OT (a little!) - Subaru Outback 2.5i

[philbyil]

Well, I have given up looking for a low mileage 525iT or even an E39 Sport Wagon locally. We need a different car for Texas and Deb likes the 2005 Subie Outback 2.5i (I don't mind it either!) and I wondered has anyone any practical experience with them? In particular, overall impressions, gas mileage, anyone use it for towing (with 1000lb trailer) and also any problems and ease of maintenance (Bill R., any input on this??).

We will be selling her 96 Audi A4q, although it is a great car with low mileage, we need more utility down tehre plus some towing capacity.

No way I am seling the GQ.....

Thanks guys....appreciate anyones 2 cents.

[bahnstormer]

the new legacy wagon is REALLY REALLY nice

[Kalevera]

Phil -

A friend of mine who works with the top brass at most of the major car companies in the world (and, I might add, who designed the interior systems for a BMW concept car and was a race driver for Porsche in the 60's) says that they have excellent build quality and terrible gas mileage.

I think they're really good cars, and I'd buy one if I couldn't get a BMW. Two friends of mine have owned them: one a WRX, the other an Outback. Great cars in both cases.

Best, Whit

[Jr ///M5]

The Texas heat will require something that the air-conditioner will cool quickly. Look around, what type of vehicle do you see in Texas...? Trucks.....diesels.....oh yeah baby! Get one of those giant power strokers. Deb would absolutely love the torque, the mileage wouldn't be that bad and you have the capability of pulling stumps or houses around for that matter. She would look good in a Cowboy hat and a Ford Power Stroker Diesel.=)

Sorry Uncle Phil, I really don't have anything constructive to add.. Deb would look good in a truck though...just like Debra Winger in Urban Cowboy =)

We'll miss having you guys around up here...=(

Jr

[philbyil]

You are quite right of course....BIG TRUCKS RULE !!!!!
Deb has the boots (red cowboy boots!) but not the hat as yet....working on hats for us both...gotta get the "right" hat or you look like a dude!

Yeah...I would REALLY LOVE a BIG DIESEL TRUCK but man, they are so damn expensive and the mileage isn't that great...honest, thats my excuse!

We actually have a budget of Deb's Audi (a VERY low mileage 96) plus no more than $20k and you don't get much truck for that money.....plus it WILL be our primary grocery cart, crap carrier and bike trailer hauler as , God forbid!, the GQ mustn't get dirty
Great roads around there....wonderful motorcycling and ideal for Bimmers!

Come on down pardner - Great BBQ

[Bill R.]

couple of newer outbacks and some of the older cars and wagons, legacy's and a forester... I'm not particularly thrilled with the reliability of them even though the owners fall into two camps, love em fanatics and hate em fanatics.
One of the strange things is even though they are a watercooled horizontally opposed engine they still have the same oil leaks that the oil air cooled vw's did where the cylinders meet the block and where the heads bolt on.. same drip.. if you owned a vw you know what i mean. The parts for them are outrageously expensive for what you get... much higher than bmw and for the most part you're stuck using only factory parts, there isn't a lot of aftermarket vendors for the parts here in the US... Quentin tells me its the opposite in Oz stry enough. He said parts are very reasonable there compared to other cars.... At any rate for the front rotors for the outbacks that i work on they are around 100 each for subaru and subaru brake pads are around 65 if i recall.. It was high enough that i was surprised, and this is routine for every subaru part i buy... I like the way the new outbacks drive... the interior parts are pretty low rent though and it has the same problem as mazda where plastic parts on the interior go away pretty quickly, things you wouldn't expect. One of my customers and friends had a new all wheel drive outback with every option known.. he really liked the way it drove going up to the white mountains frequently , at less than 30k miles he was on his 3 transmission due to some fault and they finally ended up buying the car back .
But he really liked the way it ran when it ran.. He never towed with it so I can't say as to how well they tow... I personally wouldn't buy one due to the dislike i have for working on them and the parts prices. I would look much harder at honda and toyota products such as the pilot or the highlander...My 2 cents only...

Well, I have given up looking for a low mileage 525iT or even an E39 Sport Wagon locally. We need a different car for Texas and Deb likes the 2005 Subie Outback 2.5i (I don't mind it either!) and I wondered has anyone any practical experience with them? In particular, overall impressions, gas mileage, anyone use it for towing (with 1000lb trailer) and also any problems and ease of maintenance (Bill R., any input on this??).

We will be selling her 96 Audi A4q, although it is a great car with low mileage, we need more utility down tehre plus some towing capacity.

No way I am seling the GQ.....

Thanks guys....appreciate anyones 2 cents.

[philbyil]

I heard the same thing about love 'em or hate 'em...been trolling all the Subie boards. I read about the cylinder head issues on the earlier motors (I remember old VW motors VERY well!!!) but I am hoping that they got this right on the 04's and 05's which most owners seem to be very happy with.
My concern was also about spares as I will be doing my own maintenance....perhaps I can get them shipped to the U.S. from Ozland!!!

I understand they are fairly easy to work on and eyeballing the engine compartment it certainly appears that R&Ring regular maintenance and wear items (hoses etc) is fairly brain dead. I also that you can pull an engine in less than 2 hours. I read that the manual transmissions are more fault prone than the auto's (now THAT sounds like GM!!).

The missus won't buy a Ford and doesn't really like "SUV's" (there goes the Pilot and Highlander) and, after all, it is she that is trading HER Audi in against this so I have to work with her taste........

Really tough isn't it....not a lot of choice around. She also likes the Mazda 6 hatch but it doesn't come in white (thats her colour) and isn't rated for towing (thats for the motorcycle trailer) and both are real considerations for us.

couple of newer outbacks and some of the older cars and wagons, legacy's and a forester... I'm not particularly thrilled with the reliability of them even though the owners fall into two camps, love em fanatics and hate em fanatics.
One of the strange things is even though they are a watercooled horizontally opposed engine they still have the same oil leaks that the oil air cooled vw's did where the cylinders meet the block and where the heads bolt on.. same drip.. if you owned a vw you know what i mean. The parts for them are outrageously expensive for what you get... much higher than bmw and for the most part you're stuck using only factory parts, there isn't a lot of aftermarket vendors for the parts here in the US... Quentin tells me its the opposite in Oz stry enough. He said parts are very reasonable there compared to other cars.... At any rate for the front rotors for the outbacks that i work on they are around 100 each for subaru and subaru brake pads are around 65 if i recall.. It was high enough that i was surprised, and this is routine for every subaru part i buy... I like the way the new outbacks drive... the interior parts are pretty low rent though and it has the same problem as mazda where plastic parts on the interior go away pretty quickly, things you wouldn't expect. One of my customers and friends had a new all wheel drive outback with every option known.. he really liked the way it drove going up to the white mountains frequently , at less than 30k miles he was on his 3 transmission due to some fault and they finally ended up buying the car back .
But he really liked the way it ran when it ran.. He never towed with it so I can't say as to how well they tow... I personally wouldn't buy one due to the dislike i have for working on them and the parts prices. I would look much harder at honda and toyota products such as the pilot or the highlander...My 2 cents only...

[John B.]

I can't imagine why you'd need to tow an R1150RT unless it broke down but it would fit nicely in the back of a Nissan Frontier Crewcab w/6" bed. My wife loves hers & we've hauled her Oilhead home a few times when it died on her. It's in your price range & has seating for 4. The Subies are the Vermont state car so I have lots of friends that have owned them. The stories I've heard echo what Bill was saying about reliability.