Subaru Ascent

[Explorerinil]

I have always liked Subaru vehicles and have never heard anything bad about them. We are looking to replace my wife’s Jeep Grand Cherokee srt with something with more interior room and more family friendly since we just had our first child. I’m down to a new Tahoe or Subaru ascent, loaded Tahoe is 65k ish, fully loaded ascent touring like we want is under 50k. What’s the warenty like of Subaru vehicles? Are they reliable, good on fuel? Anyone own an ascent? Any pics?

 

[live2travel photography]

Can't say anything about the Ascent as I have only owned Foresters, but I can say we love our Subaru. I bought it when my wife a '16 Forester when she got pregnant to provide her and the kiddo a safer ride. Subaru has one of the worst warranties at 3 years 36,000 miles. That being said they are super reliable and hold their value really well. My old 2005 Forester never had any issue and our new 2016 has run perfect so far. I did see that there is a recall on a small number of Ascents due to a structural issue, so I would look into that more if you keep looking at them.

 

[phsycle]

I like what the Ascent has to offer, especially from a family adventuremobile point of view. Lots of room inside, good ground clearance, excellent AWD system and good fuel efficiency. We've got an AWD minivan we just bought a couple of years ago, but if I were looking today, Ascent would be on top of my list, as well as the wife's. The engine should be a good performer, and pretty reliable, since these FA turbo's have been around since 2012. I haven't heard of any issues concerning them, while the 2.5L N/A's have had oil consumption issues.

I'd say go for it.

 

[ktiemann]

I think the power train warranty goes beyond the 3 year 36,0000 to 5 year and 60,000 miles. As they are a brand new model this year I do not know how reliability will stack up in the long run, but Subaru of America is pretty great about taking care of customers even when dealers aren't.

 

[paroxysym]

on my first Subaru and I'm thoroughly impressed. ive been a jeep owner for almost 2 decades and recently ditched em for a Subaru. its great, for the price point you get a lot for your money in my opinion. I did opt for the extended warranty to 100k which is fine because I plan to be out of this vehicle by 100k. as for the ascent, I do love them. they look great- like a Subaru outback that's holding a fart. the structural issue was only on a run of ascents built during a certain week and they have pinpointed what week it was.

 

[Explorerinil]

on my first Subaru and I'm thoroughly impressed. ive been a jeep owner for almost 2 decades and recently ditched em for a Subaru. its great, for the price point you get a lot for your money in my opinion. I did opt for the extended warranty to 100k which is fine because I plan to be out of this vehicle by 100k. as for the ascent, I do love them. they look great- like a Subaru outback that's holding a fart. the structural issue was only on a run of ascents built during a certain week and they have pinpointed what week it was.

Thanks for the info, I just read that Subaru recalled 200 and some ascents and gave the owners new vehicles due to bad welds, that says allot about the company.

 

[Explorerinil]

I think the power train warranty goes beyond the 3 year 36,0000 to 5 year and 60,000 miles. As they are a brand new model this year I do not know how reliability will stack up in the long run, but Subaru of America is pretty great about taking care of customers even when dealers aren't.

Shouldn’t the power train be the same as other Subaru vehicles? That’s good to hear they take care of their customers, that says allot these days. From what I see, Subaru has a strong loyal following,

 

[Porcupine86]

I'm on my 3rd Subaru (a 2015 Impreza) which is the 8th one between me and my parents. Other than a '99 Outback that blew the head gasket (common problem for that motor), we've had nothing but good luck with them. Minor maintenance and oil changes and they keep running and running.

My '95 Outback was still going strong in 2007 (>100k miles) when I got rear ended by an F-250. Was still able to run it for a few months after my dad straightened out the back end, but then it developed some mysterious electrical issues after I forgot to start the car when giving a Crown Victoria a jump. I suspect they were a result of the crash as well, but that the bad jump pushed them over the edge.

There's a reason you can get the free Badge of Ownership. I think only Corvette and Jeep people are more cultish loyal to their brands. LOL

 

[ktiemann]

Shouldn’t the power train be the same as other Subaru vehicles? That’s good to hear they take care of their customers, that says allot these days. From what I see, Subaru has a strong loyal following,

I'm not 100% certain, but I think the 2.4 liter turbo 4 is a new engine.

 

[Jeffer949]

I agree that the warranty is not the best. But I have found that they do stand behind there vehicles. We have a 2011 out back and we are the second or 3rd owner. The first gen cvt's in the outbacks had an issue with a bearing in the torque converter and was a known issue. They came out with a warranty policy extension that covered the transmission for one year from the time we got the letter if your car was over 100k. Ours had this issue and we took it in mid july at the end of the extension and they replaced the torque convert no charge and the car was 7 years old with just shy of 160k on it. Very happy with the service.

 

[polishammer]

I did have a 2016 Subaru Outback 3.6R fully loaded, and while we really liked the vehicle and it took us to some cool places I heve to say, I had more issues with Subaru than with any other car I have ever owned. Windshield cracking, armrest faling off, battery dying and radio Crapping out. All within first 5K miles. Once that was fixed, no other problems.


The things i loved about it was very large if not the largest for the wagon and most small SUV back seet legroom and outstanding all wheel drive system. I was constantly impressed how well Subarus AWD system works.

Additionally i really liked their anti collision system and adaptive cruise control, arguably one of the best in industry.

What i did not like was the wind noise due to side mirrors, not sure if new Ascent will have the same issues.

 

[Explorerinil]

I did have a 2016 Subaru Outback 3.6R fully loaded, and while we really liked the vehicle and it took us to some cool places I heve to say, I had more issues with Subaru than with any other car I have ever owned. Windshield cracking, armrest faling off, battery dying and radio Crapping out. All within first 5K miles. Once that was fixed, no other problems.


The things i loved about it was very large if not the largest for the wagon and most small SUV back seet legroom and outstanding all wheel drive system. I was constantly impressed how well Subarus AWD system works.

Additionally i really liked their anti collision system and adaptive cruise control, arguably one of the best in industry.

What i did not like was the wind noise due to side mirrors, not sure if new Ascent will have the same issues.

How did the dealer treat you with dealing with those problems?

 

[Maddmatt]

You are going to get a lot of Subaru love with a question like this- as was mentioned above Subaru owners tend to be very cultish. For my part, no chance to even look at the ascent yet, but I have had 2 Outbacks. The first was a 2001, bought as a used rental car with 19,000 miles on it. Subarus peripheral warranty is weak, at 3/36k. For our part, the stereo died at just over 36k, BUT, our local dealer is excellent. I went in to complain and the service tech, unasked, said, "Oh yeah, I remember you mentioning that at your last oil change....." and a new stereo was installed at no cost to me.

Then the headgaskets blew at just over 100K. By that point Subaru had extended the powertrain warranty to 100K as this was a known issue. Even though we were over 100, the dealer helped us work with Subaru of America, and after several phone calls, emails, etc... Subaru agreed to cover us anyway, including the rental for the week the car was down. Drove that car for 13 years, and that is the complete total of issues other than consumables.

Second was 2007 with a manual, took a long time to find. That one had issues due to what I finally determined was an unreported front end accident. Kept wearing out CV joints, finally a mechanic took a caliper and measured the front axles, and found out that they were just a couple mm out of spec - cheap knockoffs that looked like factory parts. I would still have it, but we found that driving a manual in today's world is not quite as fun as it was when we were kids.....

We would have replaced that one with another Outback, but by then they had grown too large in our opinion, and the Crosstek just felt too slow. The combination of the 2.5l and the manual transmission was quick, by Subaru standards.

Both were better on snowy/icy/nasty highways than any other vehicle I've ever owned.

Every time we need a new car, we start at our Subaru dealer - they don't always have what we are looking for, but I would not hesitate to buy another one.

 

[polishammer]

How did the dealer treat you with dealing with those problems?

No issues with the dealer. Of course I had to wait for some parts like arm rest (well the whole door panel as the armrest itself is not replaceable) but all was done no questions asked. In and out of the dealer fairly quickly. As to the windshield, they send someone to my house to do this. Overall positive experience with the dealer.

 

[Explorerinil]

No issues with the dealer. Of course I had to wait for some parts like arm rest (well the whole door panel as the armrest itself is not replaceable) but all was done no questions asked. In and out of the dealer fairly quickly. As to the windshield, they send someone to my house to do this. Overall positive experience with the dealer.

That’s good to hear! Not like dealing with a ford, gm or Chrysler dealer.