subaru?

[Pooh2]

Anyone have an opinion, good or bad on their subura outback?
We have always owned Hondas and were planning on replacing our van with the CRV but did not fall in love with it on the test drive.
We are looking for a 4 wheel drive that gets decent gas mileage and is comfy for long drives.

 

[Chellej34]

Anyone have an opinion, good or bad on their subura outback?
We have always owned Hondas and were planning on replacing our van with the CRV but did not fall in love with it on the test drive.
We are looking for a 4 wheel drive that gets decent gas mileage and is comfy for long drives.

I had a subaru outback wagon and I loved mine it was okay on gas milage I can't remember what I got I want to say like 25 miles to the gallon. It was great in bad weather and pretty roomy could haul lots of things. I had a big 225 lb English Mastiff I used to haul around in the back seat he fit nicely. lol. Hope this helps you out some. Good luck finding a new car.

 

[Crazy Mother of Two]

Anyone have an opinion, good or bad on their subura outback?
We have always owned Hondas and were planning on replacing our van with the CRV but did not fall in love with it on the test drive.
We are looking for a 4 wheel drive that gets decent gas mileage and is comfy for long drives.

Subaru's are awesome! They are decent on gas (nothing fabulous) but the all-wheel drive is great (we live in N.E.PA). never had a real problem with it. Unfortunately for us - our subie is getting put down next week
It has just over 200,000 miles but ran into an engine problem and it is time.

It's funny because we are going to look at a CRV this weekend! I love Honda's too!!
Good luck!!

 

[MinnieForMe]

We loved our Subaru Outback and put over 200k miles on it before we replaced it a few months ago. Yes, we got another Subaru but a Legacy this time.

The Outback was my husband's commuting car and he got 29/30 mpg. Hope this helps!

 

[swilshire]

We've owned Subarus since 1986 and been very happy with them, but they are starting to get expensive new. My oldest son just totaled our Subaru Outback when someone rear-ended him at a red light. 269K miles on it and going strong.

Our first Subaru was a "demonstrator" model. The other two were purchased used. One GL Sedan (wish I had driven it longer, but traded it at 239K), a Legacy (DS drove it until it died), and the 1997 Outback. I drove the last two for a few years and then gave them to my son. The three cars got me back and forth to work for a total of 20 years and he drove them after I finished with them for another seven years total.

We have gradually been switching over to Hondas (two Elements, an Odyssey, and two Accords). Now that they don't make the Elements any more , I may go back to Subarus for my next vehicle.

Sheila

 

[Fyrefly]

We have a 91 Accord that I ended up with and my dad drives an Acura so we're a Honda family, but when my mom wanted to trade in the old minivan from my Girl Scout days for something smaller she ended up with the Outback over the CRV. The handling was a big part and just some of the general little details - the way the interior was laid out, etc. ended up factoring in. So far there's been no trouble - she loves it.

 

[MickeyManiac]

I'm another Subaru fan. I'm on my third since 1989 and don't see myself buying anything else. I have a Legacy right now and get 28/30 mpg. We're looking for a used Impreza for my college age son.

I haven't owned an Outback so I don't have an opinion on that specific model but I will say you can't go wrong with a Subaru.

 

[foltzy]

We just bought a Subaru outback about a year ago. I love it.

 

[SwimBikeRun]

I have a forester. Good car but I'll give you an honest experience of the problems. Mines 10 years old with 125k miles.

The awd is not true awd so if you get a flat and the tire can't be repaired you are looking at 4 new tires. I can't tell you how many tires I have bought! That is my biggest complaint!

Head gaskets just went. That's another common problem with subys.

Their are other little things, like for how expensive they are you don't get power seats! I also found that my headlights/sidelights blow more often than you'd think.

Def a decent car but the salesman is going to completely omit the tire part and just talk about how great awd is without mentioning the cost.

 

[cvjw]

We have a 2012 Subaru Outback. It is my husband's car, and he loves it. The newer Outback's have a variable transmission that shifts between gears to give you better gas mileage (just bought a new Pathfinder this weekend, and it has a similar transmission). The outback gets much better gas mileage than our Nissan Maxima or the Toyota Sienna that we just traded in.

We would have purchased another Subaru for my new car, but the larger SUV that Subaru makes gets lousy gas mileage.

We would buy another Subaru in a hearbeat.

 

[Swimalie]

I have a 2011 Forester and love it. We have had zero problems in the 20 months we have owned it. We are looking to get a Legend for my husband as his next car.

 

[Babypooh]

I have an Outback too and I LOVE it!!! It's my second Subaru, first was a Forrester. I love everything about it!

 

[StarWarts]

Mazda CX-5 currently is the most fuel efficient small AWD suv in its class. It also received good crash/safety ratings. Reviewers said that among the small suv's, it's the most fun to drive. Check it out too because you looked at the CRV too. We had 3 subarus before and one of them was an outback. I would say that they are not trouble free cars. They all (all cars) have their Achilles tendon so to speak. But subarus are less troublesome than most cars. If you like to do your own engine maintenance, I will say that the engine compartment is very tight. The outback we had (97-98 model) was getting very low 20 something miles per gallon. Whatever car you choose, pick something that you like to drive and meet your needs. Shop around. By the way, Mazda is offering 0.9% apr for 60 months. Best Wishes!

 

[sachilles]

I've loved all of ours. I actually race subaru's as well. Tough to kill them and I've tried.
Our current fleet of daily drivers have one that is(05 legacy turbo) 245,000 miles and 238,000 miles impreza wagon. My race car has 178k miles on it and is the lowest mileage one. While we can afford newer ones, we just can't bring ourselves to sell off perfectly good cars.
I will say that ethanol based gas can really kill the mileage on them, perhaps more so than other cars. While most people don't do it, its worth paying a couple of hundred dollars to have the engine computer retuned if you have ethanol gas in your area, the money will be recouped easily.
Engine compartment isn't all that tight, but access to spark plugs is more difficult than other cars. Stuff that requires attention is usually very accessible. Oil changes are easy.
All cars have peculiarities. If you are buying used, watch for rust. Have someone look at it on a lift to examine for rust. Timing belt changes must be done at the proper interval to insure long life. If you go with a turbo model, you must be very good with your oil change intervals.
The only reason I've felt the need to get rid of previous subarus was due to rust, never due to repairs being cost prohibitive. I can't say that about the Audi's I had before I found the subaru love.

 

[PatsMom]

I love my Subaru's! The first was a 2000 Impreza Outback model. I drove it until it had over 200K miles, then passed it on to my daughter when she turned 16. She drove it another 30K. When I got a chance to buy a nice used Subaru, we passed it on to my brother as a gift. He desparately needed a car for his wife to commute to work. They are still driving it - I think it is over 250K miles now.

When I passed the original car to my daughter, I bought a 2008 Impreza. It has about 160K miles now and has never given us any trouble. Good mileage and a reliable car. Not as nice riding as the Outback model but still not bad.

I bought the used Subaru from a co-worker. I knew it had a few issues but the price was dropped because of it. Replaced the head gasket and few other things and it has run great every since. It is the traditional Outback Wagon, 2006. It has about 155K miles right now. My favorite of the two Subaru's that we are currently driving.

My DH has a Dodge truck that is a real gas pig so we try to plan his ventures out of town for when I am home with my Subaru or my daughter is home from college.

When either of the Suby's die, we will definitely plan on replacing it with another Subaru!

 

[Swimalie]

If you like to do your own engine maintenance, I will say that the engine compartment is very tight.

Actually, my husband changes the oil in our cars normally. He said the changing of the Subaru will be much, much easier than our CR-V. Right now I take it to the dealer until the warranty is up in 18 months.

 

[sachilles]

Actually, my husband changes the oil in our cars normally. He said the changing of the Subaru will be much, much easier than our CR-V. Right now I take it to the dealer until the warranty is up in 18 months.

Agreed. Filter is in an easy to reach location, as is the oil drain. Newer non turbo ones have the filter on top of the engine which makes it ten times easier and less messy.

 

[swilshire]

I have a forester. Good car but I'll give you an honest experience of the problems. Mines 10 years old with 125k miles.

The awd is not true awd so if you get a flat and the tire can't be repaired you are looking at 4 new tires. I can't tell you how many tires I have bought! That is my biggest complaint!

Head gaskets just went. That's another common problem with subys.

Their are other little things, like for how expensive they are you don't get power seats! I also found that my headlights/sidelights blow more often than you'd think.

Def a decent car but the salesman is going to completely omit the tire part and just talk about how great awd is without mentioning the cost.

I suspect the Foresters are less reliable than the Outbacks. When DS was rear-ended, I tried to find older Outbacks for sale for a cost comparison during the insurance settlement process. I talked to numerous dealers and they all told me they seldom got the Outbacks because people won't turn loose of them. They all, however, had Foresters galore to offer me.

Sheila

 

[Swimalie]

I suspect the Foresters are less reliable than the Outbacks. When DS was rear-ended, I tried to find older Outbacks for sale for a cost comparison during the insurance settlement process. I talked to numerous dealers and they all told me they seldom got the Outbacks because people won't turn loose of them. They all, however, had Foresters galore to offer me.

Sheila

I think you are right about having more older Foresters. The older style body was, to me, not attractive. If I were looking at an older Forester vs Outback, I'd buy the Outback and leave the Forester with the dealer, too.

 

[sachilles]

Forester is basically the same car as the impreza. Same suspension, engine, transmission and sometime dash. They interchange pretty easily, the outback is based on the legacy which still uses common components, but the body is bigger, translating to more room in the back seats and trunk area.
Foresters in some parts of the country are actually harder to find used. It's a weird regional thing.
As to reliability, so won't see any appreciable difference between the two as they are mechanically very similar.
Pre-08 foresters rust pretty aggresively, where the legacy/outback changed the body in 05 that dramatically cut down on rust issues.