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| 1997 Subaru Outback Review, Steve N., From Kelowna BC Cana
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Subaru Outback
| | Model of the car: | Subaru Outback | | | General comments: | Paul Hogan should be ashamed to promote this vehicle as anything other than a ski machine on tippy toes. Despite the ads, the first thing one reads in the manual is that this is not an off-road vehicle. Not that anyone buys them for this but it would be nice to have some sort of capacity to get beyond the WalMart parking lot speed bumps. Why did they make this car with all this ground clearance and promotions when it is useless off-road? Snow is light and when was the last time you had to plow through more than 14-18 inches of snow? A Corolla with siped tires will do that just fine thanx.Save the Outback cash differential and buy a Legacy if you really need 4x4 on pavement or snow. For snow traction, a good set of Alpins or Blizzaks on a 2 wheel drive will get you through 95% of where you want to go vs a 4x4 with all seasons as the Outback is equipped. Car and Driver did a test of AWD cars a few years ago. AWD does ZERO for cornering, ZERO for stopping, ZERO for acceleration (without spinning the tires) on dry pavement. The only performance increase is wet weather acceleration from a stop (that's important if your 16 I gueass) and acceleration in snow. The human mind is a wonderfull thing in embellishing things they have been told are good when they have dropped thousands of $$ into their decision. Forget the hype of AWD and get the facts.Subarus are "cult car" they have a loyal following and a reputation for durability and value. This reputation and sentiment often has Subaru owners overlooking the rust, falling non-essential parts, things that don't work, or squeek, rattle or groan and lack of convenience features found in other cars is ignored as the owner bask in the undeserved reputation Subaru has cultivated over the years. This is largely based on marketting and a couple of good products in their past.This is my second and last Subaru. The first had a faulty transmission that would kick out of gear intermittently in any situation and then slide right back in after a ouple of 5 seconds. The techies could not find the problem and provided no solution. I sold it with 2000 kms left on the warranty (my sincere apologise to the nice guy who bought it).This one has had a hot fluid smell, either oil or transmission, when the 4x4 system is being taxed on snowy twisting backroads. Two transmission seals have been replaced but were not the source of the strong smell. The Subaru techies can't find the problem and can't reproduce it as the past 2 years have been poor snow years around the dealers location. Now that the waranty has expired, I'm sure we'll discover the problem.With maybe 1500 kms of gravel road on it's 60,000km clock, my Outback tailgate rattles like a tin box full of marbles. It turns out to be the ball and socket of the gas struts being worn. Especially at over $70 each for the full assembly, this shouldn't happen. And no I can't just by the mount.The sheet metal on the top of the tailgate has 3 or 4 welts caused by my non-hulking forearms resting on the sheetmetal while unloading a 50-60 pound filing cabinet and a 30 pound roof carrier box. I've carried 300 pounds of drywall on my other cars roof racks and unloaded them in the same many without resulting in any damage.I currently own and routinely abuse a 1996 Ford Explorer. I have had no problems with it other than a severly beat up undercarrage from offroad use. Any squeeks and rattles it does have, it has come by honestly. Parts are cheap and available anywhere. The Subaru needs babying by Subaru techies and a lot of stuff is only available from the Subaru parts bins.This car lacks many of the creature comforts found on many common cars. Mechanically sound (untill the trans blows up), nice motor but everything else needs more thought. A cup holder that dumps coffee into your climate control and stereo while stopping? Please! Subaru needs to look at the competition and learn a thing or two.As a career exploration geologist for an international mining company, I have driven every common 4x4 vehicle on the market in serious offroad applications. The Subaru 4x4 system is unchallenged in how seamless and effective it operates. But without a low range, tender underbody and fragile suspension components, monster bumber overhangs and limited suspension travel, it is dog useless on anything other than pavement and logging roads. With such success on the punishing rally ciruits, you'd think Subaru would carry more of their technology to the cars they sell. Or maybe they get their parts and techies cheaper and swap most of the bent bits out after each rally segment.I am only 6 feet tall. The drivers seat is good for me but put 1 or 2 other 6 footers in the back and we all get grumpy. People are bigger today. Just visit a MacDonalds near a high school at noon. Three across seating in the back is ok only if one is a kid under 12. Nice town car but if you have a real life with kids, go bigger. The Scoobydoo get only 20% better mileage than my Explorer, but the Ford is more than 20% more vehicle.The cargo area is puney with the sloping glass on three sides and the inclined seatbacks of the rear bench. Forget folding down the back seats as 9 time out of 10 you need them at the same time to transport the family at the same time. Great roof rack though. Buy a box right away. You'll need it. Just don't lean on the sheet metal taking anything down ;-)I'm being generous giving it the second of the two stars in the rating. | | | What things have gone wrong with the car: | Creature comforts and thought are lacking. Cramped interior,dumb cup holders (is that important?), no wagon area power door locks, no simultaneous 4 door unlocking, non pivoting outside mirrors, no rear seat reading lights, no low range, no skid plates, titanic front and rear bumper overhangs, no towing capacity, no reserve power for window lift after ignition is off, no automatic shutoff of the rear window defroster, no intermittent rear wiper setting, tiny single fluid resevoir for both window washers, moderate to low dash dimmer setting makes the radio readout disappear, extraordinary disc wear, warping and grinding (replacement Canuck Tire ones work better), weak airconditioning...and this is Canada!,constant on | | | Previous car: | 1996 Ford Explorer, 1993 Ford Taurus wagon, 1995 Mercury Sable Wagon, 1993 Subaru Legacy, 1990 Toyota Corolla, 1990 Volvo 760 Turbo, various 1980 - 1996 Ford, Chev 1 |
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