Outback VS Prius

I replaced my Subaru Forester with a Prius, I liked the Subaru, I love the Prius. (I hated a Ford Escort station wagon once and a Mazda GLC before that, so I do not love every car I own)

I am sorry you found that the Prius did not suit you, I hope for all our sakes that gas prices do not climb enough to make you nostalgic. I am not missing 24 MPG personally.

I am fascinated that I bought BOTH the Subaru and the Prius because I fit through the doors and had head room. I am surprised that anyone could pick that as a low point of the Prius.

Thankfully my 2009 has none of the treadwear, scratches, road noise, high interest rate, (0%), or SKS issues yours did, and I understand my mileage. I did research and bought a screen shade, bumper protector, and underfloor brace when I bought the car.

I hope your Outback has more rear seat foot room than my Forester, as my children grew, I regretted that. Other that that my Subaru made a great deal of sense when I lived at 5000 feet and worked at 6500 feet, where it snowed 10 months a year. It made much less sense in the dead flat Mississippi Delta with a 110 mile round trip 'commute'. My Prius makes sense for me now, I did not consider it when I lived in Nevada.

Average High/Low Temperatures for KEKO : Weather Underground

 

The outback is a good machine with lots of room that gets good freeway mileage. You make some good points about the Prius, too, although some are strange (road noise?)

They have changed a few things since my wife bought her '01 'roo, though. On hers:

There is no place to put your left foot, thanks to the way the fender intrudes into the cab.

The wind noise from the driver's side mirror is truly loud and annoying. This is a constant gripe on Outback Websites and according to all posters, dealers insist it's unfixable.

But that's the old station wagon. I've ridden in the new SUV version, and it is a sweet machine.

As is my '10 4-wheeled video game.

 

i'm getting 62 mpg on mine. it's the perfect car. you suck, troll.

 

Past model vs. current model? AWD vs 2WD? Interest rates from different years from captive finance agencies, not from your own credit union? These comparisons are useless.

My household kept an older Subaru wagon when acquiring the latest Prius. My old Subaru is not as good as OP's new Subaru. Many of OP's complaints about his old Prius are fixed in my new Prius. And my Prius' OTD price was lower than the Subaru OTD.

These cars are put to different uses, and we won't give up either anytime soon. At least until the HSD Subaru becomes available.

 

I used to have a Subaru WRX and it was a piece of CRAP. Horrible brakes, tinny doors, cheap interior, made some strange moaning noises every time I went over 80. There are other negatives but you get the idea. Overall, I think Subaru makes a good car (when you get past the cheap interiors) but now that Toyota has an interest in them perhaps they'll improve.

As for the OP's assessment of his Prius, I think he's just looking to bait some of you. The Prius doesn't sell in the numbers it does with the alleged quality that the OP is describing. I'll take a Prius any day over a Subie. I enjoy getting twice the mileage and have virtually the same cargo capacity of an Impreza. As for AWD, it's nice if you're in the snowbelt otherwise its additional weight and complexity has no added value for me.

 

I think problemchild eventually hates everything he comes into contact with.

 

A laundry list of hyperbolic claims. Congrats on your purchase.

 

Cons:
180 treadwear tires worn out by 20k >> 2010 has
No telescoping steering wheel. >> 2010 yes and tilt too
Toyota offers NO incentives and had to pay 5.5% interest >> How bad is your credit score???
Cheapest plastic in the world scratches if a butterfly flaps its wings in China >> 2010 has biodegradable plastic
MPG fluctuation of 14mpg, WHY? >> 2010 when you fine tune a machine to be able to stretch mileage you get into those fluctuations. It is plain logical.
Seats, the Prius has the WORST seats on the planet. I would rather ride a Yak bareback in the rain. >> 2010 not the case anymore, although definitely not yet great...
Road noise, Whats that you say? I cant hear you. Loudest road noise of any car I have ever owned. >> 2010 compared to what? a Lexus? Prius needs to be light and noise abatting material weights a lot...
Paint scratches as easily as the plastic. Keep the butterflys away. >> 2010 not the case at all... it uses exactly the same paint process than any other Toyota
Screen, why did they angle it towards the sun again so you cant see it?>> 2010 still a problem...
Did I mention the horrible crappy seats yet?>> 2010 not crappy, not good either... designed for tiny Japanese ladies... ;-)
Engine kill if you hit a pebble and the tires spin 1 billionth of an inch causing real bad problems when cars are coming.>> what?
Legroom fit for dwarfs and midgets>> you must be kidding!
Fussy SKS system works when it feels like it.>> what?
Horns only a flea can hear.>> 2010 fixed
Blind spots that would make a mole proud.>> ridiculous statement...
Ceiling height so low my head hit>> 2010 not an issue at all...
Cheap Tin foil feel to everything. Close the door and it sounds tinny and hollow.>> needs to be light to get to 50 MPG... what were you looking for when you bought your Prius???
29.8k for pkg 6 is a joke>> very serious to me...,not a joke!
Drifts all over the road when you hit rain grooves or wind>> 2010 stillto a certain degree, no quarrel there


You definitely bought the wrong car for you... your fault...

Outback>> 2010 Prius: apple versus orange

 

Oh hell, the driver seat in my FJ is light years better than a Prius seat

 

Visibility in the FJ is terrible for me, the windshield is too short for me to see the traffic lights. Also, the rear visibility wasn't very good either. I was afraid I would buy one to replace my Explorer when they first hit the market, but just sitting in it once changed my mind.

It does get better mpg and has more hp than my Explorer though.

 

My Subaru was a shop queen. She loved being worked on, as something was always broken. One of the big gaskets would go out like clockwork. You could either pay big bucks and have it replaced, or just buy oil. After replacing it twice, we started buying oil. We used to call our Subaru "The Crop Duster" because of the cloud of blue smoke it left behind. It didn't burn the oil in the engine, it dropped the oil onto the exhaust system and smoked it there.

I did like it. It was fun to drive and certainly did well in the winter with 4wd; not as good as our Jeep C-J5, but more refined. Mileage was only so-so for a small car, but better than the Jeep.

Tom

 

I used to own a Ford Ranger that was like that. The valve cover gaskets started leaking just after the warranty ran out. The oil would run down to the exhaust manifolds and make a huge smoke cloud. I replaced them and after another 40k they were leaking again. I gave up after 2 attempts to fix it. At one point with about 100k, it was leaking oil, power steering fluid and coolant all at the same time. I sold it with 120k and it still leaked from the valve covers.

 

I can't wait to hear about your Outback after a couple of years of ownership.

 

Can our resident GM expert give a comparison between the 2010 Chevy Malibu and the used Prius? And don't forget the Prius gas pedal....

http://priuschat.com/forums/freds-house-pancakes/79053-gm-tops-list-worst-made-cars-road.html

 

We have a Subaru Outback Legacy and recently got a 2010 Prius package II and we like them both. The Prius gets double the MPG of the Subaru, while the Subaru has AWD and is better for carrying skis, a kayak, and our Golden Retriever. I prefer commuting in the Prius and enjoy driving the Outback in the outback. While they are both great cars, the Prius and Outback are as different as, the proverbial ...you know, Apples and PCs.

 

I used to have a Subaru Legacy wagon. Never had a problem, just regular maintenance (but then no mods either). CD player stopped working after 6 years though.

I know quite a lot of people with WRXes - no problem until you hit 270ish WHP, then you realize that the transmission is kind of weak. Some of the early ones developed valve issues (had an uncle with a problem, but it was covered under warranty so whatever). The STis have generally been bulletproof and a lot of them easily make over 370whp reliably. I should mention that they both make wonderful rally racing cars because of their excellent AWD system. Travis Pastrana (and Ken Block) can attest to their capability.

I really liked the old Forester before they made it yet another overwieght pig of an SUV . They're quite handsome when dropped a bit with the JDM STi parts added, and the performance was not as dreadfully poor as your typical SUV.

 

When I think of a Steak Dinner and a Onion Blossom, it's Outback for sure. When I want exceptional milage, I think Prius...

 

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