I am considering replacing my very high mileage auto. A Subaru Outback, with the non-turbo, looks interesting to me. It will be a daily driver for me, about 50 miles a day.

What do you think of yours?

I bought my daughter one in Jan of 2022. She has close to 30K miles on it. Nothing but oil changes and I just also changed the air and cabin filters. Drama free ownership and as she does not live close I have her do the oil changes at the dealer. Again, drama free. The dealer is fair priced and doesn't try to take advantage of her by overselling anything. Not one issue with the car at this point. Their reputation is one of the reasons i got it for her.

During my marriage I dealt with Outbacks throughout. New every two years.
They drive great, no issues at all, even with the CVT, maintenance a breeze.
The audio system was above average, and the handling superb.
Headroom for you and me will not be an issue.

You can't go wrong with it from my experience.

Mine was a 2022 Limited XT with the turbo, but the vehicle was very comfortable and pleasant. The reason I ditched it in a hurry was the center stack "Tesla Screen." It's slow, it's buggy, it's dim, there's no haptic touch so operating it while in traffic is dangerous, Apple CarPlay would routinely not load up, climate controls are buried in the touchscreen, and most dangerous of all, the screen can lock up and crash. When that happens, your climate controls are locked on whatever setting they were on when it crashed and most worryingly of all, your entire EyeSight system shuts off kills most of your safety features. Then you have to wait about 5 minutes for it to reboot, and sometimes shutting the vehicle off and restarting it won't fix the issue.

I went Mazda and never looked back.

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Originally posted by DanH:
Mine was a 2022 Limited XT with the turbo, but the vehicle was very comfortable and pleasant. The reason I ditched it in a hurry was the center stack "Tesla Screen." It's slow, it's buggy, it's dim, there's no haptic touch so operating it while in traffic is dangerous, Apple CarPlay would routinely not load up, climate controls are buried in the touchscreen, and most dangerous of all, the screen can lock up and crash. When that happens, your climate controls are locked on whatever setting they were on when it crashed and most worryingly of all, your entire EyeSight system shuts off kills most of your safety features. Then you have to wait about 5 minutes for it to reboot, and sometimes shutting the vehicle off and restarting it won't fix the issue.

I have a 2021 Outback Limited XT with the same problems with the center touch screen. Mine is a lease that is up this spring and I'm not sure if I'm going to lease another. Aside from the center screen, I really have enjoyed the car. It's very comfortable.

Thanks, all. Good to hear that tall folk fit.

Anyone else?

My parents have an Onyx XT, 2020 IIRC.
I've driven it a couple times & took it downtown from the Woodlands & back for a show. Comfortable, though the tech is different from the Fords I own, just an adjustment.

I nearly bought a non-turbo Outback Limited [2017 I think] a few years ago, but we couldn't agree on numbers. I didn't find the non-turbo drivetrain lacking for Houston commuting.

Subaru has one of the better CVTs IMO, it doesn't have that spongey rubber band feel that Nissan had [or still has, I haven't driven a Nissan in a long time].

IIRC, you have a non-turbo Mazda 6, I think the daily driver performance is comparable with the Outback.

I’d go Turbo if going for this vehicle. I prefer AWD systems in my vehicles and after many test drives in 2019, testing all trucks on the market, Outback N/A and the turbo, I went with a Ridgeline. Might want to test drive the Passport AWD as well. What turned me off on the Outback was the CVT, and the touch screen. I thought it was awful and I refuse to buy a CVT in anything.

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Originally posted by cheesegrits:

I have a 2021 Outback Limited XT with the same problems with the center touch screen. Mine is a lease that is up this spring and I'm not sure if I'm going to lease another. Aside from the center screen, I really have enjoyed the car. It's very comfortable.

A friend, who replaces his Subaru every other year, suffered with problems related to the Outback's big touch display which also controlled functions normally done with their own buttons. The screen would randomly freeze up and he had to take videos of it doing so before Subaru would acknowledge the problem. They tried a software update two separate times over 4 months but it didn't help. Finally he traded it on a new Crosstrek which has conventional controls, but he recently told me Subaru's new next gen Crosstrek was going to the big display which controls everything so he said he's done with Subaru.

We have a 2023 Outback XT-Turbo. The vehicle drives great - nice acceleration and power, but the electronics are technologically about 5 yrs behind where they should be. Buggy, unstable, slow, unpredictable, whatever word you want to use - it is horrible. The "assisted drive" modes shutdown (randomly ?) at a moments notice and the lane assist is like driving a boat wallowing from side to side in a curve. The poor electronic interface ruins what is otherwise a great car.
My wife drives it and I don't think it will be a "keeper" for us - she wants to take my Bronco Sport Badlands if I trade it.

My last Outback was a 2014, and it was a great car. They keep going through any inclement weather. The reason I would not consider a new one is that big center touch screen, which contains all of the infotainment and A/C controls. If that goes bad you’re out of luck. Lots of reported problems with the screen.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I am considering replacing my very high mileage auto. A Subaru Outback, with the non-turbo, looks interesting to me. It will be a daily driver for me, about 50 miles a day.

What do you think of yours?

I have a 2013 (the year they moved to timing chain and/or metal shim head gaskets) that I love and I’m planning to give it to my kids when they start driving. It’s the 2.5i, so the power is anemic, but it’s reliable and very stable on the road. I probably drive 30m a day or less.

The roof rack has a rattle that I’m not fond of, and it doesn’t seem to matter which configuration I have the swing arms in.

Get the turbo. 260 hp works very well in that platform. My Subaru’s don’t have that big screen so I have no idea about that. Personally I have never owned a car that the electronic gizmos/connectivity was any good which is why Apple play and Android auto are so nice to have. Your phone will always have better “stuff” than whatever they shove into a car. Probably with the exception of Tesla which sounds like they make it a priority.

My understanding of the climate control stuff is slightly different than described above. There are physical manual temperature selectors. Also physical defrost buttons. They aren’t affected if screen goes bonkers. (which I would at least let dealer try to fix) If you rub the climate control in auto then even if the screen goes out you have de facto control via the temperature setting. Obviously if your screen is constantly messed up that is an issue. My experience with Subaru dealers is that they will fix stuff without a hassle. Just my experience with 3 Subarus.

The Outback is a great car. Especially with the turbo. It drives real nice. Lots of room. I’m more of a Crosstrek guy but I can see the appeal of the bigger, more comfortable Outback. Also get the 10 way adjustable seats. They are outstanding. I would kill to add those to my Subaru. (biggest complaint I have on Crosstrek, the seats aren’t great, wife won’t go on a trip longer than a couple hours in my car, I don’t mind them but it kills her).

I'm long waisted and I had trouble getting in a 2016 Outback. Fit much better in a Mazda CX-9. My niece has a 2018 Forester that has been good. Her a/c compressor went out shortly after the warranty ended and Subaru wouldn't help any.

Replacing your Mazda 6 for an Outback? Unless you need AWD, I wouldn't.
I've owned 2 Outbacks, and a Forester, while I liked them, all 3 experienced headgasket failure.

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I've owned 2 Outbacks, and a Forester, while I liked them, all 3 experienced headgasket failure

Out of curiosity, what years were they?

Yea, that sounds like you are highly unlucky. I have always heard they fixed that issue a long time ago. Wasn’t it the 2.5 engine from around 2000? A new Outback shouldn’t have oil consumption or head gasket issues, haven’t for a long time.

My sister hates her Mazda. Has had all kinds of electronic ghost issues. She actually bought the extended warranty and has used the hell out of it. I wouldn’t take a Mazda over a Subaru (or obviously Toyota or Honda).

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Wasn’t it the 2.5 engine from around 2000?

I thought the metal shim gasket came within a year or two of the change to timing chain. It’s been a while since I did all that research though.

IIRC, the issue was the oil resting on the gasket, since the heads are horizontal, basically eating its way through.

Wow, this thread has been useful as I was starting to look at new cars down the road to replace my Mazda5 and a Subaru was one of them.

It's not going to be now after all these accounts of the infotainment screen disaster.

I was also looking at a Honda CRV and realized they just turned it into an ugly giant box-like thing that is like the size of what a Pilot was. Nope.

I guess I'll be going Mazda again

I had the '15 Legacy 3.6R, the sedan version of the Outback.

Weak windshield and weak battery were my only issues. Car ran strong and had no issues.