Cons: Poor Fit and Finish, Faulty Parts, Subaru Warranty Customer Service Not Helpful, Wind Noise
The Bottom Line: I recommend buying a Honda or Toyota. If you must by this car I recommend waiting for the 2006 Legacy. Hopefully all the problems have been fixed by then.
bhibbits's Full Review: 2005 Subaru Legacy Station Wagon
My father told me never to buy the first model year of a new car... I hate it when he's right!
My tale of woe
A few days after picking up my new Legacy I started to notice things weren't quite right. Plastic pieces and metal brackets were missing from the the interior and steering was a little noisy groaning when you turned. About 500 miles later my wife mentioned that the groaning was getting worse and the steering was loose. I looked under hood to see that there was no power steering fluid! I took the car to the dealer where they topped up the fluid and said sorry. Over the next 3000 miles I kept checking the power steering fluid, topping it off myself thinking that there was some air still in the system which made the level drop further. I took the car in for an oil change at 3500 miles to find out the steering rack and pinion was leaking. The dealer gave me a rental for the week and replaced the faulty unit. (And fixed all the missing interior pieces) Upon getting my car back I phoned Subaru's Warranty Dept asking them to acknowledge the fact that other power steering items were affected and could fail prematurely. Everyone I spoke with about this were rude and dismissive of my concerns. They told me that if my power steering pump were to fail at 40,000 miles that they weren't responsible! They then went on to say if I was concerned I should BUY an extended warranty. I'm sure there are lots of people who bought this and didn't get a lemon, just thought you should know that it does happen and this car isn't a Honda.
What I like about the car
- I've always the look of the Legacy
- It's one of the only Import Wagons
- 4wd is a nice plus for heading to the mountains
- The Sport Shift Automatic is really cool and makes me feel like I'm still driving a manual car. Although I don't use it as much as I envisioned.
- Seats are easy to position
- Dash layout is decent
- Low Financing Rates
- I got a Subaru Credit Card which earns you $1000 a year for maintenance. I recommend this if you don't have another rewards credit card.
What I dislike about the car
- Automatic Transmission Shifts Up/Down for no Reason
- Bad Heating and Ventilation, even on the coolest setting the air coming in the car is warm so you have to use the AC all the time even when it's not hot out. Also the AC always comes on and stays on when using the defrost setting.
- There is no way to hook an iPod into a Subaru stereo, no matter how hard you try. Your only option is to get a new aftermarket stereo or use an FM transmitter which doesn't work in the city.
- On the freeway I get a whistling wind noise even without a roof rack on.
- The seat belt chime keep ringing until you put your belt on! If you have a dog or laptop bag that sit on your passenger front seat it will drive you crazy.
- Poor Fit and Finish, parts missing from car
- Faulty Parts, Subaru Warranty Customer Service Not Helpful
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 22,000.00
Condition: New Model Year: 2005 Model and Options: 2.5i Automatic
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.