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So I bought a new 2014 4 cyl Subaru Outback thinking this car would be great to haul stuff and for transporting my border collie. It does in fact do a great job of hauling stuff. But for day to day driving the car drives like absolute crap. Horrible handling, horrible acceleration, horrible braking.
Can someone please tell me if there is a station wagon or small SUV out there that handles like a car? That doesn't choke when you need to pass someone on the highway? That has a good brake system? That doesn't drift all over the road like my Outback does?
Because I obviously made a big, big mistake in thinking an Outback would be a good daily commuter car.
Does anyone have any experience with the BMW or Audi or Volvo wagons?
Wow, sorry to hear that. I've heard nothing but good about Suburu Outbacks even though I've never owned one. They seem fast to me, I'm always getting passed by them and people who drive them seem to drive them pretty hard.
But I thought it was universally a loved car by it's owners.
One good thing, they hold their value good so I would guess you will be able to get your money back out of it.
I don't have any experience with those luxury model vehicles, and I don't have any experience with the Outback. I, too, was thinking the Outback was a pretty popular car and that people loved them. Did you test drive the car before making the purchase?
Only SUVs I've had experience with have been the Toyota RAV4, Honda CRV, and the Hyundai Tuscan. The RAV4 is my wife's and it's the Sport trim. It's the 4 cylinder, but it's quite peppy and the braking seems pretty good for the vehicle. Other than your doggy, I'm not sure what you're going to be hauling, but you can fold down the backseats to have a good amount of hauling space. The Tuscan I drove was a rental and we did not haul anything in it, but it was a smooth drive (like most rental cars since they're basically brand new.) It didn't have a lot of power, the RAV4 Sport was more peppy, albeit I'm comparing a Sport to more of a base model.
The CRV was another base model. I don't know how a "sport" trim of the CRV would perform, but it was my least favorite out of the three.
I did, I tested the car three times before I bought it and for some reason I did not notice these things. I think it's b/c when you are test-driving the car, you are not driving like you would day to day. You are going slow and being careful and you don't notice certain things. Or at least that's how it is for me.
Oh and by the way: the "soft" squishy brakes, the drifting all over the road, and the poor acceleration are all common complaints about this car. So they are not correctable problems. (I have already complained to the dealer and the dealer says there's nothing wrong with the car, that's how the car is, etc.)
I think what happened was when they raised this car and made it more SUV-like (I think starting in 2010 but I'm sure there's a Subaru expert out there who will correct me), they did not compensate for the extra height and weight by improving the acceleration, handling and brakes. This car used to be a true station wagon that was smaller and lower and likely much better to drive.
I would advise you to go drive another subie of the same model just to get a reality check. There's a small possibility that your car is not setup properly and causing poor acceleration. as far as handling goes, they are a bit taller.
if handling is important to you a regular wagon (not the lifted fake suv) will do better for your.
I've driven a 3 series wagon for a few months and they are not too powerful either unless you get the 335 wagon.
my brother has a suburu legacy sedan and he loves it more than any of his past hondas or acuras.
Thought about making some upgrades on the car instead?
You can lower the car for better handling and replace the brake hose to stainless steel for better feel.
Gunslinger has a great idea. Go and test drive another Outback just to make sure it isn't something wrong with your particular car. And see if you can choose where you want to the test drive to be at. Usually, sales people already have a laid out test drive route that they take everybody on that may not allow the consumer to really test the vehicle. It might be on some residential streets or flat roads where you can't test drive it's handling around curves and braking.
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