Subaru , are they any good

On Outback #2. This one is a 2021 Touring XT with the smaller engine. Plenty fast for me. She looks great with the gold Sparco rims. Very happy owner. Had no issues with OB #1 and this one is only 6 months old.
 

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On Outback #2. This one is a 2021 Touring XT with the smaller engine. Plenty fast for me. She looks great with the gold Sparco rims. Very happy owner. Had no issues with OB #1 and this one is only 6 months old.

sweet ride
 
Send your used oil out to this company & they'll let you know if it needs changing that often:

https://www.blackstone-labs.com

My vehicles only get their synthetic oil change annually.
That interval was about every 7K miles, and being a 0W-20, I wasn't inclined to try going further with it. I'm fairly sure that I will only be 16-18K miles a year post-COVID.

The car still uses less than 1 quart of oil in 7K miles.

Of course, oil analysis could change that.
 
That interval was about every 7K miles, and being a 0W-20, I wasn't inclined to try going further with it. I'm fairly sure that I will only be 16-18K miles a year post-COVID.

The car still uses less than 1 quart of oil in 7K miles.

Of course, oil analysis could change that.

Super-cold climate?
 
Let me just say that Subaru owners show a lot of allegiance to their brand. But the dealers are few and far between in many parts of this country.

In the South, we have less need for AWD vehicles. And the dealer in our city sells very few cars which means they sell at relatively high profits to pay their overhead.

Subaru just doesn't have the financial or engineering resources that Honda or Toyota has, and it is a second tier company in comparison.
 
Let me just say that Subaru owners show a lot of allegiance to their brand. But the dealers are few and far between in many parts of this country.

In the South, we have less need for AWD vehicles. And the dealer in our city sells very few cars which means they sell at relatively high profits to pay their overhead.

Subaru just doesn't have the financial or engineering resources that Honda or Toyota has, and it is a second tier company in comparison.

I dunno... KBB 5-year cost to own:

2021 Honda CR-V $36,010
2021 Toyota RAV4 $35,988
2021 Subaru Forrester $34,172

and Edmunds 5-year cost to own:
2021 Honda CR-V $32,326
2021 Toyota RAV4 $32,265
2021 Subaru Forrester $34,104

Looks like a tie to me.
 
I bought a new 2019 sub forester based on consumer reports and test drive. Fun car and im not a car person. Have used the AWD even in the southland. I will say the passenger seat not a comfortable as driver. I love to drive it. Zooms plenty for me and i got all the bells and whistles. Love it for city driving. Great visibility blind spot monitoring lane guidance accident avoidance. Love the backing out alarm if it sees a car before I do. Great camera. Like the radio console. Heated sears when my back is sore or its cold.
 
Great visibility blind spot monitoring lane guidance accident avoidance.
So many vehicles have become bunkers with limited visibility; the Forester's visibility is excellent. Front visibility is good on my Legacy, rear visibility is pretty average.
 
Be sure to read the owner's manual about tire changes. The AWD depends on all four tires being the same. If you have a flat and need to use the emergency spare, you might need to deactivate the AWD. This was the case in the 1998 Legacy I used to own. Also, if you blow or damage a tire, you might need to replace all four so they match well enough for the AWD to work. I would hope this has changed or been improved by now, but it's worth inquiring about before something happens.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This so true. I've purchased two sets (total of 8) tires for my daughter who drives by braille.
 
Awful lot of high oil consumption, engine replacements, and interactive braking problems. CVT transmission works fine. At least half the dealers are convicts or escaped felons. I have never once had a dealer experience that rose to the level of slipshod. Fuji has a decent reputation, and they invented AWD and traction systems for cars.

They maintain several different technology solutions across the fleet. Engine and braking integration can be impossible to fix and make car undriveable. Snow and ice options are better than they were, but subaru is quite capable. I have left many prius at the bottom of the mountain on powder days.
 
2020 Outback Onyx. Very pleased with Eyesight, big center touchscreen control panel, sure-footed in the snow, responsive acceleration … great car.
 
So many vehicles have become bunkers with limited visibility; the Forester's visibility is excellent. Front visibility is good on my Legacy, rear visibility is pretty average.



Great analogy.. I bought my first SUBIE specifically for the visibility.
 
We are very upset and would never buy a Subaru ever again. My wife has a 2015 Forrester with just 30K on it, bought it new and when it's cold, we can't go through a Chicago winter without either having to buy a new battery or getting a jump and/or being towed into the dealership.

The manager of the service dept said we need to, every 3 or so days, have to drive the car at 40mph with no accessories on for about 20 minutes or our battery will die. He said there's several systems that are always draining it and get this: He said we have to keep it locked while in our garage, which is inconvenient when you need something quick. WTF?
[MOD EDIT]
And we are not alone, if you Google:

subarus forrester mysterious battery drain

you'll see many people have this problem and the dealerships don't have a clue how to fix it.

When my wife bought her new Forrester I bought my 2015 Honda Pilot new and love it with its 136K miles now on it, although that model is now phased out. As retirees, I'm 67 DW is 63, we're thinking of going down to one new, more luxurious car. After all, how much time do we have left? I'd like a Tahoe, she wants an MDX, in other words a very smooth luxurious ride with all the bells and whistles.

Although Hondas and Suburus will last forever if you maintain them correctly, they become a rougher, noisier ride as they age. Good luck...
 
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I've got a few friends who have Subarus, they really like theirs and no reliability issues. Some have kept theirs for years and have high mileage.
I knew a guy who lived in Guam and the Subaru seems to be the vehicle of choice among the locals.
 
We love Subarus

We’ve had seven and only traded to get better technology. The latest one is an absolute pleasure to drive with the nav and eyesight systems.
 
In my experience, no they are not. We have owned four Subarus, the latest being a 2008 outback wagon. We have also owned an early legacy wagon, a first-generation outback wagon with manual transmission, and a 2006 Impreza. We were attracted to the all-wheel drive and overall utility of the vehicles, coupled with decent gas mileage. While those attributes proved ok, long term reliability is very poor proved to be poor on all of them. First off, we live in Vermont so have lots of snow and salt. Subaru corrosion resistance is among the worst of all vehicles. Within five years you can expect perforation on trunk lids rear wheel arches, etc. All of our Subarus have had the 2.5 l flat for engine and all of them had head gasket failures within 115,000 miles. We also have experienced major rear oil seal leaks which has required the engines to be removed. Coil springs brake although this was covered by a factory recall. The basic design of the engine is antiquated and problematic and leads to costly repairs. For example, the flat four engine requires a Y pipe which frequently rusts out and is expensive to repair. We also had suspension problems that were difficult to trace. Google Subaru Ghost Walk suspension problems. Overall I find them very unsatisfactory and we will never own another one.
 
I have a 2017 Subaru Outback with the larger engine (made in the US). I love all the safety features and I actually prefer to drive rather than fly so I have the navigation. I bought is new and it has 53K miles on it. Some people who got the standard engine says it does not have a lot of pickup when entering highways/passing.
The car was rear ended a few weeks ago. No damage to the engine, etc. but the repair bill was over 14K! So now its value is greatly diminished and I have to decide whether to just drive this into the ground or go to another vehicle.
 
The car was rear ended a few weeks ago. No damage to the engine, etc. but the repair bill was over 14K! So now its value is greatly diminished and I have to decide whether to just drive this into the ground or go to another vehicle.
Look into how you can get a diminished value settlement for the vehicle, in addition to the repair. I was just reading an online ad about this last night.

https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/diminished-value-claim/
 
Subaru opinions seem to either be one extreme or the other in this discussion. Having had two at our house, my opinion is that their reliability is pretty average. All-wheel drive and the flat engine add maintenance expenses compared to cars of similar size, but both cars have been serviceable.

The only two vehicles that seem to rust inside 15 years in the mid-Atlantic US are Mazda 3s and Sprinter vans. I'm too impatient with breakdowns and drive too many miles to worry about cars past 15 years.
 
Sorry to hear about your injury. I just learned pretty recently about the diminished value, and wasn't sure how commonly known it was.
 
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