As the formerly-smug owner of TWO Crosstreks, believe me when I say the smugness dissipates quickly after a few stealership visits…
tl;dr - buy the beige camry
The rotten truth is that Subarus aren’t really any more reliable than other vehicles, but uave much more expensive repair costs than comparable Hondas or Toyotas.
also the suspension and steering and acceleration and interior padding is all rough.
Yeah, my crosstrek has some of the stiffest suspension i have ever felt. And their symetrical AWD has always seemed like just a gimmick.
Subaru’s AWD system is legitimately better at putting down power to the wheels and getting traction than the vast majority of other AWD systems on the market. There are plenty of third party tests showing as much.
That said, it’s a question of whether you actually need that. The truth is the vast majority of people don’t need AWD at all for the kind of driving they’ll actually do.
I have an STi which has an active center differential beyond even the typical Subaru system and I absolutely love it. It’s magic feeling it at work. But my “likes to take the car on dirt and go sideways at 50MPH” use case isn’t needed for a commuter either.
Also important to note, Subaru’s AWD system is picky as hell and a tread depth difference across the axle is actually pretty likely to damage your diffs or transmission.
Meaning, if you need to replace a tire, you replace all four tires or else run the risk of catastrophic damage to the vehicle. The AWD works great and it’s a good system but it can and will screw you out of a thousand bucks worth of tires with no warning. Pros and cons.
(Sorry for the comment on a 2 week old post)
For those in the US, Tire Rack can shave down a new tire to a specific depth for you. You just need to measure the other tire(s) to give them a measurement.
Had to do this for my Subi once and it worked like a charm. No mechanical problems after (although I did sell the car, like, a year later).
In fairness, tires really should be replaced at minimum in pairs on any vehicle. Definitely hurts more when it’s a full set, though.
And it hurts extra hard on the STi. My latest set of tires a few weeks ago because I damaged a sidewall was ~$1500.
Our 2012 Subaru with a Megaman decal and a Cthulu-fish just saved my spouse from being horribly killed by a driver who blared through a red, t-boned the shit out of the driver’s side and flipped him, absolutely crushing the car, but not him. We’re 100% getting another, (an older Outback if possible) and I will wallpaper that mofo in COEXIST if it keeps either of us as…not dead.
Below: just about all we could salvage from the impound after it was decoupled from the other driver’s car, flipped upright, towed and totaled. We have their front Honda emblem, though, cause it was stuck in our car!
