2025 Subaru Outback Consumer Reviews
Pricing
Base - $31,415 MSRP
Edmunds suggests you pay
$28,569Prices based on sales in VA thru 2/2/26
Final assembly in USA
Oil leak
Ron, 08/14/2024
2025 Subaru Outback Wilderness 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
47 of 50 people found this review helpful
Less than 4500 miles and an engine oil leak. 2 weeks before dealer can look at. I have to say quality isn’t an issue. They have had this issue for a while. Must be a design flaw. Engineering problem. After its fixed how long before it happens again.
Hardware yes, software NO!
Lakeside Gardener, 12/23/2024
2025 Subaru Outback Touring XT 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
85 of 92 people found this review helpful
I have had my 2025 Outback for a month now. In terms of handling, ride, acceleration (XT edition) it exceeds expectations. But be warned, you are also buying a mother-in-law. “Keep your eyes on the road!”, “stay in your lane”, “check the back seat before you get out”, etc., etc., etc., As a retired systems/software engineer, I deduce they have pushed out immature software that is officious and persistently annoying. You can turn off many of the half-baked features, but the scanner for your eyes is unstoppable. It flashes warnings and beeps to distract me and tell me to keep my eyes on the road, though I’ve been watching the whole time. Scratching my ear confuses the software and it blasts a distracting alarm. This feature is not mature enough for release, but here it is and there is no shutting it off. One fella keeps a hat on his dash to block the sensor. As much as I love the ride and performance of this car, if I had known how pesky this inept software would be, I would have kept shopping. It’s that bad.
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2025 Subaru Outback for sale near you
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- Premium 4dr SUVMSRP: $38,7076 mi away
- Limited 4dr SUVMSRP: $42,1286 mi away
- Limited 4dr SUVMSRP: $33,1604 mi away
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Outback on Steroids
Mike in Punta Gorda, FL, 01/18/2025
2025 Subaru Outback Limited 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
15 of 15 people found this review helpful
I've been driving a 2015 Outback for 7 years. Loved the car. But my wife said, "with the possibility of tariffs, maybe we should buy a new car now." There was no question that I wanted another Outback. We shopped, then leased a 2025 Limited. As I was inspecting the car, the salesman said, "it's got 2 inches more ground clearance than your old Outback." Well....that 2 inches expresses itself in a lot more ways than "ground clearance." This car feels much bigger. And driving it is different. The 2025 interacts with the driver. (Yes, most of that stuff can be turned off--but why would I do that?) The adaptive cruise control is GREAT. But you have to get used to the steering wheel giving you lots of input. After 600 miles, I think I've figured out how to go with the flow...but it requires some concentration. The 2025 gets upset if you just loosen your grip on the wheel for several seconds. It beeps at you, and writes you a firm note to "put your hands back on the wheel." Same thing if you glance to one side or the other foir more than a second or two. Yes, it feels as though Subaru included a nanny in the car to make sure you behave. After all, it's for your own safety. All that said, my wife and I really like the car. We got it in what they call Dark Mahogany Pearl, which makes the car look --- elegant. Sort of a merlot color. Have driven it on local roads, and the Interstate, and while the acceleration isn't terrific, it's good enough. (We have the standard engine.) The 11" touch screen is way more than good enough. It takes some getting used to, but I'm trying to regularly use the voice command (activtated with a button on the steering wheel) to make things easier. Navigation is terrific, using whatever Subaru built in, or WAZE, which it pulls up from my phone via Apple CarPlay. Sound quality is fine. One thing missing is a CD player--you can spend money to have one installed in the center console, but I've decided to put music on flash drives and just plug them in as desired. The power seats are quite comfortable, and the dealership had a "button guy" who talked me through the dashboard and set the memory for my drivers seat. Now, if my wife messes it up, the car looks at my face, says "Hi, Mike" on the screen, and puts everything back the way I like it (including outside mirrors). I'd like to make a comment about Subaru dealers. I heard from several after I filled out my car wants on Edmunds online. And they were not all alike in their approach to selling me a car. The dealer closest to my house gave me a ridiculous lowball offer for my 2015 Outback (2K lower than Carvana offered to pay for the car). The dealer I bought from was the farthest away--a 2 hour drive, but it was worth it. Their initial offer for my trade was $11,000, and their lease price was unbeatable. And the buying experience was award winning. The sales manager, the salesman, the "button guy," and the finance guy made the experience almost painless. (By the way, it's Subaru of Port Richey Florida.) Not sure if I'll drive up there for the free oil changes--but I'm thinking about it. Bottom line: I have no reservations recommending the 2025 Outback Limited.
Subarus Eyesight system needs glasses
WhereDidNormalCarsGo, 11/07/2024
2025 Subaru Outback Wilderness 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
82 of 93 people found this review helpful
First off, thank you to Edmunds for having a place to leave reviews as its hard otherwise to get people aware of issues since you cannot rate cars on the manufacturers websites. That said, while there are a lot of minor issues and complaints I have with this car (Abhorrent Infotainment and controls, I am looking at you), for purposes of this review I will only mention the serious ones. To summarize, Subaru's Eyesight system is flat out dangerous. Automatic braking can and WILL engage randomly at slow speeds, parking lots, and (worst of all) highway speeds. Even if you are already trying to control your braking yourself due to traffic or poor weather, it will still engage (IE override you). Highway speed false activation's are particularly dangerous, nearly getting us into wrecks at freeway speeds since you basically brake-check someone in traffic. Further, the lane assist has no idea what it’s doing and is also a liability. Things like driving around a passenger, construction zones, or even heavy semi-truck loads are not handled properly; it will nudge you to run over that little old lady’s dog rather than cross the lane lines. Or choose the wrong ones to steer into when there is construction. I’ve exhausted my venue with the dealers and Subaru of America – They are absolutely unwilling to tackle the issue, instead accepting there is more risk for the driver at times simply to meet marketing and NHTSA regulations. I will say they are clearly aware based on my calls and unwilling to even engage the discussion (Due to the NHTSA regulation surrounding this thing). It is always addressed as “Working as intended” and they will absolutely avoid the topic of your safety and the ghost braking. In fact, twice at the dealer and Subaru of America case (Terrible support, by the way) if you corner them on the question "Please clarify - Subaru is stating that the car ghost braking at 65mph is considered safe and normal behavior" got me hung up on. Twice! I am sure due to pending class action suits they have been told not to even acknowledge or discuss the issues. That’s how much they are avoiding this issue. The class action suits pending for these state the older years because of when they were filed, but I can tell you this also affects the brand new 2025 ones word for word, because that's what I have. Stay far, far away from these things. Further, if you go for any other modern car please read up on forums on the behavior and risks associated with the newly regulated systems. The dealer sure won’t inform you before you buy and won’t do anything afterwards. People are currently very split on these systems and I think it really boils down to two groups: It’s either never engaged on you before and they like the “concept” of a safety system, and the other group are owners who have had it actually engage on them. Trust me, it changes your opinion very, very quickly.
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Touring -great vehicle; too many profiles
JBTX, 01/25/2025
2025 Subaru Outback Touring 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
28 of 31 people found this review helpful
I am now driving my third Outback - a 2025 Touring 2.5 4cyl. I've had the vehicle five weeks and have less than 700 miles on it. However, I am anticipating several long road trips in the future. I am very pleased with the vehicle as a whole. * The car rides very nicely - maybe a bit firmer ride than the 2018 Outback I previously owned, and it seems I am a bit higher off the road in the seating position. * The Nappa Leather trim is very comfortable. * The sound system is excellent. * The technology is good but requires a learning curve (more on that below). I like the large center infotainment screen, although occasionally I am frustrated by the number of layers I have to go through to get to what I want - for the most part, I am satisfied. * Wireless Apple Car Play is great! * The layout of the center cluster on the dash (and how to access the information) is VASTLY improved over my 2018. * On my 2018, the radio would turn on whenever I started the car. That no longer happens. * The cargo capacity is as you expect on an Outback. * Outback fuel economy doesn't peak until about 10,000+ miles, but I am not dissatisfied with the mileage I am getting in mostly city driving. All three Outbacks that I have owned have been 2.5 4-cylinder engines, which frequently get criticized for lack of power. I find the power adequate (and acceleration). * I love the digital (smart) rearview mirror - it gives you a much wider field of vision than a standard rear-view mirror. It's a bit disconcerting at first, but it's become my default setting. That said, it's not helpful on unlit roads at night. * The 2025 Outback has the Sirius SM 360L technology, which allows you to store favorites for both "radio" and "streaming only" channels. I like that. The radio interface also has its own voice search function, but one must press an on-screen button to use it. * I am finally becoming comfortable using voice commands - the only complaint that I have is that the responsiveness to the commands is slow. The scope of actions covered by voice commands is great. Here's what I don't like about the car. * The manuals are good, but there are too many - a quick start guide, a Starlink guide, an Eyesight guide, and the typical owner's manual. All are logically laid out, but I have to stop and think which manual I will find instructions for which feature. Tip: You can download all manuals in PDF format without owning a vehicle. * There is a user register feature on the driver monitoring system that will adjust the mirrors, seat position and perhaps a few other things to the driver's saved settings, The scanning of your face is finicky and is required if you update your settings. * There is a second profile system which pairs a person to a phone to settings (radio, car play, etc.) in the vehicle. I found out by accident at the dealership when I picked up my tags that each driver profile can have their own radio presets. That's very nice. What would be super nice is if these two user profile systems were integrated. * One can do voice commands to access SiriusXM channels, but you need to know the channel number (which there is none for streaming only channels) or channel name (works well if you only listen to a few channels). One can store favorites within the radio interface, but I am not sure of the voice command, if any, to access them.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value