Super hardcore offroad- considering ditching the tacoma for a vw wagon

[RubiconGeoff]

FWIW, a good buddy has a ford full sized diesel pickup that gets very decent gas mileage (30's if not 40's IIRC?). May be worth considering if you really want a pickup's benefits and the MPG to go with it.:victory:

Your buddy is full of crap. He might get 25mpg unladen, but he is NOT getting 30-40mpg from a fullsize diesel pickup.

 

[slowtwitch]

I wouldn't buy another newer Subaru if it was half off. We had an 08 Legacy GT, bought it with 5k miles and it was a piece of junk. Generally fun to drive but a terribly built car. The engine was overly noisy, everything rattled and creaked, the interior was poorly thought out and cheap feeling, paint was very thing and wearing already, clearcoat was failing on all four wheels, the center diff smelled like is was going to burn up any time it was driven on snow, there were electrical problems in the dash (intermittent flickering lights and power loss to stereo). There are MANY documented and very common problems with turbo oil lines plugging up and causing them to fail, broken oil pick up tubes, broken sway bar mounts.
It was a good looking car and made decent power. But seriously it was like owning a KIA or something with AWD, just garbage. We traded it in for the Golf TDI when it had 18k miles on it and never had a single regret. The VW is MUCH more comfortable, the interior is very well thought out, handles better than the softly sprung legacy gt, the TDI is actually quieter than the 2.5L, shifter is much more precise and shorter throw, interior is quieter and rattle free at 11.5k miles (the Subaru wasn't).
Highway driving with the Subaru was terrible too. At 75-80mph the engine was screaming at nearly 3000RPM whereas the TDI is at 2200 RPM at 80 (still getting 40-44mpg too). The Subaru always strayed off of center and was easily pushed around by trucks and cross winds. The VW is rock solid.

So yeah, maybe the Subaru outback could get down the gravel roads better but I wouldn't own a Subaru again unless I was driving 90% on unimproved roads and needed a car for that.

Only way to cut through the internet anecdote is to hit the car research surveys. It's all spelled out there.

st

 

[RubiconGeoff]

Only way to cut through the internet anecdote is to hit the car research surveys. It's all spelled out there.

st

Well put. The only significant problem areas on modern Subarus are their clunking rear struts and their short-lived wheel bearings. Every one of our 4 Subarus (SVX, WRX, WRX STi, and Outback) has had to have these items repaired at least once.

But other than that, they're very well built cars with smooth relaxed highway cruising and decent off-road ability. But I still firmly believe my 2" lifted Suzuki SX4 is a much better off-roader, which returns better fuel economy on the road.