Thinking about buying vehicles...

[denverpilot]

Further thoughts after driving a couple hundred miles already...

30 ish MPG is nice. See title. LOL.

Push button start is weird. At least until I stop reaching for my keys. That said I still have other keys so I still have to carry a key ring. Weird.

Eyesight has no idea where rural road edges are, which is fine, but it definitely looks for painted stripes which we don’t have. The contrast change from black to light tan dirt really should be enough though. No big deal but a Japanese engineer needs to come look at a rural road. Ha.

Adaptive cruise is a total game changer. Wow. Like. Maybe I don’t need a right foot that works well after all! LOL. Can just use it to mash brakes when I’m more scared than the cameras are. Haha. Totally impressed. Funny to watch it lose the lead car in big rolling hills.

Four bangers sound funny especially boxer engines, but I’ll get used to it.

Proximity unlock is another game changer. Just walk up and your car unlocks when you grab the handle! What is this magic?!

Ohhhh the best rural feature: Automatic high/low beams where you just leave the high beams on and it sees oncoming cars and drops them. Totally awesome out here where we have no road lighting! Love love love this. It’s even smart enough to drop to low at slow speeds for turns and stop signs. Very impressed with the software on this feature.

On board Nav showing directions for next turn in the gauge cluster is brilliant software integration. Definitely cool. It appears that on board Nav updates are free which is also how it should be, but you have to mess with a memory card. Boooo. Do it through the phone data connection Subaru.

Negatives:

On board Nav has no way to just type the name of a business. That’s pitiful. Truly awful.

Bug: Apple “iPod” support isn’t done right. I have three other stereos where the track skip buttons work when playing from a non-Apple third party app. Subaru’s doesn’t even see the track name let alone properly control a cabled connection. Of course it works even with third party apps just fine on Bluetooth so we know which one they QA tested and which one they didn’t. Not awful but Bluetooth isn’t the HiFi codecs so audio quality is better via usb for my minor audiophile habit.

It wouldn’t let me open the back hatch while it was running even from the key fob. I may have a setting wrong somewhere but I don’t like that. That’s dumb. I can see locking out the inside button so you don’t accidentally let your dogs out in traffic or something like that. But if I’m pushing the fob to drop my trash bag at the end of the driveway... no. I shouldn’t have to shut the car off.

Bug mentioned earlier confirmed — reverse camera locks out the audio power button. And it also locks out the steering wheel mute ... which seems wrong for us old people who turn down music to see things better. LOL.

Dealerships continue to tick me off. This time they waited until after the deal was done at least.

Dealerships blow, and we should all be able to order a car on Amazon, have it delivered to our chosen mechanic for inspection, and then dropped in our driveway by FedEx.

Trust me it’s a nitpick and I won’t go into it but their finance doofus has made me mad. Secondarily making the sales guy call me about it also blows. Pick up the phone and fix your own process mistakes. Grrrrr.

Did laugh. The car has so much tech they hold Tech Night on Tuesday nights so people can come to class on the thing. I guess it’s easier for some than just reading the manual and making a few notes. Heh.

STARLINK app is utter garbage. You launch an app on your phone to feed the car (must be running in background all the time or the car can’t see it and disables its starlink app button)... So the car can use other apps on your phone, like iHeartRadio Etc.

Again I have three other car stereos that don’t need an extra app in between the car and the phone for steering wheel control, so this is really dumb. But I rarely use these other apps anyway so starlink will be summarily ignored unless I’m super bored on a road trip. LOL.

It has 1.5 out of 5 stars on Apple App Store and was written under contract by Clarion so I wasn’t expecting much. And it matched expectations. Ha. Thankfully there’s no need for it for the most part.

Here’s the weird part. Certain apps are front and center in the audio page and don’t require the starlink app. Like Pandora. But stuff like syncing a Google calendar is buried behind this stupid app. And if the app isn’t running on the phone you have to pick up the phone and launch it anyway, so what’s the point? Just look at the calendar on the phone. Ha. Same with weather which is just temp for three days. Four menus deep to see that and an app on the phone? It’s like they realized they needed to support more apps and just jammed them into a phone app after they realized not everyone uses Pandora. Haha. Even when this came out in 2017. Needs serious work.

Related to the app: The “My Subaru” website is supposed to link to it but refuses because it’s still attached to the first owner’s account. It has been in he hands of one or another Subaru dealer since lease return in June. During the turn in process they should clear that crap. Instead they tell me to call them to release it. Not my job, man.

Anyway...

I LOVE the thing. It really is awesome as a car. The dash tech is just crap I don’t need anyway but if you’re going to include it, make it good.

The above is just nit picks where they could turn a sucky dealership system into something actually useful and write or contract better software. The dealership system serves to continue to annoy in the modern day of ordering things online for two day delivery. I wish it would die/wasn’t protected by politicians/whatever.

I sure hope they put something better than my version of Starlink in the 2020 with that giant ass 18” screen. What a waste of a screen if it requires the horrid add on phone app!

But in the end if I wanted to play games on a giant screen I’d have bought a Tesla. It’s. A. Car. And it does that part well!

Oh. I’m way too chicken to let it stop behind another stopped car yet. Waaaaaaay too chicken. I need some rush hour traffic and bigger cojones to try it still. LOL.

 

[SoonerAviator]

I’ve only driven one Subaru (base model Impreza) which I was thoroughly unimpressed with in just about every way. I was thinking about your hatch/trunk release issue. Any chance it allows the trunk to pop if it’s running but with parking brake engaged?

 

[schmookeeg]

I’ve only driven one Subaru (base model Impreza) which I was thoroughly unimpressed with in just about every way.

That's kinda like hating Toyotas because you once drove a Tercel.

 

[denverpilot]

I’ve only driven one Subaru (base model Impreza) which I was thoroughly unimpressed with in just about every way. I was thinking about your hatch/trunk release issue. Any chance it allows the trunk to pop if it’s running but with parking brake engaged?

I thought about that but haven’t tested yet.

 

[Bill]

Push button start is weird. At least until I stop reaching for my keys. That said I still have other keys so I still have to carry a key ring. Weird.

You'll love it once you stop trying to fish your keys out of your pants every time you walk up to the car. But be warned, the other day I left the keys in the ignition the other day on our old school non-push button car. I just turned the car off, left the keys, locked the door, and walked away. Luckily my daughter caught it as the car sits outside and we get opportunistic thieving kids in the neighborhood sometimes...

Four bangers sound funny especially boxer engines, but I’ll get used to it.

That's why I went with the 3.6R six cylinder. Much quicker, quieter, and smoother. Sucks more gas, though.

Ohhhh the best rural feature: Automatic high/low beams where you just leave the high beams on and it sees oncoming cars and drops them. Totally awesome out here where we have no road lighting! Love love love this. It’s even smart enough to drop to low at slow speeds for turns and stop signs. Very impressed with the software on this feature.

Did you set up the cornering fog lights? When the fogs are off, turning the wheel left lights up the left fog, right lights up the right fog. Very helpful going around dark corners.

On board Nav showing directions for next turn in the gauge cluster is brilliant software integration. Definitely cool. It appears that on board Nav updates are free which is also how it should be, but you have to mess with a memory card. Boooo. Do it through the phone data connection Subaru.

Nav is so-so, but for some reason waze or Gmaps WILL NOT WORK on an iphone when the phone is plugged into the car. Totally goes nuts, check out the forums...

Here’s the weird part. Certain apps are front and center in the audio page and don’t require the starlink app. Like Pandora.

All I use on long trips is Pandora, so I'm good there.

Oh. I’m way too chicken to let it stop behind another stopped car yet. Waaaaaaay too chicken. I need some rush hour traffic and bigger cojones to try it still. LOL.

It does just fine. The only time the adaptive cruise gives me the willies is when the car comes up on much slower traffic. It waits waaay too late to start braking and then brakes pretty hard. I mean, it slows in time, but not how I'd do it. So, when I see much slower traffic ahead, I brake on my own until my speed matches traffic, then I re-engage the adaptive cruise.

 

[Ted]

You'll love it once you stop trying to fish your keys out of your pants every time you walk up to the car. But be warned, the other day I left the keys in the ignition the other day on our old school non-push button car. I just turned the car off, left the keys, locked the door, and walked away. Luckily my daughter caught it as the car sits outside and we get opportunistic thieving kids in the neighborhood sometimes...

Laurie's GL550 has push-button start and we've rented plenty of cars with it. Yeah, there are some nice convenience features going with it, but I'm not a big fan. No surprise given my preferences on everything else vehicle related, but I like to have the instant response that goes with turning a key to a position without the computer interference. My Ram doesn't have the push button start, it uses a key, but it has to think about whether it engages the starter and that bugs me.

I did make peace with the "auto crank" feature on the E55 and 740iL where once you put the key to the "start" position it'll crank until it starts. But reality, the XKR makes me the happiest. Turn key, starter engages when you're in the "start" position.

 

[SoonerAviator]

That's kinda like hating Toyotas because you once drove a Tercel.

Lol, I don't hold it against the brand. I have ridden in a WRX with a few tuner mods to it that was pretty peppy, even with 4 people in it.

 

[jsstevens]

I think the backup camera locking out the audio controls is a "feature" as our 2018 Honda Odyssey does exactly the same thing. Also, if you mash the power button while the computer is gathering its marbles, before going into reverse, when it finishes booting it will turn the audio back on. Annoying as heck!

I don't like adaptive cruise for one reason: on the highway, I find my self behind someone going slower than the speed limit (because I NEVER speed) and the car has slowed down to the slower speed without my noticing. In traffic, sure, it's nice.

 

[bnt83]

Pushbutton start is a huge leap forward for amputees IF the button is pretty easy to get to. I watched a vet missing both hands start his truck turning a key and thought it was amazing he can do it but dumb that he has to.

 

[denverpilot]

Did you set up the cornering fog lights? When the fogs are off, turning the wheel left lights up the left fog, right lights up the right fog. Very helpful going around dark corners.

...

Nav is so-so, but for some reason waze or Gmaps WILL NOT WORK on an iphone when the phone is plugged into the car. Totally goes nuts, check out the forums...

.

Pushbutton start is a huge leap forward for amputees IF the button is pretty easy to get to. I watched a vet missing both hands start his truck turning a key and thought it was amazing he can do it but dumb that he has to.

Bill, yep. Those are cool. With lots of two lanes with deer and such in the weeds the fogs are on all the time and the brights also disable that feature also, but I did have them both off and saw it doing that and then figured out what it was. Cool for city slickers.

Interesting on Waze. Will have to throw a fast charger in the center console in case I need to charge and want to use it on the phone. Was going to do that anyway since their USB port doesn’t do high charge rate.

...

The push button for adaptability would be great. My right hand is somewhat claw like some days and times so I can see how it would help. The adaptive cruise helps the wimpy right ankle already quite a bit and I really wanted the emergency collision stop feature for that foot maybe misbehaving and never connected the dots that I don’t need to even use the foot that much... a bonus.

 

[denverpilot]

Updates.

Have put a lot of miles on in a week.

Dealership screwed up a second time and no state registration for the glove box was found, just the plate. I called and they printed another one and I stopped and got it today. Talking to the aviation student sales guy is fun but on day two of mass steroids I really don’t need this ****.

The dealership model is just a disaster unless executed right. And it’s designed not to be executed right. LOL.

Still totally impressed with adaptive cruise. I’ve let it stop fully multiple times now. It’s like having a Cirrus. Hahaha. Kidding. But if it says it’s tracking the lead car, it is. If it doesn’t say it is, get on the brake, it really isn’t! Ha.

Lane protection took a little getting used to because I would be correcting at the same time it was so it mostly just starts a tiny PIO. Ha. If you just let it do it, it’s fine 95% of the time and you can see where it’ll lose lines and you have to counter it.

Seeing 26 MPG real world so far. Have seen 31 on one long flat highway trip. Not bad for full time symmetric AWD!

Have gotten how to manage the CVT figured out too. About 30%-35% throttle and just hold it. It is super sumptuous and smooth there. Holds an RPM like a CVT should and doesn’t do as much fake shifting at all.

Debating doing the super cheap SiriusXM traffic only sub. Kinda like the music too but I have multiple ways to do that from my phone these days. But with the nav updated for free now so not so many “unknown roads” it’s pretty convenient and another owner says the traffic data makes it nearly as good as Waze. With no good place to put a Ram Mount and the including of the turn by turn in the gauge cluster, onboard nav is fairly compelling.

New car on Saturday, Drove to Star Wars and dinner on Sunday, MRI on Monday, call saying MRI not spiffy on Tuesday, two trips back to the dealer so far, and on day two of ASAP steroids, and the closer infusion clinic closed apparently in Sept... so the next one is an hour away... it’s gotten some miles on it this week! Many hundreds.

The little storage cubby under the floor for the cargo cover is nice. The old one is in the garage rafters unused since the dogs are always back there.

Definitely can see a quality difference in the original load floor (a waffle thing built stout) of 2000 vs the foam and light plastic thing of 2017. You could probably transport a safe in the back of the old one if you could get it in there. No way on the new one. You’d crack the foam. Still plenty strong for big dogs and a grocery getter so it makes sense.

Noticed there’s a headlight link to the wipers. People wish it activated sooner (six wipes) but it’s nice you won’t forget headlights in bad viz like so many do. Can be disabled in dense drizzle and fog and fog lights forced only of course.

It beeps and bongs a lot. There’s whole tables to interpret various beeps and bongs. I’ve lowered the volume on stuff that isn’t safety critical and/or disabled them in a million menus. Too much distraction for no reason.

May have the dealer kill the locking and unlocking beeps too. If you can’t hear it click, you’re kinda stupid. Pull on a rear handle if you aren’t sure. LOL. Can’t kill this one yourself.

Lost the page in the manual to set the fobs to the memory seat settings. Saw it, thought I should go do it, and didn’t. Now lost in there somewhere and NOT in the TOC since it’s an option. Ugh.

The truth table for locking and unlocking and alarm settings is larger than most software specs I read for a living. Nobody’s going to memorize that. Unlock and lock and if it doesn’t beep a million times, it all worked. Ha.

Anyway. Fun stuff. Definitely have to turn off or down a crap load of non-driving non-safety distractions though.

 

[Everskyward]

Dealership screwed up a second time and no state registration for the glove box was found, just the plate. I called and they printed another one and I stopped and got it today. Talking to the aviation student sales guy is fun but on day two of mass steroids I really don’t need this ****.

The dealership model is just a disaster unless executed right. And it’s designed not to be executed right. LOL.

Curious if you went to the dealership near the airport. I bought the Forester there, and they did the paperwork for the wrong car. About 3 weeks later I got a phone call from the salesperson asking me if I would go out and check the VIN number on the car itself. Ooops. I should have thought to check before I drove it away, but it never occurred to me, or to them either. Got a free tank of gas and 3 more weeks on temporary plates out of it. Good thing I didn't have an accident in those three weeks, because my insurance had the wrong VIN number too...

I generally liked the people at that dealership, but their paperwork QC could have used some work.

 

[denverpilot]

Curious if you went to the dealership near the airport.

Which airport?

Mentioned above when you asked where before, I believe.

AutoNation Subaru on Arapahoe.

Or maybe you asked in PM and answered there.

All they would need to do is buy some cheap folders and label them, or just write up a checklist.

But it’s one of the reasons we didn’t drive down to Heuberger in the Springs. We bought a different vehicle there before they switched to Subaru and they had their crap together and are a much larger dealer, but one screw up and it’s 150 miles.

Irony: Drove that much fixing AutoNation mistakes so kinda didn’t matter after all, did it! LOL.

These guys aren’t the worst I’ve ever dealt with but there’s certainly no “wow” factor. I suppose if you want that you buy a $100,000 Mercedes and they rub your feet while you sign paperwork. Haha.

 

[denverpilot]

Curious if you went to the dealership near the airport. I bought the Forester there, and they did the paperwork for the wrong car. About 3 weeks later I got a phone call from the salesperson asking me if I would go out and check the VIN number on the car itself. Ooops. I should have thought to check before I drove it away, but it never occurred to me, or to them either. Got a free tank of gas and 3 more weeks on temporary plates out of it. Good thing I didn't have an accident in those three weeks, because my insurance had the wrong VIN number too...

I generally liked the people at that dealership, but their paperwork QC could have used some work.

Oh. lol. It was @murphey who asked. Sorry.

Yeah...

Sleep is impossible on steroids for me. Sucks. Brain fog.

 

[Everskyward]

Oh. lol. It was @murphey who asked. Sorry.

We're both short, with short, dark hair.

Sleep is impossible on steroids for me. Sucks. Brain fog.

I had to take steroids for a while. I never thought that I could feel tired and restless at the same time. These were just pills, though, not an infusion. I was glad when I was able to be weaned off after a few months.

Yes, it was Auto Nation on Arapahoe. I bought both my Subarus there; the first one when they were called John Elway Subaru.

 

[GeorgeC]

reverse camera... locks out the steering wheel mute...

Ha! I thought of this thread when I went to drive our Forester this morning and tried that. Drives me nuts. Don't know if yours is like this, but the throttle curve on ours is more like a step function.

 

[denverpilot]

Ha! I thought of this thread when I went to drive our Forester this morning and tried that. Drives me nuts. Don't know if yours is like this, but the throttle curve on ours is more like a step function.

Hmm. Nah it’s actually pretty smooth on the small engine. Friend complains eyesight isn’t tuned as well for the 3.6 but you don’t have that on Forester, right? Do you have the older one with turbo?

 

[GeorgeC]

Nope, 2.5 NA. It needs a feather touch on the gas, otherwise it lurches while it ramps up to about 3000 rpm and then holds there while the cvt does its thing. I dislike my parents' Rogue for other reasons, but as another 2.5/awd/cvt vehicle, it had a more linear throttle response.

 

[denverpilot]

Nope, 2.5 NA. It needs a feather touch on the gas, otherwise it lurches while it ramps up to about 3000 rpm and then holds there while the cvt does its thing. I dislike my parents' Rogue for other reasons, but as another 2.5/awd/cvt vehicle, it had a more linear throttle response.

Okay yeah I learned there’s no point in romping on mine. It’s way less touchy than the Lincoln though.

Was also reading in the big manual last night (finally finished it) that it does power management with the fly by wire pedal via accelerometers so it’s really designed not to drive it like a normal throttle.

Judging by the way it acts it’s more like a speed request pedal than an accelerator pedal attached to the engine. If I don’t want to end up above 50 MPH it never needs to go past halfway and more like 30%. It’ll just keep accelerating to a speed.

Probably partly designed that way for his Eyesight seems to work.

If you have the slightly larger infotainment system there’s a throttle indicator meter buried way down in the vehicle info. I turned that screen on for a day a watched how it behaved and that was enough bio feedback to fix what my foot was doing. I can find it in mine if you haven’t seen it.

Same page as oil temp and something else useless. Oil temp sits at 201 and never moves once it’s warmed up I noticed.

 

[denverpilot]

Their first ride. Clearly they want me to get a blanket for the seat backs. They don’t want to be on the plastic. LOL.

Dog fur forever now. Haha.

 

[denverpilot]

SavageGeese released his review of the 2020 Outback and nailed all the reasons we bought a three year old one instead.

Subaru headed down the giant screen path without a solid software partner or in house software WAY better than they currently have, is just going to make owners mad at the car.

As far as I can tell they’re pushing software that last had a serious rewrite in 2015 other than adding Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, most say poorly.

Quite glad we saved the $10K over the new one. Subaru lost a new sale with that retarded screen and poor controls buried in it.

They haven’t put that stupidity in the Forester yet. They shouldn’t.

Sounds like they squished up the suspension a bit. That’s fine. It’s not harsh in any way in the ‘17.

The CVT is what it is. I can get it to do dumb things. Karen never has or will. It’s tuned to her style of boring driving, which is completely expected in the Outback. It still responds with enough power that you can toss it through a corner, but it’ll do weird things while doing so.

Just plug your ears and ignore the revs if you’re used to shifting yourself or traditional slush boxes. I see why SG doesn’t like it. Most folk won’t care.

 

[denverpilot]

Reviving just for fun and follow up.

2500 miles on the clock later, we love the thing. Karen wants one.

Today I knew we had two days left to put plates on it and I hadn’t received the postcard saying the paperwork was done at the county DMV office.

Called them and was surprised they answered. They used to have a message that due to staffing levels they weren’t answering phone calls at all anymore.

I’m guessing ... that backfired badly. That or it’s an ejection year, so ... you be the judge. Ha.

Anyway. They confirmed that the dealership had sent all the paperwork to the neighboring county. Then that county forwarded it all to ours.

Which broke the whole State database thingy that sends the postcards and such. Of course.

Because software is always stupid. LOL.

Also confirmed I could get plates ... so off I went.

Paid up on the taxes (man those were cheep compared to a new vehicle!) and plates in hand, I looked to see if I could just put them on.

No mounting holes or bracket in front. That’s weird.

Then with the help of a friend I remembered that the car is from Pennsylvania. Ahh crap. No front plates.

The dealership — who can’t get paperwork right but DOES have a heavy customer service culture — AND because it’s Colorado law they have to do it — but the law doesn’t stipulate HOW...

... said to bring it over without needing an appointment and they’d drill the holes in the bumper and provide a frame or whatever aaa right for the model and year.

They were nice enough to just mount the plates, too.

4 hours of driving around for plates, but I’m not confident in my bumper drilling skill with my left hand, that’s for sure.

Front plates are stupid. But anyway. It’s done.

As far as the car goes, solid 26 MPG and it bumps up to 28 if we do all highway. Runs great, one rattle in the back I need to find because dirt roads make it obnoxious, EyeSight is a totally awesome piece of tech, and no complaints at all.

They had another white one on the lot... lease return like mine... but black interior. Bzzzzt. Nope.

Way in the back they also had an absolute top trim white one with the top-trim-only dark brown leather.

Karen wants the light tan like mine. Whew. Hahaha.

Our sales guy has moved to service dept to have better schedule for aviation school at both college and the airport. He was supposed to fly this morning but got WX cancelled. Nice to see him. He wasn’t who took care of me in the rotation but I saw him come outside and said hi.

Found a funny bug in the nav system today. Parker Road through the town of Parker is also Colorado State Highway 86.

Pretty common for Nav systems to announce things as numbers vs road names. So I wasn’t surprised it did that until I listened closer.

It’s pronouncing “CO” (for Colorado as in “Colorado 86” as “COUNTY”.

I bet it does that for all Colorado State highways. LOL.

Some code monkey forgot there would be a State abbreviated “CO” and made an ASSumption about his input data to the text to speech engine. Oopses.

 

[flhrci]

Me thinks your wife will get hers some day.

 

[denverpilot]

Me thinks your wife will get hers some day.

Pretty sure, yup. I think right now she’s just waiting to see if I’m even driving by this time next year. Sigh.

If not she can steal mine I guess.

 

[FORANE]

Hard to beat those OBs I do like Eyesight, but the people in my family who have it never use it and are afraid of it, even at the Granny spacing.

Anyone know anything about the 3.6 Tribecas? Have been considering "something different", and those seem to be rare as hell, unknown, and mostly hated at. We could use the third row "occasionally" so there's some appeal there, and the bonus of the "known good" 3.6+5EAT drivetrain confers benefits. Also the Tribecas seem to have skipped all of the gadgetry stuff, and supposedly they have a better front row, sit higher, and have slightly more room inside (like 3 more CF than the outback, which wouldn't even get noticed)

We have a 01 bean outback, 2 2011 3.6r outbacks and a 2011 Tribeca. All the Tribecas come with the 3.6 motor which is a great motor. The fuel tank is smallish on the Tribecas so range is less than I would prefer. The wheels are larger - 18 inch. It feels / rides more like a truck. The interior is more spartan than our outbacks. The seats have less controls and are not as comfortable. The 3rd row seats don't have enough leg room to use for even children. The side mirrors are larger and easier to use. Our Tribeca lacks a backup camera.

 

[sourdough44]

I’m coming up on some vehicle buys, two, maybe a partial 3rd. Two are for kids, trucks, post college possibly new, a 16 y/o used truck.

The best deals seem to be bland cars with 50-75k miles, Corolla, Camry etc.. with trucks a 2wd is cheaper with less maintenance, but most want 4wd.

I had an older car with a ‘salvage title’ I gave to a sister, 2.4 ltr Vibe that ran excellent. The other day in MI a guy ran a red light and totaled it, she is O.K. physically. She will only get $1k from the other guy, no ‘collision’ cuz of the title.

Anyway, just looking some, no buying yet.

 

[GeorgeC]

It’s pronouncing “CO” (for Colorado as in “Colorado 86” as “COUNTY”.

Does it at least say "Cambridge, MAH" like Car Talk?

 

[Grum.Man]

congrats on the new car. Subaru's have come a long way! Not my cup of tea but I get the appeal. I will say the best inventions of the automotive world are the keyless entry, and push button smart. Adaptive cruise and all the other nannies annoy me more than help so I always leave them turned off. I agree auto highbeam is great on back roads, total annoyance on a highway.

 

[LoLPilot]

Congrats @denverpilot! I’m on my third Subie - one Impreza and two WRX’s and I’ve loved them all. My current one is actually an ‘02. I used to have a 2017 WRX but got fed up with some of the tech issues you describe and some recurring issues with it (plus dealership troubles). Now I have a Bugeye and an independent shop that specializes in Subarus! You’ll come to love the car, especially when you get hit by an unexpected snow. I used to have a 4x4 when I was in high school and I rate my subarus just as high as my truck in snow and gravel.

 

[GeorgeC]

Judging by the way it acts it’s more like a speed request pedal than an accelerator pedal attached to the engine. If I don’t want to end up above 50 MPH it never needs to go past halfway and more like 30%. It’ll just keep accelerating to a speed.

AC flaked out on the Forester, so guess which car I get to drive?

Was thinking about this today... it drives pretty nicely as long as you put it on autopilot immediately after takeoff...

 

[denverpilot]

AC flaked out on the Forester, so guess which car I get to drive?

Was thinking about this today... it drives pretty nicely as long as you put it on autopilot immediately after takeoff...

Interesting. Reviving the thread a bit...

Mine went to the shop because all of the safety systems started disengaging and showing hardware failed (Orange Eyesight error vs white) at idle.

Dealership found the ECM was recording a misfire/knock sensor activation very sporadically at idle only, and found an ECM flash/tune specifically for that problem, especially at altitude. Since the car came from PA it never had it.

Apparently the ECM just screams on the bus to shut everything off to make sure the cruise control is dead on any misfire. However it does NOT always illuminate the CEL unless there’s enough misfiring to do so.

Bad user design. You end up with all the Eyesight and safety systems (RAB, collision detection front and rear, etc.) just going offline with no indication that it’s and ENGINE problem.

Anyway. Flashed and it’s been happy for over 100 miles and lots of idling now. Was just barely under the 35,000 limit on manufacturer warranty but I made sure to take a photo when it started and also because of all the electronics this is the second vehicle I’ve ever paid for the extended warranty on. I don’t trust this crap.

Nor do I trust the CVT but Subaru already extended those out to 100K for nearly every recent model year going way back.

A dumb easy to keep happy Vortec 5.3L with virtually no electronic brainpower... it definitely isn’t.

Interesting failure mode. The ECM alternate fuel-air flash has been around since 2007, ten years before this one was built. Same engine.

It’s listed in the NHTSA database as a “hard start” fix at altitude. Which it also seems to have helped with. I had a couple really hard starts in colder weather with a weak-ish battery from sitting.

Service guy said they do a lot of them here in Denver. Subaru trying to be way too aggressive on fuel Econ. Was getting 25.5 so will see if it drops a bit for reliability and being nicer to the engine.

Also they do more of them on the newer ones that have that stupid start-stop tech at stop lights. It’s a common complaint in reviews that the boxer engine shakes so bad during the restart that anything on the dash will fall off at the third or fourth stop light/sign. I don’t have that in the ‘17, nor the enormous touch screen that controls everything and is doomed to fail expensively later down the road. In fact, I wouldn’t buy a 2020.

Subaru is behind on that, other makers are reverting to real controls for HVAC again and away from the wall of touch screen.

And with as totally “meh” as their contracted out infotainment software is anyway, they might as well dump the man-cave sized TV between the seats.

Dealership still has even more lease returns. Piles of sedans if someone needed a decent car and didn’t need the wagon and could live with a trunk. Making huge deals on the lease return sedans now.

 

[denverpilot]

Final note: A great friend from all the way back to high school days says I’m a cheap son of a ***** and just go buy two new cars and stop screwing with it. LOL.

I saw you click like on this from Dec @Ghery. LOL.

We haven’t bought number two yet but Karen said her truck is still plugging away at just under 200K.

If we do a car for her we have to keep her truck for towing. So then the 2000 Subaru goes. It’s the backup car right now.

Drove it the other day just to go around the “block” out here. Holy deal those brakes suck. LOL

 

[Ghery]

I was reading through this string and was about to comment when I saw the date of the post. Way too old to comment on.

That said, when you get to number 2, here's what is in our driveway now:

1999 Jeep Wrangler with over 191,000 miles on the clock. Not sure why I keep it, but 7 years ago a dealer offered me $800 in trade-in and I was insulted. So, it sits. A thousand miles a year would be a tremendous overstatement. Needs to go in and have electrical work as some of the circuits off the fuse block inside go out now and then. Plus, the check engine light has now decided to illuminate, and my code reader doesn't see anything. I've kept it for a granddaughter to learn on, but our son insisted on getting her something new with all the safety equipment. Safety equipment? In a Jeep Wrangler? Give me a break, if it hits something it wins. Has twice already. Fasten your seatbelt and drive!

2006 Jeep Commander with over 130,000 miles on the clock. My wife's vehicle (most of the time). It's showing its age, but it runs.

2013 Ford Escape with over 115,000 miles on it. That's the vehicle that replaced the Wrangler as my daily driver when I was still working. I've been retired for 5 years, so it doesn't get the use that it did before, but it is still our #1 vehicle. The last long trip was the end of February / beginning of March, just before the COVID-19 stuff blew up. So close that Disneyland closed about 3 or 4 days after we left and drove back up to western Washington. It has been quite reliable in the 7 years we've had it. However, Ford pulled a stunt that will make me leery about buying another. It had a feature where you could push a button and get a complete engine diagnosis through your phone, to be read on their website. A couple years ago the ended that, saying that their technology wouldn't support it anymore. I liked that feature as it would tell me when the oil was coming up on needing a change. Now I have to wait, blindly, for the idiot light to come on.

We had a Subaru once. A 1974 2 door that we bought new while in college. Fuji Heavy Industries had a reliability engineer who knew his job. The car came with a 12 month, 12,000 mile warranty. At about 12,345 miles the rectifier in the alternator had a diode short out and I got to pay for a whole new rectifier. Out of warranty. When that one failed after we had moved to Colorado I replaced it myself (hey, a BSEE has to be good for something). We looked at a Subaru again when we bought the Escape, but the passenger side head rest wouldn't go back far enough to be comfortable for my wife, so that nixed the car.

I've had a lot more cars purchased new than used. My first was a 1954 Buick Special. Obviously, I didn't buy that new, but it was my Great Grandfather's last car. I got it in 1972 with 34,340 miles on the clock. It was a tank. We had a 1966 Chevy pickup truck that we bought used. Same for a 1976 MG Midget (everything bad you've ever heard about British cars is TRUE!) and a 1978 (I think) Datsun (yes, Datsun, made before the name change) pickup truck. New included the cars above, a 1981 Buick Skylark (GM X body), 1986 Dodge 3/4 ton van (how anyone could be a Scout leader without a van is beyond me), 1988 1/2 Ford Escort (only mistake I made on that car was buying the extended warranty, never used it) and a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Oh, and there were a couple of motorcycles bought used in the early 1970s, as well. So, my vehicle ownership covers about 48 years. I'm not going to tell you what to get for your next vehicle, that's up to you, but I hope Subaru has finally learned how to build a Boxer engine that doesn't blow the head gaskets out every 50,000 miles.

 

[denverpilot]

I hope Subaru has finally learned how to build a Boxer engine that doesn't blow the head gaskets out every 50,000 miles.

Oh yeah. They make it 100K now! LOL

I kid. A little. Some people still have trouble. Yay boxer engines. Many make it way beyond that too now. Crap shoot.