I liked Subarus until I owned one and had to work on it. Over. And over. And over. Still. Again.
I believe my next vehicle will be another Toyota.
I liked Subarus until I owned one and had to work on it. Over. And over. And over. Still. Again.
I believe my next vehicle will be another Toyota.
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Not another dime.
I just bought a 2020 FWD XLE two weeks ago, so you know my choice.
There are no Subaru dealers near to me but 3 Toyota dealerships within easy driving distance. Having worked in the past as an engineer at Tier 1 suppliers for GM, Ford, Mitsubishi, Nissan, BMW, Chrysler, Honda, Suzuki and Toyota. (No experience dealing with Subaru)
I always choose Toyota first followed by GM.
If someone gave me a Chrysler, BMW or Nissan product, I would sell it to the first person that offered to buy it.
From non-driving experiences - go with the Forester or the Rav-4. Three times in my career suspects in Subaru Outbacks either killed themselves in front of me during events or forced the use of deadly force against by committing a felony assault against a cop while driving one. Nope, no Outbacks.
I have a 15 Forester that I absolutely love. It’s performed beautifully in some serious snow, and just recently in getting me back home right after the derecho/land-hurricane that hit the Midwest a few days ago (that was an eventful drive with all kinds of fun obstacles). My brother has a RAV4 that I also like, but for me the Forester is worth it for the AWD alone. It’s perfect for the unexpected BS and for its more day-to-day roles, which are getting me to and from work and me and my stuff to and from the range. I’d probably be just as happy with an Outback, though I prefer the height of the Forester.
That is common to all of the Japanese OEMs; Nissan is the worst, but the rest are not much better. If infotainment is a big deal to a buyer, buying Japanese is an issue.
That being said, when looking at the long-term data for most of the OEMs, there is not much difference in quality and reliability with today's vehicles. Setting aside the French, the Germans, and the Italians, the difference in quality and reliability in the OEMs is essentially nil. If you choose French, German, or Italian, the numbers do not look good.
If Subaru would put a turbo and manual in a Forester it would be the Swiss army knife of vehicles.
“If you know the way broadly you will see it in everything." - Miyamoto Musashi