Where Your Author Selects an Outback Replacement, but Asks: New or Used?
Recently I reached out to you, dear readers, for some suggestions on replacing a 2012 Subaru Outback. The wagon has occupied my driveway for the past two years, but, for reasons outlined previously, it’s time for it to go. My initial idea for a replacement was a Kia Niro, but that didn’t seem like it was going to pan out. So I turned to the real experts around here.
Comments poured in, and four suggestions were clear. Let’s narrow things down a bit.
After more than 160 comments, the four main reader suggestions were the Hyundai Elantra GT, Buick Regal TourX, Volkswagen Golf, and Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen. Not coincidentally, the list there is in order of least to most desirable to me.
The Elantra GT’s interior is a big letdown in contrast to the restrained good looks of the exterior. Inside it looks cheap and cobbled together, and I’d expect better of Hyundai in 2019. The Regal TourX is outside of budget, even when used. Some commenters seemed to think dealers would be happy to knock of $10,000 just for asking nicely, but I’m not so sure. Nor am I sold on the reliability or later resale value on an Opel-Buick wagon which will surely be discontinued very soon.
The upper half of the class is filled by two Volkswagens. While I don’t take issue with the standard Golf’s purposeful interior and time-proven exterior appearance, it’s a bit smaller than I’d like (even though I’m downsizing). The Sportwagen is left as the Outback replacement worth considering. It’s in budget, I like how it looks, and prices are good because it’s as popular as getting a rash. It drives nicely, is quiet, and feels like it’s been put together well. But in this single model, I’m left with a new/used quandary.
2019 is the final year for the Sportwagen in the North American market, and it shows. The model lineup is consolidated this year, with just three trims on offer. The highest trim is the SE, which features a smaller 1.4-liter turbocharged engine. Said engine replaces the 1.8 from prior model years. With this change, horsepower dropped from 170 to 147, while estimated fuel economy went up a couple of highway MPGs.
2018 is the used year of consideration here. The 2018 version received an infotainment update with a larger touchscreen, and was also the last instance the top-tier SEL trim was available. SELs featured more standard equipment like navigation, nicer interior trim bits, sport-design seats with additional bolstering, Fender audio, and more exterior bright work.
Either option is thin on the ground with a tan interior, though a few new ones are out there. As new, dealers seem to want $24-25k for 1.4T SE, apart from a large volume dealer in Illinois that’s asking $23,206. Used 2018s with around 10,000 miles ask between $20,000 and $21,000. But that figure includes a higher trim SELs with a larger engine, like the one pictured.
What do you do in this situation — spend $24,000 on a new one that’s a lower trim, or $20,000 for a used one that’s more powerful and has more equipment, but is less efficient?
[Images: GM, Hyundai, sellers]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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I would just like to add, Corey, that some of my favorite reading on this blog has been following along your pursuit of selling and buying a different vehicle. Thanks for inviting us all along for the ride. Interesting enough, when you were contemplating a Lexus RX 350 or Subaru Outback I was doing the same. I have dropped the Outback but still have an eye for the RX. Where I live, up near Seattle, I see them everywhere but my wife wants to wear out our 2009 Toyota RAV 4 and I am finding that hard to do.
"Nor am I sold on the reliability" (the Buick) People are still hung up on this old tired false perception.