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I drove about 800 miles over the Thanksgiving break, including ~200 miles on I-40 through NC during a very strong wind/rain storm that passed through on Wednesday. My 18 Legacy didn't have any issues with crosswinds or varied tarmac conditions at any time during the trip.

Holy Cow! You put almost 45k miles on your car in a year!? Your transmission is going to be out of warranty in just over two years at this rate.

It isn't Lexus-quiet, but my 2018 is pretty quiet by my reckoning. Especially compared the BRZ it replaced.

Did you connect your infotainment system to wi-fi? I did that and then I started to getting messages about software updates failing. Once I realized the wi-fi feature didn't do anything (and probably never will), I just turned the w-fi connection back off.

The farthest I've actually gone without fill up was about 520 miles. There was less than an eighth left (before the gas gauge recall was applied). I don't recall how much gas I put in, but it didn't seem unreasonable.

The new seat bottom fixed my driver's seat. 10k miles later, no squeaks.

Just press the volume button once to mute the radio?

Throttle tip-in on my 2018 is pretty aggressive, especially compared to my wife's 2011 Forester XT, which has way more top-end power. A light touch on the throttle will result in plenty of off-the-line acceleration for normal driving. That said, just flooring it from a stop seems to induce something akin to turbo lag, I assume from the CVT.

The only highway I've noticed any feeling of sensitive steering on is NC540 between NC55 and US64 in Cary/Apex, NC. The way they textured the pavement on that stretch of highway "pulls" randomly on car tires. I noticed it on my BRZ and my wife's Forester as well.

My squeak has not returned since being fixed...yet anyway.

Have you asked them if you are affected by the weak weld recall?

That is definitely way worse than mine.

I have a small noise from my roof, right at the back of the moon roof. It sounded like a loose wiring harness to me, but could be the same thing described here. I was going to get it checked out next time I have it in for service. I also have a squeaky front passenger-side seat belt pretensioner (best guess). Acceleration/deceleration causes an almost imperceptible noise from the passenger-side B-pillar. Not sure if this will be my last Subaru based on some noises. Every Subaru I've owned, except for the BRZ has had minor noises. Heck, every car I've ever owned has had noises aside from the BRZ. I am more concerned about the longevity of the powertrain (CVT/F-series engines).

I tons of new Subies, but mostly Crosstreks, Outbacks, and Ascents these days. I see plenty of 2018 and older Foresters as well. Seems like the new CR-Vs, RAV4s, and the CX-5 are far and away the most common new vehicles (with temporary tags) I see though. My local dealer has 21 2019 Foresters in stock according to their website, which is admittedly less than the 78 Outbacks, 38 Ascents, and 39 Crosstreks they have. Maybe they are just sending them all to you neck of the woods. In checking the sales numbers, it seems like the 2019 Forester is doing fine, so it must just be a shift in regional tastes. http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales-data/subaru/subaru-forester/

Another video on CVTs, specific to Subarus:

He doesn't specifically talk about Subaru CVTs. He does talk about CVTs in general. The most interesting thing he says in my mind is Mazda doesn't use them, and their cars still get very good fuel economy which is supposed to be the whole point of CVTs. TBH, if Subaru doesn't get solve their quality/identity problems, I am likely to shop around a bit more next time we need a car. I don't know much about Mazda's AWD system, but it seems like they are killing it in most other areas. It seems like they are making smarter engineering decisions as well as producing attractive, comfortable, efficient cars. Where I live, I am starting to see more and more new, current year Mazdas and fewer new Subarus. I am not sure the new Forester is selling nearly as well as the previous model for instance. I see them on test drives as the dealer is close to my house, but I haven't seen very many with permanent tags on the street. It really makes me wonder if I should have test driven the Mazda 6 when I was in the market for my Legacy.

Sorry, I thought the context was clear: CVTs, which is a topic of discussion in this thread. Didn't mean to make you mad.

Funny, I watched that earlier today. An independent Subaru tech I know hates the FA/FB engines. What he complains about is over my head though, so I don't really understand why. He actually thinks the CVTs are fine. He hasn't seen many issues.

https://jalopnik.com/subarus-trying-to-fix-its-quality-problem-before-its-to-1835819521

It took me about 5 minutes per bulb, and, yes, I was particularly careful about keeping the bulbs clean. I also cleaned them with isopropanol when I was done modifying them. When I pulled them out, the filament on one was gone, and the other one didn't look great. H11 is the standard low beam bulb for our cars. I don't know why you would need to modify it.

The only issues with the H9s were: 1. Time to modify the bulbs. I tried an adapter kit, but it was poorly made. 2. Lifespan of the bulbs. The first set of H9s I put in only lasted about 7 months. High beams are not supposed to be on all the time, so the bulbs are designed for higher output but shorter lifespan. 3. Mild concern about putting too much power through the standard wiring. Probably not a big deal, but I am certain the designers did not plan for an extra 10W going through those wires. The DD H11s have a similar lux output, longer lifespan, and lower power consumption compared to the H9s, but a higher color temp, so it was a trade off. I definitely wouldn't want to go any cooler, but other people like that whiter or even bluer color temp.

Yeah, it is just a matter of preference. I just prefer the more neutral/yellower color. If I could get good LEDs with the same color temp and lux as the halogen H9s I had put in previously, I would have been happier.

FWIW: I did consider the Hikari, and they seem like a really good performer for the money, but I thought they were too blue. If you're ok with that, then great! Also, on the 2018, the highbeams are not used for DRL, so the OP wouldn't have worry about that.

I'll second (or third) the Diode Dynamics suggestion. In addition to better headlight performance with their replacement "bulbs," they have some cool products for the Legacy's tail lights that I really like. e.g. https://www.diodedynamics.com/2015-2019-subaru-legacy-tail-as-turntm-backup-module-usdm-pair.html