? - Subaru Legacy wagon or Outback wagon, what year?

granolamama

New member
My dh needs to replace his vehicle, and he's heavily leaning toward the Subaru Outback wagon. We'd like to buy used to save money; we're looking to spend between $10,000 and $15,000 total. I'm wondering if there are any compelling reasons (especially safety ones) to choose an Outback over a Legacy or vice versa. Also, are any model years especially bad or good? I know there was a big remodel in '05, but we probably can't afford to buy one that new anyway.

My dh would be the main driver, commuting about 30 miles each way to work. We get a fair bit of snow in the winter and spring (Colorado front range). He wants to be able to haul "stuff" when necessary. We have 4 kids, and he would likely be driving 2 of them in his car on weekends when we split up to do errands. (Our main family car is an '05 Honda Odyssey.) Reliability is very important, safety is important to me, gas mileage is important but not the main consideration, handling in the snow is reasonably important. A 2nd car that could seat the whole family if needed would be ideal in my book, but I think my dh would prefer not to drive a mini-van due to the fuel economy and image, and not an SUV due to the fuel economy and cost. Our kids are ages 4, 7, 10, and 12; the younger 2 ride in Britax Regents in my car, the 10yo in a backless booster. I would consider letting the 7yo use a high-backed booster in dh's car, since it would just be for occasional use.

Any recommendations? Hopefully I gave enough information to base them on. Thanks!

-Helen
 
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southpawboston

New member
the only difference between the legacy and the legacy outback is the trim level and color scheme (i never cared for the outback two-tone scheme, i prefer the "conventional" solid color legacies). the outback is geared more for light-duty off-roading or for people who live on rutted, dirt roads, or drive in 10" of unplowed snow regularly. the outback suspension is raised 1-2" compared with the regular legacy for those reasons, but IMHO, it just raises the center of gravity and decreases the handling crispness. there may be some other minor differences in terms of optional equipment, but the cars are essentially identical mechanically and safety-wise. the regular legacy still has the AWD so driving in snow is no problem. if it were me, i'd go for a regular legacy.

you won't get the newly remodeled 2005+ legacy used for $15,000 unless someone has racked up a huge amount of miles already. you'll be looking at the previous generation which ran from 2000-2004. i'm not sure if the side airbags came on all those years or not.

alternatively, you could consider a 2005 honda CRV, although a decent one with low mileage will run you more like $17k.
 

granolamama

New member
alternatively, you could consider a 2005 honda CRV, although a decent one with low mileage will run you more like $17k.

Thanks for the recommendations, Southpaw. Being a minivan gal myself, I didn't realize that the mini-SUVs are kind of like the modern version of a small station wagon. The CR-V looks really nice online, and excellent reliability ratings! Is there any reason to avoid a pre-2005 CR-V? I think that no matter which car we go with, a 2002 or 2003 model is going to be more inline with our price range.

-Helen
 

southpawboston

New member
the 2002-2005 CRVs were the same car, except that they added side curtain aibags and stability control to the 2005 models as standard equipment. i'm not sure if they were optional or not on the 2002-2004 models, maybe some other CRV owners can say definitively.
 

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