Subaru Automobiles

[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.

 

[MossRoad]

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 the gear selector in our Impala fairly often going downhill. Wife and I go to a lot of state and national parks and recreation areas with sketchy roads. People kinda look at us funny when we show up in an Impala.

It's in a stupid location with both up and down behind the left hand on the steering wheel.

 

[cqaigy2]

I hit the paddle shifter going down hill too. Mine are on each side of the steering wheel, left side is down shift, right up shift. I think.

 

[BX23S-1]

@MossRoad
I bet that Subaru Outback will serve you well. Love the color of yours! My wife bought her Outback last summer, she loves it. It`s loaded right up nicely. We did shut off a few of the features though. Neither one of us wants a car to drive for us, (we know how to drive). Always felt like we were fighting it to keep in the lane where we wanted to be. Especially when you`re trying to avoid potholes like where we live. Other than that, i`m a truck guy myself, but i love driving her Subaru. Fantastic driving car, and very comfortable! I`m very surprised how peppy it is! Seems more powerful than her Subaru Legacy was. This is her second Subaru. She had such good luck with her last one, zero problems ever, so she bought this second one. If it runs as long as her last one did, there'll never be a complaint from us. If i were a car guy, i wouldn`t hesitate buying the Subaru Outback after driving hers.

If there is only one thing that really annoys me with hers, its how the remote start is set up. You remote start it, then when you go out to get in the car, as soon as you open any door, it shuts the engine off. I wish knew how to delete that feature.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

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.

I can't say I've been looking at new cars anytime recently. But my brothers Chevy absolutely used the starter. You could hear it. Every. Single. Time.

I think it was a '12? Malibu.