Durable, rugged snow car marred by noise and poor entertainment package
I really wanted to love this car. All my friends have Subarus as does my mother. The car is unrivaled in snow and ice: I am flitting about past other cars stuck in ditches during below-freezing weather. I have actually tried to get it stuck and failed.
But it is noisy. The road noise is significant and, at highway speeds, requires talking fairly loudly in order to hear other people in the car. My stereo, which goes up to 40, is always at 30-33 for podcasts (the phone is set to maximum volume when in the car).
Also, the Bluetooth package is something from 1990. Using it requires going into the phone and reconnecting every time the car is turned off, even for five seconds. This is across numerous Apple and Android devices (I have had a dozen different devices in the car as I am sort of in charge of these gadgets at my work) and not one restarts the connection automatically after turning off the car. This is not the case in any of my friends' cars or a bluetooth speaker I have at home). Also, the charger built into the armrest will recharge a phone - if you are on a continental trip. The drip drip drip of charge is SO SLOW that I don't bother to connect my phone to it unless I will be in it non-stop for more than an hour.
Overall, good car marred by the comfort stuff not being attended to.