I took the car to the dealership at 28k due to extreme pulsing and grinding in the front brakes at street speeds. They ended up turning the rotors and that solved the problem for now—we’ll see how long it lasts as I drive the car 80% on the highway and the rotors were already warped at 28k. I also had the dealer check the alignment—they claimed it was “within spec”, still it was like crap and hard to control.
I had to replace the tires at 30k because the OEM Falkens were terrible in the rain. It’s a company car so they put Firestone Destination LE3 in it (I had no words). Moreover, an alignment was made. The difference was absolutely night and day. The car is still very light in steering, but no where near as vibrating. I’m not afraid of driving like I used to. This just tells me that I will never put Falkens in anything and that the Dealers can’t be trusted—see my other posts… I got some feedback from the dealers to return the rotors as they “wouldn’t were sure if it would be under warranty” but they did. The shop that installed the tires set them at 37 psi—I found this out when I got home. I ran the tires back down to 33 and all the handling were somewhat back, so no, I run the tires at 37PSI—-go figure.
Mileage- Around town, still terrible….probably an average of 15-16. On the road, with cruise at 70 mph, I’ll get about 25. Not using cruise and driving 78-80, I consistently see mid 26 mph. Both mileage numbers are calculated by the computer, so it’s the same method. It doesn’t make sense, but it’s reality. I believe this is due to the programming essentially keeping the CVT out of the higher gear range, causing the engine to run about 300-400 rpm higher with cruise engaged. I don’t believe for a second that the engine is tight or scratchy at lower rpm. It’s a mistake on Subaru’s part
The interior has held up well – I have ivory leather and no complaints. The seats are finally starting to break in after a while, but passengers still say the landing is brutal for more than 45 minutes. I have developed multiple internal rattles and rattles. I had to replace the front wipers—the shop took a long time to find and replace them… The seat heaters and steering wheel heaters are weird and dirty. I think I have the steering wheel heat since they are trying to force you to drive in “10 and 2” but why the seat heaters only have a strip in the middle is really weird.
In general, the car is much better than it was for the first 30 thousand. Now, the question is will it stay that way or will it turn again as the tires wear out. I still find the car very strange with all the electronic nannies, especially the sight, which I find aggressive, to the point where it has been hit hard enough a few times when the car in front of me is spinning that I almost flipped over. it ended RAB has done similar things, when there was not a car within 75 meters in the parking lots. The 2 biggest things I would change are the aggressiveness of the vision braking/RAB and the lane monitors (Off from day one along with the center system). The transmission still hunts like crazy on hills if doing less than 30 mph, often revving the engine to 3500+ RPM. I think the transmission is also starting to slip on occasion when I accelerate at highway speeds, but it’s very rare that I’m able to reproduce. The fake shift is much less pronounced now and feels more like a traditional transmission when under harder acceleration, so that’s better.
By far the two best features I like about the car are the AVH and the interior space. If I had to rate the car initially I would have given it about a 4, now I would give it a 6.8-7. I can’t give it more because the only way the car got there was for the dealer to fix the brakes and put $1,400 worth of tires and fitment on a new vehicle – to me that’s not good. After 30,000, I still think the climate controls are not intuitive, but nothing can be done about it.
So at the end of the day, the car is much better than ever, but only because of the modifications/repairs that needed to be done (tires, 3rd party alignment, etc). Now I can at least understand why many of you love this car, but to me, it’s still a strange vehicle that seems to be part of the Subaru culture, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
