My wife has a 2018 Outback Touring purchased new. She loves it. Without any prior comment I showed her photos of the 2023 model just in case she was thinking of an upgrade. She did not like the cladding. First, she thought the front end looked “sad” with what some call the Shamu stripe. Second, she did not like the asymmetrical wheel arches. Personally, they remind me of if I asked our five year old to draw a half circle and that is about how they would come out. In both cases I fully agreed with her. This change ruins the look. For whatever it might be worth, I wrote to Subaru of America to explain that this new style of cladding was a deal breaker, and that unless it was altered my wife’s next vehicle will not be an Outback. I truly do not understand what Subaru was going for here. Is this supposed to look more rugged?
