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2013 Subaru Outback

211 messages,  Last post on May 20, 2013 at 3:38 PM

You are in the Subaru Legacy & Outback Forum.

What is this discussion about? Subaru Outback, Subaru Legacy, Sedan, Wagon

    

Messages Page 3 of 22

#18 of 211 2013 Outback by otis123

Jun 09, 2012 (2:09 pm)

Hi Juice!!
 
Hope you and your family are well. You may not remember me, but I'll give it a try. I bought a new black 2001 LLBean Outback over 11 years ago... called it my black tank... I contributed to Edmunds' forum early on, but haven't in quite some time. Well, the car reached 162K miles this past April, but was totalled in an accident. Minor collision - my wife and an AMC SUV met in the left front corner of the Outback. She hardly felt anything - no airbags went off. The "cage" seemed to do its job quite well, but front left wheel/axle, radiator, etc. added up to a total. Got $6800 from insurance!! Much better than I thought I would get! Too bad, the car was going to my daughter next year. Now I'll have to spend more to find her one... and not know its true condition. All those years of caring for it down the drain...
 
After 162K miles the H6 engine ran like the day I bought it. No kidding. No loss of power. It was amazing... as was the transmission and other major components. Never changed the radiator!!! Everything worked. It would have kept going on forever. Only regret I had was not changing the struts until 155K. It took its toll on the front end. I was looking at changing tie rods, etc. in the front. It was getting loose. The front brakes were a constant headache. Subaru engineers got that one wrong - too small for the H6 car's weight. Had to change the pads every 10-15K and use special Frozen rotors. AWD also eats up tires fairly quickly - but a safety tradeoff. That window design and the noise it created was unbearable at times. Wooden pop sticks helped, but always fell into the door cavity when someone opened the windows. Then at around 130K miles - after a windshield replacement - we would get a LOUD buzz whenever we went over 55mph. I mean LOUD. Some folks - subaru.org I think, not Edmunds - seemed to zero in on the rubber window gasket as the source. Would have been hard to sell like that, but perfect for my daughter to not speed! Again, though, I felt like the car would go for another 162K easily. Now I know what they mean when folks say you can't kill a Subaru!
 
I'd say the car had above average reliability overall. So... I'm looking at the 2013 H6 with the special appearance package, but I just saw the mirrors at this site: http://www.cars101.com/subaru/outback/outback2013.html and they are damn ugly!!! Silver grey?? Why would they not be the color of the car? Just to stand out?? Why does Subaru still do stuff like that? Could never understand them... when they go upmarket they always seem to get it wrong. Really dealbreaker for me...
 
So, now my search takes another direction. But, who knows, maybe someone came to their senses in Indiana or NJ the past few weeks and they will match the body's color. I guess it will be clear by the end of the month. Fog lights are in the wrong direction, too. But the memory setting (long overdue) and the 40% less body lean (also a major complaint I had with the LLBean) are in the right direction. And $40K loaded? Dream on...
 
My other car, a 2004 MDX with 102K miles, has been unbelievably reliable. Nothing wrong but a radiator leak. Much less expensive to maintain. And with the base under $40K right now (new design coming out this fall), I might end up taking a little loan out to stretch... I don't care if it will look old within a few months. Reliability is my main concern, then looks.
 
As Dave Matthews once said... too many choices...
 
Take care,
Ralph (Otis)

#19 of 211 Re: 2013 coming soon! [ateixeira] by robr2

Jun 09, 2012 (3:12 pm)

Replying to: ateixeira (Jun 08, 2012 9:38 am)
Sounds high, but a base Explorer Sport with no options will have a starting price higher than that.
 
Aw c'mon juice - that's a poor comparison. The Explorer Sport is a high performance vehicle. When the Outback seats 7 and pumps out 350 HP, you can compare them.
 
The Outback and the Edge are more comparable.

#20 of 211 Re: 2013 Outback [otis123] by ateixeira

Jun 12, 2012 (11:52 am)

Replying to: otis123 (Jun 09, 2012 2:09 pm)
Long time, no see! Really long! Welcome back!
 
Can you get one without the appearance package? Aren't those mirrors body color? Some folks like stuff like that, I guess. Looks OK on the silver cars (LOL).
 
I'm sure a body shop could paint 'em for you for very little if they bug you that much.
 
MDX seems to be the official car of Potomac. A lot of friends have them and the one common theme - they all complain about the gas mileage (and the premium fuel).

#21 of 211 Re: 2013 coming soon! [robr2] by ateixeira

Jun 12, 2012 (11:53 am)

Replying to: robr2 (Jun 09, 2012 3:12 pm)
I know but I read that on Autoblog just before I posted.
 
Point is, sticker prices have really crept up. I just drove a pair of german compacts with 4 cylinder engines, each nearly $50 grand. Yikes.
 
I'd take a Legacy GT over the C250 even if they cost the same amount!

#22 of 211 Re: 2013 coming soon! [ateixeira] by robr2

Jun 12, 2012 (12:22 pm)

Replying to: ateixeira (Jun 12, 2012 11:53 am)
I'd take a Legacy GT over the C250 even if they cost the same amount!
 
Oh you'd take a bag of poo over most cars as long as it had a Subaru badge on it!!
 
Turn it around - I'd take the C250 if it cost the same as the Legacy GT. And in reality the Legacy is creeping closer to the price of an MB which suprises me.

#23 of 211 Re: 2013 coming soon! [robr2] by ateixeira

Jun 12, 2012 (12:42 pm)

Replying to: robr2 (Jun 12, 2012 12:22 pm)
Go drive a C250, you'll take that back.
 
The throttle on that car is awful. The first inch of travel does nothing, literally. Then you press it more, and after some lag, all the power comes on at once. So it's lag, then more power than you wanted.
 
In Sport mode is slightly less bad.
 
C350 ($40,575) is a much nicer car, but below that, I'll pass.
 
In fact I just read that for the C300 4Matic models with will use a de-tuned 3.5l V6 instead of the turbo.
 
Heck, they should do that for RWD too!

#24 of 211 Re: new engine power [ateixeira] by vrm

Jun 12, 2012 (7:41 pm)

Replying to: ateixeira (Jun 08, 2012 10:42 am)
I'd wait for the new one just to get the timing chain, and the easy-access oil filter. Oil changes would take 5 minutes.
 
Does easy-access oil filter mean I do not have to slide under the car to change oil?
 
Also, I did not see any mention on the Subaru website or press release. How do you know about this easy-access filter?
 
Thanks.

#25 of 211 Re: new engine power [vrm] by dcm61

Jun 13, 2012 (5:37 am)

Replying to: vrm (Jun 12, 2012 7:41 pm)
You still have to slide under to drain the oil.
 
The 2013 Outback uses the 2011 & 2012 Forester FB25 engine ... there are pictures all over the web showing the easy-access (top mounted) oil filter. It's also the same location on the 2012 Impreza FB20 engine.

#26 of 211 Re: new engine power [dcm61] by ateixeira

Jun 13, 2012 (6:28 am)

Replying to: dcm61 (Jun 13, 2012 5:37 am)
Add a fumoto valve for the oil drain plug, and you may only need to squat down once or twice.

#27 of 211 experience by stickguy

Jun 15, 2012 (8:50 am)

Just got a report from someone at SOA that has driven one, who said that the suspension has been tweaked considerably and the transmission is a Phase Two and much quieter on the ’13 MY.

Messages Page 3 of 22

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