I've moved on - For now

[HotdogThud]

Something that I wouldn't have seen myself getting 6 months ago.

2023 Subaru Outback Wilderness.

It checked most of my boxes.

-Will do all of the off-roading I normally do
-Mind blowing amount of standard features for the price. Including adaptive LED headlights.
-Plenty of power
-Comfortable ride
-Good road mannerisms
-Plenty of room for long trips
-Made in the US
-Safety, safety, safety
-Added bonus it's a blast to drive on back road twisties

I was originally trying to buy an Explorer Timberline. But Ford dealers were trying to lowball me on trade to the tune of $40k or less. Won't own a GM product and nothing in the Stellantis line-up had my interest.

My wife and I were all set to get one of these in this color, but it seemed a bit gimmicky on our part to have a vb bronco and a blue outback wilderness.

So we got the wilderness in green.

They're great cars, absolutely love the thing. And at least Subaru knows how to not fuck up a stock stereo the way Ford did

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[HotdogThud]

Something that I wouldn't have seen myself getting 6 months ago.

2023 Subaru Outback Wilderness.

It checked most of my boxes.

-Will do all of the off-roading I normally do
-Mind blowing amount of standard features for the price. Including adaptive LED headlights.
-Plenty of power
-Comfortable ride
-Good road mannerisms
-Plenty of room for long trips
-Made in the US
-Safety, safety, safety
-Added bonus it's a blast to drive on back road twisties

I was originally trying to buy an Explorer Timberline. But Ford dealers were trying to lowball me on trade to the tune of $40k or less. Won't own a GM product and nothing in the Stellantis line-up had my interest.

My wife and I were all set to get one of these in this color, but it seemed a bit gimmicky on our part to have a vb bronco and a blue outback wilderness.

So we got the wilderness in green.

They're great cars, absolutely love the thing. And at least Subaru knows how to not fuck up a stock stereo the way Ford did

 

[V1Rotate]

We've had 2 Outbacks and a Legacy. Currently have a 2015 Outback. 155,000 miles. Normal maintenance issues ... except the wheel bearings. Over time, all four have been done, starting at 55k miles. The aftermarket versions seem to last longer. As in,none of those have needed replaced. Cost of repair seemed in line to me. I use an independent mechanic.

Any of the AWD Subies are straight wicked in the snow/slush/etc. I still run Blizzaks on the Outback and it is a solid, planted beast in the shittiest of conditions. Well worth the money to have two sets of wheels/tires if your conditions call for it.

It's funny to read all the shit talking mostly from folks that have never owned one. Almost every other post is current/previous owners that loved them.

Sorry about your Bronco luck.
The only issues on our Base have been minor build quality stuff, but it has been a good runner thus far. Come to think of it, it hasn't even done the manual trans "Bucking Bronco" thing in a long time now.
But I think you made an excellent case for why yours needed to go away.

Mark me down as one who had one and hated it.. our ‘22 Subaru was nice at first but holy cow is that CVT hot garbage. My wife quickly– we owned it 5 months - got to the point where she hated driving it so we traded it in (on our ‘22 Wildtrak).

 

[Garemlin]

Nothing in the Stellantis line? Seems like I’ve seen your username elsewhere. Do you happen to own a Jeep Willys Gladiator too?

I did own a Gladiator prior to the Bronco. Nope nothing in the Stellantis line. Didn't want another Wrangler or Gladiator. Don't like the new Grand Cherokee.

 

[ScottyC]

Subies are a "love it" or "hate it" kinda ride....my girlfriend had several Escapes and racks up a lot of miles on 'em for her commute to/from work. When Ford restyled the OE Escape, she didn't like it (she wanted the Escape and the box it came in) so, the Ford dealership she frequents also had a Subaru dealership in house so she bought a Forester. Problematic to say the least, so she traded it back in for a 2018 Escape, but now she is retired and doesn't do the long commute anymore and the Escape has 36K miles on it. I try to talk her into trading it for a new Bronco Sport, but she likes not having a car payment....

Enjoy your Subie and see ya 'round...

 

[MnLakeBum]

Can’t blame you for getting rid of a lemon. I’d never own a Subaru but I’ve got a couple buddies that are skiers living in the mountains that swear by them.

We’ve had zero issues other than the windshield recall with our Bronco that has almost 18k miles on it. My only other experience with Ford was 3 company Ford Edges in 2009, 2011, and 2014. I put 75,000+ miles on each one of them and only had one speed sensor go bad on the 2011. The Bronco is certainly not the best constructed vehicle and will likely get more reliable going forward. I don’t venture far into the wilderness more than once or twice each summer and I’ll carry a satellite phone and external GPS with me when I do. Life is too short to worry about breaking down.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Those fender flares!

Looks like Braptor fender flares

We had a 2017 Outback that was a very good car. The CVT was better than most CVT’s I’ve driven in rental cars. Ours was the 4 cylinder base motor, it was ok but underpowered on highway grades. I wasn’t super impressed with the AWD system, compared to the 2011 VW Touareg TDI I also owned at the time the Touareg was light years better in the snow. My wife was rear ended by a drunk driver going 40 mph while she was stopped, the Outback took the hit like a champ. I recently test drove a 2022 Outback Touring with a buddy who was car shopping, I was impressed with the improvements and the turbo motor.

Sounds like the OP made a logical swap, especially considering he got a great trade in value while the used car market is falling. He‘s getting more cargo space and better MPG for about the same money.

 

[KirchTX]

I did own a Gladiator prior to the Bronco. Nope nothing in the Stellantis line. Didn't want another Wrangler or Gladiator. Don't like the new Grand Cherokee.

Overall we like our JCG although the fuel pump did go out at 14k miles. We’ve had a couple electric issues as well so I understand the sentiment.

My 150,000 mile Nissan is the one in the family I’m worried will leave me stranded so I’d love to trade it in for a Bronco if Ford ever gets around to building mine…

 

[RClark82]

We did the same. Numerous issues but ultimately the soft tops lack of quality led us to sell. I hope to get another bronco after some years of production have settled in quality.

 

[DrewBronc21]

Nice Outback Wilderness. Seems like a lot of Subbie haters on here. If I had to choose between my Bronco and my Subaru, I would keep the Subaru.

 

[Garemlin]

And at least Subaru knows how to not fuck up a stock stereo the way Ford did

Surprising I have seen many people hate the Subaru base audio. They have apparently never heard the stock Bronco base stereo. With a few tweaks in the settings the stock stereo in the Outback sounds decent. Nothing is compelling me to upgrade anything right now.

 

[Garemlin]

Mark me down as one who had one and hated it.. our ‘22 Subaru was nice at first but holy cow is that CVT hot garbage. My wife quickly– we owned it 5 months - got to the point where she hated driving it so we traded it in (on our ‘22 Wildtrak).

Yeah this is my first CVT. Haven't really adjusted to it yet. It's definitely a transition.

 

[V1Rotate]

Yeah this is my first CVT. Haven't really adjusted to it yet. It's definitely a transition.

I had a couple of chief complaints about it that started out annoying and then just drove us nuts. The first (and more minor) is that it revs to the moon when on a moderate to steep incline. The simulated shift points are ridiculous and it goes from reasonable to 4k RPM up even a moderate incline. Second (and ultimately the deal killer) was the fact that off the line (from a dead stop) if you don’t just PUNCH it then it’ll move about 25 feet and then fall flat on it’s face as it simulates a “shift” to 2nd gear. It lugs so low that it can’t make up for it with low end torque and ultimately you have to mash the pedal harder and then it overcompensated, etc. Just got to be super annoying and as my wife’s daily driver she got to where she wasn’t really in love with the new vehicle anymore. Given the used market we cashed in and actually made a few thousand bucks trading it in on the Bronco.
It wasn’t a bad vehicle and to each their own, I’m sure a lot of folks are plenty happy with it. Just wasn’t for us

 

[Garemlin]

I had a couple of chief complaints about it that started out annoying and then just drove us nuts. The first (and more minor) is that it revs to the moon when on a moderate to steep incline. The simulated shift points are ridiculous and it goes from reasonable to 4k RPM up even a moderate incline. Second (and ultimately the deal killer) was the fact that off the line (from a dead stop) if you don’t just PUNCH it then it’ll move about 25 feet and then fall flat on it’s face as it simulates a “shift” to 2nd gear. It lugs so low that it can’t make up for it with low end torque and ultimately you have to mash the pedal harder and then it overcompensated, etc. Just got to be super annoying and as my wife’s daily driver she got to where she wasn’t really in love with the new vehicle anymore. Given the used market we cashed in and actually made a few thousand bucks trading it in on the Bronco.
It wasn’t a bad vehicle and to each their own, I’m sure a lot of folks are plenty happy with it. Just wasn’t for us

Haven't experienced any of that yet. The Wilderness has different gearing so that might have something to do with it.

 

[Rusty Sheckelford]

Something that I wouldn't have seen myself getting 6 months ago.

2023 Subaru Outback Wilderness.

It checked most of my boxes.

-Will do all of the off-roading I normally do
-Mind blowing amount of standard features for the price. Including adaptive LED headlights.
-Plenty of power
-Comfortable ride
-Good road mannerisms
-Plenty of room for long trips
-Made in the US
-Safety, safety, safety
-Added bonus it's a blast to drive on back road twisties

I was originally trying to buy an Explorer Timberline. But Ford dealers were trying to lowball me on trade to the tune of $40k or less. Won't own a GM product and nothing in the Stellantis line-up had my interest.

My Brother in Christ, you bought a giant blue turd!

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