Subaru Outback or Subaru fans?

[moldyoldy]

Bump. an update.

my daughters 2015 Forester with manual xmsn went thru the 1200 mile oil consumption test - lost only 2oz of oil. 10.75oz loss allowed. passed.

however, we were not imagining the oil consumption before, but then an underlying condition before was highway driving in hot weather of the South, specifically Tennessee.
So at least in this particular Forester 2.5L Boxer engine, ambient heat is the real factor for oil consumption.
well, since my daughter now works in Ohio and enjoys distinctly cooler weather, the oil consumption problem is latent.
that might engender an early upgrade to a 2018 model. but not now.

also, besides the short block in a 2015 2.5L Boxer engine receiving a warranty extension to 100K miles, I received notice that the CVT in the 2015 also received an warranty extension to 100K miles.

By contrast, neither my wife's Forester nor my Outback have demonstrated any problem with oil consumption, CVT operation, or antifreeze consumption. and I do check.

I should comment that contrary to general opinion on 'modern' engines in passenger vehicles, I believe in a proper break-in period, at least 1000+ miles. no heavy loads, no competitive acceleration, etc.

 

[Cobraman502]

I recently bought a 2017 Subaru Forester XT. I got to say that I love everything about that suv. I have yet to drive it in winter but look forward to the heated seats. I had the Subaru remote start put in given it would be warranted. The turbo model is fantastic even with the CVT. 250 hp and 258 ft lbs of torque. Exactly what I wanted as a family/DD

 

[Candzy]

My brother once own a forester and I had a chance to drive it twice. I can say it was good.

 

[Kestrel]

The Subaru Wagon has been a dream car of mine ever since my first ride in one, around ~1990; growing up in interior AK w/ poor-handling trucks, the handling of that peppy wagon was on a whole 'nother level. Whenever I'd be back in AK visiting friends & family and needed a rental car, I would insist on renting a Legacy Wagon.

So upon the retirement of my 412,000 mi, 1994 Corolla Wagon, I /finally/ got the upgrade I wanted; a 2004 Outback - manual transmission, a no-brainer there, for sure.
160,000 miles, clean title. Unknown repair history, so $2575 out the door (private seller) - figuring that I could price in a head gasket replacement and not come out too far under.
It had a timing belt replacement at 13x,000 miles, and the coolant & oil looked good - which, at that price, was good enough for me.
A perfect car to not worry about too much; promptly put on new tires & a full fluids changeout, etc.

Have been getting 28mpg, which is OK I guess.
I've kept a /very/ close eye on my oil & coolant levels in the interim; which have both been rock solid through my first oil change interval @ 3700 miles, last weekend.

July here, so just got a full inspection of the AC system ($10 promotion at my local shop); $140 more and now I have my first-ever daily driver with air conditioning.
The inspection & service also got me 12-month warranty on the AC system, which is cool.

So nothing noteworthy to report, just wanted to post a flag in this thread for now.
(I do have some ideas of making it a combination daily-driver & micro-camper, so stay tuned ... )

 

[scout24]

Very nice, Kestrel! I've had a soft spot for Subaru wagons since I was a kid and a customer at a repair shop I worked at had one that I test drove on occasion. I recently got rid of my Wrangler 4 door and finally own a Subaru, I got a Crosstrek. The Outback was a bit bigger than I needed, and the trek is light years more refined than the Jeep. I'll be following your micro camper build...

 

[alpg88]

nbp, we looked at Honda last week, couldn't find one-new- without a cvt.

accord comes with 6 speed manual, 10 speed auto, and cvt
pilot\passport come with 6 and 9 speed auto.

 

[alpg88]

Great post, glad to hear you've have good experiences, I wish everyone in snowy areas had access to AWD vehicles.

The CVT is just about perfect for a family car, can't beat the smoothness. Years ago we briefly had a rental Dodge Caliber, a car that was a real testament to how ignored the compact format was for American carmakers; full-plastic interior, buzzy engine, apparently no sound-deadening material on the underside of the car to speak of so it was like driving around in a subwoofer box with every bump and road imperfection made audible, not a pleasant drive. But it had a CVT - every time you'd pull away from a stoplight, the engine would simply make a monotone hum up to cruising speed, no jerking or nudging through gears, the one inadvertent nod to luxury in the entire car. That kind of transmission in the Outback really validates the comparisons to Audi and Volvo, very comfy.

i had a cvt 2013 accord, this was my first cvt and it was nothing like i imagined, it has no gears but sometimes it jerks as it has gears, and i always felt "shift from 2nd to 1st" right before coming to complete stop, even thou it had no 1st or 2nd gear. it also jerked sometimes in slow traffic,. very similar to when a stick shift car is about to stall, but not nearly as pronounced, thou it never actually stalled. but it was not as smooth as i thought it would be.

 

[mk2rocco]

Yes! Went from a WRX to this doggo hauler.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[alpg88]

those are nice ones, i looked at ascent, when i was car shopping, but they were new hot cars, and i could not get a good lease price, so i got pilot instead

 

[sledhead]

Looking forward to the 2020 Outback. Being released for sale in 2 or 3 weeks. Almost got a 2019 but the deals kept falling through........

 

[ven]

Like that mk2rocco, very cool colour as well.......

 

[harro]

Interesting thing a mates son had happen to his '15 Liberty ( I think they are Legacy everywhere but Australia ) 2.5Lt the other day. The mate sent me pics, and I should have kept them, but didn't. I'll try and get them and post them here. It had been running rough at idle, with a funny tapping sound, for quite some time. Under load and highway speeds the thing apparently felt normal and ran well. The local dealer was stumped, but felt it was something electrical, because it was intermittent. It didn't come up with any unusual codes. They took it to another private mechanic, who immediately did a compression test, and found a weak cylinder. Even the private mechanic agreed that under load and normal speeds the car felt fine. Anyway, the offending head came off, and sure enough, an exhaust valve had lost a small piece from the seating area of the valve, and inwards slightly, to a crack that ran visibly right to the valve stem!!! A new valve, and a grind and lap job all round, had the thing running like new, and idling as it should. Why did it happen??? Who knows, just one of those things, I guess. Normally, the 2.5 is pretty much bulletproof.

 

[ven]

You guys are making me want a subaru again.....

If only i would have got the wagon version, i would still have been using it!

I still fancy a spec B legacy estate , the 3L flat 6.............:naughty:

 

[StarHalo]

Will be joining the Outback owners club in ~December; very impressed that the new Outbacks are so plainly aiming at Audi, and doing a very good job at it. Touchscreen infotainment on the family hauler, amazing..

So that was three years ago; we ended up leasing a BMW which we've enjoyed during that time, but last week was the end of the contract, so it was back to car shopping, and we found ourselves back at the Subaru dealer again, being bowled over by how smooth the new Foresters are (and this is coming from people who just returned a BMW..) We found a delivered-this-week 2020 with the right color and options, had the shipping wrap removed from it this morning and finished the purchase paperwork this afternoon, and took it off the lot with 7 miles on the odometer:

It's a flashaholic's car; LED Steering Responsive Headlights:

The must-have-for-Cali very panoramic sunroof:

 

[Monocrom]

Very nice, S.H.
Don't feel too bad about the BMW. You did the right thing leasing it for the first three years. Got to enjoy it trouble-free while it was still new. Buddy of mine currently leasing the Impreza wagon. His wife has the Legacy sedan. She's pretty happy with her ride. Sadly he hates his. It developed electronic gremlins early on. I like it though. Nice-looking wagon (Subaru calls it a 5-Door hatchback). And the interior is very nice too. you don't see a ton of cheap plastic in there.

 

[sledhead]

Congrats on the new Forester StarHalo...beautiful vehicle. What package did you get? Almost got a Touring but that damn facial recognition freaks me out! No one has said if you can turn it off yet.
2020 Outbacks started appearing on lots a few weeks ago....they are on the new Global platform now like your forester.

 

[StarHalo]

Congrats on the new Forester StarHalo...beautiful vehicle. What package did you get? Almost got a Touring but that damn facial recognition freaks me out! No one has said if you can turn it off yet.
2020 Outbacks started appearing on lots a few weeks ago....they are on the new Global platform now like your forester.

It's a Premium, with these options:

Big fan of the floor liners/cargo tray, basically makes the entire floor of the car front to back hard rubber. I would totally go for the face recognition tech in the Limited/Touring, but it would be many thousands more over what we paid.

 

[sledhead]

Nice package! Some people will love the face recognition and others feel it's too intrusive..(Me). Really want the 2020 Outback Premium however, it looks to me they tied the moonroof with the face recognition as a package. Trying to get it confirmed.

Enjoy the Forester!!

 

[StarHalo]

Really want the 2020 Outback Premium however, it looks to me they tied the moonroof with the face recognition as a package.

The Outback doesn't offer a panoramic moonroof, it just has the old school front-seats-only rectangle. We considered an Outback, but it's notably bigger on the exterior for almost exactly the same interior space; you can see a more detailed comparison here.

 

[ven]

Very nice SH , nice choice. I will be honest, never have been a big fan of BMW(and several others inc VW which i own presently), maybe partly down to how many i see every day. Every time i see a subaru(more older models than new), it always catches my eye. Got to love subaru!