Used 2015 Subaru Outback Consumer Reviews
Used Outback for sale
Serious Battery Problems
notooutback, 04/02/2015
updated 08/02/2016
2015 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium PZEV 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
24 of 29 people found this review helpful
Battery dies from any number of unknown causes. Battery dies if electronic key stored within 15' of car. Battery dies if you make an undefined number of short trips less than 12 miles each. Battery dies if car left unused in garage for a week or more. Rear lift gate is inoperable and needs resetting through a difficult procedure after battery dies. Jumping battery may disrupt electronics if car door is opened during charging. No battery charge indicator (like in a cell phone, for example) so you never know the state of the battery. We have 3 dead batteries in 3 months with a 3 month old new 2015 Outback. Dealer advise us to remove a fuse to prevent these problems.
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Battery issues cured me of Subarus!
Mark, 08/31/2017
2015 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
13 of 15 people found this review helpful
I got my first Subaru in the 1980s in Boulder, CO. I wish they still made that car. My issue with the 2015 Outback is simple, but it is a fatal flaw for a car which is not driven daily. Simply put, however this car is designed, the battery is dead if left undriven for 2 weeks. The dealer has checked the car and found nothing unexpected. I actually replaced the stock battery with the biggest battery which would fit in the battery area. It has not fixed this issue. I just completed a test where the car was my primary car for several days. I turned radio, a/c etc off when we left on vacation. 13 days later, the car would not start. This was a 2nd vehicle purchased for its safety rating for a new driver, eventually intended as a car to bring to college. This car will never work for the college kid who needs a car every few weeks. (BTW our Toyota Highlander and Acura MDX both started no problem after vacation-and they had not even been driven regularly prior to that. Selling the Subaru and done with the brand.
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Think twice before you buy a Subaru!
VF, 09/18/2016
2015 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited PZEV 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
24 of 30 people found this review helpful
https://youtu.be/9k3xDesFqWE Think twice before you buy a Subaru! I have continued to have ongoing issues with my 2015 Subaru Outback. Since day one the electronics system has not worked. The phone rings and my system seizes won’t answer the phone and won’t release the call back to the phone. Then I get 10 minutes of the phone “ringing” even though the call is long gone. My USB drives sometimes don’t show up, sometimes sound like a skipping CD, sometimes takes up to 30 minutes to load the list of songs. The navigation system is just about worthless, it is about five years behind Google maps, in fact one service member told me to “just use my phone.” The system spontaneously restarts all on its own rebooting to the Starlink screen and finally resetting after several minutes. I have brought my car in about six times between two different dealerships over the past two years. Every time they perform a firmware update that does nothing. In fact on two occasions I got the car back and my windows didn’t work or my center console menus didn’t work. The first time I took it to Napleton Subaru they kept the car for twice the quoted time only to tell me they don’t even have the cables to service the system. I contacted Subaru of America and things got worse. I was told to take it back to Napleton and they would keep my car for as long as it takes to diagnose the problem. They gave me the car back after six hours and when I asked what they found, I was told they only did a firmware update and didn’t run diagnostics. I checked the invoice and this is exactly what is on the invoice. I told them that Subaru of America said they would keep it for as long as it took, and they told me SOA instructed the to only perform the firmware update. I was also told the manager would be involved throughout the whole process, I never spoke with him once; only the same service member as before who was rude both times. Upon contacting SOA again I asked to speak to a manager and was contacted by Tony Huynh who has been rude, unprofessional, and condescending throughout the whole process. He explained to me that Napleton couldn’t find anything wrong. I explained that they told me they didn’t even look and the invoice reflected this. In fact, no one claimed to attempt to diagnose the issue until I complained. I provided Tony with videos and pictures of the problem and his response in email is exactly transcribed below. [If you are claiming all these things are happening frequently, but have yet to be able to duplicate the concern at the retailer then how are they to "fix" the issue?] I explained that these issues are clearly happening and that if they can’t fix the issue they should replace the unit since it is under warranty. Tony’s response: [There are no warranty repairs for something that cannot be duplicated] I asked to speak with his supervisor and his response: Tony: The bottom line is, we are all here to help you and if our factory trained technicians cannot duplicate your concern then there is nothing to fix... period. If you want me to continue to remain involved, let me know when the vehicle is going back in for further inspection. Me: Once again, please put me in contact with your supervisor. Tony: Your case has been reviewed for further assistance by our management team. I am part of that management team. Aside from these issues I have had three wheel bearings go bad almost all at the same time and all within the first year. I was told this was from “metal that gets in there at the factory.” I have also now received my SECOND RECALL IN TWO YEARS!!! In two years of owning this vehicle it has been nothing but trouble. Last week I was in the middle of nowhere Texas and the navigation system froze as you can see in the video below. I had to pull over and restart the car. This happened no less than six times. https://youtu.be/9k3xDesFqWE Tony Huynh has still not put me in contact with his supervisor claiming he is in charge and the buck stops with him; and here I thought Tomomi Nakamura and Tom Doll ran the company. This is especially troubling because I bought this car through USAA car buying in which the dealership reached out to me to make me an offer on the vehicle. It is troubling to think that Subaru is targeting veterans and then treating them this way, especially while ignoring a warranty. I will be contacting USAA and several veterans’ organizations and warning them to help keep Subaru from preying on veterans. So Mr. Nakamura, Mr. Doll, if this is not how you think your company should be run, please contact me my case number is SR #:1-16996822879. If anyone else out there working for Subaru knows Tony Huynh’s supervisor or someone else in management that respects their warranty and their business’ reputation, please contact me regarding case number SR #:1-16996822879. Please be sure to check my other videos on YouTube as well and please thi
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Subaru slipped up!
Lucy, 10/02/2018
2015 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited PZEV 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
I've been driving a 2015 Outback for 2+years. Love the gas mileage, roominess, handling and comfort. But i have 2 major complaints: speakers and heating/cooling systems. The speakers sound so bad... must be very low quailty plus the placement of them in the car is poor. They sound muffled and not clear. I have tried adjusting them but no improvement. If you are a music lover, you will be disappointed with this vehicle! SUBARU, what were you thinking!?! Second compliant is temp controls. When i turn the heat or air off, it never totally shuts off, so the vents continue to blow out a little hot or cold air. So annoying because then it gets too hot or cold. Sonetimes i would just like the option of maintaining the current interior temp, but it doesn't let me do that. And the a/c turns on every time i turn on the fan. I live in mn so it's not something i use on a frequent basis. I am constantly turning it off. A better option would have been to have me turn it on when i need it rather than to turn it off when i don't.
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one year in - impressions
Carl, 05/13/2016
updated 08/02/2016
2015 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium PZEV 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
Had the Outback for about a year now. First Subaru since I had one in high school, so I mostly purchased based off feedback from others and reputation as the go to vehicle in New England. I was Coming off a Nissan Murano that had its share of issues and was only getting more expensive to keep on the road so wanted reliable AWD with better gas mileage and winter driving ability. Very pleased overall with my purchase. Went with the premium trim level to keep costs down, but still got long standard list of features including heated seats/mirrors/windshield and back up cam. Pros: Interior layout and comfort - seats are great, most controls are well placed and where they should be Back up camera a big help Gas mileage (have averaged up to 33 mpg on some tanks, and usually over 30 mph with mixed situation driving) Cons: Acceleration is adequate at best, but with passengers/cargo it is outright sluggish - wish there was a turbo 4 or make the 6 cyl available on other models other than top of the line CVT is better than older generations thanks to mimicking shifts, but still would prefer regular automatic at a sacrifice of a few mpg's Stock tires are lousy and will get snow tires before next winter. Drove through relatively mild winter for Maine on stocks and was not happy if more than an inch of snow on roads. Snow gets packed in treads too easily and braking is not good in snow. Minor issue, but tend to kick door panel bottom when getting out of car, which leaves scuff marks all the time that you can't get out, poor design Electronic dimming rear view mirror should be standard on vehicle Overall opinion: Have not run into some of the problems others have had with windshield, battery or electronics - hopefully these are isolated issues that will not crop up everywhere. If driven fairly conservatively, you can see the advertised gas mileage, which is very good for an AWD wagon this size running on regular gas. Car is very comfortable on long trips and has plenty of cargo room and passenger room. Would recommend to others!
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1.5 years later
ken wald, 04/24/2016
updated 08/02/2016
2015 Subaru Outback 2.5i 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
First Subaru & Outback, have done multiple long trips and the car feels great. 2 car seats in the back and wife fits just fine in between. It has a car feeling, which makes driving pleasant. Been off road a few times and no problems there. I would say for the money this is the best family vehicle you can get! Now i hope it lasts a long time.
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Love it, but here are the nuisances I've noticed
Chuck10598, 12/26/2015
updated 07/13/2020
2015 Subaru Outback 2.5i PZEV 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
There are a lot of things I love about this car and overall I give this car a 4 out of 5 stars. I love the styling, the safety features, the feel of the road on both rough and smooth pavement, and that there is plenty of room in the rear seats. There are a lot of pros about this car that other reviewers have posted and I agree with, but there are some cons that I have noticed but have not read in other posts. Hopefully Subaru will eventually get the message. The first noticeable thing is that the accelerator seems a bit too touchy and starts off abruptly from a standing start. This is OK when you’re accelerating from zero and going in a straight line. But when you’re at a stop sign and proceed to make a left or right into traffic, a few passengers will usually say “whoa”. I wonder if this is something that some fine-tuning on the CV transmission can correct. It may very well be the physical differences between a front wheel drive and 4-wheel drive when accelerating through a turn. It may also be that the car has a little bit of a tendency to oversteer than I’m used to. Hopefully I can get better at it with some practice. I opted to get the sun roof and have enjoyed it quite a bit. But I’ve noticed a vibrating or rattling noise when I hit some bumps at moderate speed. To me it sounds like a tight cable vibrating against nearby metal. It’s probably OK but it makes you worry something was not assembled securely. The clock display is pretty small and kind of hiding behind my right forearm (when my hands are on the wheel) and among other temperature control information. I use this car mainly for commuting, and from a safety point of view, checking the time should only be a mere glance. I hope Subaru realizes this and changes its size and location this in a future model. Also, the climate controls take some getting used to. I’ve read somethings about the open tail gate continuing to draw power from the battery regardless of whether the light is off and then draining the battery dead. I haven’t experienced it myself but I worry about it every time the tailgate is up longer than a brief moment. UPDATE: The front windshield cracked near the wiper defrost wire. Fortunately it was covered under warranty. UPDATE2: The EyeSight system is excellent. On a few occasions I've had cars in front of me brake hard and suddenly, or switch lanes in front of me and need to hit the brakes. The EyeSight system applied the brakes very quickly and kept me from hitting the car in front of me. UPDATE 3: At about 80,000 miles, I needed to have 2 wheel bearings replaced. It felt like a hum-like vibration while driving on highways, especially along turns. Fortunately it was covered under my extended warranty. I've had a Toyota Camry for 250,000 miles and have a Toyota Sienna for 175,000 miles and have not had this kind of problem.
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Happy
Arthur Heydecker, 03/16/2015
2015 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
I have 7000 miles on the 2.5 good MPG and fun to drive the 2.5 moves the OB around very well. We went on a 1200 mile trip 31.2MPG
Great car..except for the loud exhaust noise
Mike Vogt, 11/09/2015
updated 08/02/2016
2015 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
8 months and 14,000 miles and I really like the car except I get a loud rattling noise coming from the exhaust at idle which lasts a few minutes then goes away. The dealer had it 8 days and couldn't find anything. It's back at the dealer again now and I'm driving a 2015 Legacy loaner. I will say even though the Outback and the Legacy are essentially the same vehicle except for the hatch vs trunk and higher ground clearance I find the Legacy has a better ride and is more comfortable. Don't regret the Outback purchase though, that is if they ever get the noise fixed. Knowing what I do now after putting miles on both I would choose the Legacy over the Outback purely for the better ride and handling.
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Subaru finally has technology
mflook17, 07/26/2014
2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R Limited 4dr SUV AWD (3.6L 6cyl CVT)
98 of 128 people found this review helpful
I live in Michigan and this is my third Outback. Last winter we got 190 inches of snow, we live in the middle of the forrest up a hill, on a dirt road, and we never ONCE got our driveway plowed and these Subarus are the only things that get up it. (No not even those over rated Jeep Grand Cherokees) This 2015 model is outstanding. I have the limited 6-cylinder model and it is very quick. It does 0-60 in just over 7 seconds and the engine noise has been COMPLETELY taken away (Once you get up around 70 mph the side-mirros create a little wind noise). The inside of the car has complete changed. The 7 inch touchscreen display is amazing and the voice control is even better. The whole car is 100%.