1999 Subaru Outback Reviews - Page 5 of 7

The front heated seats needed to be replaced 3 times when the car was just purchased. Since then they have continued to work wonderfully.

The front brake rotors performed poorly. They needed to be machined within the first 6 months and frequently, needed to be re-machined every few months until they were replaced with after market rotors.

The clutch also seems to be of poor quality, needing frequent adjusting until they now need to be replaced at 71k miles.

An overheating problem also at 71k miles, has been costly to diagnose. The head gasket was the cause and needs to be replaced. However, my VIN number is not on the Subaru recall list. If I did not have a extended warranty, it would be a $2400+ repair.

This is an expensive car to have so many problems and lacking quality in the specific problem areas.

It is great in the snow and changing winter conditions.

Transmission jumps from 5th gear, and hard to get in and out of reverse.

Two burnt valves at 128k, over $1200 to repair. I pulled engine, did the tear down and put the engine back in.

Tires made thumping noise.

Multiple suspension noises, from front and rear.

Drive train vibration has developed as of recently, fear transmission may need rebuilding/ replace drive shaft.

The car is great looking!!! Silver and dark gray, very sharp.

No rust.

Like the power from the 2.5.

Absolutely drives me wild the mechanical trouble I am having with this car!! I just want to pull my hair out kind of trouble.

But it looks good.

Had wet weather problems with a sensor 2 years ago. Once it dried out the problem went away.

Without either Yokohama Ice Guard or Bridgestone Blizzak Winterbiter, my 1999 Subaru Outback did poorly in snow and ice here in the Colorado Rockies. But once I installed the Blizzak or Yokohama clones of Blizzak tires, the car did fantastic in snow and ice. In fact unless the snow is 8 inches or more deep my Blizzak equipped Outback is better in snow than my 4WD Jeep Cherokee.

All 4 tires (Firestone) have been slowly leaking air for 2 years. After several complaints to dealer, they diagnosed the tires as having "dry rot" cracks and should be replaced. Cost over $400, since tires are now out of warranty.

Car has had small oil leaks for past year. Dealer just diagnosed as 3 separate oil leaks, 2 on engine block seals and one on valve cover gasket. Cost was over $800 to repair by replacing gaskets. Dealer noted no distortion at gasket seating surface on this aluminum block engine.

When I pursued dealer on whether these issues were unusual, they first said no, but refused to research any company database. Two salesmen hung on me. Finally the service manager agreed to research and I am currently awaiting her explanation.

Excellent driving control in snow, important for Northeast US.

Sunroof opens over rear seat only, somewhat useless for the driver.

Fixed non-opening sunroof over front seat merely adds heat to interior.

Cup holder is in front of stereo, and must be stowed when changing a CD, requiring placing the cup elsewhere temporarily. This can make changing the CD somewhat dangerous while driving.

Dealer offered rental car when we had to leave car overnight for service (oil leak repair), but we had to go to Enterprise for the car.