Subaru Outback Wilderness

[AbleGuy]

Everyone has their own different experiences in their own different opinions.

Overheating rear diff? Start of our trip last year was driving almost 700 miles in 100° plus weather. No overheating issues!

Subaru dealers being problematic? Obviously not all of them. And the two times we’ve lived in towns with Subaru dealers, we’ve had very positive experiences with them. Yes they may be a bit pricey, but these days who isn’t?

Old time Suby owners leaving the brand? We’re happily on our fourth one. And we would buy another one with very little hesitation when the time comes, but this time probably the ascent for a little bit extra room.

So yeah different strokes for different folks

 

[BLand Cruiser]

I’m with you on that. We have two. My 2007 was very capable off road. My wife’s 2017 is awesome, but untested off road.

Our local dealership is great. The service department does a great job and has never tried to up-sell us or fix anything that didn’t need to be fixed.

I gave my 2007 to my daughter and got a Land Cruiser. Gas was $2.00 at the time.

 

[calicamper]

Cost and level of service on my F350 is 100x better than Subaru service and I tried 3 Subaru dealers.

Yep same Ford dealers would literally be chased out of town if they treated the customers like “pick any Subaru dealer” within 100 miles I have 8 in 40min range of my front door.

 

[jbaucom]

The quality of service at my local Subaru dealer is miles ahead of the Ford dealer across the street, but the Subaru service prices are nearly double.

 

[AbleGuy]

What are you doing with your Subaru today?

We’re closing in on 3 months and @ 4,000 miles exploring the PNW, Northern Rockies and part of B.C.

Rounding third base today, finally heading home through Montana and Idaho, saw elk, deer, antelope, coyotes, eagles, lots of hawks and sandhill cranes today.

Lots of snow still in the high country, rivers and creeks swollen with rain and snow melt and flowing hard and fast.

Here’s a couple kinda blurry phone camera snaps from Outbacking today, to inspire you guys to just Get Out There while you can and bite the bullet on the high gas prices:

 

[Highlander]

There are many contradictory facts that exist in parallel to each other which makes my (and for many other) searching of Subaru a bit complicated.
I have seen a few Subaru running with 200K with no major issue and I have heard about a few Subaru that broke done at 70K.

Is Mazda better in terms of transmission and engine? I know their awd is not as great as Subaru's.

Does it slip under load?

Wait, can a cvt actually slip under load?

 

[BLand Cruiser]

I’ve owned four Mazdas. They were very reliable.

 

[Highlander]

Would mind to tell us what year and what model?
Just curious.

 

[BLand Cruiser]

1982 Ford Escort, which was made by Mazda.
Mid ‘90s 2 wheel drive truck.
2002 Miata
2006 Mazda 5

 

[utherjorge]

There are a few brands that have been hit and miss for quality...and Subaru is definitely one of them. I'm glad that some people have success with their Soobs, but the problems are many, and they are documented well. It's one of those things like Kia engines. Loads of people know they go boom...yet people keep buying them.

In Subaru's case, it's the aggressive marketing that has so many people loving them even after another CVT failure under warranty. Optics matter...ask a Tesla fan.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

The CVT means that this can't really be considered for a lot of reasons

Does it come in manual shift?

 

[utherjorge]

I'm not in the market for a new car, AND wouldn't ever consider a Subaru....but I don't believe so.

If I needed a littler (wrongly spelledish) car, I would consider one of their manual rigs, which I think at this point we're down to an Impreza or two. Someone can correct me.

Sadly, my daughter just bought a CVT-equipped Forester, and it is very nice...at this point. A good friend of mine works at a Soob dealership, and he's previously told me about the pallets of trannies they get in every week to replace bad units. His response to me was "when the time comes, I'll tell you how to get a free transmission replacement." so....yeah.

 

[Alloy]

There are many contradictory facts that exist in parallel to each other which makes my (and for many other) searching of Subaru a bit complicated.
I have seen a few Subaru running with 200K with no major issue and I have heard about a few Subaru that broke done at 70K.

Is Mazda better in terms of transmission and engine? I know their awd is not as great as Subaru's.



Wait, can a cvt actually slip under load?

The 200k days are gone. In order to meet EPA (compensate for the CVT) numbers Subaru lowerd the machining tolerances.

 

[Highlander]

Why is everything these days so complex, complicated and almost unfixable?
Can't even buy a simple working car / wagon anymore.

 

[TwinStick]

I'm 60 now & I have found that any auto company is only as good as its dealerships service people. You can easily find people to badmouth every single brand out there. You can also find people who swear by them. Service is everything. They fix the mistakes made during design and during assembly. If I didn't have competent people to service my vehicle, it wouldn't matter what make it was, it would just be an exercise in futility that would be greatly frustrating.

We also have had 4 Subarus over the years. Our dealer is awesome. But we have also dealt with shady, unscrupulous Subaru dealers as well. It's no fun. I was thinking that if I ever get rid of our ZR2 diesel, a Outback Wilderness may be in our future.