3 Things To Know Now About Tiny Subaru Before You Buy

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If you are thinking of buying a 2020 Subaru Forester, Outback, Crosstrek, or Ascent SUV model, there are three things you should know about Subaru.

In addition to the vehicle, car shoppers should also get to know the automotive brand that makes the car. You’ll be dealing with them for years, so you need to make sure you are making an investment in a good company. You might be thinking of buying an all-wheel-drive 2020 Subaru Forester, Outback, Crosstrek, or Ascent SUV model. Is buying a Subaru right now a wise choice? Will the Japanese automaker be able to provide service and support your new car purchase?

Some automakers may not emerge from the COVID-19 shutdown in as good a shape as others. Subaru is one of the smallest automakers but they’ve been one of the most successful auto brands with eleven straight years of sales increases. Something no other automaker has done. They’ve done it by offering a purposeful lineup of all-wheel-drive vehicles. Subaru was off to another great start this year and it looked like it would be twelve years in a row of record sales. But that came to a screeching halt with the coronavirus.

Many automakers are trying to boost liquidity like GM, Ford, and FCA, who have drawn down billions of dollars in credit lines to ensure they have enough cash on hand to survive the next few quarters. But tiny Subaru isn’t worried about the next few months after its two manufacturing plants and retailers in some areas were shut down.

In an interview with Automotive News, Subaru of America CEO Tom Doll says they were having a fantastic first quarter and projecting on selling 725,000 vehicles this year. But they’ve had to scale back sales goals with everything that’s happened. Doll says inventory levels are good even though Subaru has one of the lowest inventory levels in the industry. He says “we like to keep it low and one less is better than one more.”

Doll says they have the luxury of a “fortress balance sheet” because they had over ten years of great results and it’s given them the financial resources to withstand this coronavirus pandemic and come out of it strong. They are doing so well, they have the financial resources to donate 50 million meals to Feeding America through the organizations’ food banks around the country.

Subaru’s CEO says even though they didn’t plan for something catastrophic like this, they have positioned themselves with the right products and are in a good financial position to emerge from this global pandemic in great shape. He feels like his local retailers who sell the cars are going to come out of this ok.

If you are thinking of buying a 2020 Subaru Forester, Outback, Crosstrek, or Ascent model, there are three contributing factors that make buying a Subaru a safe pick. The Camden, N.J. automaker has seen 11 years of record growth, they are better off financially than many large automakers, and Subaru’s retailers are emerging in good shape to support your new car purchase.

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Denis Flierl has invested over 30 years in the automotive industry in a variety of roles. All of his reports are archived on our Subaru page. Follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Subaru Report. Check back tomorrow for more Subaru news and updates at Torque News!

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Photo credit: Competition Subaru

Submitted by Jay (not verified) on June 6, 2020 - 9:31PM

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Outstanding article, if your interested in test driving a 2020 Subaru and in the Sacramento Area please call Jay at 916-416-1294 your local Trade Up Advantage Manager for Subaru

Submitted by Jay (not verified) on June 6, 2020 - 9:32PM

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Outstanding article, if your interested in test driving a 2020 Subaru and in the Sacramento Area please call Jay at 916-416-1294 your local Trade Up Advantage Manager for Subaru

Submitted by Gio (not verified) on June 6, 2020 - 10:13PM

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Just picked up my 4th subaru a 2020 outback premium. There great simple cockpit. Good balance between power handling & and fuel cost. Great build quality & reliability

Submitted by Chris Beddoe (not verified) on June 7, 2020 - 1:55PM

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After my 2015 Forester I won't buy another Subaru.
Oil consumption (0.75-1 quart in 700-800 miles on highway driving), issues with passenger side airbag sensor in the seat, fuel sending unit issues.
My 2006 WRX was awesome in every way. Beat the hell out of it and still kept going strong with no abnormal maintenance for 150k miles.
This Forester started giving me problems after the first 10k miles from New. Oil consumption started at 30k. Dealership never "found anything wrong" they were overfilling my vehicle by 0.5-0.75 quart on the consumption tests till I caught them.

Submitted by Mark Comerford (not verified) on June 8, 2020 - 3:26AM

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I was in love with the Outback when it had good gas mileage and "push button" on demand 4-wheel drive.
Now, with "all wheel" drive the gas mileage is discouragingly low. Also, the overall size had increased, apparently to gain "mini-van" proportions.
Bring back the nimble Outback, less wright, front wheel "on demand" 4 -eheel drive good gas mileage car, and get rid of the gas guzzling all wheel drive.

Submitted by Julia Motefield (not verified) on June 8, 2020 - 2:23PM

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Three weeks ago I drove 450 miles to pickup my new Crosstrek driving back to KY AC was fine the next day AC stopped working...Very very upset first Subaru and its faulty I have to drive it to Louisville KY hoping it can be fixed..The car was purchased from Jim Keras Subaru in Memphis TN. I have notified the new car sales manager and the salesman as well hopefully it can be fixed this coming Wednesday...Just wanted to put this out there...Very very sad "hot" new car owner.. Sincerely Julia Morefield
..

Submitted by Paul (not verified) on April 6, 2022 - 11:55AM

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My 2022 Subaru Outback is 9 months old with 9432 miles. On 3/31/2022 the windshield suffered the spontaneous windshield breakage problem that Subaru's suffer from. The windshield cracked from the lower left corner of the glass (looking from the front of he car too the windshield). There was nothing that hit the glass. There are no marks on the glass other than the crack that start from the lower left edge. The classic Subaru windshield failure.

So buyers have a repeating huge expense to repair. Subaru piles on the cost claiming the eyesight camera must be re-calibrated each time. Well played Subaru. You sure do not care about your customer base.