2013 Subaru Legacy Overview, Reviews, Ratings & Specs

Dominique on February 28, 2024

I bought mine in 2013 with 42,000 miles. I soon found out that it was sold to me with an oil leak. The radiator , transmission and everything else blew at 153000 miles , the car had to be junked. This was my first and last Subaru.

H.L. Himes on July 6, 2023

Bought 2013 Legacy 2.5 premium in early 2014 with approximately 9k miles. Now has 88k and other than routine maintenance no other issues. It has been and remains one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned. That includes a few BMW’s and Mercedes. Great all year round especially in the winter. Will definitely consider another Subaru if this one ever xxxxxx. Hoping not

Kyle on May 8, 2023

Not my first subi, definitely NOT my last. This thing grabs the road like no other a bit of a stiff suspension at this point with 125k miles on it but she still rides like a dream!. great fuel mileage I get about 28mpg back hwy 35mpg highspeed hwy. seamless driving with the cvt transmission that you can also put in paddle shift for a geared feel. My only concern is she seems to drink a little oil. No leaks not burning subaru calls it consumption. But 1 qt every 1800 to 2k miles is a little much for me

callsign on May 27, 2021

Bought a Subaru Legacy mainly for my wife to use. This car had me questioning why I bought my Infiniti Q60 that was more than twice as expensive! Everything in the Legacy is so well thought out and the attention to details is extremely impressive. It's a wonderful car and great for road trips. Two and a half liter 4-cylinder feels much more powerful than its' displacement would imply, the air conditioning is so cold you could store meat in the car (comes on right away too), cabin storage is vast and the rear seat legroom is bigger than an old Checker cab (bigger than my old '71 Marquis Brougham-and that was a BIG car!). I have nothing but praise for my Subaru Legacy.

Elise on April 17, 2021

I am 5 ft tall, so I've always had a little trouble with cars. After having a 2008 (ish?) Chevy HHR for a while, I started developing back and neck pain. We still don't know what caused it, but the forward tilting headrests that forced my head into an unnatural position certainly didn't help. I traded that in for a 2013 Nissan Rogue, which functioned great, but the scoop-back seats didn't provide me the back support I needed, and I developed knee pain as well. I missed the oodles of seat adjustments the HHR had, so I searched for a car to trade in for with all those adjustments and headrests that didn't hurt. The 2013 Subaru legacy was that car! After trying 5-ish cars throughout a few days, they finally showed me this one and it was perfect. Getting into and out of the car is easy since it's at exactly the right height for me. I can adjust lumbar and knee support in addition to the usual adjustments, and when I took it for a test drive after spending a few minutes to get the adjustments right, it was amazing. There was no pain, I found myself naturally sitting up straight and completely comfortable. The steering wheel with the adjustment to bring it toward you helped, too, so I wasn't stretching out my arms to reach the wheel and my elbows could comfortable rest at my sides while I drove. I have had this car for about a month now, and although I haven't driven it very much since I don't really go anywhere, it's been a delight to drive whenever I do go out. It's just a very comfortable and smooth drive. The moon roof is just a very nice bonus. It is very low to the ground, so that's something to keep in mind. It would definitely scrape up against some oddly-angled driveway entrances. I had one instance soon after taking it home where I stopped at a stop sign, then when I pressed on the gas pedal nothing happened. It took a good 15-20 seconds for it to decide to work again and then it started to go just fine. Not sure what was going on with that, but it hasn't happened since. And, given that it's 2021 and this is a 2013 car, I just figure every car is going to have its quirks. I'll bring it into the shop if it happens again, but for now it's fine. But this is the first car I've had where I am determined to pay it off and keep it forever instead of only having it for a few years until I can trade it in for something better. It's just so nice to be able to drive without being in pain again, after 5-6 years of constant back and neck pain.

Hooray on July 1, 2020

So far I'am Extremely Happy with the Reliability of my 2013 Subaru Legacy. This car responds better than any of my cars in split second decisions from any where from avoiding pot hole's to avoiding wild life crossing's.

Badgerfan on January 18, 2020

Subaru’s at one point, were the fastest growing Car company in America. I currently own 2 and love them. They hold their value and will last a long time.

SamS on October 31, 2019

This car has been mechanically reliable with no repairs needed and now nearly 95,000 miles on the car with exactly 6 years of ownership (Oct. 13-Oct. 19). We own the 3.6L 6 cylinder H engine, and it has burned a small amount of oil since 2017. When I say small I mean less than a quart every 5000 miles, when we change the oil. We check the oil level after driving 2500 miles and about 70% of the time around 4000 miles I need to add a half a quart. Subaru Corporate gave us a workaround, telling us the oil reservoir can hold 6.9 quarts of oil, or 0.9 more than the owners manual states. When we do that, we never have to add oil as it is full still after 5000 miles. It passes inspection so the car is fine otherwise. While the interior is fairly comfortable for long trips, the controls will make you unhappy if you have the GPS system installed. We did get a software update after three years which made it a lot better, but it is a pain in some ways. For example, if you put the car in reverse after starting it, a pop up screen saying the car has connected via bluetooth to your cell-phone blocks about 50% of the screen with a black box. It is better than before when the whole screen was blocked, but you still either need to stop moving backward or look over your shoulder to see behind you while this is happening. Another issue is the bluetooth itself. It is klunky to use and after a few years disconnects from your phone unless you re-initialize and reattach it. By klunky is you have to memorize a lot of commands to make it work. For example, to make a call you first say, "Handsfree," It responds, "Hands Free Command please." You then say, "Call <name> on mobile." It responds, "Do you want to call <Name> on mobile?" You say, "Yes," then it says, "Calling <Name> on mobile." Other systems don't demand you say Handsfree to start , and in addition, the other systems I have used (GM, Ford, Toyota) don't have the diction problems the Harmon Kardon system that Subaru uses (it misinterprets commands about 35% of the time ). Does it work? Yes. Well, not so much. The OEM tires that came with the car where junk. They were so bad when it snowed the AWD car had trouble going up our 650 ft. mountain. My wife thought the AWD was crap. I told her it was the tires. After the first year they wore out with 25,000 miles on them. I put on much better tires and that following winter, no more problems. She loves the car now as snow does not stop it at all. Having mentioned all those issues, you probably wonder why I like this car. I like it because actual repairs have been minimal. I like it because it is durable and works well in the snow with good tires. The expression "Inexpensive and built to stay that way" is still true as of 2013. It rides fairly well on long distance trips and the gas mileage is not horrid (about 22.5 mpg around town in traffic in the suburbs, about 29 mpg on the highway). We do know that the suspension will probably have to be worked on around 110,000 miles. We also need to replace the transmission fluid even though Subaru insists you never have to change it (we will change it by 100,000 miles ). Spark plugs don't have to be replaced for 120,000 miles as they are titanium which is a good thing because with the cylinders on the side of the engine, it is not easy to do ( you have to do it by feel, not by sight). They are not the easiest to maintain but with their durability it is worth the effort. We plan to keep this car like our last car, a Saab, which we kept for 12 years and 190,000 miles before selling it (also very reliable but they are not made anymore). In this case we are fairly confident this car will be able to do the same thing - that our kids can drive it in 3.5 years when it is nearly 10 years old and they are in high school. Overall we are positive about the car.

Larrychicago on August 15, 2019

Mileage is very good, goes along way on a tank of gas. The interior of the car is basic, the rear seat legroom is one of the best for the size of car it is. Car suspension very stiff and a little rough on anything but smooth roads. I have spent a lot on repairs beyond the basics, such as wheel bearings, control arm bushings, ignition coils, etc. Also struts wore out quickly with less then 50 K mileage. Car tends to burn oil with least a quart needing to be added between oil changes (uses full syn oil).

Subru on July 26, 2019

Nice comfortable ride, reliable car, relatively quick, simplistic. drives great in the rain and snow, only con is the gas mileage is slightly below par