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small suv good in snow

thetrailboss

thetrailboss

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So just took my first 300 mile road trip for work with the new Subie. Amazing. 31 mpg average. The assisted cruise control worked great at pacing the car in traffic, avoiding hard stops, and saving gas. The EyeSight worked fine in the bad weather. The lane assist worked and gentl nudged the car back into the lane if it felt I was drifting. It was like a magnet pushing you back--subtle. Quiet ride. Never got above 2500 RPMs and had plenty of horse to get up passes. The clearance was great to get me to the site I had to get to for work.

The voice control was amazing and my phone is seemless with the car.

A great ride.
 
VTKilarney

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Once you get a car with adaptive cruise control you can never go back to regular cruise control. Just about everyone I know turns off lane assist - but that's because on the back roads they purposely cross the yellow line from time to time.
 
thetrailboss

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gmcunni said:
glad it is all working well for you.



^ this is my 1 gripe on our 2015, sound like they improved it but the integration with SIRI/my iphone is horrible.
Click to expand...

Yes, it works great. Can control climate control, switch the radio, etc. Very easy.
 
thetrailboss

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VTKilarney said:
Once you get a car with adaptive cruise control you can never go back to regular cruise control. Just about everyone I know turns off lane assist - but that's because on the back roads they purposely cross the yellow line from time to time.
Click to expand...

Yes, Lane Assist is good for highway driving really. On narrow roads it will drive you nuts.
 
thetrailboss

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Bump. Already hit 1,800 miles and love the car still. Power has not been an issue for me at least. AWD has been great. The car has been very good on gas....highway, trips to Alta/Snowbird, and warming up on cold days is netting me about 24 mpg right now. Not bad for a full size wagon with AWD. Highway is 30 no problem.

Talked to another couple who had a 2009 Impreza Sport and recently traded it in. GM owned a significant stake of Subaru at that time and they really made Subaru cut costs and reduce quality. Apparently lots of Outback 2.4's had issues in this 2005-2010 timeframe or so. He was saying that Subaru kept it quiet, but their cars had engines blowing out and other issues. As to our friends, their Impreza had a lot of issues with the transmission, engine, suspension, etc. They just got the wife a 2016 Subaru Cross Trek and it is night and day. He said that when you closed the door on the Impreza it sounded like a tin can; the Cross Trek is a quality car in his mind and he works on cars. Glad we dodged the quality issues--our 2005 3.6 was a beast. This car is very nice and drives nicely.

One comment that does resonate with me is that a lot of the interior features and trim are pretty much THE SAME as our 2005 car. The climate control is pretty much identical with a few cosmetic changes. It works for me and it feels familiar which is nice, but I would have appreciated a bit more thought and innovation considering it has been 12 model years.
 
Y

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thetrailboss said:
Bump. Already hit 1,800 miles and love the car still. Power has not been an issue for me at least. AWD has been great. The car has been very good on gas....highway, trips to Alta/Snowbird, and warming up on cold days is netting me about 24 mpg right now. Not bad for a full size wagon with AWD. Highway is 30 no problem.

Talked to another couple who had a 2009 Impreza Sport and recently traded it in. GM owned a significant stake of Subaru at that time and they really made Subaru cut costs and reduce quality. Apparently lots of Outback 2.4's had issues in this 2005-2010 timeframe or so. He was saying that Subaru kept it quiet, but their cars had engines blowing out and other issues. As to our friends, their Impreza had a lot of issues with the transmission, engine, suspension, etc. They just got the wife a 2016 Subaru Cross Trek and it is night and day. He said that when you closed the door on the Impreza it sounded like a tin can; the Cross Trek is a quality car in his mind and he works on cars. Glad we dodged the quality issues--our 2005 3.6 was a beast. This car is very nice and drives nicely.

One comment that does resonate with me is that a lot of the interior features and trim are pretty much THE SAME as our 2005 car. The climate control is pretty much identical with a few cosmetic changes. It works for me and it feels familiar which is nice, but I would have appreciated a bit more thought and innovation considering it has been 12 model years.
Click to expand...

Would be interested to hear why you think their reliability ratings are taking a nosedive right now.


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thetrailboss

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yeggous said:
They've been tanking for a few years now. Both J.D. Power and Consumer Reports.
http://www.torquenews.com/1084/subaru-gets-iced-jd-power-vehicle-dependability-study



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Click to expand...

That's a dated article and discusses issues with 2013-2015 vehicles.

Just skimmed the CR review for the 2017 and no surprises there. Nothing like you were saying.

JD Power's ratings for the 2016 Outback were fine.


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Last edited:
Scruffy

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thetrailboss said:
That's a dated article and discusses issues with 2013-2015 vehicles.

Just skimmed the CR review for the 2017 and no surprises there. Nothing like you were saying.

JD Power's ratings for the 2016 Outback were fine.


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Click to expand...

Most likely the oil consumption issue of the 2013-2015 years. Related to bad rings. The good thing is Subaru ( albeit after a class action ) replaced the short blocks of any car with the issue, even after the power train warranty was past.

They also stepped up and took care of their customers when they had the head gasket issues.
 
Y

yeggous

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thetrailboss said:
That's a dated article and discusses issues with 2013-2015 vehicles.

Just skimmed the CR review for the 2017 and no surprises there. Nothing like you were saying.

JD Power's ratings for the 2016 Outback were fine.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone
Click to expand...

2016 would be initial quality as opposed to dependability. If you watch the CR Talking Cars episode on this year's survey they mention the new Impreza not being counted. By removing the Impreza it weighted more heavily to the less reliable models in their lineup. Overall the reliability is just average.

Some manufacturers have electronics and infotainment issues that drag down numbers. Subaru has avoided this by eschewing the high tech gadgets which kept their numbers high in the past. Unfortunately their major mechanical issues (head gasket and oil burn) have caught up with them and brought them down into the fold.


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