Subaru , are they any good

[Breedlove]

A month ago I got mad at my Honda Pilot . I had a Ridgeline 212,000 miles but I thought it was time to go no problems. So I go to my trusty Honda dealer , he shows me a 2009 one owner Pilot . I bought the Pilot and it was a piece of junk .
It started leaking oil and I have a motto if I can fix cheaply I keep it but we could not find the leak. So a good detail and to Craigslist it went . Everyone wants Honda’s . Sold soon and after I sold it I was in Costco . Costco was advertising
Subaru Crosstreks at a very good price. Did my online paperwork and off to Costco. The dealer was really great and a week later I gave in and bought a 2021
Crosstrek . This is not like me but everything seemed right .Has anyone here had
Subaru , I understand Toyota owns some of Subaru.

 

[Chuckanut]

Check out the April Consumer Reports Auto Issue. It's one of their recommended cars. Reliability and Owner Satisfaction are above average, thought not at the very top tier.

I don't own one so that's all I can offer.

 

[Breedlove]

It is nothing special but can’t sneeze at 34 mpg .

 

[Gumby]

I have a 2018 Subaru Forester and find it fulfills my needs quite well. Comfortable to drive, easy ingress and egress. Not overly computerized. Adequate cargo room, adequate highway performance. It has AWD, but I haven't ever taken it off-road so I can't comment on that. Currently about 20k miles on it. Aside from changing the oil and filters at the regular intervals, it has not required any maintenance. I'd buy another one, except that I want a manual transmission and they no longer have one.

 

[Dash man]

A month ago I got mad at my Honda Pilot . I had a Ridgeline 212,000 miles but I thought it was time to go no problems. So I go to my trusty Honda dealer , he shows me a 2009 one owner Pilot . I bought the Pilot and it was a piece of junk .

It started leaking oil and I have a motto if I can fix cheaply I keep it but we could not find the leak. So a good detail and to Craigslist it went . Everyone wants Honda’s . Sold soon and after I sold it I was in Costco . Costco was advertising

Subaru Crosstreks at a very good price. Did my online paperwork and off to Costco. The dealer was really great and a week later I gave in and bought a 2021

Crosstrek . This is not like me but everything seemed right .Has anyone here had

Subaru , I understand Toyota owns some of Subaru.

We have a 2017 Subaru Outback, my SIL has a 2017 Subaru Crosstrek and our son and his wife have a 2019 Subaru Impreza. Not a single problem among the three. Reliable and good on gas. They all have all the safety gizmos. Mine saved me from backing into a car once with auto braking.

 

[Out of Steam]

Have about 135K miles on my 2015 Subaru Legacy. Reliability has been very average. It needs some annoying things that I've postponed because I've not been driving much, and the service writer at our otherwise very good repair shop isn't much for face masks.

 

[Breedlove]

Yes mine has this eyesight thing . I set the cruise control and the lane eyesight . It fo.lows the lane and does ok driving. I set the eyesight bars And it speeds up and slows down automatically .My DW hates this and calls me lazy and I am gonna hit someone . We came through our little town and a car was sitting in the road . My wife is screaming and the car stops on its own.

 

[ncbill]

They stick to the road better with their AWD.

Flip side..it's a full-time, mechanically-coupled AWD so there's more wear & tear on the drivetrain...in my personal experience you'll be replacing things like CV joints & wheel bearing units more frequently than with FWD vehicles.

 

[pb4uski]

We have a 2016 Outback with about 76k miles... nothing but oil changes, tire rotations, new tires, engine air filters and cabin air filters (filters I order from Amazon and install myself)... haven't even needed to replace the brake pads yet.

This is my second Subaru... previously owned a Legacy GT which was a blast. DSIL had a Crosstrek and loved it.

I have heard that the windshields for models with Eyesight are weak and tend to break and are expensive to replace, so I plan to avoid Eyesight if possible... we chose not to order Eyesight on our 2016.

Toyota owns 20% of Subaru's parent company.

 

[Breedlove]

600.00 for a new windshield with Eyesight . Normally 250.00

 

[ItsAllGood]

I'm on my second Subaru Outback (previous 2 cars were Hondas, which I also loved). I like the Subarus better. No issues, solid cars. Love the AWD and eyesight. No complaints at all. Great value for the $$. Two kids have Subaru Foresters, also with no complaints.

 

[Breedlove]

Yes for the money and the Costco deal it seems like a buy .......knock on wood.

 

[RunningBum]

You're supposed to do your research before buying, not after.

Good cars. I bought my Forester 7 years ago, still love it.

 

[Breedlove]

Yea , that is the right thing to do. I take the attitude all cars produced today are good but it is the little things that break.

 

[travelover]

One thing to watch for, per Scotty Kilmer is water pumps driven off the cam chain. As I recall, the Subaru 6 cylinder engines have this arrangement. Not only is it expensive to replace the water pump, but if it leaks, it leaks into the crankcase oil.

 

[Breedlove]

4 cyl Boxer , I watch Scotty today he says this tomorrow he says that.

 

[travelover]

4 cyl Boxer , I watch Scotty today he says this tomorrow he says that.

Are you saying that 6 cylinder Subarus do not have a cam chain driven water pump? Or that a leaking water pump does not leak into the crankcase? I don't recall Scotty vacillating on either of those two points.

 

[harley]

DD is still driving her 2009 Forester. It's a bit noisy, but very dependable. She's been saving for a new car, but this one still has a few years left in it (and that's after being put through two kids). It's a workhorse.

Not much value to the OP though. New cars are totally different animals than 10+ year old cars.

 

[Osprey]

We have owned 4 subarus. Our first was a 2009 forester, still in good shape, our daughter owns and drives it now.

Our second was a 2016 outback. My husband was rear ended while driving on highway in it, car was totaled but he walked away with no injuries! That one was replaced with a 2019 Outback.

I drive a 2020 forester which I am very happy with.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

Bought my first Subaru Legacy with 90k miles on it. At 160k the transmission was slipping so I gave it away. Maybe 7 years of use.

Bought a 2003 Legacy (30k miles) in 2006. It would not give up. In 2021 (166k miles), I sold it on Craigslist for $1,800.

In 2021, I bought a 2017 Legacy with 41k miles. At my current rate of driving, I will dispose of it in 2061 when I will be 104.

 

[Bryan Barnfellow]

I moved to northern New England in 1999 and bought a new AWD Subaru Forester. It was fantastic in rain, sleet, heavy snow, and blizzards. I was fearless in it. Loved the driving position and the overtaking capability when needed. I maintained it regularly and after 10 years in 2009 sold it to a friend for use as his commuting car. I would have kept it but we were moving to Europe. It had 253,000 miles on it and was still running quite well!

 

[Car-Guy]

In 2021, I bought a 2017 Legacy with 41k miles. At my current rate of driving, I will dispose of it in 2061 when I will be 104.

I may be interested in a good used car about then... Send me a PM when you are ready to sell it, I'll only be about 110...

 

[Cobra9777]

We own a 2019 Forester and DD drives a 2015 Crosstrek. Both vehicles are fun to drive and we've had no issues.

When we bought the Forester, I did tons of research, mostly comparing it to the Honda CR-V and the Mazda CX-5. The Forester was $2K less at every trim level, plus it came with AWD standard and better mileage. IIRC, the reliability ratings were good overall, but slightly lower than other Japanese brands.

 

[Midpack]

If you need four wheel drive, Subaru has a very good system. Otherwise I’d buy a Honda or Toyota over a Subaru - as the owner of a 2018 Outback Touring. It’s a decent car, but it’s nothing special - and I don’t plan to buy another Subaru. The boxer engine is inferior, there’s a good reason no other volume carmaker uses boxer engines (Porsche is a different price point and application). And the tech in a Subaru is inferior to the systems in Honda’s and Toyota’s. Subaru is a relatively small company, without the R&D resources to develop their product like larger automakers. That’s why they don’t have hybrids, and no EV plan. They have to go outside for tech solutions more than larger automakers. The Eyesight system is inferior to Honda Sensing, we also have a 2019 Accord - it’s a better car period. The Starlink NAV system is inferior, voice commands are useless - Honda and Siri are much better. As they say YMMV.

 

[aaronc879]

I bought a 2004 Forester new and still have it. Driven thru 13 inches of fresh unplowed snow multiple times including stopping at stop signs and starting with no problems in over a foot of snow. If you live in a place with snow get the a Subaru. If you live in the mountains I would suggest the turbo Forester otherwise the Crosstrek should be adequate. If you don't live in a place that gets snow I would get a Toyota Rav4 or Honda CRV.