Subaru Outback? Reliable?

[MrSquished]

How are these puppies? I always thought when I'd upgrade from my old Accord I'd just get another Accord. But now I'm kinda leaning Outback. I want the bit of extra clearance and ability to carry more stuff for camping.

Would not be buying a new one most likely, but something a few years old. And not right now, but maybe later next year. Figured I'd do a little research now.

What's the skinny on these as far as reliability?

 

[postmortemIA]

If you stick with previous gen (the one without turbos), then they really don't have anything alarming. There were some problems in 2013 with leaking oil, which was fixed in 2014. The head gasket issues that plagued their 2.5 engines are were also fixed with engine redesign in 2013.

I've seen some reports of CVT problems with the bigger engine (3.6L). The 2.5 engine also got another redesign in 2020 with the last generation.

Lots of people complain about stability of entertainment system since 2018 MY. MY 2015-2017 models have older entertainment system that does not support Android Auto or CarPlay.

Another thing, but easily fixable - the OEM batteries have small capacity that can't even handle trunk lights left on overnight. Many people also mentioned that parasitic draw is enough to drain battery in about 2 weeks, if you don't start engine in that time frame.

 

[dasherHampton]

They're priced quite high right now.

But if you have to have one they're really great cars.

 

[Dranoche]

Subaru has had a steady stream of issues mostly within individual model years related to isolated manufacturing defects or assembly issues, but no better or worse on average than other manufacturers and generally not related directly to the engine or transmission.

The head gasket issues were with NA EJ-series engines prior to about 2004/2005 and were related to the head gasket itself. The EJ's were otherwise quite reliable and durable. The CVT issues were mostly 2015 and before. They've been using the same CVT models before and after, so must have been some small internal revision to address the earlier issues. The oil consumption issues were primarily around 2012-2013 with the early F-series engines, primarily the FA engines, from looser tolerances on the internals. The battery drain issues were related mostly to reported phantom hatch opening events. I don't know if Subaru ever directly addressed the issue, but most owners have attributed the issue to an overly sensitive button on the key fob.

If you get an Outback from a couple years ago it will have an FB25 or an EZ36. Both have been pretty solid engines. The Outback has also only been offered with the CVT for a while now, and there have been very few complaints about it in recent years.

 

[nisryus]

We have a 2014 Forester and it has been great. No issue so far. But I have heard of CVT issue and a neighbor who owns several Subaru send me this link http://www.lemonlawcase.com/problem-vehicles/subaru-continuously-variable-transmission/

If whatever you bought falls within this list with matching year, the car's CVT is covered for 10 years or 100k miles.

 

[pauldun170]

In case you start thinking about a new one