Although the Acura CL was a fun car to own and drive, I missed having a used car like the Taurus that I could use for taking stuff to the dump, lending to family members, and generally abusing, something I didn’t want to do with my newer cars. As a result I started looking at trading in the Acura for something more practical and inexpensive.
As someone whose childhood overlapped the wood-paneled wagon era, “practical” and “station wagon” were closely associated in my mind. Besides just general light hauling associated with owning an older house, my wife and I also wanted to begin some bicycling in areas outside of our neighborhood, so a wagon with enough capacity to haul bikes around inside the car would be ideal. Because this wasn’t going to be my main driver it was going to have to be cheap (relatively speaking), so I was already narrowing down my choices.
The first step was to take the Acura to the big-box used car superstore to see what price they would offer for that car. First step was encouraging – they offered me nearly as much as I had paid for the car when I bought it, so I’d had some fun with it for a minor depreciation hit and the cost of a few small repairs. With that encouragement I began to shop for a wagon in their inventory, something that was much harder to do than to type here.
Getting another Taurus with a wagon body was a possibility, but Taurus wagons weren’t that popular new and had only lasted through the 2003 model year, so finding one of them was next to impossible. There was the Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen in gasoline or diesel form, and that was certainly an option. My first choice, though, was the Audi A4 wagon, preferably the 2004-2008 version with a manual transmission. As with the Taurus, supply was a problem as was price. They certainly wouldn’t be cheap to repair, either, but I kept an eye on the dealer’s website for new models.
At last, I thought I hit the jackpot – an A4 wagon with a manual transmission showed up in their inventory at another location in the area at a price that was palatable (although a bit more than I probably wanted to pay, to be honest). It was also black, which is a color I don’t like for cars (they look great when clean but are difficult to maintain, in my opinion). The car had just showed up in the dealer’s inventory so there weren’t any photos and the other details were minimal, but I wanted to get a look at the car as they were so hard to find. After a discussion at home, I asked the dealer to transfer the car up to the location nearest us and I’d take a look.
Once I was notified that the car was there, I went to the dealer and was immediately disappointed. The car was indeed an Audi A4, it was black, and it was a manual. However, it had been mislabeled in the dealer’s database as a wagon – it was actually a sedan. I did drive the car, and it was in pretty good shape and fun to drive. I thought about buying it anyway even though it was a sedan, but one look at the trunk convinced me otherwise. There was no way to get bikes or anything else bulky in that trunk, even though it was a reasonable size. Back to the drawing board.
After that minor setback, I took a step back and began simply searching the dealer’s regional inventory for station wagons without pre-limiting to certain brands or models. When I did that a number of Subarus began to crop up. I hadn’t really considered these car, not out of any preconceived notions about them on my part (although plenty of those are broadly held by others), but simply because I had no experience with them. A bit of online research told me that they were pretty reliable, safe, and unexciting – perfect for my purposes. Besides, the Subaru offered all-wheel-drive, something that I never bothered with on my daily drivers because it seemed like a waste of money given how infrequently it snows here, but it could be useful on occasion.
The local dealer had a number of Subaru wagons including a 2006 Outback with a manual transmission and relatively low miles (25,000 for a 3-year old car, if I recall correctly). This specific car was a 2.5i Limited with a naturally-aspirated 2.5 liter 175 hp flat-four. Not exactly WRX material, but it was certainly adequate, especially with a 5-speed manual. Fuel economy was a bit low (23/28 with the manual) but certainly acceptable. The Limited package included leather seats, power drivers seat, automatic climate control, an in-dash CD changer, panoramic sunroof, remote keyless entry, and some low-gloss fake wood trim that actually looked pretty good. As this seemed to fit my overall requirements pretty well, we went ahead and sold the Acura to buy this Outback.
By this time I must have been getting a bit better at picking cars that I was going to be happy with, because aside from a few oddities associated with how Subaru does things the car served us well. The cargo area was very roomy and took our bikes, bags of mulch, and whatever else we wanted to feed it. This particular car came with a nice rubber mat that covered the entire cargo area behind the rear seat so any dirt could easily be hosed off. The 175 hp engine was adequately responsive for this size of car, especially with the manual transmission. The downside was that the gearing was pretty short, which was good for making the most of the engine’s power but meant that longer trips got pretty tedious as top gear still translated to engine speeds above 2500 rpm. A sixth gear would have worked wonders. The short gearing also translated to relatively lackluster highway fuel economy – we did take the car on a trip or two but quickly decided that our other cars were better for long trips.
The car was also very good in the snow because of the all-wheel-drive and manual transmission. There were several instances of moderate snowfall here where I was the only one to get to the office because of this car. (That, and the fact that I was probably the one living closest to the office at the time.) The Outback’s increased ground clearance was good for traversing snow covered roads but wasn’t so high as to make the car feel unstable. The only time I can recall not being able to navigate a snowy road was when a blizzard dropped something like 4 feet of snow and it took several days for the county to dig out our neighborhood – even an AWD Outback has trouble with snowdrifts taller than the hood of the car.
I kept this car for roughly two years or so, and only sold it so I could buy a collector vehicle that was a bit older than the Acura (and slightly more collectible to boot). Given some of the old cars I’ve bought since and the hassles I’ve had with them (which you’ll hear about soon), maybe I should have kept the Outback.
As the owner of a ’13 “aardvark” styled Outback, I must say the 2006-2009 generation was by far one of the best styled (note: Subaru is not known for their styling chops). The only critiques I had when we shopped them in 2008 was the need for a bigger back seat and newer tech, both resolved with the 2010 restyle. The current generation isn’t bad looking at all, but still not as nice as your gen.
I love my Outback. While we get snow once every 8 years, it is a beast in our torrential downpours. My only challenge was the CVT blew at 75k miles, fully covered by Subaru. Apparently they have since extended the warranty on all their CVTs.
Oh for sure. These were the most beautiful Legacies/Outbacks.
I had an ’07, which I’ve written about. Perfectly fine car, surprisingly peppy for a naturally-aspirated 2.5, great handling. I just never clicked with it, but damned if I could find anything wrong with it. Parents bought it off of me and, although it’s my dad’s primary car, my mum loves to drive it and really enjoys the way it drives.
See, that’s a nice car. It’s about as European as Jap cars get. Fun to drive, and quirky.
I’ve never understood why Subaru dropped the manual transmission option from the Outback and Legacy. They always seemed to sell enough examples to justify having the option and dealers always seemed to have at least one or two in inventory.
Manual transmissions are going away in the US market because: Nobody buys them – very low take rate on MT models, and the EPA MPG ratings are higher with computer controlled ATs and CVTs. Subaru still offers MT in Impreza and Foresters – I spent a month or so tracking down my 2017 Forester with a manual. Canadians could get MT Legacies and Outbacks up till 2016 maybe?
Aren’t manual transmission cars also slightly harder to pass emissions? I’ve read somewhere that the off-throttle-on-throttle of the shifts are hard to clean because they tend to go off closed loop control.
I bought a brand new manual transmission equipped car two months ago. I _prefer_ manual transmissions. Nissan bent over backwards to sell me a discounted 2017 Versa S so you do have a point about take rates. I do think that if they offered a manual transmission on the better equipped tiers they would sell better, but they tend to see them as only for the base models. I may well keep my car to the point of unfixability if I can’t replace it with a MT equipped car in the future.
Nice car! I described in another thread that my sister needed something like a wagon with AWD and Subaru was one of the few choices. She bought right after Subaru discontinued stick shifts. Some odd electrical issues and that missing clutch pedal made her give up on it after 2 years.
I never liked the current Outback as well as I liked your generation. I could see how this would make a perfect second or third car.
I loved the styling of these too, but the one I bought into (with 100k) presented tons of problems. The suspension was shot, leaving it riding like a billowy 70s barge, it had expensive imminent catalytic converter repairs, leaving the check engine light on. It was probably a time bomb with the head gasket too. These are expensive cars when you buy into one mid-life.
Furthermore, a lot of the changes seemed poorer and arbitrary when compared to the previous model. The radio got terrible reception because of the poorly mounted antenna receiver. The hatch had a decorative spoiler on the end that made the roof incompatible with many roof boxes. And those seats…I had the same color combo as the author, and let me tell you, it was impossible to keep clean, especially with a dog as a frequent passenger.
After three different Outbacks, it was time for a change for me. I’ve got a Prius now and the only thing I wish it could do is fit more of my stuff the way the wagons did.
Perhaps a Prius V (the wagon one) is in your future? A little less gas mileage, but a lot more space (not that the regular Prius is bad in that regard, it’s amazing what will fit in the hatch).
Good point! I haven’t warmed to the V yet, but who knows?
The regular Prius has a nice hatch, but it’s not as wide as it could be because of the pillars. I can’t fit my musical gear in without putting all the seats down, which is more of a pain.
Got the VW van if I really want to haul people or gear. Prius mostly serves as my commuter, which it’s great for.
As someone who recently concluded a search for an inexpensive late-model used manual trans car, it seemed that certain models, though hard to find, don’t sell quickly. We ended up with a Golf S, but MT Imprezas, Focus, Corollas, Golfs, and similar base models were available and decently priced. MT Civics, as well as WRX, GTI, and RS or ST Focus were typically premium-priced. The salesman at the used car lot I bought my Golf from said they had to be patient to find a buyer, but they had one each MT Golf, Impreza, and Forester in stock out of about 75 cars. No MT BMWs or Audi’s … how times have changed.
3 of my 4 sisters have or had a Subaru, the 4th sister is a Prius “convert”. One sister is on her 3rd Subaru, another is on her 4th Subaru, and the third one dumped her only Subaru for an Escape.
Two of the sisters bought their Subarus new, or lightly used, and sold them before the mileage hit the 6 figure mark. As a consequence, neither has had the catastrophic head gasket failure, though one was shocked by the experience when she was forced to replace the catalytic converters.
These are pretty good cars, but I think a lot of it may be because they have few competitors. I remember the interior as looking pretty good except for the fake wood that was obviously plastic, and the metal trim that looked like it would scratch easily. And as a total package they seem a bit plasticy to the similar Audi’s aluminum feeling.
Cashing out before the head gasket and catalytic converter failures is a must. These are just inevitabilities on this generation of Outback (and the previous two, in my experience).
The PO of my ’05 had knowingly or unknowingly installed an illegal aftermarket cat converter on mine. Would have cost me a fortune to fix that car. Boy was I glad when I dumped it.
Don’t get me wrong – Subaru Outbacks are great cars, but they have some well documented weak spots too.
Consistent issues like the above over multiple generations kept Subaru off my shopping list. It tells me they don’t care about the long-term owner. My next to last Subaru went 176,000 miles before I traded it.
Well documented and EXPENSIVE unless you do the work yourself. It was when the SECOND set of head gaskets began to leak on my wife’s ’05 that we gave up.
Design flaws outside the engine? I could never really stretch out in the passenger’s seat and I’m only 5′-11″. Otherwise it was a nice ride and the best-looking Subaru ever produced IMO. Downright pretty.
As others have posted this is generally considered to be the most attractive generation of Outback (and not damning it with faint praise, it’s attractive period, not just attractive for a Subaru). I find the current model to be attractive as well and a lot roomier too.
My mother has a 2008 that she bought new, it’s now approaching 100K miles and has taken her all over the place. She did have catalytic converter failure a year or two ago but her mechanic told her to go visit the Subaru dealer as it’s covered for 8yrs or 80k miles under the federal emissions warranty. So she did and they replaced it at no charge.
I’m not sure if hers is a PZEV version (here in CO some dealers stock them, some don’t, it’s not required but some buyers look for it, Subaru offers it as an option), if it is the warranty on all emissions parts is up to 15yrs, 150k miles. It’s not clear to me if that does or does not include the catalytic converters but it would seem to.
I drove it for a couple of months a few years ago and didn’t really like it (hers is an automatic), but then I got to drive it again this last summer and really liked it that time for some reason. My tastes have changed a bit over the last few years and I liked the relaxed-ness of it, I think previously I wanted more “urge” from it. Hers is the base model with the only option being the automatic. At least it’s a pretty shade of blue with silver lowers, that being the only “color” offered on the base model that year (as opposed to silver, charcoal and black).
This the car I have most dreamed about buying in recent years. Much better looking than its bloated successor, and also its predecessor, which first got me interested in these Subarus. I’ve always loved wagons, having owned them exclusively since 1987. I nearly bought one 5 years ago, changing my mind when a co-worker whose opinion I respected warned me that their servicing cost were very high. Instead I purchased a 2009 Holden Commodore Sportswagon which I loved. I could only afford the base model which was pretty spartan but nothing ever went wrong in 4 years of ownership. Last May I exchanged it for a 2008 Volvo XC70 diesel. It’s the first imported upmarket vehicle I’ve ever owned, and so far I’m more than happy with my choice. My son is a car salesman and it was he who got it for me for cost price when it came into his yard as a trade-in. The 5 cylinder turbo diesel is more than adequate power-wise and quite a bit more economical than my V6 Commodore – around town I get 25 US mpg and on a recent 800 mile trip I got nearly 550 miles from an 18 gallon tank. It’s just had it’s first service which was a little more expensive due to the need to use synthetic oil. That service also revealed a slight oil leak at one of the main seals and leaking rear shocks as well. Just have to keep an eye on those issues at this stage. The car has only done 60,000 miles in 10 years so hopefully I’ll get a few more years out of it before anything major goes wrong. Volvo used to advertise the fact that they lasted a lot longer than most other cars, so let’s hope that still apples these days! In this country Volvo’s seem a bit thin in the ground – I have only seen 3 others of my model here in Perth since I got mine. The larger XC60 SUV is a lot more common but I don’t really like high riding SUV’s. My model has only just been replaced by the XC90 which is a lot more expensive – around $100,000 compared to $60,000 for the base model of the XC70 when new. BTW I have never seen a write up on my Volvo in these pages. Anyone out there have any experience with them? I know they were sold in the US although only in with the 6 cylinder petrol engine.
Sooner or later most folks seem to gravitate to a Subaru. I have not met anybody who has had one that hated it (except on having to replace tires in sets of 4 due to the AWD)
They actually offered the Taurus and Sable Wagons until the 2005 model year. The last Taurus wagon rolled off the line on December 6th 2004 at the Atlanta Plant.
Apple Ford of Columbia MD always had a couple of Taurus and Sable wagons on their lot. Academy never had much of a selection. My folks bought their 2003 Sable wagon from Apple ford and 15 years later, the car is still hanging on.
My daily driver is a 2007 Outback, at a cheaper trim level, with cloth upholstery, no sunroof, but with a manual; I searched a while to get it because, as has been noted, manual transmissions are becoming quite rare in the US car market. It is my second, with the first being a 1996, also a manual.
The car, bought with 33,000 miles, now has about 250,000 miles on it, and I am trying to get it to the 300,000 mark. Because I have put so many miles on it I have come to know the car’s weaknesses and idiosyncrasies, and also been forced to stretch my comfort zone as a home mechanic. A car with this engine design and this many miles on it provides the home mechanic with myriad challenges and educational opportunities.
I have really enjoyed this car. It is roomy enough for bicycles, ski equipment, going to the dump etc, but not overly large. It handles well, is great in the snow (I live in Connecticut), gets reasonable fuel economy, and it is pretty attractive for a Subaru. Moreover, it may be my last daily driver with a manual transmission given the increasing rarity of such machines in the US market.