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Used 2005 Subaru Outback Consumer Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
279 reviews

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Pros
Cons
5 out of 5 stars

Reliable and affordable

Josiah, 06/13/2018
2005 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited AWD 4dr Wagon (2.5L 4cyl 5M)
3 of 4 people found this review helpful

This Subaru is an absolute blessing from Jesus Christ! It hasn’t broken down on me once, very enjoyable to drive, surprising storage capability, and is incredibly cheap to maintain. Highway driving I get 35 mpg and average 28 doing mixed city/highway. The only major downside to the car is the lack of “oomph” with acceleration. It does okay, but you really have to push it to pass someone on a two-lane road. Overall fantastic car!

Safety
5 out of 5 stars
Technology
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Interior
5 out of 5 stars
Comfort
4 out of 5 stars
Reliability
5 out of 5 stars
Value
5 out of 5 stars
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2.88 out of 5 stars

A Lemon of a Great Car

husker_soobie, 07/02/2011
2005 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited AWD 4dr Wagon (2.5L 4cyl 4A)
4 of 6 people found this review helpful

4th Soob. Bought it used at 2 yrs old with 40k miles Fast forward 4 yrs now at 100k. The last 2 yrs have been a nightmare. Brakes, headlight bulbs, CV's, spark plugs, axles, 2 Oxygen Sensors (in December '10, failed April '11 - part under warranty-not labor. The car was great to drive in inclement weather, & was a looker, it was a mess under the hood. We've spent $2200 in the last 7 months. Took it in for brakes AGAIN last week only to find out that we had a bad head gasket. We used 3.5 qts of oil in 2000 miles! Estimates $1700, plus impending timing belt, water pump & steering pump $1200 more. Just traded for a new Forester. Praying this one isn't possessed by demons!

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4.25 out of 5 stars

100,000 miles of service---*wheel bearings

eldee123, 01/27/2011
2005 Subaru Outback 2.5i AWD 4dr Wagon (2.5L 4cyl 4A)
4 of 6 people found this review helpful

I live in the mountains at Lake Tahoe. This car is more fun to drive up the mountain than my classic Corvette. The roof line is low enough to load my bikes on the roof rack. For some weird reason headlight bulbs don't last as long as you would expect. All owners need to know the warrantee on the wheel bearing problem is 100,000 miles. contact the Subaru mothership if a dealer won't fix it for free. I'm going for a 2011 now and that should last me the rest of my life :-}

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2 out of 5 stars

STAY AWAY

Stinley P, 12/28/2017
2005 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited AWD 4dr Wagon (2.5L 4cyl 4A)
5 of 8 people found this review helpful

I bought this car in August of 2016 after Three months check engine light turns on and off. Dealer could not figure out what it is but did not affect the way it was driving. Caused me to fail inspection. June of 2017 spent 500$ to repair both axles July of 2017 spent 300$ to replace brakes. November of 2017 spent 500$ to replace brakes again.Now December of 2017 Transmission blew. Mechanic says it needs a new transmission and new axles. DO NOT buy this car if you are not willing to put a lot of money into it. It is well in the snow and has nice speakers in the limited trim other than that the back seats are uncomfortable for one person let alone three. The front seats are alright. Has a lot of road noise when going over 40 mph had to play music loudly to not hear it. I would recommend you get a Camry with snow tires and call it a day.

Safety
3 out of 5 stars
Technology
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
2 out of 5 stars
Interior
4 out of 5 stars
Comfort
3 out of 5 stars
Reliability
1 out of 5 stars
Value
2 out of 5 stars
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2.5 out of 5 stars

Subaru Outback.

Trudie , 11/23/2010
2005 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited AWD 4dr Wagon (2.5L 4cyl 4A)
6 of 11 people found this review helpful

Okay, so we had moved up to the Big Bear mountains and we needed an AWD car. After reading reviews and considering several options we decided to go with a used Subaru Outback. We purchased the car in El Cajon which was 300 miles away because this car is difficult to find. We found the one we wanted, carfax checked out it was great we took it. We have now owned the car for 8 months and it has gone through 2 transmissions, torn two axle boots, and has overall been out of commission for months. I would not recommend this car to anyone. Especially now because the transmission in it now is having the SAME issues that the other 2 were having. This car has been unreliable from the start. Don't buy.

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