Should You Buy a 2024 Subaru Outback? Thorough Review By A Mechanic

A Mechanic Reviews the 2024 Subaru Outback Should You Buy One?

In this video we take a look at the Latest Subaru Outback. We start with a proper technical review under the hood then underneath the car.

Then we look at the exterior and interior. Then we talk about some things we don't like about it.

TCCN Automotive Inc.
Toyota and Lexus Specialist Repair

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0:00 Intro
0:27 Under The Hood
9:03 Under The Car
12:53 Exterior Review
20:46 Interior Review
26:24 Things I Don't Like About It
28:25 Should You Buy One?

[jamesmurphy]

Agree. Physical bottons are preferred over touch screen buttons! I don't like touch screen controls. Dont need my car to pretend it is a smartphone.

[yazars]

I'm not really the target consumer for Subaru, but I appreciate how they stick to what makes their cars unique and well suited for their target customers.

[stanbono]

22 Outback owner here…..thank you for mentioning the driver monitoring system, I can’t even scratch the back of my head without being told to keep my eyes on the road. 😃 And yes physical buttons for the HVAC would be better.

[CsawBoots]

I thought the digital rear view mirror was weird and unnecessary. Until we had a fully loaded car with people and gear, so you can’t see out the back. Boom, camera view to the rescue! Now you have a perfect view with no blind spots. Amazing! 🙌

[thomasb.]

Review from long term owner. 3rd Subaru first 2 over 200k no issues normal maintenance. Current 2021 Outback Touring 2.5 90k normal maintenance oil change etc. no issues. The screen was very buggy at the beginning but once a software update came out it has been flawless also the temp controls are completely fine I don’t fidget or touch buttons all the time so this is why people complain. Average always over 33mpg almost 600 miles to a take and awesome safe reliable road trip vehicle. 💯 percent recommend.

[auroralance]

The CD player is a must. Here in Alaska, you don’t always have cell service or radio, and definitely no Sirius satellite service. We use our CD player a bunch. Since Subaru goes outback, away from technology, they live up the name, Outback.

[scott]

Your videos are excellent and credible. Your review here is spot on. I own an OB wilderness. 2022 model. Having owned many other car brands in past the only reason I have an OB is because at the time no other car dealers had cars in stock due to supply chain issues at the time. I knew Subaru was good. In New England/Vermont you see them everywhere. I knew there was a reason why. Having owned my OB wilderness now I can say impressed is an understatement. I actually am questioning whether I’d ever buy anything other than a Subaru. It’s incredible in snow. It’s reliable. It’s comfortable. The maintanence on it is not break the bank. I had an X5 years before and loved it until it fell apart quick bleeding oil amongst other things. I’ve got close to 50k on my wilderness and about to buy new tires for winter is about it. Subaru does it right. The info screen agree here. It needs upgrading. However, here’s the big one, Subaru is coming out w a re designed outback in 2025. They actually delayed the release. Wa supposed to be this fall but they want to get it right. It’s their #1 seller. Kudos to them. Makes me appreciate even more and with that being said I gotta believe they’ll knock it outta ballpark.

[mowen]

Just purchased an Outback Touring XT in the exact color combo on this video, green exterior with brown seats. Absolutely love this vehicle. Are there quirks? Absolutely, it’s Subaru. Subaru has always made decisions that made me think ‘why did they do that’ or ‘why didn’t they do this’. I traded my 2018 Forester for this Outback and boy oh boy what a difference. The seats, while not perfect, are much more comfortable and I do love the extra thigh support. The driver mitigation system seems ok, not as sensitive as some say but I can always turn it off if it gets too annoying. The infotainment screen, I love the size but I agree it could be quicker to boot up, I’m usually 1/2 way down my street before everything is completely booted.

On the plus, it’s quality is top notch, it’s quiet and sophisticated for being a mild off roader. Very happy with my purchase.

[fishead]

Being a resident of NC and a avid trout fisherman, I wouldn't own any other vehicle but an Outback. What makes the Outback my vehicle of choice is due to the vehicle's effortless ability to climb steep mountains to my favorite trout waters. The vehicle has a smooth quiet ride and I'm never fatigued when taking it on long road trips. In addition to the vehicle's dependability, I can personally tell you that the Outback is well constructed. Three years ago my wife totalled her Outback on the highway and while the other driver's needed medical attention, my wife just got out of her Outback and waited for me to pick her up. That's why my family will always drive Subarus, they're just safe and dependable vehicles to own.

[sam-yau]

You can always tell how quality a car is by how much or how little Ahmed says “but that’s okay” on his reviews

[TractorDog]

you are the best car reviewer on YouTube

[ItsTheSidJ]

I test drove an Outback Wilderness, loved it. The turbo is pretty awesome, and the car very capable. Might be my next Subaru 😊

[bwmooney]

I've had a 2024 Outback Wilderness for 8 months and 16k miles. It's a good car but not great. I've owned a lot of different makes and models of cars over the past 15+ years, and this one is well above average overall. I'd say it's a good value for what you get, and I understand why so many folks are Subaru loyalists, but I don't see myself falling into that category.

Quick side note on the diver monitor system: I believe the Wilderness trim is about the highest trim you can get the Outback in without getting that driver monitoring spy-cam included. This was one of the reasons I went with the Wilderness trim, plus I wanted the extra ground clearance as I will be using this for light trail use for scenic drives.

The good:

-It's a comfortable and quiet ride over most surfaces (even with the all-terrain tires). It does occasionally get rough on some surfaces, but for most roads, especially potholes and corrugations, it handles it as well or better than many luxury cars.
-Interior room is good for its exterior size. This is a mid-size vehicle, but I'm 6'2" tall and have plenty of legroom and headroom without needing to push the seat back all the way in its track.
-Features are actually fairly good for the price. You get a lot of car for the money, especially considering this costs less than the average new car purchase price in the US.
-Capability in snow/ice/wet is top notch. It has 3-mode Xmode which is purely how the software handles the traction/stability control systems. Base mode is what you get when you first start the car. Snow/Dirt is for most snow conditions and is very aggressive at limiting wheel slip and lateral sliding. Deep Snow/Mud is very close to no traction control at all, allowing greater amounts of wheel spin to permit clearing of the mud/snow from the tire treads. The biggest problem with the AWD capability, if there is one, is that it gives people too much confidence. I've seen many Subaru drivers get in trouble, especially in deep snow, because they got high centered on mounds of snow along the side of the road when turning into/out of side roads or parking lots where plows have plowed. It can make people not drive sensibly in bad weather because they feel invincible in their Subaru. Yet as you mentioned, most Subaru drivers are sensible and careful.

The bad:

- Slow infotainment screen. It's highly variable and unpredictable, but there are times when you get in the car and it will take over a minute for it to let you change radio stations or volume or switch from the Apple Car Play screen to the radio screen. Other times it's almost instantaneously responsive. Even on its best day, fully booted up/warmed up after driving for an hour, the screen switching is often slow to respond and clunky.
- CVT/Turbo lag is horrendous. I've had a few turbocharged cars in the past 10 years, but this one is by far the laggiest one I've ever driven. The combination of turbo lag and CVT fake downshifts/shifts means I can frequently count to 3 or 4 between mashing the gas pedal and actually getting acceleration to pull out from a stop sign or parking lot into traffic. It's actually dangerous and impossible to predict how the system will respond. It also makes it difficult to drive smoothly, since in traffic at part throttle you have to press the gas pedal much further than you think you should just to "wake up" the turbo/CVT and then the power surges far more than you want and you have to hit the brakes. It's difficult to maintain a steady gap between your front and the rear of the car in front of you. Similarly, the fake downshifts mean it is often impossible to come to a smooth and easy stop at a stop light/sign as the whole car surges and decelerates, back and forth, as it fake downshifts about half the time (the other times it behaves normally). It feels similar to having warped brake rotors, but has been present since day one of ownership.
- Gas mileage is not great for this small of a car/engine. EPA estimates 22 city, 26 highway, 24 combined for the Outback Wilderness. I wish. I average 19-20 in mostly highway driving/commuting, and the trip computer is optimistic by about 1.5-2mpg vs. hand calculations. Best highway I've seen is 26 on long trips, but I typically get only 22-23mpg at best, often only 20mpg. This is in a stock, no roof rack, empty car other than driver and a small suitcase.
- Subaru is very quirky in its design. Best I can compare it to is sort of the Japanese version of Saab. They do things weird just because they want to be different. That means the cupholders are the worst in any modern car I've been in. The auto high beams cannot be turned off without turning off automatic on/off headlights as well. The whole interior is not a cohesive unit but feels more like the designers checked off feature check boxes without bothering to integrate them in a stylish or user-friendly design.
- Styling leaves much to be desired. It wouldn't take much for them to make it at least decent looking from the outside. They did so with the BRZ. Yet they seem addicted to odd angles, sharp edges, and slopes rather than making it more stylish. I wish they had the visual appeal of the Volvo wagons but the mechanicals of Subaru.

This is certainly not a bad car, but it's not the best, either. No company is perfect, and this is better than most. Toyota has their own quirks, as does Honda, but this is a sort of sensible option. I don't think you'll find a better AWD system in this price range, though Honda has a decent system on their latest Pilot and Passport. To match it, you'd have to step up to a Land Rover or a Land Cruiser/GX.

[rithantony]

been wanting to mention this for ages, but the camera person is doing an awesome job! sticks meticulously to the narrative, as if we were there in real life.

[ydrhmhr]

Just bought a 2024 touring XT today. This is our 3rd Subaru with a 2014 Forester and 2018 Outback we adore. Honestly this gentleman on the video could not be more correct. I HATE the climate controls are on that giant screen as opposed to physical buttons. I want the buttons back that I can feel from muscle memory and find without staring at a screen and mashing on a screen. I truly do not want to have to mess with a touch screen for something I need to adjust or change frequently while driving 70+MPH or in traffic. That is a big fail and dangerous if you are someone like me who frequently changes the climate controls due to the kind of internal temperature battles women and men of a certain age experience due to hormonal issues. That unexpected "upgrade" alone almost killed buying this for me along with the lack of up front storage caused by eliminating the nice little cargo door in the dash that was there and isn't anymore to make room for the huge screen that is wildly unnecessary and the charger array, most of which I don't need or want. I'm particularly concerned that if that screen doesn't work, not only am I out my entertainment feature and nav system but also more importantly I no longer have the ability to control my physical comfort. Just a bad design decision.

[jeffk]

The Outback does really well in snowy, icy conditions. It has many standard safety features that are options on other cars. Plus with all the features, its costs less than 40k. This is where Subaru has done a pretty good job, continuing to make its cars affordable despite adding more features. Subarus are also very reliable and only need the regular maintenance. I’ve owned two Outbacks, and my current one is at 110k miles without any problems.

[chrisnagel]

I have a 2017 Forester Premium that I bought used in 2020. The airy-ness of the inside cabin is really what sold me. So much less claustrophobic than other small SUVs. But since then, I have fallen in love with all things Subaru. Although the CVT is not my preference, what a great vehicle overall. Built well, and the two dealers I use for service are really top notch. In my area of Southeastern PA, there is no shortage of Subarus on the road! Whenever I at the dealer for anything--- there are always half a dozen people buying a new one!

[mph]

As a mechanic, Subaru is one of the easier cars to work on. I can have a 2.5 engine out in 1-1.5 hours. BUT in the rust belt, some of the items get tricky such as rusty ball joints and hub bearings.

[johnmitchell]

I love how you talk in a normal speed and I also appreciate you speaking in a laym😮s language. What I'm trying to say is that you just say what's on your mind. And you don't over complicate the wording

[tuan]

I bought 2024 Outback touring last June. I decided to get the non XT engine for a better MPG, I'm not a heavy foot driver anyway.
The only option I missed on the Outback is the 3D view camera.
Thank you again for your review on the 2024 Outback touring.