Why Do People Buy Subarus?

It's the reputation. Subaru's in some areas (Seattle, Colorado, Minnesota, NE) are known to be reliable, fuel efficient, & have great AWD.

Thing is, there are better options. Camry/Accord, Rav4/CRV, or most Mazdas will be more reliable, & get better fuel economy. Here ( in Wisconsin) an Accord or Camry do perfectly well in the snow. Put on some snow tires for winter if you really need great traction during a snow storm, & you'll do better in the snow than a forester. You could get a Camry in AWD too if you really want & you'd have a better package than any Subaru for reliability, MPG, & traction.

I believe they are one of the best value and reliable cars of all time.

Bought a new CRV from Honda. Literally would not move in 1 inch of snow. Just sat there spinning. Bad weight distribution plus probably bad factory tires. But that was the worst of all time.

When I was looking to purchase a used car a few years back I wanted a car that was reliable and had AWD for winter. Since I commute on a highway and I’ve witnessed the aftermath of enough accidents, I also wanted a vehicle with a decent safety rating. My mechanic friend recommended Honda, Toyota, or Subaru. I found a Subaru Legacy with low miles that I could pay for without getting a loan. Five years later, no issues. I’ll keep it as long as I can. If I ever get to the point financially that I can drop money on a restored Toyota Land Cruiser or Defender, I’ll gladly do that. Until then I’m content with boring and reliable.

I had a 2002 WRX wagon, the first year the WRX was available. I personally live the station wagon style. It was a lot of fun and fairly reliable, except it ate tires (needed replacement every 30k) and required 91 octane. Around 150k it started having issues like an injector going bad, I think the turvo needed replacement, and around 160k the (manual) transmission went bad. Ended up selling it to an Asian kid for $3000 (about half what KBB said it was worth with a good trans).

They are fuel efficient, well-built cars that are good on snow that you can easily strap a kayak, canoe or bike to. My Subaru has been a great, reliable vehicle.

Typical Colorado Lib doesn't understand why I drive a truck that I can't park anywhere in the city!

Explain why you own a truck you cant park locally? Seems impractical. Does it compensate for what you perceive to be your own shortcomings?

Subarus were doing AWD before it was cool. For those who needed extra traction in snow country but didn't need or want the extra size and expense of a 4WD pickup they made sense. They have however long had a reputation for some years and models, head warpage which is harder and more expensive to fix with the opposing cylinders. Those who haven't had that problem may live long lives.

I was in snow country in 2005~ and my 4WD truck died and my fwd car wasn't always cutting it and I got an Imprezza. Killed it in the snow and had spirited performance even in the non turbo model. About ten years ago my number was up. I had followed proper maintenance including using "special anti freeze conditioner" to limit the possibility of a warped head(s), but it wasn't to be. A new/used engine would of been 5k plus, with the likely hood of this repeating. I was in the desert so I got a basic fwd car, currently have a Spark, which does great with the limited snow we get.

All automakers now have mid size suv's with AWD, Subaru was a pioneer, but consumers have other option nowadays.

It's a white people thing. It's a Japanese car (aka perceived value and reliability) without the stigma of being driven by East Asians. And yes lesbians love them too.

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alright for crying out loud. Yes there are reasons to have a full size SUV other than farming. I pull 8K pound boat. Shall i do that with a suburu? I have multiple kids going in all directions with equipment and travel to boot. I like my big SUV and I am most certainly a liberal.

people buy subarus if they don't really like cars and want an appliance instead. And they live in a place with bad weather and want 4WD. And don't understand that all weather tires are more important than 4WD and you can put them on an actually interesting car, and do just fine in the winter.

Subaru a non-choice, an abdication of design choice, an admission you just want some bland in your life.

Unless we are talking owning a WRX. Then you are pretty awesome.

Pros: AWD that's not too expensive. Not too douchey.

Cons: Cheap Interiors. Head gasket will fail eventually. Looks are an acquired taste.

What I don't understand is why anyone would buy a giant SUV or pickup, especially American made ones.

I am a person who bought Subarus for the AWD. I ALSO put snow tires on in winter. Many people who ski regularly here have both AWD and snow tires. All weather tires on a 2wd not only doesn't cut it, it's actually illegal to drive through the passes. When I was younger and poorer, this is what I had, and we had to put chains on the tires pretty regularly, which was extremely effective (better than AWD) but also super annoying.

I have had two Subaru Outbacks and loved them both. Great family car (I have three kids) with a bit more space than most of their competitors (eg Rav4, CRV, etc.). Also just feels a little more luxurious than an equivalently priced Toyota or Honda. I did buy a hybrid Rav4 most recently, however, as I wanted better gas mileage. I love getting 42+ mpg, but the Outback is so much nicer to drive.

To be clear, snow tires ~= all weather tires.

Why?

They are reliable. They have the best AWD system of any car manufacturer. They are safe.

I have a 2015 Forrester with over 130k miles now and never had a single issue. Perfect car for the Lake Tahoe area.

Compromise car. It's not awesome at any one thing, but not that bad at anything. Decent ground clearance and great AWD system + relatively decent gas mileage and good enough road manners. I put most of my miles on the roads, but work sometimes takes me onto unimproved forest roads or into deep snow or mud. It's not as good as a truck off-road of course, but much better than the other crossover type things I've driven. The only modification I did was ditch the stock Geolanders.