2020 Subaru Outback Review: Reliable Wagon With Reasonable Long-Term Ownership Costs

Sparky on March 20, 2024

Best vehicle I have ever owned. Dependable, safe, comfortable ride, great fit & finish and responsive and overall excellent quality. No problems in 48,000 miles.

Jack on November 3, 2023

The transmission is CRAP, had 3 outback's, tranny has gone bad in two of them. STAY AWAY! BTW< anyone want to buy an outback XT, perfect condition, new transmission. Oh, gas mileage witht eh new transmission will only get 27 highway. Used to be 33 mpg. 4 SALE

Tom on June 20, 2023

I have a 2020 Subaru Outback Touring 2.4L turbo model, the fully-loaded, most expensive model. It replaced a 2011 standard Outback with a 2.5L engine and manual transmission. My only criticism is poor gas mileage, about 23-24 mpg versus the 2011's 28.2 average over more than 100K miles. I like the power (260 HP) but might have forgone the turbo had I anticipated the unimpressive mileage. My 2001 Audi Q5, with a 260 HP 2.0L turbo engine, averages 28+ mpg, but cost $10K more than my Subaru. I rationalize by recognizing that $10K will buy a lot of gasoline.

Angela S. on March 30, 2023

I lucked into finding a returned leased 2020 Outback in July of 2022. Beautiful white exterior, drives like my '13 Legacy (handed down to my daughter, thus the new car for me!). Apparently Outbacks and Legacies have the same body frame, and driving this new Outback is a dream! This is my 4th Subaru and I absolutely, without a qualm, recommend them for handling, snow, comfort, style, cargo capability. After reading the reviews here, I can agree with two issues: battery and display screen. I also had a dead battery with no apparent reason. The dealership went over the car looking for a "battery draw," but found nothing wrong. They replaced it (under warrantee), and THE NEXT DAY the new battery was also dead. The explanation was this new battery had come from a warehouse and should have been charged before installation. No charge to me and no problems since, but definitely an inconvenience. The second drawback I would mention is the display screen. Way overwhelming, hard to find the functions to change driver assist et. al., and too difficult to drive while trying to change your heat, seat temp -- basic controls that should not require the driver to look down so much and for so long. No issues with operation of the screen. Finally, and maybe this was a one-off experience, I had to have the hood repainted because a leaf had left a weird stain right in the center of the hood. I cannot claim the stain was there when I got the car, but we tried every safe method (including wet sanding) to remove it and it was under the finish (according to the body shop). I'd venture to guess it came off the assembly line like that and it was fairly faint until you noticed it. Finally, I am strongly loyal to the dealership, as they have done right by me in many situations. They are fair, give me clear explanations and warn me about upcoming repairs, considerate, and have on more than one occasion checked a warrantee on my behalf to get me a better price.

Ormica on February 14, 2023

Had our new to us Subaru Outback for 3 weeks. After learning a lot of new tech in the car, we are settling in to who gets to drive it. Love it, very happy with it!

Denyce Cahill on January 11, 2023

My 2020 Outback has so many technology issues I filed a claim with Subaru of America. The cars technology is out of control. I almost got into an accident because the car autocorrected itself. The radio changes stations and volume by itself. The technology has so many issues to list! I have filed a claim with Subaru of America. The car only has 42k miles on it. I am a sales person whom cover 2 states so I drive a lot. This is the 11 Subaru I have owned. Love the car but not the Tech! Still a Subaru fan - but the need to make this right. The dealer is awesome! I have been trading with them for 23 years now and ONLY use the dealer to service my car. After 6 months of owning the car it started acting up. I hope Subaru of America can make it right….

Eric Atcheson on January 4, 2023

Everything has been great. If I had to find something to nitpick at it would be the mileage but honestly, that is average on most days and better if you want to put the effort in and get the better mileage.

Jeffrey Chang on December 9, 2022

I think Subaru Outback is good. I think the exterior is good. I think the interior is good. There is safety features. There is multimedia feature. I think Outback is fun to drive.

Chris on October 13, 2022

I bought a 2020 Subaru Ouback Touring XT (with 13,000 miles) after someone pulled out infront of me and totalled my 2015 Cadillac XTS. I bought the Outback because i heard the reliability was great, my ex girlfriend loves hers, i bike, and hike around Georgia. The factory trailor hitch was an added bonus. Every time i hit the smallest bump i say ow for the car... For a vehicle that is supposed to be made for rugged terrain, it doesn't handle pot holes or bumps well at all. At speeds around 35 mph, the ride becomes loud. At around 45 or 50 mph i can hear air whistling through the sunroof. On the freeways i have to crank up the music to drown out road noise and the wistling from the sunroof. When putting the car into drive from park it makes a loud whisling sound that i worry is waking the neighbors when leaving for work at 4 am. I took it to the dealer and they said, "that's weird, maybe it has to do with the recall on the transmission." So i had the recall handled. When going to pick the Subaru up, they told me the noise was normal... So it went from weird to normal... on my servicing ticket it states "Customer states when vehicle is taken out of park it squeaks..." it says some other stuff and then, "Noise is the high pressure pump for the transmission whis is normal sound." I haven't heard another one doing this... The windows take forever to roll up. The Subaru will constantly yell at you to keep your eyes on the road and ding (even if your eyes are on the road). If you have your phone connected to bluetooth, the person on the line will hear it too... When using the cruise control with self driving, be prepared to fight the wheel to keep the Outback in the center of the lane. The cruise control will also vary your speed from -4 mph to +5 mph from where you set your cruising speed. The center consol cup holders seem like they were smushed into the consol as an after thought. None of the buttons or usb ports are illuminated at night, so it is very difficult to see when trying to plug something in or turn things on and off. The sunroof slide button feels loose and very cheap. Turn signal, headlight, and wiper leavers and switches feel very cheap. For a 40,000 dollar car, i expected A LOT better. I'm trading the Subaru in for a Cadillac CT6... the popularity of these cheaply, poorly made Subarus is astonishing...

Lydia on September 10, 2022

I bought Subaru Outback in 2020 After a year battery was dead. Subaru Flatirons in Boulder replace it. After a year it is the same problem. Subaru Flatirons in Boulder CO said that they can't help me I need to call Subaru