I have some friends that are moving back to the states and asked me if I could help them find an Outback. They're looking to spend in the $12-15k range, which puts them in the 2007-2009 range. For a little more money you can get into the 2010 with the CVT, which get better mileage. I was wondering how the CVTs are holding up compared to the 4EAT. I'm personally a 2.2 / manual guy, so I haven't paid much attention to the newer models. Would you advise someone to pay a little more for the CVT? Should they try and find a manual instead? For what it's worth, they will be in a pretty hilly area - Floyd, VA.

 

Thanks in advance. 

AT first they had some teething pains, but they were corrected by software tweaks. One was reverse was too high a ratio so people on boat ramps had problems. Mostly the complaints are whiney, like the transmission whirs (its a belt so it will whir), or it feels weird. They do get better mpg then advertised. There is one caveat, and it has nothing to do with the transmissions. The 2010 (to ?) had a steering wheel shimmey. The TSB to repair it has some serious parts to replace. If he goes for 2010 I would go with one that has a reasonable mileage on it, preferably one owner (means car wasnt repeatedly dumped cause of a problem) and gets a good test drive that allows real highway speeds. This is different from wandering when hitting a bump, which is 100% solvable with a wheel alignment.

 

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/despite-fix-some-subaru-outback-and-legacy-owners-still-experience-highway-vibration/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

 

You may want to go for a 2009 with low mileage.