[XutvJet]

The wife and I have had four Subarus since 1999. They've all been extremely reliable and three of them had EJ25s motors (two NA and one turbo). Not one motor or drivetrain issue in over 300K miles of Subaru ownership between the cars. We were lucky. Admittedly, I was always worried about the rod bearings and ringlands in my tuned 2012 WRX hatch that I owned from 2012-2016. We currently have a 2015 3.6R Outback that was my wife's and now my 16 y/o son's. It has aftermarket wheels and AT tires and that thing has 80% of the off-road capability as my wife's 2020 4Runner TRD Off Road. The Outback is a beast in the snow and typical off road driving. My biggest, and largely only, compliant with the Outback is that damn CVT. The wagon could be so much better with a 6 to 8 speed planetary automatic.

Like others have noted, I too don't get how Subaru has gotten this amazing reliability reputation. By in large, a majority (50%+) of NA and turbo 4 cylinder Subarus will have relatively major drivetrain issues by 100K miles. I'm talking head gaskets, rod bearings, ring lands, or CVT issues. If it's an EJ25, major issues are almost guaranteed.

Owning a Subaru is like owning a BMW, IMO. They can be reliable, but you really need to maintain them and you can save a bundle if you can work on them yourself. They're incredibly easy repair/service assuming there's no a major engine issue and parts are cheap because of the massive parts bin sharing.

I do believe Subaru has the best AWD system on the market in the sub $50K vehicle class. It's simple, effective, tried and true, and has the correct layout.

I have friends ask me all the time about what Subaru to get and I always tell them that there are better options out there if they don't really need a capable AWD car. I usually steer them to Mazda.