Subaru Legacy/Outback (2004 – 2009) Review

• November 2003
• September 2004
• February 2008

One owner's catalogue of disappointment with a 2.0 Sport Tourer between 2005 and 2007. Dashboard rattles, trimstrip at base of screen pops off, vibration between 2,000 and 3,500rpm from deep inside dashboard led to replacement of clutch (which now judders), power steering pump (causing the steering to feel much less linear than before) and even the front suspension bushes (which now creak over bumps). Front discs warp every 8,000 miles or so, needing regular skimming orreplacement. At 48,000 miles, the Legacy has developed a meshing, thrashing, whirring sound from the gearbox in neutral, at idling speed and slightly above. Diagnosed as clutch release bearing.

Owner 2: You stated "feedback welcome" on your entry for Subaru: we run a 2006 2.5 litre Outback (with a manual gearbox) which has done 36,000km in 18 months. It has been quiet, comfortable, spacious and easy to insert and remove children from - I suppose I'm used to the increased height, as I hit my head on the roof of my brother's V70 when belting the children in! It has also been faultless, with nothing falling off, failing or making any sort of a funny noise (except the speakers). It feels solid, the doors make a satisfying thump when they close, and the driving
position is excellent. We seem to get exactly 8.9 litres/100km, including driving in traffic, in the country and several very long trips fully loaded, with a full size roof box and all the clobber of a family skiing holiday. When running Shell V-Power for a month or so, there seemed to be no significant difference in consumption, when compared to normal
95-octane Shell. Just as an observation, the gearing does seem very long - it will accelerate hard, provided you're in the right gear. Perhaps that helps with the relaxed, loping feel of the car. On the plus side, I really like the enormous levels of grip in the winter, the languid ride (presumably due to the raised suspension and low centre of gravity), and rear LSD: you can really feel the rear end tightening the line in low grip situations and shooting you out of corners. The self-levelling suspension is also a nice feature. On the downside, the stereo speakers are dreadful, made of paper in China apparently, but so poor that I thought they were blown. I'd also like more powerful headlights and headlamp washers (a form of active safety), and brakes with more feel (I miss the brakes - with steel braided hoses - on my 2.3 litre Mazda 6). In fact, my parents liked it so much, they bought one - albeit a 3.0 Outback with automatic gearbox and paddles. My children's grandparents like the visibility, rear wheel drive feel, and the height - easier to slip into and out of than its predecessor, an Audi A8.

'Official' LPG converted engines have been suffering exhaust valce seat recession in as little as 40,000 miles. Subaru has been fixing cars under warranty, but this could become a problem when the car is out of warranty.

Strong smell (as though rubber burning) from under the bonnet area of 2006 Subaru Outback with 136k miles turned out to be CV gaiter grease inside the catalytic converter heatshield.