Quick review of 2016 Subaru Crosstrek

So after a week of driving around, and couple hundred miles, I have to say Subaru Crosstrek is super fun car to drive.
It is Very comfortable, for such a small car, also it is a hatchback so its cargo possibilities are amazing. I actually had to take water dispenser with two 5 gallon bottles and it was not a problem to load of fit in. There are a lot of hooks to lock cargo down, and it comes with weather mats in case of spill.
Its very quiet, and driving CVT is actually pretty fun.
Transmission constantly selects right gear, and even during hill climbs seemed to always know whats the right gear for it.
MPG is flat out amazing. With brand new car and some NYC mostly highway driving I am averaging 27 MPG. For AWD car that is short of miracle.
Car is ample clearance for snow, and looks great. I like dash, looks modern non of that 80's throwback crap like in 2016 Tacoma.
Solid car, no squeaks, no rattles, no vibes, no strange sounds. Pretty happy.

 

no 3rd pedal no care!


nice car!

 

I liked them when I test drove them, although I found the seats hard and the engine underpowered.

A forester XT, now that's a nice Subaru

 

Glad to see a great review. I think this would be a great road tripping vehicle with a RTT on it. If I didnt have so much invested in my truck I would trade in and try one out!

 

How does it compare to the Colorado?

 

Ha ha thought crowd...

@Iamraiderpower I bought this as my commuter so as much as I think Subaru is great with MT, I had to go with Automatic, nothing worse than dealing with NYC traffic and MT

@Vantage Engine is not V8 but for little car plenty get up and go. Not going to race with it, but enough to get you great mileage.

@TacoIII You welcome, I think as the commuter that is great car. Easy to park, great MPG and handles superb.

Its a car..

 

My wife has one and loves it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Edn7_uU-AZY

 

Thanks for posting Blue!!

 

What sucks about the Crosstrek is you can't get a manual trans with a sunroof- you have to get the rubber band trans in order to get the sunroof. I am thinking about one of these for my wife, and she wants both options. Pretty sure the manual wins out over the sunroof.

 

Come back at 100,000 miles and let us know how the head gaskets are doing.

I sold an outback to get my tacoma and comparing the two is a pointless exercise because they are such different vehicles. In 40K miles my Tacoma has had exactly zero problems. My subaru, well not so much. I'll never buy another subaru because of reliability problems.

 

What were the problems?

 

3 wheel bearings, central diff failed twice, drivers side power window, control arm bushings on the front, and that all happened in the first 30K miles. So the warranty covered the repairs, but I had no faith it wouldn't continue to fail. The previous model years had head gasket problems, and Subaru said they'd fixed it, but now they are failing just like the older models.

Oh and it was completely useless of road.

 

Holy cow, sorry to hear about your issues, I dont blame you for feeling jaded. Ours is only at 16,000 miles, hopefully we wont run into the same problems, but who knows? I bought a 6 speed hoping to avoid drivetrain problems just because it is more simplistic, but the wheel bearing thing bothers me, shouldnt be going that early for sure.

 

Yeah, I actually did not wanted sunroof, but there is crazy demand for those cars. Especially if you want white with black seats like me those are very hard to find. There were couple coming to port from Japan in next couple months but they all got spoken for. The only one available in 200 mile radius right away was this one with sunroof. So had to take it. I added remote start and side moldings.

 

I know gasket problem was with 2.5 liter engines. Those 2.0 liter engines never had a problem, plus they are new design. BTW I laugh that I found where Toyota engineers went..... to Subaru. Engine has a chain now, and oil filter is located on the top of the engine (like Tacoma )

When I opened the hood I was like "ah I feel complete"

Anyway its my commuter so as long as drives, and keeps its 26+ MPG Average I am good...

 

Any plans to camp or explore the outdoors with it? I am curious to see how well it will perform off road and with a RTT on it.

 

No plans to camp with it, but I think it's doable, car is supraisingly large inside.
For offroad capability, so far it handles my place with out issue but we only had small snow event once, otherwise it's driving on dirt road, with some roots so not much challenge. I think snow performance will be known next year. Otherwise I may take Subaru to OBX this year to try it out.

 

Great well keep me updated! I just got back from OBX and thats what got my mind wondering if it was good off road. If it can make it through that sand and still get 27mpg, its a winner for me.

 

Oh with the clearance it has and AWD , no doubt it will make through sand there. They have basic traction control like non TRD Tacoma so with clearance little less than Tacoma and such short wheelbase that thing wil have no problems getting to places. I will snap photo against Tacoma compare clearance.