Why I'm going to ditch Prius for Subaru

I had a subaru legacy and they are fun cars to drive. But in the last year I owned it, I put in over $3000 in repairs and then the head gasket blew.

 

I was hoping mine would last until the Legacy wagon (now dead) clean diesel (now dead) or hybrid came along. But the Forester is the only one that would suit me now, and it isn't the model getting the new hybrid system.

The old wagon has already soaked up too much repair money, and could easily soak up another $3k before the overdue head gasket blows (already some detectable gas leakage into the coolant). I had stayed out of the Suby news loop too long, and didn't learn of the problematic head gasket until after everyone else had already suffered it.

 

$300 are you nuts? It's half that. And Still over priced I may add.

Plenty of lower back support, Just adjust the lumbar, Never had a back issue driving mine, and I have lower back issues.

You sound like someone who has it in your head, you hate the Prius. So go ahead and sell. Don't say we didn't say I told you so.

 

You might test drive a Hyundai Sonata. It has shown steadily improving sales and they may have cracked the 'blue motion' code.

Bob Wilson

 

I rented a sonata while my car was in the body shop. Talk about blind spots!

 

My Prius is "raised" not lowered and my clearance is 6" not 4". Perhaps you replied and quoted the wrong message.

I disagree on "it's all technique", the 8" clearance and AWD of the Subaru Outback and Foresters provides real and substantial benefits for driving in snow. The new Impreza was lowered to 5.7" to get better mileage but Subaru did create a Impreza sport with the "family" 8" clearance.

I do have to be careful in the Prius when driving in snow, it isn't a Subaru. I can understand someone wanting the security of a Subaru in snow. It was the litany of Prius problems other than ground clearance and AWD that I found a bit contrived to justify the switch. I believe the 2015 Prius will offer an AWD drive model at 60 mpg. If, like the current Prius, some 205 tires can give it 6" clearance, it will be tempting vs. a FWD Hybrid/Extended EV car pushing 100 mpg.

 

I owned a subaru legacy 2012. it was a good car in the snow, but that was about it. decent mileage, 25-28 mpg, but nothing like what I am getting in the prius. I would never trust a subaru hybrid car or cuv. Toyota is the KING of hybrids. I wouldn't even go to a honda, at least not yet. you will regret your purchase, in my opinion.

 

Completely legitimate issue and it's a shame some folks feel the need to be flippant in their responses.

Subaru sells every Subaru Crosstek it can build. The only thing I hear consistently is that it is dog-slow (like slower then a Prius 0-60 slow). It's a great do-anything vehicle though and when they have the Hybrid version I suspect they won't be able to make them fast enough to meet demand.

Up here in middle VT and NH, the low ground clearance (which might be 4" or 5" but feels like 3" most of the time) is a real hindrance that I have to be constantly vigilant about. I put a small crack in my front valance the first winter and mange to rub someplace underneath fairly frequently going into and out of driveways or trying to navigate pot holed dirt driveways, roads and parking lots (very common up here). There's a farm stand stop off the road on my way home that I frequent and I rub underneath every single time I exit no matter how slow or careful I am. It's maybe a 4" drop from the road pavement to the dirt lot but you can't pull out slowly due to the traffic on the road. This is just one instance. I have friends I visit frequently who live on dirt roads... it's a challenge sometimes.

I run 4 snow tires in the winter and have had zero issues with traction unless I get in too deep which is, again, easy, due to the low ground clearance.

I'm looking forward to replacing my old Accord with a taller, 4WD or AWD vehicle for those wintery days and dirt road travels. We love our Prius (and in particular the gas money it saves us) but a foul weather 2nd vehicle would be welcome.

 

You're pretty brave to post here about ditching your Prius. But I applaud you as others have said, Prius is not for everyone despite Toyota's latest commercial jingle. We had a Subaru WRX and loved it. 25 mpg was a small price to pay for one of two cars, the other being a Corolla, that could successfully make it up our driveway without scraping the underside of the car. Our neighborhood has a large dip at the curb of evey house.

The only problem we had was a stuck gas door flap repaired under warranty. Oh and the head gasket also blew on our engine at 144k miles. It cracked a cylinder block or so the mechanic said and we decided to part with the car instead of $3000 for repair. I call that fairly reliable for the amount of miles we had on it. We would've gotten another Subaru but the AWD spooked us. While it was simply bliss driving through chain controls watching the poor wretches freeze in the snow putting on their chains, tire replacement can get pricey. It only happened to us once where one tire was defective and was replaced under warranty. But the AWD system required all tires be replaced at the same time, not just one. The other 3 were on us. A full set of tires cost near $1000 for our model.

 

Well, the OP certainly has thought it out.
So what do you do? Enjoy the Subaru.

Does seem a lot of the discontent is based on some bad luck and things "done" to the Prius. The ground clearance is the ground clearance and the Prius never presents itself as being an off road vehicle.

I haven't had to deal with the issue yet, but from what I've read here, if snow and ice driving is something you must face in great degree, snow tires help a lot. But I would guess that even at it's potential best The Prius isn't going to match a Cross Over Subaru for snow and ice condition driving. So again, if that IS a priority? Enjoy the Subaru.

Part of the reason I didn't upgrade to a higher model Prius was the posts I've read here about the general discontent with the Prius Navigation. But whether you have it or not, you always have the option of ignoring it and using that Garmin.

Subaru's have the reputation of being good cars. If owning a hybrid and the advantages of hybrid ownership are no longer something someone values in vehicle ownership? Then again, enjoy The Subaru.

When you are driving in snow and ice, or in water...you'll probably be happy. When you are driving into the gas station, and doing so more frequently, probably not as happy.

 

I sold my 2011 Subaru Forester so I could buy a 2013 Prius. I have 2 other Subarus in my household, a 2009 and 2010 Subaru Legacy (the 2010 was a new body style and transmission), so you know what I think about Subarus. I also drive enough that the difference in gasoline savings in driving a Prius is enough over the course of a month to actually pay the car payment. I have no complaints at all about the Subarus. My 2010 Legacy is one of the best cars I've ever owned. Over 30mpg in an all-wheel-drive sedan. I'll probably replace it with another one in a year or two. Every car has it's place. I think the OP could be happy with most Subaru cars. I looked at buying a 2014 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid (not available yet), but went for the Prius instead. The Crosstrek was too small, plus the difference between the gas Crosstrek and Hybrid Crosstrek was only an EPA estimated 3mpg highway mileage. That's right, 3mpg. Laughable. My Forester, built in Japan, had great handling, the best all around visibility, just not great mileage. At least I don't have to choose between a Subaru and Toyota, I have them both.

 

I'm not sold on Subaru reliability . I had a repair shop for many years, and those things were crapola from what I saw come in my shop. Just like you won't see a transmission shop without half a dozen Ford's in the parking lot, take a look sometime it's funny.

 

Good for you. If you are not happy with a car it is nice to be able to to move on. Some people are stuck until they pay it off. Let us know how the Hybrid does. No one should knock other folks ride. I like all hybrids, but love my Prius! Good Luck.

 

In my younger years I would have been happy with that. But a pair of Hondas set this household's expectations bar higher enough that I'm now disappointed with the problems our Subaru is having at just 171k miles.

Same here. While a normal clearance 2WD can cover the majority of my winter travel, there are some valuable segments where that comes up short. And with dad now suffering serious aging issues on the other side of one of those segments ...

 

subaru??? they still sell those? only see a handful here in Phx.. lol

 

you've obviously never been to the Flathead Valley montana. Most people there are below average income and that's the best affordable ride you can get for winter weather.
.

 

Also guessing you have never been to the Northeast. Maine/Upstate NY in particular, this has to be the most common vehicle.

 

You know, dissing a Subaru because snow traction is not a Priority in Phoenix, AZ is extremely short sighted given that Flagstaff is in the same state. I lived in a part of Nevada that got snow 10 months a year, but everyone outside the state thinks of Las Vegas.

 

Personally I would not buy the very 1st year production vehicle of the Subaru Hybrid. Best to let them work out the kinks and recalls for a year (or two) before you get it. Even when I bought my 7th generation Honda Civic (from a company synonymous with reliability), I later regretted getting the 1st year's production (that was 2001). Took a year or two for them to work out some kinks.

 

It's pretty tough to find a vehicle that can satisfy all of your need when it's the only car you own. The one vehicle will be a total compromise and not good at everything you want it to do. That's life. I'm pretty lucky in that we have three vehicles in our garage. If it snows too much or I want to go off road, the '96 Cherokee will safely get us there and back. For the commute to work or our road trips, the 2012 Prius v can't be beat. And if I don't feel like playing the mpg game, the '90 Acura Integra (158K trouble free miles still with the original clutch) it's still fun to drive.

However, if it came down to only having one car based on 95% of our personal needs, the vee would be it.

The OP made the decision that their Prius didn't cut it for them based on their needs. I respect that and fully understand it.