Outback a good fit for me? Honest opinions please.

[mtwotheatt]

Hello all,

New member here. I'm looking to buy a car in the coming year. Previous car history: '00 Ford Explorer which I loved for its ability to go anywhere and overall SUV feel. .hated how every time I went up a hill on the highway I'd have to move over because I couldn't maintain speed. .part of the reason I moved to the Mazdaspeed 3 when I graduated college.

Fell out of love with that car after 3 years and sold it. Got that 'sport car' bug out of my system. Was fun to drive but couldn't get over its handling on any little bump on the road, would throw you all over the place. Also started working from home and needed to save money for other things.

Anyway, after we buy a house in a few months I'll be looking to get a new vehicle and would like some opinions from owners.

1) 4 or 6 cylinders? I kind of want to try this CVT out but not if I'm going to have the same issue I had with the Explorer. I don't need to be the fastest car on the road and usually drive near speed limit.

2) I'd be using it for light duty stuff around town, would like to keep more than 5 years as we start a family, road trips, occasional trip off the beaten path. .I make trips to Pittsburgh and am in No. VA so the AWD is appealing to me. Also like the cargo room and would most likely install a hitch in case I want/need to tow my motorcycle somewhere.

3) If I go the OB route, after reading on here it seems there's issues needing correction via a rear sway bar? And the HK audio system and navigation which I was kind of excited about don't look to review well. Would love keyless entry but maybe not all the other stuff with the SAP trim. Any idea of this coming to the '14 models?

I'll have more questions but appreciate any feedback!

Matt

[Caps]

I think you would like an Outback for your new home and family plans. Personally, we never even considered the H4 /CVT as we like power more than a few extra MPG. My wife drives up to DC for work and gets around 26 MPG for that 100 Mile round trip. I did add the rear sway bar to ours but I am not sure it will make a huge difference on the new model. Best advice I have is rent one for a few days and see how you like it for how YOU drive. Most rentals have the CVT. No one vehicle is perfect but we love ours for the abilities/safety/performance/reliability/ride and comfort.
Hope that helps.

[mtwotheatt]

Originally Posted by Caps

I think you would like an Outback for your new home and family plans. Personally, we never even considered the H4 /CVT as we like power more than a few extra MPG. My wife drives up to DC for work and gets around 26 MPG for that 100 Mile round trip. I did add the rear sway bar to ours but I am not sure it will make a huge difference on the new model. Best advice I have is rent one for a few days and see how you like it for how YOU drive. Most rentals have the CVT. No one vehicle is perfect but we love ours for the abilities/safety/performance/reliability/ride and comfort.
Hope that helps.

I think that's some solid advice that I was already considering. Where can I rent one. .? I've looked around it seems a bit tricky. Heard I can reserve it from Hertz? And that they may pull a switch on me when I go to get it.

[DieselOx]

Our dealer "rented" ours to us for the first 3 days, while we waited for our mortgage refi to close. Might be able to rent from a dealer. Be sure any rental is a 2013, the 2012 handling is really different: softer, 40% more body roll.

[Caps]

I think Budget had them in some areas as well, may just have to search or even call some dealers in the area. We bought from Frank White at Annapolis Subaru and they have a few 2013 PZEV Outback service loaners but I am not sure about rentals.
Side note, one of our neighbors just bought a 13 3.6R with Eyesight as their 16 yr. old totaled their V8 Explorer and they are loving it as a replacement for that.

[SeanU]

Maybe ask a dealer to rent a loaner? With the 4cyl you cant be afraid to stomp on the pedal when you need some power. With my 2005, I tend to use the sport shifter when passing with the 4 speed auto... plenty of pick up if you let it get some revs. I just got the 2013 with the cvt. I find myself using the paddles to engine break, but not as much for passing. If I was towing stuff around alot, I'd would go with the H6 and a transmission cooler.

You will get a huge variety of opinions on the H4 vs H6, but as suggested, best bet is to drive both and make your own decision.

[mtwotheatt]

Called around to some dealers and Enterprise. .the dealers acted like I was crazy. To think I'd want to drive a car for a weekend without a salesman breathing down my neck to decide if it's right for me. .

Enterprise here doesn't have them. Maybe one of the other rentals at the airport does guess I can try calling.

[mcbrew]

You should definitely test drive both the 2.5 and the 3.6 to see which one suits you better. You should not need to pull over on hills, even with the 2.5. Some people who are used to V8 engines are afraid to let a 4 cylinder wind up. I come from European cars with smaller engines that really need to rev up... And none of them suffered from it. I fact, my last Mercedes (125 horsepower) is still on the road with 600,000 miles on the original engine. I have also driven low horsepower VWs (90 hp) and Toyotas (128 hp) and had no problems there. To me, the 2.5i seems pretty powerful. It has more horsepower and weighs considerably less than my truck, and I don't need to slow down on hills with the truck, either.

Also, I tow with the Outback quite a bit... About once a week on average. Seem times I tow my utility trailer with lumber, garbage, motor scooters, etc., and sometimes I tow my fiberglass camper (about 1,500 pounds). It does this easily... But that is no surprise, since I used to tow it just fine with my 128 hp subcompact Scion xD.

[Caps]

I just did an online search and Hertz comes up but may be at BWI. I would start with a call to them and see if you can reserve it locally.

[1 Lucky Texan]

I had a 13 as a loaner for few days - I certainly wouldn't be afraid of the CVT. It's just weird at first, but it seemed solid to me. The way my right leg hit/lay against the center console was odd. Honestly, I didn't find anything I hated or wouldn't be able to become accustomed to. But, it didn't seem 'light years' ahead of our 03. Just more electronic gadgets.

have you considered a Forester? it also has a lot of room for gear.