5 Reasons Why You Won’t Regret Owning A Subaru And 5 You Will

Were you happy with the last car you bought? A new report from LendingTree found nearly 40 percent of new car buyers are now reporting they regret their new car purchase. The most common regret? Buying the wrong car brand and model was number one followed by buying an expensive car they couldn’t afford, and third, not shopping around for the best deal.

Why should you consider buying a 2022 Subaru Forester, Outback, Crosstrek, and other new Subaru models? There are five reasons why you won’t regret owning a Subaru, and five reasons why you might regret your decision.

What sets the Subaru brand apart?

The 2022 Forester, Outback, Crosstrek, and other new Subaru models all come standard with all-wheel-drive where many automakers charge extra for the all-weather feature. Subaru SUVs also come with 8.7-inches of ground clearance for improved performance off-pavement. That leads to affordability.

Affordability

There’s nothing worse than having a monthly car payment that’s too much for your budget. How affordable is the Forester, Outback, and Crosstrek SUVs? A new report from Kelly Blue Book and Cox Automotive shows the average new mainstream (non-luxury) car price is now $43,072. A new 2022 Subaru vehicle is $35,231, nearly $8,000 less than the U.S. average. You can read the complete report here.

The second-best overall fuel efficiency

With gas prices going up, affordability has to include fuel mileage. The EPA says Subaru models rank second-best in the U.S. among automakers with a gas-powered lineup. Honda has the most fuel-efficient lineup after Tesla, which has an an-all-electric fleet. Subaru accomplished this with an all-wheel-drive lineup which is less fuel-efficient than a front-wheel-drive vehicle. Subaru does it with a four-cylinder Boxer engine design that uses direct injection and small turbocharged engines.

Top safety scores

New car shoppers are interested in safety and it’s a core value for the Subaru brand. Subaru Forester, Outback, Ascent, Legacy all get the highest Top Safety Pick+ scores from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and most models earn five stars from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Subaru won't ever offer financing longer than 63 months

You don’t want to get “upside-down” in a car loan and end up owing more than the car is worth. In a recent interview, President and CEO of Subaru of America Tom Doll explains why they don’t offer 72 months or even 84-month financing as other automakers. Doll says they look out for the customer now because they will see them in 4 or 5 years when they return to trade the all-wheel-drive vehicle in.

The best resale value

Affordability also includes resale value. Kelly Blue Books' Best Resale Value Awards says the Subaru Crosstrek scores best Subcompact SUV, Subaru Forester wins Compact SUV, Subaru Outback takes home the best Midsize SUV 2-row, and Impreza is the Best Compact Car. Resale value can make the most significant difference when you trade in your vehicle after 3-5 years. You'll get more for your trade-in than other carmakers’ vehicles.

If you buy a 2022 Forester, 2022 Outback, 2022 Crosstrek, or other new Subaru model, you likely won’t regret your decision because of its affordability, standard all-wheel-drive, fuel efficiency, safety, and resale value.

Why you might regret buying a Subaru

photo credit: Boise Subaru

Crosstrek and WRX cost more used than new models.

If you can’t find a new 2022 Subaru Crosstrek because of the current inventory shortages, you might be tempted to buy a used model. If you do, you’ll end up paying more for a used Crosstrek than you do a new model. It’s all because of the crazy new car and used market now because of the microchip shortage and supply chain issues. You can check out the complete report here.

Are Subaru drivers the worst?

Some car brands like Subaru just can’t catch a break and their drivers are judged rightly or wrongly. According to a recent report from custom license plate suppliers Click4Reg, Subaru Forester, Outback, Crosstrek, and WRX/STI drivers have the worst reputations among all car brands. They surveyed over 2,000 drivers to reveal the most common impressions people have of drivers of each car brand. If you drive a Subaru, it's not good for you. You can check out the complete report here.

Conservative styling

The bad news is, Subaru does not change its styling much from year-to-year. Subaru gets criticized for being too conservative in their exterior designs and that they need to have more progressive styling. But Subaru won’t budge on this issue. They have a valid reason, but customers don’t have to like it. It’s not surprising design changes are minor for the new generation of Subaru like the fifth-generation 2022 Forester SUV.

It’s because Subaru doesn’t like to take risks. Subaru tends to focus more on safety tech and upgrades underneath the exterior. They also like the large open greenhouse design. The good news is, it does help improve outward visibility, even though the design does look boxy. Don’t look for Subaru to change this.

CVT automatic transmissions

One of the main complaints with Subaru customers is that they exclusively use the CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) technology. The drawbacks are obvious to anyone who has driven one.

The metal belt or steel pulley gives off a whining noise when you push on the gas pedal. The sound is similar to the noise jet engines make when the pilot gives the plane full throttle for takeoff, and the low-pitched continuous whine can be annoying.

But you will be happy Subaru uses the CVT, because it’s a big reason why the Forester, Outback, Crosstrek, and Ascent all-wheel-drive SUVs are more fuel-efficient than a traditional automatic transmission.

And Subaru adds a manual mode function with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters on many CVT models that allow the driver to select seven or eight preset ratios depending on the model. But it usually goes unused by many Subaru owners.

You can leave the transmission in automatic mode, eliminating the need to shift and let the Lineartronic CVT adjust to match acceleration. Or you can use the steering wheel paddles to maximize the Lineartronic CVT’s abilities. Most drivers let the feature go unused. You can read the complete report here.

Subaru owners don’t like the start-stop-system

Auto-Stop-Start is one of the most controversial fuel-saving features on new Subaru vehicles. Many automakers use a system that automatically stops the engine when you come to a complete stop for more than a few seconds. It’s designed to save fuel every time the car stops at a stop sign or you wait at a traffic light.

The frequent starting and stopping of the engine are tiresome to some drivers who live in urban areas, especially if you commute in heavy stop-and-go traffic every day. And many Subaru Forester, Outback, Crosstrek, and Ascent owners say they don’t like the car stopping and starting because it shakes the car every time the engine starts back up. You can read the complete report here.

If you buy a 2022 Forester, 2022 Outback, 2022 Crosstrek, or other new Subaru model, you likely won’t regret your decision because of its affordability, standard all-wheel-drive, fuel efficiency, safety, and resale value. You might regret your decision if you buy a used model that costs more than new, you care about what other drivers say, Subaru's conservative styling, the CVT automatic, and its Auto-Stop-Start feature.

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Denis Flierl has invested over 30 years in the automotive industry in a consulting role working with every major car brand. He is an accredited member of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press. Check out Subaru Report where he covers all of the Japanese automaker's models. More stories can be found on the Torque News Subaru page. Follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Photo credit: Subaru USA