Completely agree. I looked for a OBW without option package 22 but no one around me had one unless I wanted to order one. It was cheaper to take one off the lot that already had discounts applied. I've used mine once and it was only because my fiance loves sunroofs. I'm bald so they usually stay shut or my dome gets roasted by the sun LOL.
This is shocking and a complete betrayal of trust that customers put into a dealer believing that they are experts because they wear the official Subaru badge. I am so disgusted for you. I hope they make this right ASAP.
The 05-09 Outback required zero cutting to install a factory hitch. I did it myself in maybe 30 minutes. It fits just below the bumper cover. The only bad part of THAT hitch is that the bracing is too close together so you can't easily put a socket between to tighten the hitch tongue bolt.
Several drawbacks with that approach. First, you severely reduced your departure angle, and could hit the hitch on an inclined driveway, or something. By lowering the hitch, you're adding tremendous strain on the frame, and your suspension, since your torque arm is longer now (makes sense?). And the longer the ball mount, the worse you exacerbate that problem. Oh, and even the revised Curt, it still uses the undesirable crash beam bolts, and only a small 'arm' into the frame rails. It's better than the previous model with just the 3 crash beam bolts, but I wouldn't install one even if free. But of course, to each his own. If you're only going to carry a bicycle rack, maybe no harm. But if you plan to get closer to the towing limit, then you'd be exceeding the stress Subaru calculated with the OEM hitch. That's also why I bit the bullet and paid for the OEM ball mount, since it has the ball at least a couple of inches closer to the bumper than the shortest aftermarket ball mount I found (which I already had from my ex-Santa Fe Calligraphy -with a Curt hitch), minimizing the stress on frame and suspension.
Because most trailers less than 3,500 lbs have 'surge brakes', which require no wiring. The braking is achieved when the master cylinder is pressurized by the weight of the trailer against the ball. But yes, it'd be nice if Subaru pre-wired the vehicle for a 7-pin harness, and a connector for a brake controller somewhere in the front, like Hyundai does.
Good for them, this one does require cutting...
You're just showing off.Yep, and even worse than that. And that's why I installed it myself. Just hope your hitch was installed and torqued correctly. And yes, after so many years of the Outback being a sales success, Subaru is still using the stupid platform of the Legacy, instead of making a platform for a proper SUV, which outsells the Legacy 20 to 1, I believe. Until they fully redesigned it (not just mild changes), it'll continue to be a disaster to install a hitch. It not pleasant to look at your brand new car half dismantled. But at least I did the job right, with minimum cutting
Agreed. Surge brakes are much less useful for electric brakes at best, and a real pain at worst.
The Subaru is actually designed rather well. They do actually include a template for the cut.
I'm really hoping Toyota follows through on releasing their small pickup, the Stout. I really could use a small pickup for camping and hauling some dirty stuff around but don't need a body on frame truck like the Tacoma. Tried to get a Ford Maverick and gave up on that, eff Ford and their scummy dealers. The Hyundai vera cruz is bleh.
I hear you, for me a small truck would come in handy but an SUV would be better most of the time. Also, the Outback for me is a "winter/errand/trip when I have passenger's car" so I'm not using it daily.
Yeah, I had a 22 Honda Ridgeline which was amazingly handy. Not a huge truck, rode like a SUV and offered the in bed trunk etc. I loved the idea\functionality of the truck but wow did Honda miss the mark on the safety features and the build quality. Sold mine after a year, too many issues.
