JamesP123

Thanks all for your input - sorry to hear about your issues @Justin Time - will keep a close eye on brake issues after this! and thanks @Hippo for the vote of confidence So I pulled the trigger on a low milage 2021 gen 5 which I picked up last week - I have to say I am absolutely loving it, and feel that I have absolutely made the right choice stepping into the Subaru club….after a week of driving even more perplexed by how much they get such middling reviews in the press….I’m not used to driving particularly fast cars, but it certainly feels more than punchy enough…it doesn’t particularly feel much slower in the real world than my wife’s xc40 which does 0-60 in sub-8.0 seconds.. aside from that great comfort, ridiculous amounts of space, and imo great sharp handling for such a big car (came with Michelin cross climates which might help) one happy buyer here!

Hi @Westwardbound - no looking at the facelift gen 5 with 2.5 petrol (Lineartronic)

Thanks @Scoobyfoz for the feedback and vote of confidence, that is helpful. ….and I get what you mean about the Octavia, tested an estate a couple of weeks ago and everything about it screamed bland, wasn’t a fan.

Hello All! Starting this post with a question…before a long ramble if you can be arsed to read that far… Calling all Gen 5 Outback owners - what have your experiences been with reliability? Any particular recurring issues to watch out for? I have read conflicting (but rather vague) information online, for example: https://www.whatcar.com/news/reliability-survey-most-reliable-cars-brands/n26159# - Subaru generally very low placement (between Audi & LR!?). Calls out Subaru Outback Gen 5 in particular near the bottom of the article. But then on the other side, lots of online outback reviews say something along the lines of “reliability shouldn’t be an issue with Subaru’s excellent reputation”. Forums generally seem to concur with this from what I can find. So which is it in your experience? I have not owned a Subaru before, nor know anybody who has. ————————————————— In case you can be arsed to read the reason for my question, ramble below…! I am currently looking to buy a second family car, with a growing family and therefore a growing need for me and the wife to be in two places at once with different kids hobbies etc - our other car being a Volvo xc40 (which is great). I have been looking for something with decent load lugging capabilities, something to fulfil muddy dog walking duties, camping trips into Wales, tip trips and general pack mule jobs which can handle very knackered roads and tracks in the dead of winter in the back of beyond - something the Volv can struggle with from time to time. I would say beyond the above the important factors for me are reliability, a decent level of ride comfort and creature comforts (doesn’t need to be a speed demon but something with enough pep to not feel sluggish), and at least some character/charm to the car. I have test driven a lot of cars in the past few weeks, originally being pretty set on a 4x4 new gen Rav 4 early on in the research phase…fairly characterless in my personal opinion but mostly ticked the other boxes….then finally I came to the outback. I originally intended just to have a quick look at the gen 6, but while I was at the dealer (a fairly long drive from home) thought I may as well take a gen 5 for a quick spin for comparison (21 plate). Something just clicked for me with the gen5 - meeting all the criteria above, plus on the contrary to many other online reviews I have read, I found it had enough pep and power as long as you didn’t thrash the throttle and worked consciously with the cvt. I know this is very subjective, but for my personal taste I preffered the gen5 to the gen6 - it felt somehow more connected to the driving experience, more responsive acceleration…Gen6 felt more plush, modern, but somehow too “detached” and floaty for my tastes... gen 5 felt like this great balance of handling, comfort, practicality and character. Oh and I hated the infotainment in the Gen 6 - felt very tacky bleepy and Japanese, everything felt overwhelming with menu diving etc…again totally get that is personal taste, probably just getting used to it/learning curve. Overall this exercise has also been a lesson to take motoring journalist reviews with a pinch of salt, because many of the generally lauded cars I have testing have been pretty underwhelming and bland…how is the outback so universally slated in the press?! So to conclude, I am pretty smitten with the gen 5, feels like the right car to be my dependable workhorse for hopefully the next 10 years - the only thing holding me back right now from pulling the trigger is a question mark over reliability…hopefully the good people of this forum can convince me of this so I can join your ranks. Cheers, J