Outback Wagon Opinions Needed

[Alan]

We are considering an '04 Outback Wagon (LL Bean Edition). Our reserach
shows that it doesn't do well in the JD Powers initial quality survey
(scored the lowest), and it apparent;ly has not been front end crash tested
yet. Other than those items the car seems to be pretty darn good. We'd love
to hear opinons and experiences from actual owners. Thanks!

 

[zero]

Love my '02 OBW. Wouldn't dream of anything else. Moved up to Alaska
recently and while I have yet to winter here, the car has already paid for
itself. I'm just afraid I'll beat it to shreds up here on the roads before
I get back to the lower 48. It's a stable ride with solid construction. If
your in the market for a wagon and can afford it, I highly recommend.

Only problems with mine to date:
-Transmission parking pawl voluntary recall (took all day at the dealer)
-Excessive road noise coming from passenger side door, fought with dealer
for a month. They finally re-hung the door and problem went away
-Drivers side door needs to be re-hung (same problem)

 

[TM]

Alan:

I was going to say... JD sucks in my humble opinion... They rated an
online broker as the best, just for me to find myself having tons of
problems with the broker. Upon additional searches, many others had
problems with the same company.

I dont think you will regret having bought the car. I was a lil
disappointed at first with my 03 Outback (2.5) (cause i was driving it
in extreme manouvers) but the car is winning me over little by little.

Enjoy the ride

 

[Alan Shein]

TM,

It's nice to get some confirmation on my JD Powers observation. For
computer-related information, I ignore them completely. I guess I can do the
same for cars, too. So far, we love this car (didn't meant to rhyme, but I
guess that's no crime- damn- did it again.) 20 MPG on the first tank, mostly
city-type driving with the a/c on. Got 22 MPG with the Camry 4 cyl, so this
isn't bad.. Handling is great. I think the suspension on mine is different
than on yours (mine is a 6 cyl, LL Bean). My only complaints so far are the
confusing array of wiper/light/climate control switches, knobs and butons,
and there should really be separate switches for the front and rear
moonroofs.

 

[Dave]

It's nice to hear this. From a personal perspective. Someone driving a
Sonoma pickup hit me doing about 35 mph 2 days ago after slamming into a
cadillac. She slammed into me headon into the driver's side which needless
to say - did extreme damage. I was the only one not removed by stretcher to
the hospital - infact not a scratch on me. It was a 2001 Outback Wagon with
24000 miles on it.

I may end up with an '04 if it is determined a total loss.