Used 2003 Subaru Outback Wagon Consumer Reviews
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I love my H6 green bean
Amf97, 01/03/2020
2003 Subaru Outback L.L. Bean Edition AWD 4dr Wagon (3.0L 6cyl 4A)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
I have owned my 2003 H6 3.0 L.L Bean Edition for a year now and I’ve got to say that I’m in love with it. I purchased it with 198,000 miles and now I’m at 210,000...It’s a great car that has given me no problems (besides a few worn out pieces that needed replacing, as is expected from a 16 year old car...power steering O-ring, tie rods, axle boot). Every morning it starts, heats up quickly and gets me wherever I need to go every time. The AWD is fantastic, I’m never going back to FWD. I’ve been through last years and this years winter in Upstate NY and let me tell you it makes all the difference. It stay right where its supposed to be in the road, it plows right through everything thrown in it’s way. I feel so secure driving when the roads are bad where previously I was terrified every winter and my car would always slide and swerve. This is especially nice as I am working a very early morning job so I am driving at 3am and the roads are not always plowed. The sound system is great. It’s gets really loud without any distortion to the music and the sound is very clear and of a high quality. The dual moon roof is a great feature too, I’ve always got the shades pulled and when the weather is nice the roof is open too. It gets so bright in the car, the moon roof and all the large windows attribute to that. I feel that the ride is mostly comfortable. Of course the roads are very holey and bumpy where I live so maybe I’m not the best judge for a smooth ride. I don’t think anyone really gets a smooth ride around here...The amount of cargo space is great. I was able to bring home a 7 ft tall bookshelf in this vehicle...and I could close the hatch with it in there! You can fit a lot of stuff in this car, if that’s something you need/want then you’ve totally got it here. My short list of cons: Not very fuel efficient, but I expected that from an older AWD vehicle. I average around 20 mpg. Mostly backroads/city driving. Acceleration is a bit slow, if you are used to a smaller zippier car be careful. You are not going to be able to make those risky turns or zoom around someone super fast. You’ll need to be a more careful driver, you won’t be making those risky moves anymore. Maybe not a bad thing truly but it was jarring going from a light, tiny, FWD drive sedan to this and not having the same accel. There is wind noise, it was really bad when I first got it but I found a little hack off of Subaru Outback forums for that: cut a few pieces of door edge guard and stick them onto the black sheath the window slides up and down in (around the side mirrors) this closes the gaps and wind doesn’t come in through there anymore. It’s an almost perfect fix Beware of non-H6 outbacks, they are known for having head gasket issues so if you are considering one without this type of engine make sure the head gaskets have been serviced before you buy or haggle it down and take care of it soon yourself. Basically if you are looking for a really pleasant, secure driving experience this car is great. It has every feature I could want. It’s rugged, but also adorable looking with a very nice interior. Reliable with a a lot of great features! I would totally recommend this vehicle
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I may have been unlucky but this thing was hardly reliable
jamespeaut, 02/27/2013
2003 Subaru Outback Limited AWD 4dr Wagon (2.5L 4cyl 4A)
9 of 10 people found this review helpful
Bought car used at 140k (as such this could reflect the previous owner's handling of it.) Week 1: Head Gasket, Oxygen filter, timing belt, Radiator leak Week 4: New Tires, New brakes, CV Joints, Bent Axis joint, oil leak Current: Week 8: Headlight electrical system failure. Paid: 4,500 for car. Repair bill: 5000 I may have bought a bum car but I'm really not impressed with the outback--It's hardly been reliable or cost effective. Even as a temporary commuter car (I bicycle for most of my work) it's cost me a chunk of change. I really wish I had stuck with my old Honda CRV Cons: Gas mileage in cities loud noise from exterior Bumpy ride From what I've experienced, unreliable
2003 Subaru Outback for sale near you
Showing 2 of 2 listings
- Base WagonMSRP: $2,9001,149 mi away
- Base WagonMSRP: $3,4951,942 mi away
Head Gasket Leaking Problem
Scott R., 02/10/2010
2003 Subaru Outback AWD 4dr Wagon (2.5L 4cyl 4A)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
Bought the car for my wife. Was happy with the car until my dealer confirmed an external coolant leak from both heads at 53,000 miles. I knew of the problem in earlier years, but was told that the problem was fixed in the 2003 model year. I maintained the car over and above Subaru recommendations/requirement. I changed the anti-freeze and used their special conditioner at 25,000 and 50,000 miles. Subaru offered me a 50/50 split for replacing the gaskets. I was considering buying a new Outback next year, but when they have no confidence in their own vehicle (i.e. stand behind such a known design flaw), they don't deserve my loyalty. Recommend only for short term ownership.
Best car I ever owned in 50 years
panda, 04/01/2006
2003 Subaru Outback H6-3.0 AWD 4dr Wagon (3.0L 6cyl 4A)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
Solid road car. Great engine, quiet, very good handling, brakes and steering wheel response. Great road shock absorption. Transmission very smooth. The car is tight at the shoulders and could be a little wider. The steering wheel needs to be adjusted higher to clear my knees.
Loving Subaru! I do not want to drive anything els
Denise, 01/21/2016
updated 08/01/2017
2003 Subaru Outback L.L. Bean Edition AWD 4dr Wagon (3.0L 6cyl 4A)
13 of 17 people found this review helpful
We have enjoyed this car, bought in 2006 at 130000 miles. Now we have 284000 and it is still driving like new. I sold my sweet 2003 at 288.000 miles. Never had one problem. We bought a 2016 brand new! Although the car is new and the technology is great it does not compare with my 2003. The old car was an LLBean Legacy Outback with leather interior. CD player (5 CD changer) which really was wearing out. Separate Moon and Sun Roofs. No navigation system. I used a separate GPS System. The new 2016 is an Outback. The ride in the 2003 is way smoother and the engine is so much quieter. The navigation system really ... well ... sucks. Everything I said before still goes about my 2016 Subaru. I have to really say that the navigation system in the car is hard to use! What I do not like about the whole system in general is that it takes over and does not allow you to do anything while the car is in motion. Or even sitting with your break on in Drive. Even the passenger cannot make any changes to the route or look up anything. The mapping program is archaic to say the least. Why can't Subaru integrate a system that matches what you have on your cell phone. You are used to looking at that screen used to in putting the data or information. I use a couple of mapping programs. The only thing good about the mapping program in my car right now is the graphics are good. But it's so difficult to put an address in and the first time I tried it I kept putting the address that I wanted to go to as my home address because you can't tell what it wants and then you find out that you've put your home address as an address you're trying to navigate to. I really don't use it much it's a waste of time for me. I also do not like the sound Radio / whatever it's called. You can't take stations off that you don't want on there. I took Sirius radio off there because it's seriously not worth the money. But I can't get the Sirius channels off. I've tried going in and just putting another channel on top of that one that works but it's very time-consuming it needs to be more user-friendly because you have to sit out in your garage for hours the program it. Subaru please send us a fix... I need a computer upgrade this year one that is not 20 years behind the times. I have leather seats my car does not smell like leather my husband said well they're not really leather... I did not know that when I bought the car... Well I can live with it but it's just one of those frustrating things if you know what I'm saying. When I come up to my car and it's locked I have a car full of groceries and I have my key in my purse I can open the doors no problem but I cannot open the tailgate it will not open for me. I have to unlock my car and then open the tailgate. It won't even unlock with the remote. , so far this car drives like a dream... I have no complaints about the car just the computer system that runs the mapping program and the child guards apparently that I can't turn my radio off when I'm backing up since someone left it on parked it I turned on the car put it in reverse and then all the sudden the radio comes on and just blasting scared this scares the heck out of me and I have to stop backing up put my car into park to turn the radio off. Just those little aggravating things they super add up. And the little drop-down for the sunglasses that is in the ceiling of the car up close to the front windshield pops down put your sunglasses in... No sunglasses will fit in there it is so freaking small. Just saying
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value