There are tons of things Subaru could do better, and maybe the newer generations have improved. Maybe. My 2006 Acura TL I bought with 112,000 miles in 2010 finally died in 2023 with 300,860 miles. I have an Audi S5 also, but wanted a daily driver, so needed to replace it but as I had the S5, was in no rush to jump into something, so drove the S5. Put on more miles than I wanted. I am 60 years old, and do about 90% of my own work, including minor paint and body, and was searching used vehicles for ANYTHING OTHER than a Kia or Hyundai as my new to me, DD. I literally did not care for the make/ model/ style except for the disposable cars mentioned above.
I bought this 2 owner 2012 Subaru 2.5i Premium Sedan this October. 31,700 miles, an hour from me in Iowa. It was in fantastic mechanical and cosmetic condition, Red Pearl paint with a little clear coat problem here and there. I got it for $11,500 cash, from a dealer with very good reviews in Dubuque, IA, where both prior owners lived. It had a 6 month, 6,000 mile dealer warranty. First time I have ever purchased from a car dealer. Ever. At age 60. Clean title, clean Carfax, new tires, new battery, so I figured it would be a good DD for me. And it is. But...
31,700 miles, 2 owner car prior. Here's my beef:
1. Clear coat peeling at random spots. Subaru paint quality is subpar. My 17 year old deep maroon Acura had no paint issues. No problem, I will fix this myself. OOPS Subaru, crappy paint prep-better get on that.
2. Heat shields rattle like a pissed off Eastern Diamondback's tail. They all rattle. And I don't mean eventually. At 31,700 miles. And they've been repaired with the hose clamp method and failed again prior to me buying it.
3. Yeah, this thing doesn't have the interface my 2101 Audi S5 has. But you can't adjust much of the electronics in this thing. It is, exactly what it is.
4. The cruise control is not very intuitive. I'm learning it slowly, but for example when you go up a slight hill, it waits until almost the top of the hill, then advances the throttle through the floor to catch up the RPMs to maintain the set speed. Then it's slow to back off the throttle. I get better fuel consumption with cruise off.
5. The amount of rust on the underside is ridiculous. The car has 31,700 miles, and is 11 years old. My Acura had 300,000 miles, was 17 years old and had no detectable rust. Driving same pattern, on the same roads. Subaru should be embarrassed.
6. The stereo is adequate. But calling this car "Premium" with this level of stereo system is a bit excessive. In fact the whole instrument cluster and controls, for that matter are archaic.
I do like the heated seats and winter package. The driver's side seat, on low, will cook a frozen burrito. Please remember that I'm coming from Acura and Audi. Still though, I expected better quality and options from Subaru. But it's a suitable daily driver, and does the trick. I'm getting 27mpg driving 80 MPH on the intestate, the same MPG I got doing the same drive in my Acura, but only 1-2 MPG better than my S5. My Acura was Front Wheel Drive, my S5 is All Wheel. I'll see how this Legacy gets me through this winter. I'm sure it will do fine, with the new GY All Season tires.
I'm doing front brakes with new pads, rotors and serpentine belt and tensioner this week. Just did oil change with full synthetic, Denso filter. Look at the photo: I like the way Denso puts that clear plastic film on the filter. Helps it keep from leaking I bet, eh?
