Subaru Outback 3.0?

[Gavin Allan]

Wife is thinking of trading her Jeep Liberty for a Subaru Outback Wagon LL Bean Edition 3.0.



Anyone have any experience pro/con on the Subaru? It seems OK to me on the test drives. The LL Bean edition is pretty well loaded and looks pretty nice for a station wagon.



She also drove a Tribeca, but it seemed like a minivan, so she went back to the Outback Wagon.



95% of her driving is on four-lane highway and the other 4.99999% is around town. (the remaining 0.000001% is off-road).



Thanks

 

[Nelson Atwell]

You should have her drive the grand Touring Edition of the Mazda 3 or the Mazda 6 Sport Wagon. Those are both nice vehicles. I looked at the Outback before I bought my new Mazda and considered it small for the price you pay.

 

[A K]

Family has had a slew of Subarus over the past 20 years. Never had a problem. Mom currently has a Legacy GT Ltd Turbo. No problems, lots of zip. They're more expensive than comparable sedans/wagons, though.



As with Sport Tracs, you'll hear bad accounts from those who had them, and silence from many who never had a problem. Your best bet is to test drive them a few times before buying.

 

[Austin Tatious]

I have a 2002 Outback with 95k. Good solid vehicle with very few problems. The 2.5 is a bit underpowered for the hills. i'd think the 3.0 would be just right. It has great front and side impact results.

 

[Gavin Allan]

We drove one on Saturday and it was pretty nice. Drove a Tribeca also-- didn't like it as much-- too much like a minivan. More dealing today...



Nelson: My wife HAS to have 4WD/AWD for the snow, and she also needs reliability and decent gas mileage.

 

[Fred]

That's why my junk sooby has a 5 speed manual, like the 265K mile one before it.

Oh, I did have a 1986 junker that had an auto trans. It only made it to 220K before I sold it.

 

[A K]

If there are no tranny problems why have they had no less than three recalls on trannys.

As I stated before, my family has purchased at least seven Subarus in the last fifteen years. Not one has had any problems. Well, there was a Justy back in the early 80s that was a rust bucket. But, I think it is safe to assume this has been rectified.



With respect to transmissions, again, never had a problem. My family always opts for the highest mile/year extended full coverage warranty, so any costs incurred are covered. Even with it, the warranty has been a waste since they have not had problems. I do not believe they ever had any issues with a dealer not covering any repair. And, hypothetically, a one-time higher expense transmission spread over x years of ownership approaches that of a per year cost of a Trac's less expensive transmission (going on the assumption that Subaru owners hold their rides well over 100K, and often over 200K, as opposed to domestics owners).



The interest in warranties, however, is generated by my old 1996 Explorer, which had no less than $4000 in repairs before it was dumped for the Trac. That was one vehicle where the warranty paid for itself and then some. The Trac, however, has been problem-free except for a few quirks that were easily fixed. Thus, it depends on the vehicle (or the day of the week when it was built...!).



Because my opinion is skewed by my problem-free experience with Subarus, test them a few times. See if you can take a demo from the dealer overnight. Browse the Subaru message boards on the web. See what they think as a fly on the wall. I would assume they complain as much as folks whose Tracs have major (and minor) problems. You'll get a much better sampling there, in the midst of thousands of owners, than the few of us here who have actually owned Subarus.

 

[TomT]

Have you looked at the Toyota RAV4 with V6. 269hp. 27mpg on highway.