The 2004 Outback wagon was a great car; the 2005 is only a good car
Written: Aug 15 '05
Product Rating:
Reliability:
Seat Comfort:
Roominess:
Pros: Handsome, solid, fun to drive, comfortable all-day cruiser. Flawless build quality. Everything works.
Cons: Value compromised by replacing '04's good designs with poor ones and eliminating amenities.
The Bottom Line: Buy an '04 if you can. Otherwise, buy the '05 for reliability and a satisfying drive. Beware of untrustworthy locking system, unreadable instruments, and fewer amenities than '04.
timemachines's Full Review: 2005 Subaru Legacy Station Wagon
If my partner hadn't bought a base-model 2004 Outback wagon just before I bought an equivalent 2005, I wouldn't have realized how much value Subaru chiseled out of the '05.
The remote locking system would have broken the sale had I realized its implications at the time. The buttons on the key fob are large, flat, and not recessed at all. The car goes crazy as buttons are randomly depressed while the keys are in my pocket. I can't lock it on the street and leave without keeping the fob in my hand, or it will often unlock as I slip the fob into my pocket. The '04 fob has smaller, well recessed buttons that do not behave in this way. I tried getting along without remote locking. That's when I discovered that the driver's door is the only one with a key lock! None on the passenger's door and none on the tailgate. So either I live with the untrustworthy remote locking system or endure great inconvenience. Subaru of America was dismissive and unresponsive to this complaint.
The instrument cluster in the '04 is delightfully legible in all lighting conditions. In the '05, it's smaller, deeply recessed where little daylight reaches it, and markings are gray on gray - unreadable with dark glasses on—a virtually perfect design replaced with a very poor one.
The mesh pocket disappeared from the driver's-side seat back.
The seat belt alarm is maddening beyond description. It's close to a deal breaker all by itself.
The back seats of the '04 lock down to form a solid, flat floor and a barrier to keep the load from sliding forward. In the '05, the backs fold forward and the floor is flexible and flat only if heavily loaded—and nothing prevents a load from sliding forward.
My partner bought a CD changer for her '04, and the dealer simply plugged it into the modular stack in the dash. Expensive but easy. In the base model '05, no changer is available at any price, only a single-CD player. To get a changer at all requires buying an upscale Subaru.
Shame on Subaru for reducing value at the same time they raised the price.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 23000
Condition: New Model Year: 2005 Model and Options: Outback 2.5i wagon (base model), manual transmission
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