Faults:

This manual transmission Crosstrek has been trouble free for over 80,000 miles. Stay on top of maintenance and Subaru's will provide reliable transportation.

General Comments:

The 2.0 liter engine does not provide much in the way of performance, the car is quite slow. Gas mileage is about 28 around town and 30+ on the highway, so it's not an economy champ either. Ride quality is very good. Fit and finish is excellent. Interior room is very good and storage is great for a car this size. All Subaru's (except the BRZ) are all wheel drive which is nice in climates with snow.

After 80,000 miles the car does not burn or leak oil, suspension components and brakes have been trouble free. Subaru's maintenance schedule requires service more frequently than other brands and that service may be more expensive; but the payoff is excellent reliability.

General Comments:

Good:

When it is working the car drives well.

Bad:

Do you want to waste $37,000 new on an unreliable car?

At 17,000 miles this car intermittently does not start. The car displays a CHECK ENGINE light. The car may begin working hours after this happens. The car has been towed at least three times in two years.

The dealership from which this car was purchased, and another SUBARU dealership have never been able to duplicate the problem.

The car is a disaster and cannot be used on long trips.

Don't fall for the SUBARU marketing materials! SUBARU quality has declined. I used to drive a 1994 SUBARU Legacy, which was reliable, but this car is not reliable.

If this car has had this number of problems in the first 3 years, what then of the next 7-8 years?

Faults:

Nothing yet: It's still new.

General Comments:

This is after having driven it 500 miles so far. After test driving the base model, which came with a 2.0 liter boxer 4 cylinder, I drove the next version up, the Sport which has a upgraded 2.5 liter engine. I would say it is a reasonably quick car. You're not going to win any races, but it's also not anemic and in fact sort of peppy.

The interior is laid out pretty well and is comfortable. Interior material quality is decent albeit a tad spartan. There are many little features that I am still trying to figure out. The most useful is a feature that detects vehicles that are coming up next to you, in particular the blind spots. A orange light comes on the mirrors just out of line of sight, but noticeable enough to let you know something is there.

This is my first car with a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) and as such, it's weird that there are no distinct gears per se. It took some getting used to. Many cars are going in this direction.

Fuel economy has so far been very "Meh" for a 4 cylinder. At best, I get close to 30MPG on the freeway. In town? It's more like 28. Not horrible, but also not amazing given the recent cost of gas.

For being a somewhat smaller car, there is a surprising amount of interior space. It used to be that small cars had cramped interiors. This one has plenty and even the back seats are comfortable enough for two grown adults - as experienced when I took my parents on a trip with it.

Maintenance-wise I will eventually find out what that is like. But I get a feeling I might find changing the oil a lot easier. The filter is located on top of the engine and has a drain that prevents it from making a mess when removed. The plastic cover under the engine has an opening to get at the drain plug versus having to remove it - which I am very happy about. The spark plugs look like they will be a pain to get at. Given that plugs generally last for 100k these days, I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

So time will tell. Will it last for decades and 100's of thousands of miles? We will see!