Subaru Outback 2005Change

Bought this car used a few years ago. As long as you keep the rust at bay, Subarus last forever, so it's a good investment. Works well, drives well.

Let's just start with the obvious: this car ROCKS in the snow! I live in Ottawa and use my car for work. I have to park on the street which means during snowstorms I sometimes come out to the car buried under a foot of snow. I clear it off, get in, and drive away like it's nothing!

Performance is decent with the 2.5L 4-cylinder engine and 5-speed manual but let's just say you won't be beating many people off the line unless you really push it. Fuel economy is very disappointing. Averages 13.0L /100km around town which isn't great for a 4 cylinder but I suppose this is a midsize car so I can't complain much. Good mileage on the highway though: 8.5L /100km. I tow a 1,000 lb camping trailer with this car and you can barely tell the trailer is there. On big hills the engine definitely struggles though.

I'm the second owner of this car and it has low mileage on the odometer, 196,000k. I've had to replace a wheel bearing, the steering column and the transmission! NO ONE should have to replace the transmission on a 12 year old Japanese car. I must say I'm very disappointed with my purchase of this car. After driving two unreliable American brand cars I had much higher expectations for this car.

It just does - and the automatic transmission doesn't seem to be terribly efficient either.

I liked the wagon styling, it looks great inside and out. It looks more like a large semi-upscale sedan on the inside than a truck, and I quite like that.

However it drives and eats gas like a truck too. Mind you in the snow that is great, it was unstoppable here in our Ottawa winters.

I think bottom line is that if you like the styling and need AWD this car is a no-brainer, get it. But I only need AWD maybe 4 days a year, so I'm selling and moving on to something a little more nimble and fuel frugal.

This car goes through it all. The AWD makes it perfect for our winters and the turbo makes it fly when needed. The most comfortable heated seats make those long drives fun. Well worth the money.

Best car ever, especially inthe snow. When others get stuck in the snow I can just drive right through