Our family of 3 also has 3 hounds. The hounds lay out better on bench seats, 2 of them are a bit big for curling up on the Captains Chairs.
If I could get it, I would get a Premium with all of the features of the Touring. The heated wheel is a must have for me. I don’t like all of the chrome trim on the Touring and I would prefer black leather. If I could pay the same price (maybe more if I had to) for a loaded up Premium as the Touring and get black leather (brown is acceptable), 8 passenger and the additional features, I would have no issue have a lower trim “badge” and get it my way.
I think a lot of people would feel the same, so the argument of leaving money on the table is crap. I also believe that I am their target buyer. We have 3 daily driver vehicles in our house and mine is the ONLY one that is not a Subaru. This is because they haven’t offered a 3 row with the space I need. They now have it, but if I cannot get it configured as I need, I will just keep driving what I have and they won’t get my money. Yes, what I have not is not a bench and not ideal, which is why I am hoping Subaru will change their approach mid-cycle or next model year.
I think right now, they also want to limit the build options so that they can build these more efficiently since it is a new vehicle, new assembly line and they were anticipate high demand. That I believe is good business. I hope when they get things sorted out, they will either have the bench 2nd row in brown available (they have a brown 2nd row in the OB Touring) or will offer the upgrade features to the Premium for a fee.
