Practical, not fun and poor manufacturing standards
The Outback scores high on practicality. It has lots of space to carry you, your friends, and all their belongings around, or comfortably sleeps two with the rear seats folded flat. It's confident off road and fairly quiet on road. Runs smooth too, though the engine doesn't make the most pleasant noises at low RPMs and in certain gears. In the so called Premium trim, it lacks any active safety features that others in its class include as standard at this price point and in the 2017 model doesn't include advanced car connectivity like Android Auto. The real problem is the quality of manufacturing that went into producing this vehicle. There's a terrible crunching noise from the front wheels that has gone undiagnosed even with four visits to the dealership's service center. Parts have been replaced but no progress made. My sister has the same year vehicle and hers also suffers from a phantom noise but located under the shifter. Unacceptable for what Subaru would call their flagship model (until the Ascent debuts). Underpowered too, with mediocre gas mileage, although 25/32 mpg would be considered decent today, shamefully.
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