Used 2022 Subaru Outback Touring XT 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT) Consumer Reviews
Used Outback for sale
Subaru electronics wrecked a great car
socalh2oskier, Sun City West, AZ, 10/28/2021
updated 11/22/2023
Subaru Outback Touring XT 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
170 of 188 people found this review helpful
This car drives great. It is comfortable. It is quiet. It is roomy. It has great cargo capacity. The interior is upscale. Why, then, such a low rating? One word: electronics. Subaru has wrecked an otherwise great car with its stupid touch screen panel that controls damn near everything. Besides being slow and not intuitive, the screen icons need to be pressed exactly right or they don't work. Thus, you need to really take your eyes off the road to use the damn thing, which makes it downright dangerous, in addition to being a huge annoyance. Most troublesome is the fan speed icons. They should have made the touch screen area bigger for those. I use them all of the time and invariably I miss. A simple toggle switch would be so much better. I traded a 2019 Outback 3.6R for this XT. I loved the way the 3.6R drove and the way the controls were set up. I should have kept that car--it is far superior in ease of use. Oh, one more thing--the NAV system in Subaru is horrible. Don't rely on it for anything. It didn't work well in my 2019 and it doesn't work well in the new one either. About 30 percent of the time it takes you nowhere close to your destination. I use my phone instead. So, in summary, I love the way the new car drives. But I HATE this moronic touch-screen control system. Who is the idiot at Subaru who thought this would be a good thing? Even worse, Subaru took away a lot of great storage space to make space for the giant, annoying, ugly touch screen. Update: So, after driving several hundred miles, I like this car even less. The only thing good about this car is that it drives quiet and smooth. In almost every other way, this car is much worse than the 3.6R it replaced. Storage area in the front used to be great. Now, it is extremely limited--mostly because they took away storage in the console to make space for the annoying touch screen. And storage in the doors used to be useful, but now it is so narrow you will smash your fingers trying to get something in or out of there. And let's talk about gas mileage. Subaru claims 30 mpg highway. But I am averaging far less--only about 25-26 mpg on the highway. I averaged about 27-28 with the 3.6R. I like the firm seats in the 3.6R better. The seats in the 2022 are much softer. One good thing--my wife likes the softer seats in the new car better. And, one of my biggest gripes, and this would have been a deal killer had I known--the new electronics system won't recognize my ipod nano touch (7th generation) that contains over 2,000 songs that I can no longer access anywhere else. My 3.6R connected fine with the ipod nano. Apparently the new unit was purposefully designed to only connect with newer electronics. When my lease was up on the 3.6R, I was trying to decide whether I should buy the 3.6R, get a new Outback Touring XT, or try a Mazda CX-5 Signature. I regret my choice with the new Outback. And this is from someone who has owned a long line of Subarus dating back to the early 90s. Bottom line, Subaru with this generation is getting far away from the simple and reliable cars that developed a cult following. Instead, Subaru appears to be all in for stupid, complicated electronics. Subaru, are you listening? The complicated electronics take away from the car's character and make it less pleasant to drive. Please, please, please dump the annoying and dangerous touch screen and bring back the simplicity of the previous generations, like the old 2.5XT, or the more recent 3.6R. This new car will likely be okay for someone has never owned a previous generation Outback. But for those who, like me, are coming out of the previous generation, this car is a HUGE step down--a GIGANTIC mistake by Subaru. I will be looking to trade this heap at the first reasonable opportunity, probably for a Mazda CX-5 Signature. At least the Mazda doesn't have a touch screen.
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Overall great SUV / Wagon
JbDelmar, Glenmont, NY, 11/08/2021
Subaru Outback Touring XT 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
20 of 21 people found this review helpful
Comfortable, well made, quiet, durable, versatile, good looking, handles well, retains its value, affordable, relatively efficient, quick, safe, spacious, reasonable towing. Overall this car is a net positive, significantly, but the rest of my comments are focused on what should be improved. Again, comparatively, this car is an outstanding value. I compared to the little SUVs like CRV, RAV4, Forester, etc. - it's way above these. I also compared to Honda Passport, the Highlander, and Mazda CX9, Volvo wagons and small/mid SUVs. It's a better balance in size, capability, value retention, cost, gas mileage and power than those - in my opinion. Of course, it's a matter of preference. Had the Passport but Elite been $10k less, and had better reviews in Consumer Reports, I may have gone with that - but $10k! The front and back cameras are inexcusably bad (the Forester and Ascent are worlds better. How does this happen within the same car maker?). But, they basically do what they need to do... I don't get the intensity of the complaints about the tech. Ok, the screen can be a bit laggy at times, but it is functional and works. Buttons would be fine, but this is fine, too. I also don't get the intense frustration over the cvt. Generally, it is smooth. Yes, I acknowledge the turbo and the fake gears don't match all that well. There are odd times that the power doesn't seem consistently available, but overall it is a smooth and punchy powertrain. It seems a software update could fix this easily - this is not a hardware issue. It is improving with time; after 500 miles it already feels smoother and the gas mileage is slightly picking up. The gas mileage on the turbo is not what the EPA suggests, particularly locally. But, I traded in a 2020 Forester (which was also very very good) and while its gas mileage was a bit better than the Outback XT, the Forester didn't match the EPA either, especially around town. This is a nice motor though. Quiet, quick and pretty smooth. The seats are really comfortable. I love all the space in the back. The face recognition is more reliable than it was in the Forester. Probably works 80+% of the time. Headlights are bright and effective and the headlight steering seems beneficial. The armrest is much better than the Forester's (Forester's was too far back and too low to even be useful). I don't understand why the Outback gets a regular little sunroof but the Forester had a nice big sunroof. But the little sunroof looks and works fine. The handsfree hatch opener works once you get the hang of it - nice feature. I got the Subaru hitch and wiring; they look clean and it's great having 2" hitch. Oh, and the Harmon Kardon sounds great.
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Electronics ruin the car
JC, 12/20/2021
Subaru Outback Touring XT 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
72 of 80 people found this review helpful
Constant issues with the electronics on this car, facial recognition system that sets the seat and mirror position fails multiple times per day and moves the seat and mirror to a default position that you cannot adjust. Safety features regularity produce false alerts and fails entirely at least once a week. Main touch screen fails weekly at a minimum while driving. Dealership service department described these problems to me as known behaviour.
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Third One Worst One
David P, Biloxi, MS, 06/18/2023
Subaru Outback Touring XT 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
16 of 17 people found this review helpful
Our first two Subarus were perfectly fine. The only issues were normal wear and wear parts that needed to be replaced Our third Subaru has got to be a lemon. We bought an XT Touring mode loaded out with options. We loved the car because it had many luxury features and we didn’t have to spend an extra 10k for a Lexus to get the same stuff. So far, we owned the car a year and put 20k miles on it with a host of problems. 1) the mysterious cracked windshield. 2) both fans in the ventilated seats make a vibrating/grinding noise, 3) the touch screen will go black from time to time 4) the lower exterior door trim came loose and is peeling off. 5) when driving we quite often get a message that says RAB and eyesight disabled. Like the electronics are going haywire driving navigational. 6) The CVT transmission is not smooth. We have to use 93 octane for the car to run smoother and for a small improvement in CVT performance. 7) the air conditioner has a mind of its own. It often keeps switching from max AC to auto air on its own. 8) the key fobs have raised buttons. When the fob is in my pocket I occasionally unlock or lock the doors. 9) the auto start is only available through an app which takes more time to start your vehicle. 10) we’ve had the doors stay locked on two occasions even after pressing the unlock button. We pressed the button, the vehicle lights went off but the doors remained locked. We had to get the other key fob to get the doors unlocked. 11) at times, the vehicle recognizes a different driver when the same driver has been operating the vehicle that day. 12) the leather on the passenger side seat has already started to tear at the threads 13) when the auto cruise control is engaged the car will pull into the right lane without warning 14) the auto start doesn’t work most of the time. When it does work, the car often starts right back up as soon as it’s shut off. Subarus have always been good to us and everyone else we know. But not this one. We’ve got a lemon.
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I'm done with Subaru after driving them for 20 yrs
DLBumper, Washington, DC, 04/29/2022
Subaru Outback Touring XT 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
26 of 29 people found this review helpful
Others have noted the electronics. I have to concur and add my warnings. I owned Forresters for over 20 years. My last was the XT Touring fully loaded. When Subaru stopped making the turbo, my only choice was an Outback if I wanted to stay with the brand. It was a VERY expensive mistake. I owned it for all of 8 months before selling it at a loss. I bought an Outback touring XT with just about every option. And I did take it on long test drives in August (that's important). First off, the auto on/off ignition is not only annoying, it's dangerous. On more than one occasion, I would slow to a stop at a yield in urban high speed situations only to have the ignition shut off and then take unnecessary time to turn on coupled with the turbo lag and I was almost hit on several occasions. In August when I test drove the car, the on/off never kicked in because I had the air conditioner on high. Now to the interface....I thought I could get used to it...no. It's just plain dangerous insofar as having to hit the buttons just right. And 3 touches on finiky buttons to turn off a seat warmer? No. At least the software update located the on/off ignition button on the first screen. But still. And I can verify what other reviewers have said about the driver recognition only being right 50% of the time. Finally and most dangerous: I got locked in the car. I was running errands and pulled into my final stop. I turned off the car and went to open the door and couldn't . The handle didn't work. I then tried the manual locks and the electric locks and the door didn't open. I tried turning on the car and opening the door (nope) and then shutting off the car and using handle (nope). I finally had to roll down the window and pull the exterior door handle to open the door. It happened again before I sold the car. I reported all these problems to the dealer and have them do a complete check up before I sold the car........and of course they couldn't replicate any of the issues. I even brought along a friend who had been in the car when the door issue happened and who also witnessed the driver recognition system issues. That was my last Subaru....period.
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