Why I'm going to ditch Prius for Subaru

Speaking of snow, I had a 93 Saturn. If it snowed 2 inchs the car would get stuck. Backed out of my driveway & the front scooped the snow until I lost traction on my front wheels. I was still infront of my house! Got it back in the drivway & went back inside. The car just sat to low. Thank goodness a dear took it out later on.

 

A dear what?

 

I liked my '07 Outback, but I had to replace it as it became too hard for my late wife to transfer from her wheelchair as her health declined. (The doors lacked frames around the windows to grab.) Overall:

- The Outback had the best AWD system I ever owned. It was very sure-footed in mixed traction situations, like ice on one side of a lane, where other AWD systems can be downright dangerous.

- The Outback with a 2.5L flat 4 and 4 speed automatic was slower than my Prius.

- Both front and back seat space was less than the Prius.

I understand that the new Outbacks have more space, but 2010s had some problems with a shimmy. With the Crosstrek, I understand that some models have a FWD-biased AWD system that is different from other Subarus.

 

My extended family bought only Subaru for 20 years. I bought two, and then later switched to Honda and then Toyota for better fuel economy. We still have our '96 Impreza outback that runs fine and gets occasional use as a hauler or on nasty snow days. I would love to see Toyota and Subaru make a car that marries many of the superior aspects of each car.

 

In the Sierra Nevada foothills its the same story. Subys everywhere!

 

By the way, current and future Subaru owners should know about a Subaru branded credit card from Chase that gives a 3% rebate towards Dealership purchases -- either repairs or car purchases.

 

Have heard tons of horror stories about the Subie's well documented Valve Cover Gasket Leaks and Repair costs of over $2600 each time it happens. Seems Subaru isn't standing behind their product even after tons of documentation about this problem. (just Google it!) I think OP should think about the HONDA CR-V which is the best selling small SUV. Of course your mpg's won't be what you are getting now. Good Luck and " See Ya! "

 

I left a WRX for my v5 and I know what you mean about missing the AWD. The space for kids and the mpg were biggest factors for me to join the Prius family. I test drove a Tesla Model S today and if you really are going to leave your Prius behind you may want to check out Tesla. The Model X will have all wheel drive and let me tell you the instant full power of the electric motor is incredible. Maybe the model x will be exciting enough to make you hold onto the Prius a little longer rather than lock into a suboptimal choice. I can't wait for all the auto makers to join the future and really start making some incredible vehicles.

 

Hmmm, they work for me.

SPH-D710 ? 2

 

Traded in my 2007 Subaru Forester Sport for a Prius C. My Subaru had 100k miles. No problems during the 5 years of ownership. This was my 4th Subaru and I almost traded it in on my 5th Subaru, but the dealer tried to screw me, dealer was under new ownership, and they though I had never bought a car before!

Not sure why anyone would say that Subaru's are not reliable? They are very reliable. The one negative issue with all Subaru's are the cost for service. The Subaru motor has not changed much in 30 years, and that means service needs to be done sooner than on other Japanese cars. Dealer service costs are way to too much.

I love my new Prius C and the 55 MPG I am getting compared to 27 MPG in my Subaru. Don't think i will ever buy Subaru again, not until I can get 55 MPG in a Subaru.. It would cost me $60 to fill the Subaru, now I pay $33.00 to fill. Thank You Toyota!

 

I'll also stand up for Subaru and say I loved my Sti (more than the Prius for much different reasons than I like the prius). The car was overall no less reliable than any other car I've encountered, and dealership cost of maintenance was no more expensive since I do my own maintenance. It didn't get 50+ mpg, but how many cars on the market do? That's not why I bought it anyways. It's silly to bash other manufacturers because it isn't your TOYOTA prius.

 

Unless you have smaller tires on, the ground clearance is 5.5"....
Studs will deal with icy roads in the stopping department, all wheel drive without studs won't stop any better than any other car without studs.
Studs will start a car that has stability control, especially if it's not able to be turned off, (prius), and make it just as good or better then an all wheel drive vehicle.
During the winter your 30's mpg estimate is going to be in the low 20's, gas guzzler territory
Moved into a prius from an A4, feel safer with studs than in the A4, it had winters but not studs.
Shimmy, how worn is the rubber, and what size?

 

The only Subaru that would convince me to ditch my Prius would be a BRZ: the Subaru with the least ground clearance, fewest drive wheels, and smallest interior. But, I also have a 4Runner with 10" of ground clearance, locking center diff, low range, and ATRAC for my winter driving. We put ~18k miles per year on the Prius and 2500 miles per year on the 4Runner.

 

Did anyone in this thread ask why the OP didn't consider a RAV4? It's too bad Toyota has yet to build a RAV4 hybrid. It would probably be a better choice than the Subey, and you might have been able to get by with just a FWD version, too, since it's just ground clearance, and not traction, that is the issue.

Of course, for someone wanting or needing AWD today, Subaru is alright. At least it's not one of the other, tall, high center of gravity CUV/SUV products with not so great fuel mileage (compared to a Prius, anyway).

 

Or you could just do what I did and move to a place where there is no snow in the winter.
(My US neighbours may laugh but as far as Canada goes Vancouver is as good as it gets if you hate snow and cold, we just trade it for rain, and might I add its the only place in Canada that doesn't switch over to winter gas! )
Seriously though, I suppose buying a different car to cope with local conditions may be more financially feasible than pulling up and moving.

As far as severe weather driving, here is my opinion.
I got my drivers license and learned to drive through 10+Winters when i lived in rural Alberta(near Edmonton) back in the day. Actually Edmonton is where I bought my prius v last year before I moved to the coast so I did in fact get to drive it through one winter, and it was a bad one. It is my first car with traction control/stability control. Never owned a 4wd, just small fwd cars with or without winter tires in the past.
I decided to try my prius with the stock Michelin Energy saver tires through last winter. They sure lacked in grip on snow/ice but i was rather surprised how good the stability control worked in keeping things pointed in the right direction, saved me a number of times on slick corners. On the few really bad snow days i did choose to stay home(because I could), rather than risk getting stuck somewhere.
As far as ground clearance maybe i've just gotten used to driving compact/subcompact "cars" with their relatively low ground clearance so I instinctively know where I ought not to go to avoid ripping things off the undercarriage.
That said, I believe the prius v does have a bit more ground clearance over the regular prius and prius c and i can't recall ever bottoming out on anything last winter, other than fluffy snow(of which the prius v's bumper makes a nice snow plow ).

As far as subarus go I have no personal experience with them so have no opinion for or against. Of my friends who've owned(own) them they seem happy overall, especially in winter driving, but complain about the poor gas mileage. But it sounds like you could benefit from the extra ground clearance, so perhaps that tradeoff is worth it, and as you say, the hybrid crosstrek might get decent MPG for a 4wd vehicle.

 

I do like the new Honda cr-v. it's a car i've definitely considered. the only thing about Honda is, when I see older Honda's on the road, they really do like quite OLD. they seem to age fast and don't last as long as toyota. i'm not sure about the facts behind it, but i've noticed the older cr-v's and accords just look, well, old.

 

Like my buying a Gen III Prius in August 2009.

 

was the first gen of the gen 3 prius a problem?