I bought a Forester after my Outback was totaled. I test drove tons of options including the RAV-4, CX-5, and CRV.

Because my Outback performed well in the crash I had a bias towards another Subaru.

I do miss the roomier interior and larger cargo space of the Outback.

Audi Q5. If I’m going to deal with an unreliable whichever I’m going to have something nice to drive.

Had a third kid and bought a Minivan. Honda Odyssey.

Rolls.

We got a 3yo Mercedes GLC for around the same price as our new Outback. It is around the same size (the GLK is slightly larger if needed) and handles better. We have both cars currently and like both.

Honda Odyssey

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My biggest gripe with the Outback is the crap gas mileage. I’d love a plug in hybrid version. They are so behind the times, imho.

Here ya go!
The Subaru Solterra EV
https://www.caranddriver.com/subaru/solterra

Eh, I'm not that impressed with it. Looks smaller inside than my Outback. I'm much rather have a plug-in hybrid so I can do electric-only for daily errands and gas-hybrid for road trips.

Subaru Forrester- love it!!

Anonymous wrote:We’d like to match the Outback in cargo capacity and safety, while besting it in price, handling and reliability. Any suggestions? Thank you!

I was just looking at replacing my Forester, and there's really nothing cheaper that is the same size and equally safe.

You can find an SUV that is a "Top Safety Pick" (but not Top Safety Pick-Plus) with better mileage and around the same space as an Outback. I am interested in the RAV-4 hybrid. The regular hybrid is less expensive than an Outback; the plug-in might not be, unsure how the tax credit works.

The new electric Subaru, the Solterra, looks interesting. Supposedly it will be smaller than Forester but more roomy inside. The range is fine for around town but not ideal for camping, and I don't like that it's a hatchback instead of a regular SUV rear end.

What I'd really like is a plug-in hybrid Subaru wagon or SUV. Then I wouldn't have range anxiety.

Anonymous wrote:We’d like to match the Outback in cargo capacity and safety, while besting it in price, handling and reliability. Any suggestions? Thank you!

Honestly, buy a Forester. They are the stalwart of the Subaru line. If you want to save money, consider a lower trim level. You can save a lot of money if a sunroof doesn't mean that much to you. If you really want to get away from Subaru, you are going to have to choose between price and reliability.

Not quite what you're looking for, but I bought a Subaru Ascent 3-row last year and I'm thrilled with it. The earlier models had the expected reliability issues you tend to see in new models, but they seem to have it together now. My car runs great. It does get crap mileage, though.

Anonymous wrote:My biggest gripe with the Outback is the crap gas mileage. I’d love a plug in hybrid version. They are so behind the times, imho.

Here ya go!
The Subaru Solterra EV
https://www.caranddriver.com/subaru/solterra

After wearing out our Subaru we got a used Honda Odyssey - we love the space, the gas mileage is remarkably similar and we haven't gotten stuck yet.

My biggest gripe with the Outback is the crap gas mileage. I’d love a plug in hybrid version. They are so behind the times, imho.

We’d like to match the Outback in cargo capacity and safety, while besting it in price, handling and reliability. Any suggestions? Thank you!