2025 Subaru Outback Consumer Reviews
Pricing
Base - $31,415 MSRP
Edmunds suggests you pay
$29,7804 for sale near you
Prices based on sales in OH thru 9/15/25
Final assembly in USA
Hardware yes, software NO!
Lakeside Gardener, 12/23/2024
2025 Subaru Outback Touring XT 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
54 of 58 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.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
Near Luxury with a couple minor issues
Cat Dad Rochester NY, 06/18/2025
2025 Subaru Outback Limited XT 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
12 of 12 people found this review helpful
We finally gave up our Infiniti G37 after 13 years. We bought an Outback XT limited. It’s very comfortable and the turbo has great instant torque. It rides great and handles well. It’s roomy and the perfect size for us. Seats are very comfortable. Few minor complaints and one significant complaint. Minor complaints: the rear center seat belt rattles in the roof. A couple additional inches of soft material would prevent it. I made a fix for it by putting a terry cloth wrist band around the buckle. Screen is slow when first started out. The facial scanning refuses to acknowledge me no matter how many times I’ve tried to set it up. It’s not fully flushed out technology. Auto start stop is awful and we turn it off every time. My biggest complaint is the rear auto breaking. It’s way too sensitive and it cannot be turned off. It’s nearly gotten us hit several times. Our driveway is opposite a berm. If we back too quickly, it slams the brakes on when we are in the middle of our road. It does this at my dad’s house as well because the end of his driveway has a slight slope down. Again, we have to back very slowly. It also will slam the brakes on for late afternoon sun. Our driveway faces west and it will falsely hit the brakes for the sun. Not once has automatic rear braking helped us but it’s given us a great deal of anxiety trying to back up. We’ve owned the car since January and it’s erroneously slammed on the brakes when we back up at least 8-9 times so far. The technology is not up to par and needs improvement. Hence a knock off of one star. I honestly miss having less tech on my previous car. I know how to back up, I should be able to turn off automatic rear braking. We will see if we keep this vehicle a long time. I’m hard pressed to imagine 13 years with the automatic braking terrorizing us with false alarms as the years go by. It’s a shame because I really like the vehicle overall.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
2025 Subaru Outback for sale near you
Showing 3 of 172 listings
- Onyx Edition 4dr SUVMSRP: $40,2074 mi away
- Touring XT 4dr SUVMSRP: $47,3144 mi away
- Touring XT 4dr SUVMSRP: $47,3144 mi away
See all 172 listings
Subarus Eyesight system needs glasses
WhereDidNormalCarsGo, 11/07/2024
2025 Subaru Outback Wilderness 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
72 of 80 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.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
Oil leak
Ron, 08/14/2024
2025 Subaru Outback Wilderness 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
34 of 37 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.
We simply luv our brand new '25 Subaru Touring XT
Joe and Shirley Nagy, , 12/04/2024
2025 Subaru Outback Touring XT 4dr SUV AWD (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
26 of 29 people found this review helpful
The Title above says it all; but achieving the Sales Deal itself was a difficult, very disheartening chore, taking up almost 6 weeks of time. Let me explain. We new what brand and model of car we wanted; an old fashioned type of 'station wagon' from many years ago. The only manufactures of this type vehicle appeared to be Volvo, [too expensive], and Subaru with the Outback; and we decided that we wanted the Touring XT model, with the brown Napa leather interior, and the Turbo motor, no real preference on color. Also, on reading the Edmunds online newsletter on 'how to purchase a new vehicle from a dealership, etc.,' a real gem of needed information. Well, these gems of 'info', led to much frustration, namely, Edmunds forewarned us that most Dealerships include very expensive, over-priced Dealer Add-On Options and Accessories, to boost their profits, and suggested purchasing a vehicle without the add-ons. This, in the Phoenix Area, with virtually All Subaru Dealerships proved to be impossible; we simply could not find a vehicle without the Add-ons, even after request for same, the Sales Folks and their Managers looked blankly back at us, as though we were from another planet. Well, finally, at about 3:30 AM, 2 weeks ago, I opened the Edmunds website, requesting new '25 Subaru Touring XT models, and found a number of them, especially a blue one with the Napa Brown Interior, winking at me, telling me how it wanted to be our Subaru. Wow! Later that morning we contacted the Dealership concerned, and found that it had just been unloaded from the truck carrier, and had ABSOLUTELY NO EXPENSIVE DEALER ADD-ON OPTIONS OR ACCESSORIES, and that they were prepared to sell it to us that way; and after a few negotiations the Blue Touring XT was ours. [Note: It did have one ADD-ON, the LOCKING WHEEL NUTS, and the Dealership supplied them to us for FREE. We were and are HAPPY CAMPERS, We had all, but given up any hopes of purchasing a new vehicle, the Subaru, but give thanks, [Big Thanks], to Edmunds, for their very informative and helpful Website, otherwise, this transaction possibly would not have taken place. Will close for now, and advise anyone thinking about purchasing a used or new vehicle, study carefully the Edmunds Website, you will be glad you did; best regards to All, and Happy Holidays from Wickenburg, Arizona, Joe and Shirley Nagy. [Real Happy Subaru Owners]
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value