2018 Subaru Outback 2.5i

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So we picked this up a couple weeks ago, to replace our old CRV. The main draws were, the 32mpg hwy rating, 2700lb towing, a N-S drivetrain layout, and a simple NA motor without DI even.
I was pretty impressed how the CVT worked in my parents Forester and they seem to be pretty reliable so hopefully it does well for us. When your not in a hurry I like how it will just sit at 1900rpm and accelerate up to 100km/h. It's also got a manual mode with 7 ratios and even in auto mode, you can grab the downshift paddle and it will down shift and hold for a while and go back to full auto again.


This is the base model and up here and its spec'd pretty well with heated front seats, a 10 way power drivers seat, and power locks, mirrors, etc.
It not going to be much of an off-roader with articulation like this but I was happily surprised that there wasn't a single creak in the cabin with 2 tires off the ground, and it climbed up my diagonal test better than the CRV.

I don't think the interior is anything special but I do like 70's stereo receiver vibe to the HVAC controls. It also can display some useful stuff on the screen.
 
Congrats on the new ride! Nice to see some mud on an all wheel drive vehicle. So many brands are going to the CVT. I am interested to see how they perform over the long haul.

Enjoy!
 
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Congrats on the new ride! Nice to see some mud on an all wheel drive vehicle. So many brands are going to the CVT. I am interested to see how they perform over the long haul.

Enjoy!

Yeah, spring time in the country gets the car pretty dirty. Hopefully the CVT will last, my plan is to do a fluid change early on to keep it happy for the long haul. Oddly enough the subaru had trouble with the torque converter on CVT Outbacks up to 2016 and extended the warranty on them. Also subaru says 0W20 only in the motor and a 6000 mile OCI, but for all the low rpm running it does I think I'll switch to 5w30 as soon as the warranty is out.
 
I took a hard look at the Outback, but test drove the 2018 Legacy as it was in my price range with the options I wanted (the Outback was a few thousand more). What I liked about the Outback was that the less expensive trims were still appealing to me, unlike the lower trims on some of the other brands, but they could really be loaded up with options to downright swanky if that was in the budget. I test drove quite a few vehicles this spring, and Subaru was near the top of my list. As well, the dealer was probably the best of all the ones I visited, friendly without the usual pressure tactics.
I wouldn't worry about the CVT, Subaru has been using them for a long time now. My research turned up very little in the way of problems with their CVT.
 
Jeez, you can tow 1200lbs more than I can with my turbo.
Unfortunately, I did have trouble with my CVT at about 80,000 miles...started getting persistent tranny codes and ended up having a valve body replaced. At least Subaru had extended my CVT warranty to 10 years/100k miles a few months before that. My CVT is actually a different unit than yours ("high torque") and I strongly suspect that it was not filled with the special fluid it requires at its 60k mile service. I did learn from poking around online that Subaru added a filter to the CVTs sometime after the 2014 model year and it is not possible to upgrade the older units to have a filter...I suppose I would get one if my CVT ended up being replaced completely.
Search along the lines of Forester CVT valve body and you will get a number of hits.
Your electronics have been updated dramatically compared to mine, my GPS info is on an SD card (!!!) that anybody can pop out with a single press while I'm driving and destroy the maps. Guess it was pretty common for kids to pop the card out just because they're kids and ruin their mom's or dad's day.

Enjoy your ride and good luck with it!
 
I think in US we have to pick to the 2.5 premium to get those features my wife requires of heated seats.

We are looking at same car today and hoping a decent albeit less powerful replacement for our 2005 Legacy GT (turbo) wagon. I am happy they include Apple Play in US spec radio at least because you can leverage the Maps application with a touch screen and larger screen for navigation purposes.
 
Originally Posted By: madRiver
I think in US we have to pick to the 2.5 premium to get those features my wife requires of heated seats.

We are looking at same car today and hoping a decent albeit less powerful replacement for our 2005 Legacy GT (turbo) wagon. I am happy they include Apple Play in US spec radio at least because you can leverage the Maps application with a touch screen and larger screen for navigation purposes.

Yep for 2018 they added apple car play and android auto. My wife(its her DD) has figured out how to dictate texts to the car and send them through the iphone somehow from the steering wheel. When I was driving, the kids were playing Hill Climb on my iphone that was charging through the USB, and all of a sudden we had Trophy Truck engine noises blasting through the car stereo! Not sure how that happened.
I don't really care about that stuff anyways, but I did notice that the adjustments to the car behavior(one touch blinkers, noises, interior light times, etc) can still be set through the gauge cluster and not through the centre screen. I also like that the HVAC controls are separate from the screen as well.
A more direct replacement to your Legacy would the 4motion Golf Sportwagen with the manual. If we didn't go soft roading as much or needed to tow, it would be a nice car. For some reason they have no tow rating at all here and in Australia its 3300lbs...?
 
Saturday my Mom got her first brand new car since 1981 (Civic sedan). Her most recent previous purchase was 1995 Subaru Outback Sport (an Impreza wagon in all but name) purchased in 1996. That particular car has the anemic EJ18. At 145k miles it still works fine, but was growing long in tooth.

The new car is a base Impreza with a 5MT. The base models have an impressive level of equipment. Far more gadgetry than the '95 and more than my 74 year old mother needs or can immediately use. No sales tax in Oregon so we got out the door for under $20k including the title fee and 4 years registration.
 
Love it!

I would have preferred a base Outback over my 2016 Forester base, Forester was a bit less expensive and they had it in stock. I've seen some unbelievable (low) "price paid" claims from folks online over the years. Prices you 100% couldn't touch in my area.
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
Love it!

I would have preferred a base Outback over my 2016 Forester base, Forester was a bit less expensive and they had it in stock. I've seen some unbelievable (low) "price paid" claims from folks online over the years. Prices you 100% couldn't touch in my area.

The only real separating factor for us between the two was the towing capacity. I like my parents Forester with the same drivetrain, but the Forester is so underrated as the only difference I can find between them is the outback has slightly shorter diff gearing. I would actually like the shorter overhangs of the Forester for the odd culvert washout but I guess we can bring a shovel too.
Is the spare full size in the Forester? Its not in the Outback inspite of having room to do so. Its sort of a larger donut which probably would go for 100's of miles on the hwy but may not do so well off road.
 
I have read posts by a lot of off roader Forester types who carry a partially deflated full sized spare in the space under the floor of the hatch...of course, the true believers carry one in a cage on the roof racks.
 
The spare is a donut in my 2016 Forester, but you can fit a full-sized tire/wheel in there if you don't place the foam accessory storage thing over the top of the wheel.
 
Subaru has one of the top rated CVT's so enjoy with confidence! We love our 2018 2.5i also! Congrats!
 
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