Luckily, the after-market glass ran about $330 and they delivered the car to my wifeâs office which is a nice service. Insurance deal quoted was over four times that (but no surprise there). Also, our dealer is the best in Kansas and said they would re-calibrate it without charge IF it needed it after the install. Thankfully we didnât have to test that with them.
It is our best car weâve owned since my Mercedes days (back in the day)- the old 1989 SEL600 WAS an amazing car for itâs time and ran like a bat out of hell (a V8 made for the Autobahn). We had to LEARN how to drive the new Outback (as in a 2 hour overview) before we left the lot! The connection to our android phones is very well done with limited steering wheel control over Pandora, YouTube, and several other apps (you can forward the program, use the volume and it covers the basics convenience wise). We are not fans of the satellite services, and basically our phone data replaces most of what satellite offers (and adds MORE options too).
Owned now for 1 1/2 yrs. and one trip to the shop for a âfirmwareâ upgrade is all thatâs been needed. BUT⊠do be careful as they have a VERY pushy service program. They expect tire rotation at 6-8k miles (when theyâd like to change your oil at the same time for a few hundred bucks to boot). We live too far out, AND I do ALL service except for the tough stuff anyway, so I delete a lot of emails from them (and they work your phone too). But lately theyâve taken me off most spam and they are now trying to sincerely schedule a re-call service we need to look into soon. So good with the bad I guess.
If you are a person who lives near the dealership (and is barely able to pump your own gas), and likes expensive services, it works for you maybe. But when they âscheduleâ trans-axle service (flushing also) at 28k miles for ONLY $700 (when old outbacks ran the same gears/oil for 400k miles not too long ago)â well, I looked at them like they were mad! I then clarified that was an âelectiveâ service and didnât impact the warranty. But they didnât want to tell me that until I pressed the issue and ârefusedâ that service they tried to push on us when we got the firmware fix. Hey⊠they were nice enough, but they just are trained to push the service; and all you have to do is say ânoâ and itâs all good.
We test-drove Honda, Mazda, Toyota, and Subaru and I can say we are very glad we went with the Outback in a nicer trim with the lighter off-white leather Vs. the dark interiors that just get HOT so fast here in Kansas in summer with the sun right overhead. But if it werenât for the âwifeâ factor, I could have been really happy with the base model which has a lot of decent options (and for about $8k less than the top-line models) But itâs her car and so as Bugs Bunny once said, âwhatever baby wants, baby gets!â
Thanks for the reply and the good info. We live 1.5 hours each way from the dealership and expensive services are not popular with us. But I might get one anyway.
Thank Bâharni (pbuh!) my (2013) Buick doesnât have all that garbage. All this crap to keep you from rear-ending the car in front, from drifting out of your lane, from falling asleep at the wheel, from leaving your coffeemaker on when you leave the house, all that nonsense. Newer models do, but I hang onto cars with a death-grip âtil they decide on their own to go to the Great Junkyard In The Sky.
Oh⊠AND the paddle shifting is REALLY a superbly done feature for driving the hills I see you live in We did Denver down to Pagosa Springs through Colorado last spring (about 500 miles in mountains) over seven days through record snowfall (a month after we got it new). Went by many icy road wrecks, and some snow packed back roads. Also went over several mountain passes other cars needed chains for. The Outback had zero issues, road straight as a razor through mixed conditions, and was very comfortable to drive in it all.
Our friends we stayed with in Denver saw us drive up and first thing said was, âhey! you got the official car of Colorado⊠cool!â I have to say the nicer trim is very cushy and its a fairly quiet car (compared to my old Bronco anyway!). I run Royal Purple oil in it (20k miles per oil change), and check fluids/flip filters every 8k or so. It runs cool and gets 30mpg on the 4 banger engine if not pushed too hard up the smaller âFlint Hillsâ where we live in Kansas. The 6 banger isnât needed since the car âhas the gearsâ and itâs peppy enough for passing cars on mountain roads too.
I shopped 7 months for this car So hope you donât have to here
Honestly, for a second I thought you meant you could steer using your phone.
I love gadgets, but Iâm glad my cars are âoldâ enough that I can work on them myself. They use real metal keys, have knobs for the climate control, and I even have to work the steering wheel, accelerator, and brake myself.
One of my cars even has three pedals!
Many people I know with ânewâ cars have a TPMS light on. When I point it out they say, âYeah, thatâs always on.â :partying_face:
For fun, hereâs a how-to video on driving a 1925 Ford Model T:
And that is WHY we bought the Outback (WITH the extended warranty for the dash OS to 100k miles).
BTW: my other car is a 2000 Tahoe (which runs perfectly and is pretty clean for 220k miles, and I bought it in 2004). I have done all maintenance since getting it, know it like a wife, and hope to be driving it ten more years from now. But if Iâm lucky MAYBE Iâll end up with this Outback⊠then :innocent:
Not the best car I owned⊠but my old Vette had three too (and six gears). I loved driving it with the Targa tops off on Saturdays around Austin back then. But it sucked for a commuter since you had to park well away from the âpileâ to keep door dings down and manâ red Vetts just GET frickinâ tickets without even trying.
Hated selling it, but hated garaging it in St Paul, MN more (after that relocation). 18â wide tires were NOT good up north 8 months out of the year. Still fun times were had for sure.
I miss manual shift⊠a bit. But Iâm getting on without it. Certainly donât miss it in heavy traffic. But overall itâs safer, because you donât have to keep pulling one hand off the steering wheel to shift.
One nice thing that started to happen is aftermarket car stereo systems with built-in GPS navigation & setup for cameras (fore, aft). You can get them with USB inputs, support for cellphones (Android, iOS) plus Bluetooth for hands-free. Install one on an old car & BINGOâyouâve just bumped up to modern days. Itâs so liberating to stick a 128Gb drive in the slot mounted in the glove box⊠and have a massive music library at your finger tips. Or even Bluetooth connect to your phone & access the music on that. After putting in a Kenwood DDX9904s head unit, my car experience was totally bumped up, well enough that Iâll probably keep my car up until I finally switch to electric.
You say that, and I agree. But I also canât help but notice drivers, every time that Iâm out, that canât seem to âcolor inside the linesâ as I mutter at them. There are really some out there that depend on lanekeeping-assist to be viable drivers.
It would help if they put their [redacted expletives] phones down while they drive!
You know, as much as enthusiasts knock it, ABS is a great thing. Power steering is great when they donât muck it up and introduce a bunch of slop into the steering. Stability control is nice, because I donât have the control to manually brake a single corner in a skid.
Traction control, though⊠Well, I donât think Iâd miss that one.
As far as transmissions go, Iâll never own a slushbox (torque converter transmission) nor a rubber-belt CVT. I am in a Prius, though, which they call a CVT but its transaxle is very different and more robust than the rubber-belt CVTs that like to explode every 100k. Actually, itâs more robust than manual transmissions tooâŠ
The problem with all this high-tech crap is that it lets idiots âdriveâ. And mfrs pandering to these idiots is even more infuriating.
There was one commercial that really pissed me off. Some pretty-boy is in his car on the way to work, presumably, and is daydreaming, âI need to get ready for that meeting at 11âŠâ BEEP BEEP BEEP, the car slams on its brakes to keep him from rear-ending the car stopped at a light ahead, âWhew, that was closeâŠâ. Then heâs wondering if maybe he left his curling-iron on, BEEP BEEP BEEP, âWhew, almost drifted out of my lane right into that other carâŠâ, and so on, like 3-4 times.
The mfr is supposed to be proud of that? Letting idiots who have no business behind the wheel of a car, go out into the world and glide right through stop-signs? Well, I guess so, because there are cars now which can âreadâ speed-limit signs, stop-signs, etc., and act accordingly.
I agree, itâs ridiculous. But Iâd feel much safer if certain other drivers that are on the road all had certain safety features like lanekeep assist. So they donât change lanes into ME or rear-end ME. Iâd of course prefer they be better driversâŠ
I like the emergency braking system, to cover for you if you happen to mess up. THAT is a smart device. But adaptive cruise control? BAD. Because it lulls the driver into paying less attention. Driverâs shouldnât be doing anything except DRIVING. You donât need to be ârelievedâ of the cognitive function of keeping a safe distance.
What is missing is a TAILGATE ALERT. Heck, theyâve got distance sensors for parking. Use them while traveling.
If your car gets too close to the car in front of you, a bright yellow dashboard light starts to flash. If after 5 seconds you have not corrected, a beeping alarm goes off in the cabin. If you STILL ignore it, the car takes control of the accelerator and eases up on the gas for a few seconds. If the driver canât âhandleâ this, they shouldnât be driving.
If the car behind you gets too close, the 3rd brake light starts pulsating. If that car doesnât back off, reverse lights start flashing as well. If a cop spots this, theyâve got every right to pull over the offending vehicle and issue a costly ticket.
This should be happening already to SCHOOL the idiots who just refuse to practice safe driving.
I had an idea about 20 yrs ago (in high-tech Austin back when it existed) while out with drinks with my programmers/board designers.
Idea: Make a GUN that shoots⊠(wait for it)⊠code. Not infrared, but radio and at a certain frequency (bought by the âpoliceâ lobby in Washington at the FCC auction that was selling off cell phone bandwidth at that timeâ and since). A narrow band device ON the car that ONLY has one job: to take electronic âbulletsâ from other driversâ electronic guns.
So⊠if you drive like a âcoitusâing donkey holeâ⊠within a year youâre going to have THOUSANDS of âhitsâ which should cost lets say about $5 a hit. Soâ a $10,000 fine to get your license renewed and goes to a PUBLIC fund paid out to drivers with LOW hit pointsâ and NOT insurance (scam artist) companiesâ but right BACK in the pockets of good drivers.
Now, like military school⊠you got a few freeby hits to avoid âtour dutyââ since some people got nothing to do but shoot other drivers (and they ALSO have a fine if too many shots are fired). So itâs a completely feasible idea (20 years ago even), and totally democratic.
I guess this is what happens growing up smoking (really bad) weed, playing LOTS of dungeons and dragons in high school, and finally getting out of college and jumping into the (kinda) real world of high tech back when we were ALL doing start-ups (even for just for a week over beers)
I found this article on ârisk compensation,â with some seemingly counterintuitive scenarios.
The article includes H-Day, when Sweden switched from driving on the left to driving on the right, and two groups of German taxis, one with and one without anti-lock brakes.
I will, however, admit to feeling a tiny bit safer when the car behind me on the highway is a Tesla. Do all of their models have front-end collision prevention?
âIf you want people to drive safer, take out the airbags and attach a machete pointing at their neck. No one will drive over three miles per hour.â