every 5k because 10k is way too long, but if it gets to 6k it's fine.

At least for me the cost difference is small. A couple full throttle blasts is worth more in fun than I paid for oil (or trans fluid or spark plugs).

Modern turbo cars use water cooled turbos with after-run pumps so the old problem of oil cooking in a hot turbo is no longer an issue. That was the original reason for really high oil quality, but in general its a good idea. I got 130k miles out of my last turbo car which had a tune on it for nearly all of that, and it was still running well when I sold it.

 

[MossRoad]

Mu uninformed opinion is that since a turbo runs much hotter, the quality of oil has to be higher, so more expensive, and timely scheduled maintenance becomes more important.

I'm pretty casual about oil change intervals because I'm long past the recommended time before I reach the recommended miles interval. (And I'm cheap). Stepping up to premium oil at exact intervals due to a turbocharger would increase my operating cost.

I've never had an oil burner in a car I bought new, so this don't-care approach seems to work for me.

Comments?

My comments are the used 2020 Subaru Outback we got has a lifetime power train warranty as long as we prove we did regular scheduled maintenance and bring it into the dealer at least once per year so they can look at it. Since the dealer had really reasonable oil change prices, it's a non issue for us.

I (and the dealer) expect the electronics to die well before the power train.

In every vehicle I've ever owned, I've always run the recommended oil and changed at the recommended intervals.

 

[MossRoad]

$3k, selling as a parts car; I'm sure one of you wants it.

OH YAH!!!!

 

[MossRoad]

My wife's 2020 Outback has heated seats front AND back. Passengers like that.

The rear seats recline a bit. They like that, too.

It's got full rubber mats on the backs of the rear seats, so when you fold them down, it's a nice no slip cargo area.

Split rear seats makes it easy to fit in 3 people and anything you might find at the antique/flea markets, too.

 

[California]

... '23 Forester Wilderness and have almost 18,000 mi since Feb 28th. They have all been reliable, dependable and economical driving cars. Average mpg on my Wilderness has been 32mpg.

What are the advantages of the Forester Wilderness option? How much extra ground clearance? What else?

 

[jyoutz]

My wife's 2020 Outback has heated seats front AND back. Passengers like that.

The rear seats recline a bit. They like that, too.

It's got full rubber mats on the backs of the rear seats, so when you fold them down, it's a nice no slip cargo area.

Split rear seats makes it easy to fit in 3 people and anything you might find at the antique/flea markets, too.

View attachment 826206

A nice find. Most of those are bent.

 

[Oaktree]

$3k, selling as a parts car; I'm sure one of you wants it.

Quite a sign of the times when a parts car is going for $3k!

 

[tacticalturnip]

Quite a sign of the times when a parts car is going for $3k!

If it wasn't for rust it wouldn't be a parts car; it's sad because she runs great.

It's $3k for the car because they haven't made a new one in almost 20 years, and good luck getting Baja specific parts lol.

 

[brutus54]

What are the advantages of the Forester Wilderness option? How much extra ground clearance? What else?

The Forester Wilderness has a 3000lb towing capacity vs 1500 on the other models. Also has a transmission cooler, stronger roof racks (for a rooftop tent), 2 different hill decent or deep snow modes, higher approach, decent angles. Skid plates underneath some critical areas. Waterproof seat material and body cladding (different look but helps hauling brush out back to dump).