Used 2018 Subaru Outback Consumer Reviews
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What took me so long?
Keith, 02/08/2018
2018 Subaru Outback 2.5i Touring 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
92 of 98 people found this review helpful
My purchase of a 2018 Subaru was a bit of a fluke. I was replacing a 2014 Honda CR-V, my second one in a row. Although the Honda is a great value and roomy for it's class, we were simply tired of all the road noise! The 2018 Honda was supposed to be quieter....I don't think so, and so the search began in earnest for a replacement. Bottom line we wanted something that had the gas mileage, Utility, and reliability of the CR-V, but needed to ride and be much more "travel" (quiet) friendly. After testing 8 vehicles; i.e.; Volvo XC60, Toyota Highlander, Kia Sorento, Honda CR-V, Honda Pilot, Acura RDX, Mazda CX9, & the Ford Edge, we still were not happy...Either they used premium fuel, had large noisy tires, too expensive or simply the same as everybody else; and then we finally drove the Subaru. We knew folks that owed them, and not one person who actually owned them said nothing but positive things about theirs. After our test drive, I finally "got it"...The new 2018 Outback Touring is simply excellent. We heard the reviews about the 2.5i 4 cycl. being under powered....I have owned over 23 automobiles. Under powered is relative, and in the real world, this vehicle will do what it needs to do and economically as well. Our first trip from Tennessee to Ohio was 32mpg and that's AWD. Our CR-V which was 2-wheel drive did not do much better. It is much quieter with the changes in acoustic front and side glass and design features to the front end. Inside we have received countless comments about how nice the interior looked. Yes, it is a bit simple...simple elegance beats out "flavor of the year" any day. Cargo capacity is on the larger side for it's category. Heated and reclining seats front and back makes trips very comfortable. My wife likes it, because she sits high in it like other CUVs. Electronics: From adaptive cruise, blu-tooth, to senors galore, it has everything you want except photon torpedoes. Our insurance went up only $30 dollars/yr going from a 5 year old Honda to our new Subaru due to all the safety features. The only negative we've seen thus far...the Harmon Kardon 14 speaker stereo...Honestly, my 18 year old Ford Sport Trac sounds better. We can't seem to find the "sweet spot" for this set-up yet. There have been some complaints by other reviewers about the navigation. We prefer Subaru's nav based on Tom-Tom, than other autos based on Garmin. Personal preference for everyone. More intuitive for us. I've also read other reviewers talk about the seats....We don't see the issue. In fact, we thought the seats were another positive point for the Outback especially given that our model has the seat memory. Last item: The attention to detail in both design and construction really sealed the deal. All-in-all, we wished we would have looked at Subaru a long time ago. If your tired of the same big box, noisy, hard to park vehicles out there, try Subaru....the "weird" alternative...Highly recommend.
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3rd Outback
CW, 11/05/2017
updated 11/15/2018
2018 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
51 of 54 people found this review helpful
This review is based relative to my experience with my 2 previous Outbacks both of which were also Premium models. The 2018 is an entirely different vehicle. Drivers seat is less slippery and feels ab it deeper, in my 2011 and 2015 I was always repositioning myself. The seat does sit a bit lower than I like. The new gearing/programing on the CVT was needed and my 2018 performs like a real car now rather than the past 2 tach screamers. The new media center is so much easier to use than the past one I just wanted to bet with a hammer sometimes. mileage is about the same and still great. Ride is a whole lot quieter and I'm still getting used to the eyesight feature but a nice option so far. Just before I traded in my 2015 I put new 60k Cooper tires on it and they were awesome, the stock tires on new Outbacks are short lived and somewhat noisy but that's about the only negative......so far
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2018 Subaru Outback for sale near you
3 of 76 listings
- 2.5i Premium 4dr SUVMSRP: $14,00017 mi away
- 2.5i Touring 4dr SUVMSRP: $18,9987 mi away
- 2.5i Premium 4dr SUVMSRP: $16,9987 mi away
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Good SUV alternative uncomfortable seats
slm66, 11/25/2017
updated 05/28/2019
2018 Subaru Outback 3.6R Touring 4dr SUV AWD (3.6L 6cyl CVT)
62 of 66 people found this review helpful
This is an update to earlier review. Now have owned car, radio head unit died and was replaced under warranty. Thus far new unit appears to be working although volume inconsistent. Sometimes after phone call radio volume comes back far louder than it was set. Road noise much more noticeable than in my former car especially noticeable to other people if using phone. I miss feature on old car that lowered fan speed on a/c during call and volume adjust for speed on radio. Any driver with back or neck issues should consider an extended test drive. I test drove the outback several times and even took it home for a weekend. I had some tightness in mid back but attributed that to some yard work I had been doing. A The seats are extremely firm and as others have mentioned the lumbar is aggressive and seems a little misplaced for me. I am 5'4". I believe the angle of the seat bottom (angled toward the back) is an issue. There is no way with the power adjustable seat to level out the seat cushion. It leaves your hips postioned at less than a 90 degree angle which is not comfortable for me. Each day I find my back pain increasing to the point that I may need to sell this car at a loss. After a four hour road trip (2 hours driving and 2 as passenger) I was uncomfortable. Positives of this car. It is great for difficult terrain. We climbed a dirt road hill with a significant incline using the xmode and it handled it with ease. Gas mileage is good for a 6 cylinder and size of car is great for around town. The touring edition has all the latest safety features. My windshield has cracked due to a rock. Windshields seems less strong than other cars. BE aware that the eyesight technology requires that any chip or crack in windshield be repaired with a Subaru windshield. Chips can not be filled or it interferes with the eyesight system per Subaru service dept. A windshield and recalibration of eyesight can run upwards of $1500. They do offer a windshield extended warranty type contract. Sales will likely not point this out during your test drive.
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What's with Subaru????
KR, 08/07/2018
2018 Subaru Outback 3.6R Limited 4dr SUV AWD (3.6L 6cyl CVT)
56 of 60 people found this review helpful
This is my first Subaru, a 2018 3.6R Limited Outback. It's now about 7 months after driving the new vehicle from the dealer and it has about 6400 miles on it. About two weeks after I had the car, the radio and screen froze, but ultimately fixed itself after either continued driving or with the vehicle being parked and shut off for a while, and subsequently restarted. Apparently the same problem has been happening to other owners. After a few more times with the same thing, I had the dealer install the latest firmware, but that didn't fix anything, as I had a few more freezes, with either the radio blasting, the screen going dark, or both. Sometime later, the driver's front window would no longer always close. Brought that to the dealer and it was fixed. Apparently some computer sensing glitch. Who knows? Sometime after my 6 month service the radio and main screen console finally died and went blank. No radio, no NAV, no control over settings, no rear back-up screen, nothing. I subsequently left the car with the dealer overnight so they could start working on it first thing in the morning. They had it all of the following day and some of the next. Besides analyzing the problem, I was advised that the technician had to fill out a 23 page report. The next morning I learned that a new part would not be ordered until someone remote at Subaru got to reviewing everything and approves a replacement. I went back to the dealer and picked up the car, which is now and has been in my possession for a few days. I also called Subaru customer service and they started a complaint ticket. But I'm still waiting to get the car fixed. I don't get it-as I reported and as confirmed by the dealer technician, the screen and radio are dead!!!
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Driver seat comfort issues
JC, 09/17/2017
2018 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
85 of 92 people found this review helpful
I have wanted to puchase a new Subaru for several months but the driver's seat comfort has always been an issue for me. I waited for the 2018 Outback to arrive but after a test drive there doesn't appear to be any improvement. The seat cushion is to still too short and firm without much memory foam. There are many other makes of cars with more comfortable seats. I like just about every thing else about the car. Subaru's have a great ride and handling. They are a great value that does about everything well but if the seats are not comfortable it will probably not work for me. I suppose if Subaru can still keep increasing sales volume they are not concerned about seat comfort. This would have been my 4th Subaru.
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Beware the Squirrely Screen!!
GFE, 08/13/2018
2018 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
25 of 26 people found this review helpful
Very, very happy with this purchase. Handles like a dream, gets a dependable 33 MPG on the highway, fantastic visibility and road feel. The ONE thing that disappoints me is the "screen" in the dashboard -- the nerve center of the vehicle. We had it less than a month when, one day, the screen went blank. No back-up camera, no "home" screen, no radio...nothing. Just. Went. Blank. It came back later in the day, but that was not much consolation...know that the screen could crap out at any moment. It has worked fine ever since. BUT...the Android Auto app is also a bit janky -- and doesn't work reliably. Disconnects from the USB-connected phone, or sometimes doesn't want to connect at all. When it works, it's great. But when it's being difficult, it's infuriating.
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Great SUV w/ a sedan ride but Noisy. engine Noise
Thang Nguyen, 01/31/2018
updated 02/09/2021
2018 Subaru Outback 2.5i Touring 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
15 of 15 people found this review helpful
Updates after 3 years: Battery is junk, started to lose sufficient amperage within 2.5 years, and had to replace coming up 3 years. Without proper voltage, the back trunk kept locking up and had to do the whole battery disconnect and reprogramming- pain in the rear... My Toyota factory battery lasted 5 years. Engine was noisy. seems like it is more noisy now. The engine started to idle rough, vibrating after 3 years. Not sure why, I'll try higher octane gas to see if it'll help. I still like the vehicle overall less the road noise. Great SUV without having to climb up to the vehicle. Lot's of leg and headroom and plenty of cargo space in the back. Great hight clearance as compared to other compact and midsized SUV. The ride is smooth but loud engine noise compared to my 2004 Toyota 4Runner. The acceleration kind of hesitate a bit because of the continuous transmission engine but once it kicks in it fly. Combined gas mileage is average for the type of car that it is. The touring trim has all the active safety features that I wanted. Love the steering sensitive headlights. . The Starlink system is terrible if it is important to you; it comes with the car but doesn't really offer much, save your money if you have to pay for it. Traction is good on snow and ice. visibility around the car is great. The heated steering wheel is great as an extra. The seat lumbar support is comfortable, the 10-way seat control is good but I do wish that the seat can be raised about another inch or two. It doesn't have a full-sized spare tire but I had never had to drive on my spare tire for long in the past 30 years so no big deal. Coming from Toyota (Toyota didn't have a comparable vehicle with features I wanted) so this is my first Subaru so I can't say much about reliability but my brother and his wife have had Subaru in the past 30 years and have had no problem. It's a shame that it doesn't have a panorama moonroof like it's little brother (Forester). There's plenty of USB ports but does not provide 2 amp charging. It is lacking the AC plug like my 2004 4runner so a little inconvenient to have to buy an inverter. The built-in navigation is pretty basic but you have a choice of using casting the google map from your phone onto the car's screen so not a big deal. Love the feature of providing low fuel warning on the screen and asking you if you want to search for a gas station. It does a good job of finding a gas station. Getting in and out of the vehicle is good, lots of legroom in the back seat and everyone loves the standard rear heated seats.
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Steering Problems
steve simmons, 04/22/2018
updated 05/26/2021
2018 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
33 of 35 people found this review helpful
For the most part, this is a nice car. I like the value and the Eyesight. The longer I have the Eyesight, the more I like it. There is however a major flaw in this vehicle which prevents me from recommending this car and that is the steering. There are some major flaws here. At higher Interstate speeds, the steering control will temporarily leave, it feels like you are hydroplaning in water, when the tires lose contact with the roadway and then when the tires settle back down to the roadway, your control resumes. In addition, if you are in a strong cross-wind and you need to adjust the angle of your steering to crab into the wind, the steering will attempt to steer on its own temporarily and you have to physically over power the surge that your steering wheel generates. This happens when the Lane Change mechanism is turned off. But it feels like it is turned on. This is the safety feature Subaru has on its Limited trim Outback. It's a quick and temporary surge but both of these conditions are very scary. Every try to pass a semi at 80+ mph and your steering temporarily leaves? I've done some internet research and I've seen several other complaints with the very same problem, so I am not an isolated incident. I have not yet called my Subaru dealer as this is a weekend review, but I have notified the NHTSB of my problem. Caveat Emptor!
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Extremely Disappointing
Diana Buckley, 11/09/2018
2018 Subaru Outback 3.6R Limited 4dr SUV AWD (3.6L 6cyl CVT)
32 of 34 people found this review helpful
The Head Unit which basically controls everything on the screen is completely broken which means there is no navigation system, no map, no radio, no cd player, and no Carplay. The screen is totally black. We understand that things like this can happen, but what is not okay is the response of the dealer - or Subaru itself. We were told that the new systems are on "back order" with absolutely no approximate time when it could be replaced. Literally, this could be months. The system is made by Harman Kardon and according to our dealer, there are no replacements available. We don't know what that really means but it seems ridiculous to have paid as much money as we did - we specifically waited for the 2018 model to get Carplay - and not have it functional or fixed. What is most frustrating is that we have been complaining to the dealer for months about problems with the system (shutting down without warning, but then coming back up, map cutting out suddenly, carplay not working, etc). Nothing was done to repair this - we even asked about getting a new system. It wasn't until the screen became completely black they are saying that it needs to be replaced. We will say that we like the car, the comfort, and how it drives. We did a lot of research before buying this (it is our first Subaru) but are incredibly disappointed at this point.
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Mostly great after 3 months and 2K miles, (UPDATE)
Pete R., 05/14/2018
updated 09/04/2019
2018 Subaru Outback 2.5i Touring 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
13 of 13 people found this review helpful
On the plus side, this Outback is very quiet and comfortable, which were among my primary requirements. It gives a nice smooth ride, much better than the X3 I considered buying. I'm getting 30MPG in mixed driving, higher than the combined 28 indicated by the EPA, which is outstanding for a vehicle this size. But, despite the great combined MPG, when primarily doing highway driving, I struggle to get close to the 32 highway EPA number. The adaptive headlights work great and provide outstanding visibility. I'm happy with my Outback but I wouldn't say that I'm loving it. Yesterday, I ran out of gas when the trip computer indicated I still had 30 miles remaining! That was an unpleasant surprise. I understand the computer provides only an estimate, but my Toyotas never let me run out of gas. A few other complaints: I can't see the clock when I have my hands on the steering wheel because my right arm blocks the view of the clock, which is low on the dash. My preference is to have the clock high on the dashboard, so it can be easily viewed by all passengers. The Harmon Kardon sound system is good, but not as rich as I would expect in a car with a $38K sticker. Even with the bass at full level, it just doesn't give that full, rich sound I expected. Also, the radio can't be turned off. The volume can be turned down to "0", but there's no power button, which seems like an odd design. Unlocking the power rear gate does not unlock all the doors, which seems odd as well. Sometimes, the rear gate release on the dashboard doesn't work, but I haven't figured out under what circumstances that happens. If a passenger unbuckles their seat belt before I stop and put the car in park, the seat belt warning will sound and it doesn't stop even after I put the car in park. Again, an odd design choice. Lastly, the EyeSight safety suite can be overly aggressive. I often veer left or right to avoid hitting a pothole, which sometimes causes the LKAS to move the wheel against my wishes because it detects me crossing either the left or right lane line. Not a big deal, but a little annoying. So, in conclusion, I'm happy with my Outback, but not in love with it. 9/3/19 UPDATE: Well, after a year and a half, and 12K miles with my Outback, I still didn't love it, so I traded it in for a 2016 Lincoln MKX, which I'm loving! I got a good trade-in amount for the Outback, because, if nothing else, Subarus are a great investment and hold their value. The Outback was very comfortable, and my gas mileage increased from the earlier review to 31 MPG in mixed driving, which is outstanding. But, there were little things that bothered me about the car, most of which are outlined above, and I decided I wanted something with more luxury features, specifically, a better sound system, air conditioned seats (which I understand are now available on the redesigned 2020 Outback) and ambient lighting. So, someone will be getting a very nice Outback with only 12K miles on it. I hope it goes to a good home. It just wasn't the right car for me at this time in my life.
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