Subaru Automobiles

[Torvy]

2018 Outback Limited - bought it new because the 0% was cheaper than buying a lightly used at 5%. Only has about 55k on it (less driving due to lock downs and change in commute from 35 to 8 miles). It has become our daily driver since we traded the 2020 Prius Prime for a 2017 Tundra. I am mostly a Toyota person, but more because I am a reliability first person. The Prime had similar features to our Outback. One difference is that the distance on the adaptive cruise control resets on the Prime every time you shot off the car. The Outback retains our settings. Most of the technology stuff is nice to have and can be disabled.

The Outback has paddle shifters, so if you like more control, you have it. The 8.5" ground clearance is less than some dedicated off road type vehicles, but makes driving around our property possible.

Negatives, we have had some minor electrical problems with windows. Technology can be habit forming and makes going 'backward' more difficult. For instance, the auto-braking is usually awesome (though it sometimes brakes hard for a tall weed when backing up), now when I back up in my truck, I has the camera and I habe to actively remind myself that it will not stop.

I will look for pictures. Wife currently has it in San Antonio.

 

[BadDecisions]

Because of all of the technology in these vehicles, I do wonder if the vehicles will just age out when the repair bills get to a point of being unaffordable. Certainly the auto companies are trying to drive us, pun intended, to a subscription model for some services but I think they would love it if the subscription was basically a lease that never expired. Get a new car every N years and always have a subscription, aka, car payment.

This is one of my big concerns as well. I've had a car payment twice in my life, both of which were paid off inside of 12 months, and it made me uneasy the entire time. Other than that, I've owned over 50 different vehicles, all of which were paid with cash. With the exception of one single time in my life, 100% of the repairs on my cars have also been done by me (that one time was a clutch that went out in the middle of a Detroit winter in my Charger, and the only place I had to do the repair was the driveway with about a foot of snow on it.)

Or the other scare - the crap that Tesla pulled with removing features on used cars because the 2nd owner didn't "pay" for the features. I feel like Mercedes tried something similar as well at one point. Or the subscriptions for features like heated seats and steering wheel that BMW is doing. It's only a matter of time before that becomes widespread, and the one time fee "lifetime" subscriptions cease due to some nonsense like "lack of interest". All it takes is one bad software update to break some important features of a new car...how long will it take before people lose access to heat altogether because some programmer flubbed a line of code, with the manufacturers dragging their feet to fix it?

 

[dmccarty]

...
Or the other scare - the crap that Tesla pulled with removing features on used cars because the 2nd owner didn't "pay" for the features. I feel like Mercedes tried something similar as well at one point. Or the subscriptions for features like heated seats and steering wheel that BMW is doing. It's only a matter of time before that becomes widespread, and the one time fee "lifetime" subscriptions cease due to some nonsense like "lack of interest". All it takes is one bad software update to break some important features of a new car...how long will it take before people lose access to heat altogether because some programmer flubbed a line of code, with the manufacturers dragging their feet to fix it?

last year, Toyota tried to make remote start capability a subscription and they caught heck for it, as they should. I don't really know the full story since I just started looking at the technology in these new vehicles but my understanding is that Toyota would require a subscription after an initial period for remote start. Customers had a fit and Toyota said the remote start capability subscription was for the cell phone application and not the key fob.

Ford just filed a patent that would allow them to turn off the AC, heat in the vehicle, or make an annoying sound if one missed a payment.

 

[cqaigy2]

Residual income.

 

[NoTrespassing]

last year, Toyota tried to make remote start capability a subscription and they caught heck for it, as they should. I don't really know the full story since I just started looking at the technology in these new vehicles but my understanding is that Toyota would require a subscription after an initial period for remote start. Customers had a fit and Toyota said the remote start capability subscription was for the cell phone application and not the key fob.

Ford just filed a patent that would allow them to turn off the AC, heat in the vehicle, or make an annoying sound if one missed a payment.

Interesting way to get people to keep up with payments. I wonder if anyone gets creative when returning a car they couldn't keep up the payment on. A friend of mine had a 1 lb. roll of raw sausage roll under the seat of his Explorer. It started stinking after a week or so but it took them over a month to find it. It was the heat of summer at the time too. It was very difficult to get the smell out of that vehicle. Sorry, I'm off topic, let's just say if was a Subaru instead of an Explorer.

 

[CobyRupert]

….but how many cup holders?
Those electronic gizmos are getting more fancy every day.
The only experience I had with one that had auto-braking / crash avoidance was in a situation where the car ahead was also slowing to turn right. I was following far enough behind and could calculate that even though I was closing the distance between us at a concerning rate, we would not collide.
I also did not want to suddenly brake because there was a cement truck approaching at a higher rate than both of us.
As I was about to safely clear the car leaving the road the Subaru decided to slam on the brakes! The cement truck got really large in the rear view mirror. I cursed something about Nippon designers.
My wife has a basic model, 5 spd man. Impreza. Underpowered, but that AWD is great in snow.
She fell for the “It’s built with love” as campaign. They give it a PZEV badge. That stands for Partial Zero Emission Vehicle. Hug the earth! Wait, “partial zero”, what? What kind of meaningless phrase is that b.s.? Technically it has a top speed of “partial light speed” too!

 

[California]

My '99 has a PZEV decal.

I think it relates to how much smog credits they have to buy from Tesla.

A few years back they raised the suspension to evade 'automobile' smog standards and qualify in the SUV category - a lesser standard.

 

[BadDecisions]

last year, Toyota tried to make remote start capability a subscription and they caught heck for it, as they should. I don't really know the full story since I just started looking at the technology in these new vehicles but my understanding is that Toyota would require a subscription after an initial period for remote start. Customers had a fit and Toyota said the remote start capability subscription was for the cell phone application and not the key fob.

Ford just filed a patent that would allow them to turn off the AC, heat in the vehicle, or make an annoying sound if one missed a payment.

I had a similar thing with the Chevy Volt - the cell phone remote start went through the OnStar system, but then it also had key fob remote start. I got a free trial that I think was for a year for the OnStar, then went on to a month to month deal. But the key fob remote start was permanent, which I was OK with. Really, I don't see any real pressing need for the ability to remote start the car on the other side of the planet anyways, lol. Though I can see where some people may want it for pre-heating/cooling from inside their office or something, and I don't see a problem with making that a subscription service, as the computer systems needed to facilitate that is a recurring expense for the company. But the key fob, heated seats, etc is a one time expense...

As I was about to safely clear the car leaving the road the Subaru decided to slam on the brakes! The cement truck got really large in the rear view mirror. I cursed something about Nippon designers.

Similar issue with the Volt as well, but in the traction control system. There were a number of times I'd hit a bit of water or snow going through an intersection, and the traction control system would cut ALL power to the wheels, and I'd be dead in the intersection for 2-3 seconds until it recovered. Usually it would just coast through, so it wasn't a huge deal, but there were a couple times when I knew it was slick, so I was accelerating very slowly, but then it meant I came to a dead stop for those 2-3 seconds...dead in the middle. NOT at all a comfortable feeling in heavy traffic. No idea if it was common to those cars, or it was just something goofy in my particular car, but it ended up being one of the big reasons why I ended up selling it and went back to old tech cars.

 

[lman]

Interesting way to get people to keep up with payments. I wonder if anyone gets creative when returning a car they couldn't keep up the payment on. A friend of mine had a 1 lb. roll of raw sausage roll under the seat of his Explorer. It started stinking after a week or so but it took them over a month to find it. It was the heat of summer at the time too. It was very difficult to get the smell out of that vehicle. Sorry, I'm off topic, let's just say if was a Subaru instead of an Explorer.

That's kind of sad that because somebody was not responsible enough to pay for a car, they took it out on the dealer.

 

[MTGreen]

last year, Toyota tried to make remote start capability a subscription and they caught heck for it, as they should. I don't really know the full story since I just started looking at the technology in these new vehicles but my understanding is that Toyota would require a subscription after an initial period for remote start. Customers had a fit and Toyota said the remote start capability subscription was for the cell phone application and not the key fob.

Ford just filed a patent that would allow them to turn off the AC, heat in the vehicle, or make an annoying sound if one missed a payment.

Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen people can die from no heat or air conditioning depending on the situation

 

[jjeff]

Great thread my wife was looking at Subarus a few months ago, Wife currently has a fully loaded Honda crossover, 3 rows all the electronic gadgets, AWD, lane assist, adaptive cruise, auto dimming hi beams, auto windshield wipers, etc etc. It's 5 yrs old and 120k+ on it. Looked at Subaru recently, the only 3 row are the ascent for some reason the front seats are completely different than a outback and Forester. The seats in the Forester are much more comfortable than the ascent imo. I dislike safety and convenience gadgets when I'm driving her car Im thinking I'm dimming the lights out of habit and I end up flashing brights at the oncoming car, try to turn on the windshield wipers and I shut them off completely cause there automatic. Struggle with the auto lifting tailgate cause there's always something in the way and it won't close. Can't open the door to back up when everything is covered in snow and ice cause it automatically goes into park unsure if Subaru is the same? Worst was when I was driving my truck that still has a manually operated column shifter and I was in the process of hopping out of it and didn't put it in park cause I was so used to the Hondas push button and it automatically going into park when the doors open. My wife is a magnet for flying road debris and has had her windshield replaced 5 times now. All the electronic gadgets require all the sensors to be recalibrated at a qualified shop, we had to take it to one place for the windshield then take it to the dealership to get recalibrated or your dash looks like a Xmas tree.
I have a few friends that own Subarus and have nothing bad to say of them. I keep telling myself that car is for her not me I just have to occasionally relearn everything I know in order to get it out of my driveway.
Apologies for the long winded rant and my perspective.

 

[cqaigy2]

Great thread my wife was looking at Subarus a few months ago, Wife currently has a fully loaded Honda crossover, 3 rows all the electronic gadgets, AWD, lane assist, adaptive cruise, auto dimming hi beams, auto windshield wipers, etc etc. It's 5 yrs old and 120k+ on it. Looked at Subaru recently, the only 3 row are the aspects for some reason the front seats are completely different than a outback and Forester. The seats in the Forester are much more comfortable than the aspect imo. I dislike safety and convenience gadgets when I'm driving her car Im thinking I'm dimming the lights out of habit and I end up flashing brights at the oncoming car, try to turn on the windshield wipers and I shut them off completely cause there automatic. Struggle with the auto lifting tailgate cause there's always something in the way and it won't close. Can't open the door to back up when everything is covered in snow and ice cause it automatically goes into park unsure if Subaru is the same? Worst was when I was driving my truck that still has a manually operated column shifter and I was in the process of hopping out of it and didn't put it in park cause I was so used to the Hondas push button and it automatically going into park when the doors open. My wife is a magnet for flying road debris and has had her windshield replaced 5 times now. All the electronic gadgets require all the sensors to be recalibrated at a qualified shop, we had to take it to one place for the windshield then take it to the dealership to get recalibrated or your dash looks like a Xmas tree.
I have a few friends that own Subarus and have nothing bad to say of them. I keep telling myself that car is for her not me I just have to occasionally relearn everything I know in order to get it out of my driveway.
Apologies for the long winded rant and my perspective.

Loll, no apologies need, but you probably should just stop driving. They are going to keep adding all kinds of stupid stuff to cars that have absolutely nothing to do with driving and that's on top of the driving stuff that's getting added.

 

[Torvy]

Thanks for the reminder. A couple of other things...we considered a Cross trek or a Forrester, but on the 2018, only the Outback had electric seats. Switching brands can definitely make driving more challenging. In all fairness, if the home boss would go for it, I would trade the Outback for a Rav4 Prime. 42 mile range on full electric with the ability to go 530 miles total with the gas/electric hybrid. Almost the same ground clearance and 4wd. Too hard to find them and prices...eek!

 

[jjeff]

Thanks for the reminder. A couple of other things...we considered a Cross trek or a Forrester, but on the 2018, only the Outback had electric seats. Switching brands can definitely make driving more challenging. In all fairness, if the home boss would go for it, I would trade the Outback for a Rav4 Prime. 42 mile range on full electric with the ability to go 530 miles total with the gas/electric hybrid. Almost the same ground clearance and 4wd. Too hard to find them and prices...eek!

Yep probably put on hold til next year wifes now really interested in a 3row highlander hybrid, nothing close to what she wants anywhere around here. Only option id like it to have is heated windshield wipers. That was the best option ever, imo and was on her old minimally equipped 4runner which was also very friendly to technology illiterate people like me lol.

 

[Torvy]

Yep probably put on hold til next year wifes now really interested in a 3row highlander hybrid, nothing close to what she wants anywhere around here. Only option id like it to have is heated windshield wipers. That was the best option ever, imo and was on her old minimally equipped 4runner which was also very friendly to technology illiterate people like me lol.

I can understand why that is important up there. Not very useful here. With the kids all grown, I don't need that much seating either!

Did remind me I need to get new wipers on my truck.

 

[Dftodd]

I like the CVT transmission. No shift bumps. I got to drive my kid's Legacy several times over the years, so I was used to it.

Our Outback has the paddle shifters on the steering wheel. I suppose that would be handy in hilly terrain or on the racetrack . No need for it here in the flat part if Indiana. We're taking it to Oklahoma in April, and there's a few hilly stretches in Missouri where I like to kick the throttle on the Impala and Suburban at the bottom of the hills so it maintains speed up the hill before the cruise control kicks it down. So we'll see then.

Ours does not have the font camera that I know of. We test drove a 2023 that had it. Pretty neat. It also had the turbo engine. Man, it was responsive. But we don't need that.

You would actually have to remember to hit the paddles Past two cars we've had (Mazda and Buick) both have a slap shift option on the gear shifter. Other than playing with it with the Mazda just to check it out, we never used it.

Same for the Buick. I've accidently engaged it once.

 

[Dftodd]

Yes. It has it. My wife and I were trying to figure out why sometimes it stops the engine, and sometimes it does not. Stop signs, stoplights. No rhyme or reason. So we googled it up, and found that there's a whole list of criteria that it looks at before deciding to shut the engine down. It displays a little information each time it does it to show you how much gas it saves. You can reset the meter if you want to.

And yes, we have the little "A" button, and yes, it has to be disabled every time you start the car if you want to disable it. I don't mind it too much. They have supposedly designed the starter to be able to take it. The delay just annoys me. I'd guess the delay isn't half of one second, but my cat-like reflexes get thrown off when waiting that long for something to happen.

They don't use the starter to restart the car. The computer stops the engine at the exact point that all it has to do is fire off that spark plug.

 

[ericm979]

You would actually have to remember to hit the paddles Past two cars we've had (Mazda and Buick) both have a slap shift option on the gear shifter. Other than playing with it with the Mazda just to check it out, we never used it.

Same for the Buick. I've accidently engaged it once.

I use it all the time in the vehicles I have with manually shiftable automatics. But we live on the side of a mountain and our trips are invariably to other places with mountains. If I'm driving in flat or rolling terrain the lever's in D.

 

[MossRoad]

They don't use the starter to restart the car. The computer stops the engine at the exact point that all it has to do is fire off that spark plug.

Hmmm. That's interesting.

 

[IndyIan]

We ended up with a 2018 Outback 2.5i which in Canada has heated seats and mirrors. It's a japanese buick wagon, with AWD. My only real complaint is that they didn't put in a front bench seat so it would seat 6, and the sunglasses holder up between the sunshades is tiny...
It floats down the highway pretty smoothly and quietly, and gets quite good mileage. The CVT works great, and the simulated shifts are fine with me, or if you use under 20% throttle it will just hold 2000rpm and accelerate slowly to highway speed. The built in roof rack works well for us too.
In the first 130k km its just needed brake pads, and fluids changed.