Used 2017 Subaru Outback Consumer Reviews

Subaru Rating

So far we are very happy with our new vehicle. We wish we just knew more about the electronics. At our age it's hard to learn to operate a lot of the doo-dads. After putting 9,000 miles on it the road noise is awful. Also engine noise is above what it could be.

Nice car, but electronics not up to speed

Navigation very average. Voice activation system is above average

Rust

2013 Outback and started to notice the rust several months ago. Sent an email through Subaru website and first respsonse was we don’t cover it even though it’s within the 5 year warranty period. For a vehicle company that prides itself on outdoor and severe weather durabilty and performance, it’s surprising to get a quick email like that from corporate. I am sure there will be a class action lawsuit based on Kobe Steel scandal with Japanese auto makers and will participate in that once it commences.

Just Don't See All The Love

Taking a weekend trip from Boston to Washington, DC. Decided to rent and save the miles on my 2016 Kia Sorento SXL. Went to Enterprise to rent an SUV for 4 adults and a lot of luggage. Enterprise Car Rentals lists the Hyundai Santa Fe or comparable vehicle. The 2017 Suburu Outback is a comparable vehicle, according to Enterprise passenger and luggage specs. Due to the highly favorable reviews the Outback was a crossover I considered when I was looking for a new SUV. In a word I don't understand all the love. Yes, the Outback is safe, handling is good, has a great reliability record, exterior styling well if you like a station wagon on steroids ok, the interior was a blant black. However from a ride comfort factor it is just poor. Spending 7-8 hours in the back seat of the a 2017 Suburu Outback is tortuous. The seat back is too erect, the back seat is too short and very firm generally one of the most uncomfortable car rides I can remember. Having rented a Suburu Outback I am delighted I selected the Kia Sorento.

Good off-road vehicle

Interested in Premium w.5i 4-cyl cloth seat covers. Would have liked the 18" wheel for off-road versus 17" and more power/ torque which comes in the higher trim with leather. For long road trips, the seats would be a bit confining and tight. I am a small frame but on long drives I like to have room to move around unhindered. The. Takes are squishy; takes several more seconds to stop. I like the second row seating and the size able cargo area. The car needs to fit your needs. Drove it twice. Did not purchase.

Love the assisted cruise control

Outbacks a winner again!

Drive one and see how really nice these cars are. Drive one in the snow and you be sold.

High Tech needs auto locks

The doors do not lock when put in drive, this must be done manual. With all the high tech in this vehicle this would be standard. Rest of vehicle works great.

Lots of extras

Combination of tech, audio, comfort and safety features makes this a great car for the price.

My first Subaru

I love my new Subaru!

Good decision

Logical, well designed and versatile

tdi trade in people, get one!

Mom's New Car

A tight car; rattle-free. Also tight for occupants. After 65K miles and 5 years, still very reliable and rattle free. Good for our teenage driver as well.

Happy Camper

This car really is everything they say it. We absolutely love it !

Cams Outback

Try all other SUV's . Once you drive the Outback , there is no reason to drive anything else.

2017 outback

An improvement over previous (2013) model. Better pick-up and rear seat room.

Great car, easy choice

Owned it for a month.

Owned it for a month. It's been great so far.

Not a good buy

If your used to nice cars this is a horrific buy. Because the quality is not good at all you can tell everything is really cheep.

Subaru Delivers

Everything written by others was true

Meets expectations and reputation.

Shop around to locate the best deal and services.

Gotta go Out Back

Not the fastest but holds the road like it is glued to it

A big step up

This is my third Outback after a 99 and 08. The 08 was a step back from the 99, but the 17 is a HUGE step forward from either. The automatic in my previous car sapped all performance, while the CVT is excellent. Sound system is a significant upgrade. Interior space is a significant upgrade, although that's mostly/entirely the room in the back seat. The room in the hatch is the same. The Eyesight took a couple of trips to set the way I want, but since then does just what I want it to -- beeps when something is in the way or when I drift out of my lane. The adaptive cruise control is a godsend when making the trip up the East Coast. My one real complaint is the mileage -- I'm averaging about 30 on long trips and 25 in mixed driving normally. I expected more like 33 and 28. This should improve with age, though. Quick update: Mileage has improved somewhat, as it does in Subies, but is still disappointing. I've been a little over 30 on the highway and maybe around 26-27 in mixed driving. Still love the car, though, after a year and 10k miles. It handles well but is very smooth, so smooth that there's no sense of speed on the highway. Update 2: On a recent 2000 mile road trip, I finally achieved the 33 mpg rating. Still loving the car overall.

Good Car

Good car that is nice to drive and is very reliable. Original battery died after only 18 months, same as the battery in my Forester. Otherwise, no problems at all.

Dead Batteries

This is a great car except the battery dies if not driven at least weekly. Dealer has seen it twice once to check and find car was ok, second time to replace battery and update programing to reduce the frequency of key off intermittent automatic battery draining events. The largest drain may be the activation of a vacuum/airpump which I guess periodically purges the carbon canister. When the battery dies the doors won't open if locked. Finally found the emergency hidden inside the key bob. My local battery supplier found the second battery was ok and installed a manually operated under the hood switch. This has worked for us if you use the emergency door key to get in. So I asked Subaru dealer who refered me to Subaru America to update my Touring Outback with an ignition switch activated car and put the door locks to bypass the switch so they are always active. Also Subaru said not to install a larger capacity battery because that could lead to long term electrical problems. This is my 4th Subaru and the first one with excessive key off battery drain. I hope Subaru customers and dealers solve the problem because it is the only problem. AWD MPG beats all competition by 5 to 10MPG.

Very nice for the money!

Great looking car! Super comfy inside. Drives nice. My only issue is that it doesn't have defrosters on the outside mirrors like my other car did (not Subaru). But, other than that it is awesome!

Great car with some minor flaws

I had a 10 year old BMW that was just getting costly to keep reliable. So I brought a 2017 Outback 2.5i. This isn't my first subaru, but it's my first NEW Subaru. It's a GREAT CAR as always! Very comfortable and very practical. I needed a car that was good to commute in while still being capable of hitting dirt trails on the weekend. This car delivers 100%. The design and idea of the car is great. The ONLY FLAW with outbacks(esp. the 4 cyl) is that its SLOW. It's gutless unless you floor it on the highway. Maybe it's because I came from a 300HP BMW but while it's got enough power to pass, you really need to wring out the throttle. The brakes are also funky, I've had 3 Subaru's prior to this(forester, wrx, and an outback). The brakes on this car seems to be really spongy for a new car that I got with 18 miles on the odometer. It works great cold but once it warms up i always find myself giving it a ton of brake pedal to stop. The CVT also likes to jerk/lug sometimes, but it's a new tranny so I'll put some more miles on it before I bring it in. Besides that it's really been a great car. 2017 brings standard alloys to the base model which is nice. If I could do it over again I'd get a different color. Lapis blue pearl looks amazing but it's hard to keep clean. Build quality could be better but no complaints.

love my subaru

Great car rode very nice. Always comfortable. good gas miles. no issues at all

I love my new outback

Love the outback. Hot car.

Best car ever

Well worth the money.

Best automobile ever owned

We’ve owned at least 10 different brands of vehicles, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Chevy, Ford, VW and others. When it comes to safety, reliability, longevity, and overall comfort Subaru beats all of them. Also, vehicle maintenance does not put a strain on your bank account.

Economical and worth the money

After my leased expired I were so pleased with the vehicle I decided to purchased the Subaru. I so so please that I don't think I buy another car anytime soon. It works extremely well no mechanical issues. Great gas mileage except for the seat covers, which supposed to be leather is ripped twice. Once changed by the dealer now I have the pleasure of changing it. Overall excellent brand of vehicle.

Great Dealership - always helpful

I love this car - have had it since brand new and it is comfortable, easy entry and access, all the same upgrades and more expensive luxury cars and I love it

Subaru Outback could use better navigation

The car is used most often by my wife. I am used to a six cylinder and the four cylinder Outback is a little underwhelming. I know its a sign of the times to get more fuel efficient an I can appreciate that. Overall I enjoy driving the car. It still has temporary plates on it (still brand new), and heard so many good things about it's performance in the snow. The one thing I do not like about it is the navigation system. It is a real pain. Even typing a destination onto the screen is an effort. We may go back to the dealership or I have to study the manual. But it is certainly not intuitive. I like the warning system for moving outside of the lane. Haven't tried the cruise control yet where the speed adjusts to the car in front. However I did try and love the high beam safety feature. I live in a more rural area. I left the high beam on the other night. As a car approached ahead, the beam automatically went to low beam and back up to high beam after the car passed. Terrific feature! The car has 30K miles and only replace oil. The navigation and entertainment system is my biggest complaint. I would rather have something like Apple Play I think. Also I think the car is a little too small.

Love My Subaru!

I've had Subarus off and on for 20 years or so, but I couldn't pass this one up! My Touring Edition in Lapis Blue with Java Brown leather interior is beautiful and has everything I want in a car!

Outback 2017

Upcoming on 5 years - no problems whatsoever. Very comfortable well equipped vehicle that meets my needs

Superb Gas Mileage (37mph Hwy!)

We decided to sell our fully loaded 2009 Lexus RX350 with 133,000 miles and get something that still retained AWD, but had better gas mileage. Unfortunately the 26mpg hwy we were achieving in our Lexus was sub-par for us, and the increasing miles meant maintenance and mechanical woes were a close reality. After searching numerous car manufacturers (Jeep, Dodge, Chevy, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan ect...) for a crossover size AWD vehicle, we were disappointed in prices and poor gas mileage. After test driving and looking over the stats, the Outback was a clear choice. We ended up with the base model Outback (2.5i) for $26,000 out the door including tax. $500 was added for the rear tonneau cover, rear bumper cover, and full set of all weather mats. Since purchasing the car, we have been pleasantly surprised by the 37mpg average we have achieved commuting to my wife's parent's house which is an all highway, roughly 2 hour round trip. The car is very quite inside thanks to the extra sound deadening added for the 2017 models. The automatic transmission feels slightly more composed and enjoyable to drive vs. the transmission in our 2016 Impreza which may be due to updated software tuning for 2017. Due to the long wheelbase, the Outback feels as smooth and composed as our previous Lexus, more so in the curves. Fit and finish feels top notch, and the instrument cluster is pleasant to look at and use. The stereo system sounds better than the system in our 2016 Impreza, and the manual rear hatch door pops up with such vigor, the automatic rear hatch door opener isn't missed by my wife or I. We were surprised to find the roof rack cross bars are actually tucked into and hidden in the supplied roof rack rails, and don't need to be purchased separately. A major decision in favor of the Outback vs. the Forester was the better safety ratings, especially with having kids. The ground clearance was quite stunning as we peered under the car. Not sure how Subaru managed that!

Love my car

Love the gas mileage. Love the comfort. Knees and back don't hurt when I drive or ride in the car.

Great SUV

The Outback is in very good condition. For a 4 cylinder it goes pretty fast.

Disappointed

We bought our 2017 Outback brand new and did all the routine maintenance with the dealership over the course of the last 7 years, and have driven it gently. Not only have we replaced the battery numerous times, and the brakes once, but the engine began leaking oil at 75,000 miles (the moment the power train warranty expired). The window motor is broken. The car is lurching. I bought a Subaru because I had heard they were dependable. That has not been my experience so far.

Great car

Has every gadget we wanted on it including navigation and heated seats.

Love the view

I like sitting high and the way the car handles. It's a joy to drive.

The Outback that could

Purchase my Outback when I lived in Alaska. It is perfect car for life in Alaskan cities. The high ground clearance and all-wheel drive served me and my family well. It averaged over 25 mpg. On the highway it would get up to 36 mpg. I kept for seven years, never had any issues. It was serviced as recommended. It was traded for a Chrysler minivan with gold-n-go seats. Additional room was needed for my granddaughters and all of their stuff. I miss the outback and confidence it gave me. It couldn’t match the seven passenger minivan’s spacious interior.

New to Subie

I have driven primarily Hondas & Toyota over the years, so far the Subaru has surpassed both. At this point in my life the Outback meets/exceeds my requirements. Comfort, reliabilty, utilitarian & economical

Subaru outback limited

The 4 cylinder engine is quite powerful and unless you're towing a lot I would not suggest the 6 cylinder option

Not quite a station wagon

I've had many station wagons, but the Outback is much more. Higher ground clearance and a bit more room. Handles like a wagon, but acts like an SUV. Very happy with my purchase.

super subaru

My new Subaru is even better than I thought it would be. It looks good and drives well. Even the dog likes it!

Comfort and fuel economy

I've put over 7k miles on my 2017 base model Outback and still love the car as much as day one. It takes about 2k miles for the computers to optimize fuel economy for your drivin style then you can easily hit up to 33 mpg on the Hwy, even with an 18 cf cargo box on the rack. In stop and go traffic expect as low as 22 mpg. The interior is spacious with a refined design and ample features even on the base model. The biggest con is the acceleration. As an automatic it is sluggish at best but accelerates well once the rpms ramp up. A manule transmission or sport mode would make this a 5 star vehicle. To improve acceleration I've started the car in manule mode to get a little more kick off the start when dealing with traffic. Off road capability on snow ,ice and rough roads is consistent with past Subaru models and the added ground clearance opens up more terrain opportunities. Overall an excellent car with a track record for great reliability.

Outback

Best car ever owned!

DFW WINNER NOW MIDWEST WINNER! OUTBACK

27 months of ownership and remain completely satisfied with my decision on the Outback. Excellent car. (Updated November 2019) Started ownership in Texas but now in Midwest where the weather brings cold and snow. The car has been excellent. The 4 cyl sounds a bit strained until warmed when the temps fall below 40, but otherwise power is good. Love the cargo room when you drop the rear seats. Easy load/unload. OEM tires still good as are brakes. Have made many long haul trips. Seat comfort and cabin noise make that stress-free.