In the market for what will be a 3rd vehicle in the family, replacing a 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid. It will be used summers and breaks by two college kids and I'll split daily driving it at other times with my 4Runner, my wife has her own vehicle.
Last Subaru was a 2003 Outback that we sold when we bought the 4Runner in 2014. We are here in upstate NY and having a Subaru would give us another 4/AWD option in the winter. My wife is a nurse and with any significant winter weather, she typically takes the 4Runner, but I think would rather drive an awd car or crossover. Trying to keep costs down on this 3rd vehicle so it will be used - Crosstrek seems to be a good choice, although a Legacy could be another lower cost option.
Getting back up to speed on Subaru's, couple definite questions come up. First is the CVT issues I'm reading. I was kind of surprised by what I was reading since we get Consumer Reports, and Subaru has been at the top reliability wise for at least a few years. It sounds like the CVT issues are old news, back from the 20 teens? I read one posting somewhere from a Subaru tech that he hasn't seen a problem transmission after model years 2020 or 2021 (I think he said non-turbos)? Our budget would get us into something no older than that, probably newer. But then I see posts like change the fluid every 30k miles and the CVT should be good for 100k? I'm thinking a 100k?? Very limited maintenance and essentially no repairs got us to 100k with our Toyota's and all 3 are pushing 200k with no major issues.
The other question would be the 2.0 vs. 2.5 for the Crosstrek. Is the 2.0 with the CVT that much of a dog? How about the 2.0 with the 6 speed - I assume at least somewhat of an improvement over the CVT? Our 2003 Outback was a manual and that could be an option, not that many out there, but I see them. It looks like 2.5s were available starting in 2021 so those could be found as well, even though the 2.0/CVT seems to be the most popular. Thanks in advance for any comments anyone can offer on these Crosstrek drivetrain questions - I assume the CVT question would be the same for the Legacy with a 2.5NA engine.
Last Subaru was a 2003 Outback that we sold when we bought the 4Runner in 2014. We are here in upstate NY and having a Subaru would give us another 4/AWD option in the winter. My wife is a nurse and with any significant winter weather, she typically takes the 4Runner, but I think would rather drive an awd car or crossover. Trying to keep costs down on this 3rd vehicle so it will be used - Crosstrek seems to be a good choice, although a Legacy could be another lower cost option.
Getting back up to speed on Subaru's, couple definite questions come up. First is the CVT issues I'm reading. I was kind of surprised by what I was reading since we get Consumer Reports, and Subaru has been at the top reliability wise for at least a few years. It sounds like the CVT issues are old news, back from the 20 teens? I read one posting somewhere from a Subaru tech that he hasn't seen a problem transmission after model years 2020 or 2021 (I think he said non-turbos)? Our budget would get us into something no older than that, probably newer. But then I see posts like change the fluid every 30k miles and the CVT should be good for 100k? I'm thinking a 100k?? Very limited maintenance and essentially no repairs got us to 100k with our Toyota's and all 3 are pushing 200k with no major issues.
The other question would be the 2.0 vs. 2.5 for the Crosstrek. Is the 2.0 with the CVT that much of a dog? How about the 2.0 with the 6 speed - I assume at least somewhat of an improvement over the CVT? Our 2003 Outback was a manual and that could be an option, not that many out there, but I see them. It looks like 2.5s were available starting in 2021 so those could be found as well, even though the 2.0/CVT seems to be the most popular. Thanks in advance for any comments anyone can offer on these Crosstrek drivetrain questions - I assume the CVT question would be the same for the Legacy with a 2.5NA engine.