Great breakout. I was looking with the wife at the Volvos, BMWs & Audi’s yesterday at 60k…. and after the test drives had uneasy feeling for spending that kind of money. Each one had some things we didn’t like, so on a whim wife said she heard great things about Subaru. I knew the reputation, but never drove one. Got in the XT and we knew the search was over! Yes 44k is expensive, but if it’s for quality… worth every penny. Finding the color/interior seems to be the next challenge, so maybe ordering is easier. Thx for the video, helps me learn and looks like Subaru will be my go to moving forward.
I bought this exact car minus the tech package. I completely agree that the gray "compliments" the cladding very well. I like the gray paint regardless, although I might have gone for the red if it worked as well with the cladding (which it does not). I LOVE the interior. Both the color and the quality are top notch. Very happy with my car.
I just bought a lightly used 2023 outback touring XT myself. Fully loaded, got it two weeks ago. I am enjoying it, although it does have some quirks that can be annoying.
Haha I’m a black gentleman and you should see the looks on the faces of white folks when they saw a black man getting out of a Subaru. Absolutely priceless. Subaru doesn’t even try marketing to us 😂
I just bought this exact same car in Dec, Touring XT in magnetite gray with the java leather. I chose the gray exterior for exactly the reason you mention. I'm not a fan of the ridiculous plastic cladding, so the less contrast the better. I love the Outback, but I'd love it even more if it was about 8 inches shorter and a couple inches narrower. It's just gotten too big over the years. My only other complaint is the EyeSight system, which is not ready for prime time. It annoys me at least a few times a day because it's WAY too slow to react and too cautious. Honestly, I think $44,xxx is a bit much, given that it's missing 360 cameras and a few other features it should have, but I got VIP and loyalty discounts totaling about $4000, so I'm happy with what I paid. One correction: this car doesn't have a kick to open liftgate. That button on the dash is to adjust the opening height of the liftgate. You set the gate manually to the height you want it to open to then hit that button and it will remember that height setting. It does have a hands free opening function by holding your hand, elbow or whatever right in front of the Subaru badge on the rear, as long as you have the proximity key on you.
People have been complaining about the info center and how the eyesight works since 2020, subaru ignored the complaints. Should also have a badged aluminum kickplate for the price! Surprised the designers ruined the lines with the front cladding. Can't believe the rearview camera only uses a small portion of the screen and is not 360 degrees...
@@sl5932 The infotainment screen layout was updated for 2023 and the most used functions were moved to the main screen, so I think that issue has been adequately addressed. The eyesight system remains my biggest annoyance with my Touring XT, and it has a 3rd camera (other models only have 2), so Touring models should be more accurate but that hasn't been my experience. There have been a few times when the lane keeping assist literally took me out of my lane because it couldn't see where the lines were. The system also sometimes deactivates itself in very light rain or snow, which also entirely disables cruise control. Overall, I am still very happy with it, especially the turbo engine, which makes the Outback a joy to drive, and the comfortable well-appointed interior.
@@dlg5485 You are incorrect in regards to the cruise control. If the Eyesight is disabled, it only means that adaptive cruise control is disabled, but you can still use cruise control. You just need to press one of the buttons that set the following distance and hold it down for about 3 seconds, that will give you standard cruise control.
@@randischwarz5072 Well if that's true, it's idiotic. Why not just disable the adaptive function and tel the driver, rather than making you do multiple steps? Subaru has a knack for making things that should be simple unnecessarily cumbersome. I love my Outback overall, but it isn't without a few maddening annoyances.
Problems : the info screen is not polarized lens friendly. When you look at the info screen in the map view the entire screen is distorted has blacked out areas from a polarized lens/RX eyeglasses. 2nd… the end of there the headlights shine has two square areas that are distracting to drive with. I would not expect the info screen to be anti-polarized lens for 45,000
I just ordered a limited 2.5. my budget just couldn't stretch far enough to get the Touring nor XT. Would have been nice, but excited with everything else! Regarding CVTs, I love them. I love the engine going to it's power spot and staying there, I love the lack of gear hunting in hills... I don't understand why people would prefer changing gears over seamless acceleration/deceleration. I think humans are too averse to change, and link changing engine speeds and sounds to quickness.
Was looking at this model, but "Infotainment" screen was the deal breaker for me. Prefer the landscape screen vs. portrait. That half screen on the back-up camera was crazy - thanks for pointing out.
We REFUSE to buy another vehicle with 33 year old Depressing Grey or Death Black interior colors from 1990🤮🤮 Our Outback has Ivory interior and our Forester has saddle brown interior. The ONLY reason why I bought the touring was to get the brown interior.
Sadly even though the saddle brown is available, I had an incredibly difficult time finding one with the exterior color I wanted. I had to settle for black exterior (least favorite color) just to get the saddle brown interior. My logic was I could live with black outside but I was certainly not driving a vehicle with a depressing, death colored black interior.
@@haroldbeauchamp3770 Our Outback has the Ivory interior, with Cinnamon Brown exterior. Our 19 Forester Touring is Sephia Bronze with Saddle Brown interior.
This is the Subaru Outback I would by, in the beautiful Magnetite Grey Metallic because it looks great with the black cladding. Disappointed by a few minor things: the front air vents are fake, no 360 degree camera, and interior color choices limited to black or brown leather. Why not grey? Anyway, wonderful overview of a terrific car. Cheers~
Well done Chabby! A very thorough review! Other people have already commented on the presence of a torque converter and the way the Subaru logo works as a tailgate opener so I will just add, that there is a dedicated space to hide the cargo cover when not in use in the Australian version. I have an MY2023 Outback Touring in Sydney. We don't, unfortunately, get the electronic rearview mirror, auto-dimming side mirrors, or wireless phone charging here but, on the plus side, we don't get the hideous front plastic cladding you get in the US...
I have the Limited XT, almost the same. I have been doing only town driving but am only getting 14 mpg. Anyone else getting below-ratings gas mileage? Other issues: it takes a second for the engine to kick in with hard acceleration, the start/stop shakes the whole thing, the big screen is hard to see with sunglasses, and the manual says to only use the spare tire on the back wheels. It is a very comfortable car.
I think some turbo Subies just get bad mpgs,others don't. Had a 22 Outback Premium 2.5. Great mpg's, hills sucked. Reminded me of a lifted Wrangler I had that needed regearing. Went to a 23 Ascent Onyx. I was getting 13 city, 18 highway. Others brag of good mpgs in their Ascents. I got nowhere near sticker mpgs. The 24 Outback Limited XT is giving me 20-21 city. But I drive slow. I always drive slow.
It’s proven that when there’s civil unrest, poor economic growth, wars, corruption people run to dark, depressing, drab colors in their vehicles, houses and motif colors in their homes. When there’s civil rest, economic growth, one’s future looks good, world peace, people choose brighter, more cheerful vehicle colors, tan, earthy colors, red, blue interior colors, houses and painted cheerful colors and their motif colors are brighter.
Outback is more comfortable. Sorento is okay, but I have a bad low back. I wound up buying an Explorer, since those are the most comfortable seats I have tried out.
@@chabbysrides Explorers are nice and seats are very comfortable. I had a 2016 Limited with the multi contour massage seats. What trim level did you get?
Things Subaru will never fix. The horrendous wind noise and the windshield molding and fitment which causes spontaneous cracking. We are on windshield #10. They also should have dumped the hideous black roof rack on the current touring and go back to the previous touring models low profile design.
I assumed the overlanding crowd strong armed Subaru into putting the bulky, homely luggage rack to allow for the folks who put rooftop tents and heavy equipment.
Great breakout. I was looking with the wife at the Volvos, BMWs & Audi’s yesterday at 60k…. and after the test drives had uneasy feeling for spending that kind of money. Each one had some things we didn’t like, so on a whim wife said she heard great things about Subaru. I knew the reputation, but never drove one. Got in the XT and we knew the search was over! Yes 44k is expensive, but if it’s for quality… worth every penny. Finding the color/interior seems to be the next challenge, so maybe ordering is easier. Thx for the video, helps me learn and looks like Subaru will be my go to moving forward.
Thanks so much for watching. Much appreciated.
I bought this exact car minus the tech package. I completely agree that the gray "compliments" the cladding very well. I like the gray paint regardless, although I might have gone for the red if it worked as well with the cladding (which it does not). I LOVE the interior. Both the color and the quality are top notch. Very happy with my car.
Congrats! Thanks for watching. Much appreciated!
I just bought a lightly used 2023 outback touring XT myself. Fully loaded, got it two weeks ago. I am enjoying it, although it does have some quirks that can be annoying.
I usually see these parked outside of Trader Joe’s or Planned Parenthood, but this Outback is also nice for normal people as well. 😊
😅
Haha I’m a black gentleman and you should see the looks on the faces of white folks when they saw a black man getting out of a Subaru. Absolutely priceless. Subaru doesn’t even try marketing to us 😂
Ha. The MAGA isn’t normal sorry.
@@rickm8456 loving America and free speech IS *normal* (stop watching CNN and MSNBC)
I just bought this exact same car in Dec, Touring XT in magnetite gray with the java leather. I chose the gray exterior for exactly the reason you mention. I'm not a fan of the ridiculous plastic cladding, so the less contrast the better. I love the Outback, but I'd love it even more if it was about 8 inches shorter and a couple inches narrower. It's just gotten too big over the years. My only other complaint is the EyeSight system, which is not ready for prime time. It annoys me at least a few times a day because it's WAY too slow to react and too cautious. Honestly, I think $44,xxx is a bit much, given that it's missing 360 cameras and a few other features it should have, but I got VIP and loyalty discounts totaling about $4000, so I'm happy with what I paid.
One correction: this car doesn't have a kick to open liftgate. That button on the dash is to adjust the opening height of the liftgate. You set the gate manually to the height you want it to open to then hit that button and it will remember that height setting. It does have a hands free opening function by holding your hand, elbow or whatever right in front of the Subaru badge on the rear, as long as you have the proximity key on you.
People have been complaining about the info center and how the eyesight works since 2020, subaru ignored the complaints. Should also have a badged aluminum kickplate for the price! Surprised the designers ruined the lines with the front cladding. Can't believe the rearview camera only uses a small portion of the screen and is not 360 degrees...
@@sl5932 The infotainment screen layout was updated for 2023 and the most used functions were moved to the main screen, so I think that issue has been adequately addressed.
The eyesight system remains my biggest annoyance with my Touring XT, and it has a 3rd camera (other models only have 2), so Touring models should be more accurate but that hasn't been my experience. There have been a few times when the lane keeping assist literally took me out of my lane because it couldn't see where the lines were. The system also sometimes deactivates itself in very light rain or snow, which also entirely disables cruise control.
Overall, I am still very happy with it, especially the turbo engine, which makes the Outback a joy to drive, and the comfortable well-appointed interior.
@@dlg5485 so glad you are enjoying it...I am seriously considering the same model.
@@dlg5485 You are incorrect in regards to the cruise control. If the Eyesight is disabled, it only means that adaptive cruise control is disabled, but you can still use cruise control. You just need to press one of the buttons that set the following distance and hold it down for about 3 seconds, that will give you standard cruise control.
@@randischwarz5072 Well if that's true, it's idiotic. Why not just disable the adaptive function and tel the driver, rather than making you do multiple steps? Subaru has a knack for making things that should be simple unnecessarily cumbersome. I love my Outback overall, but it isn't without a few maddening annoyances.
Bought a 2022. 5000 miles on now. Great ride ...no issues. Common sense SUV
Needs the 360
Hey Chabby, another good review 👍 by the way, cvt transmissions do use a torque converter as well.
LOVE our Touring XT. Our best car yet!
great camerawork and a really helpful review.
Thanks so much! Thanks for watching. Much appreciated.
I’m definitely thinking about ordering this vehicle! The Napa leather is gorgeous!
I have a 2022 Subaru Outback Touring so far it has been a great car.
Worth the extra money
Problems : the info screen is not polarized lens friendly. When you look at the info screen in the map view the entire screen is distorted has blacked out areas from a polarized lens/RX eyeglasses. 2nd… the end of there the headlights shine has two square areas that are distracting to drive with. I would not expect the info screen to be anti-polarized lens for 45,000
I just ordered a limited 2.5. my budget just couldn't stretch far enough to get the Touring nor XT. Would have been nice, but excited with everything else!
Regarding CVTs, I love them. I love the engine going to it's power spot and staying there, I love the lack of gear hunting in hills... I don't understand why people would prefer changing gears over seamless acceleration/deceleration. I think humans are too averse to change, and link changing engine speeds and sounds to quickness.
Was looking at this model, but "Infotainment" screen was the deal breaker for me. Prefer the landscape screen vs. portrait. That half screen on the back-up camera was crazy - thanks for pointing out.
Thanks for watching. Much appreciated.
I LIKE THIS WISH A BETTER MPG
Thanks for the useful review!
Thanks for watching. Much appreciated.
Autumn Green.
Just bought the Touring XT in Autumn Green. Previous Subie owner and looking forward to the new one.
Smart rearview mirror camera does not have a diopter adjustment, so if you wear readers, it is kind of useless to you. Just a heads up.
We REFUSE to buy another vehicle with 33 year old Depressing Grey or Death Black interior colors from 1990🤮🤮
Our Outback has Ivory interior and our Forester has saddle brown interior.
The ONLY reason why I bought the touring was to get the brown interior.
Sadly even though the saddle brown is available, I had an incredibly difficult time finding one with the exterior color I wanted. I had to settle for black exterior (least favorite color) just to get the saddle brown interior. My logic was I could live with black outside but I was certainly not driving a vehicle with a depressing, death colored black interior.
@@haroldbeauchamp3770 Our Outback has the Ivory interior, with Cinnamon Brown exterior. Our 19 Forester Touring is Sephia Bronze with Saddle Brown interior.
This is the Subaru Outback I would by, in the beautiful Magnetite Grey Metallic because it looks great with the black cladding. Disappointed by a few minor things: the front air vents are fake, no 360 degree camera, and interior color choices limited to black or brown leather. Why not grey? Anyway, wonderful overview of a terrific car. Cheers~
Thanks so much! Thanks for watching. Much appreciated.
Definitely worth it!
Well done Chabby! A very thorough review! Other people have already commented on the presence of a torque converter and the way the Subaru logo works as a tailgate opener so I will just add, that there is a dedicated space to hide the cargo cover when not in use in the Australian version.
I have an MY2023 Outback Touring in Sydney. We don't, unfortunately, get the electronic rearview mirror, auto-dimming side mirrors, or wireless phone charging here but, on the plus side, we don't get the hideous front plastic cladding you get in the US...
the 2024 has the 360
I have the Limited XT, almost the same. I have been doing only town driving but am only getting 14 mpg. Anyone else getting below-ratings gas mileage? Other issues: it takes a second for the engine to kick in with hard acceleration, the start/stop shakes the whole thing, the big screen is hard to see with sunglasses, and the manual says to only use the spare tire on the back wheels.
It is a very comfortable car.
I think some turbo Subies just get bad mpgs,others don't. Had a 22 Outback Premium 2.5. Great mpg's, hills sucked. Reminded me of a lifted Wrangler I had that needed regearing. Went to a 23 Ascent Onyx. I was getting 13 city, 18 highway. Others brag of good mpgs in their Ascents. I got nowhere near sticker mpgs. The 24 Outback Limited XT is giving me 20-21 city. But I drive slow. I always drive slow.
One thing i do not like is when you come to a stop the engine shuts down. How do you stop this feature also can you use the car to open a garage?
On the touring with AUTO folding mirrors...is there a way to shut this feature off.
Need this in Hybrid and go non turbo and still put out more power.
It’s got a full sized spare tire, doesn’t it?
It’s proven that when there’s civil unrest, poor economic growth, wars, corruption people run to dark, depressing, drab colors in their vehicles, houses and motif colors in their homes.
When there’s civil rest, economic growth, one’s future looks good, world peace, people choose brighter, more cheerful vehicle colors, tan, earthy colors, red, blue interior colors, houses and painted cheerful colors and their motif colors are brighter.
How do you like the comfort of the Outback compared to the Sorrento?
Outback is more comfortable. Sorento is okay, but I have a bad low back. I wound up buying an Explorer, since those are the most comfortable seats I have tried out.
@@chabbysrides Explorer wasn’t on my radar. I’ll check it out!
@@chabbysrides Explorers are nice and seats are very comfortable. I had a 2016 Limited with the multi contour massage seats. What trim level did you get?
I bought a 2023 Timberline
@@chabbysrides nice! I just viewed your review on it. Enjoy it!
i hope next year the front cladding is removed.
It won't be.
Things Subaru will never fix. The horrendous wind noise and the windshield molding and fitment which causes spontaneous cracking. We are on windshield #10. They also should have dumped the hideous black roof rack on the current touring and go back to the previous touring models low profile design.
I assumed the overlanding crowd strong armed Subaru into putting the bulky, homely luggage rack to allow for the folks who put rooftop tents and heavy equipment.
What about drivers seat extender? Power correct.
Nope, not power, but still very comfortable on longer trips. Love mine.
@@billanderson7930 Thanks I had one as a loaner and it sure is.
Because of the roof racks and carrying capability. An all glass top wouldn't be a great idea.
you know that's brown leather right? you know what brown looks like?