You’ll recall that in my previous COAL, it came down to the Toyota Venza or the Subaru Outback. I initially went with the Venza just based on its looks and pseudo-luxury factor, and while that was a mistake, the outrageous market allowed me to sell it for a handsome profit.
So, of course, I returned to the Subaru dealership, hat in hand.
Having already test-driven the Outback a couple of times, I knew the regular 2.5-liter naturally aspirated “FB25D” flat-four was as noisy and unrefined as the Venza’s hybrid system and was even slower in most circumstances. With under 200 horsepower and a heavy AWD system with which to contend, that car wasn’t going anywhere fast, or gracefully. But the premium engine, the 2.4-liter turbocharged “FA24F” engine, fixed all that. It delivered a robust 260 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque and felt appreciably punchy at all reasonable speeds. In addition, top-spec models with that engine had sound-laminated front door and windshield glass, making them much quieter inside. Other than that, our esteemed Jim Klein already reviewed this generation of Outback with the turbocharged engine, so I’ll let you read his remarks.
The choice just became trim. You had:
- Base
- Premium
- Onyx Edition
- Limited
- Limited XT
- Wilderness
- Touring
- Touring XT
The Base and Premium trims were out, for a myriad of reasons, notably for features, but they also didn’t have the turbocharged engine. The “XT” models of the Limited and Touring did, as did the Onyx and Wilderness. I wasn’t too interested in the blacked-out look of the Onyx, nor did I appreciate the Wilderness (which was only just starting to trickle into dealerships at the time I was looking) and its increased capability at the expense of comfort and fuel economy. That left the Limited XT and Touring XT. The Limited XT was nice enough, but the top-spec Touring XT came with a few more features, notably “Nappa-grade” leather, ventilated seats, a heated steering wheel, and an exclusive and mandatory Java Brown interior color that was honestly a bit too close to my skin color (Subaru has since added black as an option on Tourings). The Touring/Touring XT also had additional chrome and matte-silver appointments (mirror skullcaps, roof rail corners and crossbars, rear-bumper appliques, door handles)…allowing you to sneer at lesser Outbacks that didn’t have the top trim.
2020-2022 Outback Limited (left) vs Touring (right). The Outback was facelifted for MY2023
Subaru was dealing with consistent shortages at that time, since demand remained high and especially since Subaru dealers weren’t pulling the same market-adjustment crap other brands’ dealers were. So, in June 2021, when I came in ready to find a car, it just so happened that the dealer didn’t have any new cars in stock, and precious few used ones. But they’d let me know as soon as they did have some new Outback Touring XTs. My first choice was Autumn Green Metallic, but none of those were coming in anytime soon. My second choice was Abyss Blue Pearl. And, wouldn’t you know it, the local dealer called and said they had two Outback Touring XTs coming in, one in Abyss Blue Pearl, and the other in Crystal White Metallic. Better still, Subaru had cut over to MY2022 production that month, so these would be 2022 models. I happened to be in a meeting when they called, but when I called them back, they said the blue one had already been spoken for. I liked the white, since it was a pearl white, and not a stark refrigerator white, so I came in and put my deposit down on that one.
When the Outback finally came in, in July, I was pleased. The dealership had a very straightforward process reminiscent of many luxury dealerships. They didn’t hassle me for add-ons, took my outside financing with nary a grumble and were very friendly when it came to showing me how to use the Outback’s confusing, 11.6-inch vertical touchscreen interface, in which a bunch of features and options were buried.
The Outback the day I took delivery of it.
There was a scuff on the rear right taillamp assembly, from delivery. After being sold an entirely crashed car as a new one in a prior COAL, I learned to pick over even brand-new cars with a fine-toothed comb before taking delivery.
The dealership managed to buff the scuff out, here, which I greatly preferred to them taking it apart and replacing the housing.
And I had myself a car styled like a hiking boot.
In the first few weeks of getting acquainted with the Outback, which I christened Oliver, I noticed the mixture of prior-generation Toyota switchgear and current-generation Subaru stuff. I also noticed that sub-Touring Outbacks had one set of door handles, but Tourings had a different set with chrome and a completely different shape, and these were borrowed from the prior generation (2013-2018) Avalon and Sienna (2011-2020). Since Toyota owns 20% of Subaru, this wasn’t surprising, but was amusing.
The Outback’s interior. Pretty comfy!
WASPy Ex and I took the Outback on its first trip when we went to Breckenridge to meet up with some of his newly married friends, and it did excellently. Subaru’s adaptive cruise system, which mostly relied upon a pair of “EyeSight” cameras located at the top of the windshield, performed amazingly well at keeping the car a set distance behind other cars, keeping the car in the center of its lane, bringing the car to a stop if traffic backed up, and then getting it moving again once traffic proceeded. The only annoying thing was the Driving Monitoring System, which was over-eager in its warnings to “Keep Eyes On Road!” You had to turn it off every time you started the car, but it was two or three button presses into the UI. Fortunately, there was a handy button right on the main screen to turn off the start/stop. Of course, when we got to Breckenridge, we looked like every other person in a white Subaru Outback, which I didn’t love. Seriously, I cannot overstate the ubiquity of Subarus and Volvos in Colorado and the Pacific Northwest.
The Outback’s 11.6″ vertical touchscreen. It was easy enough to use, but I found the UI to be a bit…juvenile. It looked like something you would see on a 2006 flip phone.
Not long after that, I decided to get the headliner and interior pillar pieces reupholstered in a newly acquired project car, which will be my next COAL, and the Subaru’s wagon shape really made that an ease. It was also easy to carry Home Depot lumber and plywood for a home project, though I made sure to cover the seats and keep them from getting scratched or ripped. That said, the Outback is a lifted wagon, so it has a lower roofline than most midsize crossovers. That came to be a detriment when I went to pick up some lawn furniture on a last-minute sale and it didn’t quite all fit (we put the excess in WASPy Ex’s Town Car). It also has a different seating position that is entirely car-like—but raised off the ground.
What did I buy that needed its headliner and pillars redone? Find out, in the next COAL!
We took the Outback on a second trip, in October, to a friend’s wedding in Austin. That time, we took the dogs. Those dogs were WASPy Ex’s elderly yellow lab, Sebastian, and my elderly beagle-mix, Honey, who’s been featured here many times. The dogs were perfectly comfortable in the car, it being a Subaru, and so were we, and it got good fuel economy. It averaged 25 on the highway, which was good for a car that capable and that potent. That same month, we used the Subaru to bring home a third dog from the shelter (a black lab mix), who had been named Dracula. We kept that name.
Dracula was and is a lovely, affectionate, cuddly dog. I still have him, and he’s doing great.
What the Outback was not, however, was sexy. It did just about everything right, but it didn’t really fit me. I was going through a tough time in late 2021 and between WASPy Ex essentially badgering his way into a married-style cohabitation situation, my malaise at living in the suburbs and a profound sense of isolation, the Outback made me feel like I’d given up. It felt too conformist…too boring. So…I replaced it. As my daily driver. Once the ordered car came in—which you’ll hear about later—it became WASPy Ex’s daily driver, with just 8,000 miles on the odometer.
That said, we went on one last trip with it, and that was to Eureka Springs, AR, for New Year’s. Now, Eureka Springs happens to be a popular gay destination…in the summer. But, at the behest of WASPy Ex, we were going there in the middle of winter. I didn’t know why I agreed to it, and still don’t. It was a miserable trip. I should have known it would be bad when I was on the way there and started seeing on the news that Betty White had passed, just 17 days shy of her 100th birthday. An omen, I’m sure. I mostly ended up trapped in a cabin with WASPy Ex, staring at the walls and wishing I were anywhere else. But there was inclement weather and so the Outback got its first taste of snow…at which point it demonstrated exactly why it’s such a popular choice in snowy climes.
WASPy Ex, driving the Outback. You can’t see his face, but he looks as annoyed here as he always did.
After that—despite being the one that was mostly paying for it—I didn’t have much interaction with the Outback, as WASPy Ex was the one driving it and I had something else. Sometime in early January, he made me aware that there was a small chip in the windshield. I told him to call the insurance company and have the chip filled for free—we were on joint insurance at that point—before it spread. His priorities were different than mine, so that didn’t happen, and after a foot of snow fell on the metro the next week, that chip spread into a crack large enough to necessitate a complete windshield replacement…which I paid $800 for. I went ahead and got the OEM one from the Subaru dealership, because I didn’t want the EyeSight cameras complaining in the future.
In April of 2022, things had deteriorated far enough with WASPy Ex and I that it was time to end things, and he moved out of my house and into a duplex his father owned. His plan was to sell his Town Car and then finance something more to his liking—a 2011 Lexus GS 450h from across the country with a bad traction battery, as it turned out. I was surprised at how quickly he sold the Town Car, and offered to let him continue driving the Outback until his Lexus arrived from Des Moines, as he’d had it shipped. As soon as it did, I gave it a thorough cleaning and then took it straight to the Subaru dealer, where I managed to get essentially what I paid for it new, a year prior and with 22,000 fewer miles. Even if I’d wanted to keep it, it reminded me too much of WASPy Ex.
I don’t recall being enamored enough with the Outback to take a photo of it as I was selling it, so here’s a photo of it in my garage. I forgot to mention that I had a towing hitch installed, which I never used.
The Outback was a great do-everything car. It really was. But it wasn’t what I wanted at the time. Perhaps in another ten years, I’ll be ready for a Swiss-Army-Knife car like that. This was the third and last daily driver that I traded in in such a shortened time span, and it was only because of the lucrative market that I was able to do so. I probably would have sucked it up and kept one of the prior cars (I actually liked the GX, and would own another) if it weren’t for that factor. But my subsequent daily, after the Outback, I liked and still like very much.
My parents got on a Subaru kick in 2011 with a new Forester, and they have owned four more (that I can recall). Dad currently has a 2021 Outback, purchased to be Mom’s car right before she unexpectedly passed away, in the same color scheme as yours. I’m pretty sure it is a Limited with the turbo engine. I’m like you, I can see the appeal of it for sure, it’s very versatile. I think the interior has an upscale feel and would not be out of place in a Lexus. But somehow I too have never felt the siren call of the Subaru like so many people.
I honestly would have preferred the Limited trim’s black-and-light-grey upholstery to the Touring’s all-brown (and later optional all-black).
The seats were super comfortable, especially with the extendable thigh support on the driver’s side, which is something you typically only see in luxury-branded cars.
I *think* Subaru does more trim levels than the Ford F-150. But uses the same grille across all of them. Or maybe not. In any case, the hiking shoe analogy is apt, especially the way the black in the rear bumper rides up at the corners, that was my first impression of this design as well.
Styling-wise the prior-to- this generation of Outback is still my current favorite, looking more expensive than it really is without going a little overboard with little touches like the lobster-claw taillights and that bumper trim and the interior is more functional as well.
I’m driving/enjoying an older (2008) Outback currently, dog slow (but it very happily cruises at 75-85 on the freeway and “keeps up” at most times), that I didn’t think I’d still have by now but somehow it’s gotten under my skin and just feels like a comfortable hoodie when I get into it. Like a W123? Somehow Subarus (new and old) have gotten to the point where they aren’t affectations like some cars are, but occupy a space perhaps a notch above (or slightly above and slightly to the side) of mass-market Toyotas and Hondas while maybe a better value than the Europeans. The more basic the Subaru trim level the better the value for money if you can do without some of the frippery; base prices across the models are usually at least a few thousand lower than what my guess would have been.
While Subaru dealers didn’t seem to feast on the wholesale gouging going on at most manufacturers, discounts off MSRP are pretty much entirely gone. Still, last spring my mom was able to just place an order for a new Crosstrek Sport which was then built and delivered at the sticker price just as promised by one of the local dealers without any hassle, which comports with our prior experiences when buying new ones (generally minimal hassle or dealer BS). Now at least once daily I think she’s popping by for a surprise visit before realizing that, no, it’s just one of the gazillion identical to her cars that live nearby driving up my road.
“ Somehow Subarus (new and old) have gotten to the point where they aren’t affectations like some cars are, but occupy a space perhaps a notch above (or slightly above and slightly to the side) of mass-market Toyotas and Hondas while maybe a better value than the Europeans”.
I think this is very true, if like you and me one lives in a place where they are common and driven by a wide range of people. Maybe in Manhattan or parts of the Midwest they are still seen as signifying something about their owners. I did note on our recent trip up to Alaska, BC and Yukon that while there were plenty of Subaru’s, there were also a lot of dirt-covered CRV’s, RAV4’s and Ford Escapes with kayak and/or bike racks and all-terrain tires which would usually only be seen on Subie’s down here.
They are definitely lifestyle vehicles, and there’s also an intersection between (in particular older) Subarus and people with old money.
I think it was on this site that I mentioned my family friend and her 2000s-era Outback, which is in perfect shape. But she’s put more money than was ever economically justifiable into it to keep it in that shape, including more than one engine replacement. She’s also worth eight figures.
I think she just really loves it. I envy her ability to “Ship of Theseus” a car she’s especially fond of. I’ve had to cry uncle on cars I love that kept breaking, for sheer lack of financial resources.
Funnily enough–and perhaps part of the reason I got rid of the Outback–I live in an Outback neighborhood. My neighbor on one side has a 2018 Limited 3.6R. The retired couple across the street had a well-equipped 2011-era one, until the wife bought a 2022 Tiguan and they sold the Outback to their son. The people around the corner have a black 2019 Touring. The people a block over have a 2021 Limited in blue. The HOA president was driving a black 2016 with off-road tires and a lift kit, but she handed it down to her recently-driving-aged son.
As for prices, around here, Subaru never discounted much. You were never getting more than maybe $1,500 off MSRP, which isn’t nothing, but certainly isn’t the heavy-handed discounting that other automakers are known for. So the in- and post-pandemic Subaru customer isn’t much worse off than they were prior.
Like I said, my salesman told me that Subaru was able to convince its dealerships–at least in my region–not to do markups. They were only charging a small $2,000 markup on the Outback Wilderness when that came out, and then they even stopped doing that. But they did have a $500 doc fee. I asked politely to have that removed and just pay MSRP out the door, and they acquiesced. That was good enough for me, especially if I could buy local and not deal with the hassle of trying to go out-of-state.
Lucky you were able to dump it at little loss when you did .
I’m amazed a dealer would try to deliver a car with a major scuff on the taillight lens ~ it’s clearly visible in this low res. picture and must have been glaring in person .
-Nate
I will attribute that to ignorance rather than malice. I genuinely don’t think they saw it, and I imagine that they would have just taken care of it if they had…given how easy it was to buff out. But cars suffer transport damage all the time.
I am in awe of the authors willingness to parlay with car salespeople with such frequency.
This comment had me cackling. But, in all fairness, I’ve been able to avoid the sleazy ones and it’s a pretty straightforward process. I generally know what I want, so it’s just USUALLY just a matter of coming to a price (easier when there are no discounts to be had) and having them deal with the paperwork.
The exception was the prior Venza experience (and even there, the salesman was great; it was just the stupid F&I person). But other than that, it’s generally been smooth sailing.
My daughter also bought a 2022 Outback in the summer of 2021 and it’s proven to be a great fit for her lifestyle in Boston and its near suburbs. I think it inspires more respect than love and her husband’s clear preference was (and is) a Jeep Wrangler, but they went with the Subie as a more livable day-to-day vehicle for their single-car household. The AWD is especially handy when parallel parking on the street during the winter, when ice and snow make it a real chore.
Theirs is a Premier trim level and the one thing they really wanted from the higher spec models was leather upholstery but ultimately decided the extra cost wasn’t worth it. I also agree that the greatest value lies in the lower end of the model range, as a fully-specced Touring begins to bump up against the prices of more appealing (no -Subarus) competitors.
Their buying experience was similarly straight-forward during the pandemic craziness, with the dealer taking $1k off MSRP for any Outback, but made it clear that no further discounts would be given.
I find the car impressive and would agree that Subarus occupy a market position a bit to the side of (rather than above) Hondas and Toyotas.
The base or near-base Subarus certainly are deals, but I didn’t think that even a shade over $41K for the one I had was a bad deal…not when you can spend almost $50K on the less-practical, less-capable, and less-likely-to-hold-their-resale midsize crossovers like the Ford Edge, VW Atlas Cross Sport, Chevy Blazer, Hyundai Santa Fe and even Nissan Murano.
The Outback is priced very competitively at all trims.
As an Oregonian I can relate to the “every one drives a Subaru” meme, which along with lower prices is why my last two cars purchases were Mazdas. A used Mazda5 was around $5000 cheaper than a same year Outback and more useful. When that got T-boned we got a CX-5 partly because Mazda had a blow out deal on 2016s and partly because again, we saved money and got a 6 speed auto instead of a CVT.
Of course the CX-5 is Mazda’s best selling model so we see a lot of them but they are still not as ubiquitous as the stereotypical Impreza Crosstrek with a roof tent and a PNW sticker.
The Mazda CX-5 is a great car, if a bit dated.
In fact, I bought my mom a brand-new one last year. At the time, we needed a spare car in the family fleet and I was the only one in a position to buy it. But prices were ridiculous at the time, so I was faced with essentially paying $12K-$15K for a piece of crap that should have cost half that. And at that point, $30K (with discounts) for a brand-new 2022 CX-5 Carbon Edition didn’t seem like a poor choice. The Polymetal Gray exterior and brick-red interior are a gorgeous combo, and it has a ton of standard features:
– Keyless access and start
– LED exterior lighting
– Leather upholstery
– Power sunroof
– Power liftgate
– Blind-spot monitoring
– Adaptive cruise control
– Lane departure warning
– Dual-zone automatic climate control
– Heated front seats
– Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
Interesting article. I understand most everything the author was writing about with exception of the following;
What is a WASPy?
Good question.
“WASP” stands for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, and indicates someone who comes from an upper-class, Protestant background. That, of course, is an innocuous background in and of itself, but usually the only people who get called WASPs are those who come from that background *and* either (a) think they are somehow better or more enlightened than other people *because* of that status, or (b) are incredibly out-of-touch with how the rest of the world operates and how privileged they are.
Since that description fits my ex to a tee, I decided to refer to him as WASPy Ex, instead of using his real name.
A prior author here, RLPLAUT, refers to his ex-wife somewhat derisively as The Irish Princess (or TIP), and I’m channeling that same energy here with “WASPy Ex.”
On my 4th sub now. My 22 outback Is simply perfect with two massive flaws. The navigation system really is impossibly difficult to use and delays showing you clogged roadways until you are nearly into them. Second issue is the display screen often freezes…..and I mean often. Numerous trips to dealer for software fixes and the issue remains. The display also locks me out of Sirius once in a while yet fm will work.
Oh, come to think of it, mine would freeze every few months, too! I forgot about that. When it did, it would take out all the EyeSight systems, and you’d get errors on the instrument panel until it restarted.
As for the nav, I never bothered with it. I just used CarPlay.
My inlaws have had lots of Subarus, all green, mostly Outbacks but also an LL Bean Forester. They just got a new Turbo Wilderness Outback in kind of an Army Mustard Green, and it is awesome. I think I might calm down the exterior a bit by spraypainting all the orange squares satin black if it was mine. I love that a brand new car in 2023 comes with raised white letter tires, just like I put on my Z71 Tahoe LOL.
Oh and I confess to being WASPish, sorry not my call :shrug:
As for my ex wife, I refer to her quite accurately as the Obnoxious Bytch.
And everyone knows exactly who I’m talking about when I do.
I bought a new 22′ outback last year in April. It is the first brand new car I’ve ever purchased. I’m not particularly an outdoors kinda person. I do however have an 85lb Bully, and trips to the dog park are hassle free with all the room in back. I also plan on maybe taking a few road trips at some point. I’ve been pretty satisfied with my purchase for the most part. Some things I noticed: Some of the plastic trim seems to get a lil loose in spots. The rubber gasket on my lower front windshield doesn’t fit properly and constantly gets warped out of shape. The cheap fuzzy wheel well liners are a magnet for mud and dirt. After 17months of use I have somewhere around 15k miles on the odometer. I have not had any issues so far. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to get a substantial snowfall since I was a kid in grade school & was praying for a snow day. Also since the day I bought it it’s always sounded like it needed something lubricated when I left of the breaks, when I get in it in the morning and it’s cold outside or the car is wet, it makes this sorta grinding noise. At first I thought it was nothing. But the more I think about it, should a new car really be making those types of noises?
As a NEW car you have a B2B warranty – why aren’t you using it??
I definitely get the aversion to driving an appliance that doesn’t make you happy. I also get how a car can carry too many unpleasant memories, so it sounds like a good thing that you moved this one out of your life.
I agree that Subaru seems to have cornered an odd market niche of being an upscale car without a lot of the baggage that often comes from an upscale car.
“The Outback was facelifted for MY2023“. Boy was it. And not for the better in my opinion with the black cladding jowls and angular wheel well surrounds. Yours at least was toned down.
I have a ‘13 Outback Limited, white with brown leather. It was part of a sharp looking Special Appearance package they offered in ‘13 and ‘14. Other package details included darker wheels, interior “wood”, and the black highlight trim from the Legacy. My car just passed 200 k miles and I love that thing, especially in our torrential downpours. It’s only got the 2.5 but it’s been fine for my daily commute and frequently blasts across Texas.
I have it’s replacement on order, which I got notice that they plan on building at the end of November (‘24 Maverick hybrid). While I love my Outback, two things led me away from Subaru this time around. My car has been very needy in the repair department beyond what I’m used to with a Japanese company car. Everything has needed replacement except the engine itself (although it’s needed a lot of attention but just not replacement), and frankly that’s been irritating. I blame it on the local sourced OEM components; I’ve been surprised at some of the things I’d had to replace. I didn’t face that with my Toyota, Nissan or Isuzu which I took to similar miles and beyond. They were all J-VINS.
The 2nd reason is probably the one that pisses me off more – for all it’s love and puppy dog tails reputation Subaru should have been on the hybrid forefront, especially with their hookup with Toyota. The Outback should have been “hybrided” with the 2015 generation. Their clientele would have been all over it but have since moved on. I would have seriously considered a Forrester hybrid (J-VIN) but that’s not an option. So elsewhere I go.
Glad you briefly enjoyed yours. Except for the frequent repairs, mine has been a lot of fun. Looking forward to your new conquest.
I love reading your stories. Not only have I found someone who buys and sells as many cars as I do per year, but you’re a neighbor as well, as I live in Little Rock. You should have asked me – Eureka Springs is a lovely resort Spring through Fall – Wintertime, not so much.
Glad you finally rid yourself W-EX – he seemed to be a Michelle Triola type.