Owned one for 5 years. Needed to get to work, 40 miles away over wind-blown country roads with big drifts.
Kinda noisy, acceleration is ok for what you actually need. Absolute highest mpg: 38, on two separate tanks. Typical summer: 34 mpg. Typical winter: 28 mpg. I drove with regard to max MPG, so very slow accel, limited top speeds, coasting to every stop sign.
CVT is a fine transmission. Please ignore the idiots who haven't driven that model, but comment on it. For max accel, put into manual mode, and rev the engine almost to redline. 0-60 in auto: 9.5 seconds measured. In manual mode: 8.5 seconds measured. I used a video cam aimed at the tach and speedo, so times would be a bit shorter if measured from actual car motion to top speed.
With great winter tires, it will plow thru fairly heavy, wet snow an inch or two above the floor pan. It's VERY stable in snow, due to a very strong Front wheel power bias. You cannot put this car in a powered drift, it will plow straight.
I still like the looks of the car. I upgraded to a CX-5 so I could tow. The Crosstrek with CVT isn't what I believe to be reliable, and had a lower tow rating, too.
Also have an Outback with CVT. Pulled 1000 lbs of snowmo. Slow as [censored]. Hate that car.