2004 Subaru Outback Premium 3.0R from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

No particular problems at all.

However the engine and gearbox do not seem to match very well. Change downs are sudden at times. Change ups are variable - sometimes holding to 3500+ before changing 2 to 3 and 3 to 4 especially if you drive off uphill. Dealer says parameters, profiles and patterns in the box are OK. It doesn't seem right to me.

Car performs well, but for $55K you are paying a premium for the brand. This is their top of the range car and has very few features (eg. no sat nav). Radio/Stereo is poor.

The engine tends to be quirky when all the valve gear and technical stuff kicks in. Using cruise control is dangerous in hilly areas as it will kick down into 2 or 3 and just about blast into space. Big lag in kickdown on highway passing (a case of have I done the right thing when you've pulled out before everything kicks in). This may be a consequence of the electronic throttle. Best to slap it into sportshift and pull down a peg or two if you want to pass someone from say 70 or 80 clicks.

Unfortunately I'm comparing aspects of it to a Cressida which I had for 13 years. That car was seriously ahead of its time.

I've had the car for 18 months and can't say I'm in love with it. It was bought because the wife thought $85K for a Lexus RX330 was too much at the time - and of course now she has changed her opinion.

If Subaru made it a better behaved car and a smoother car then I might consider another one, but not at this point.

Very Useful. I am facing the exact same choice and may now consider the Lexus. I too was having problems with the big bucks, but after all, one is only owning it for 4 or 5 years, so the whole price is not a write off!

I drive a 2004 Outback 3.0R. I have similar problems with the automatic sticking to first and second up to 3,500 rpm in the morning and especially when going slightly uphill. Dealer claimed they have put in a software patch (released by Subaru) during one service to address the problem. However, it is still around.

The other annoying issue is, when slowing down from 60km/hr then 40km..then 30km... then bang a sudden shift down. Dealer has, on a couple of occassions, tried to "re-train" the automatic shift program. It has improved, but the problem still comes back from time to time.

Other than the above issues, I enjoyed driving my Subaru which has excellent handling especially in the wet. I drove a Forester XS/L before the Outback. I still miss it.

As far as using your cruise control in "hilly areas", you aren't even really supposed to do that. It causes the transmission to cycle in and out of gears, although it sounds like your transmission is screwed up enough already so maybe it doesn't even matter. Cruise control is meant for flat, freeway cruising at highway speed. Good luck with your transmission though!

An update on my original comments.

Firstly, the hilly terrain with the cruise control is on the Bruce Highway on the Nambour bypass - it is main highway at 110km, but rolls up and down some rather steep grades.

Secondly, I have figured out how to drive with the electronic throttle which solved the "lag" on changedown on the highway. I came across an article on fly-by-wires in a boating magazine. Pressing down the throttle slowly as per the old cable accelerators tell the computer that you want to go fast, but not urgently. You have to be brutal with it and slam it to the floor - then it calculates that you want to go fast very quickly and responds accordingly. Obviously you have to ease up before it gets too carried away. The engine management will only feed as much fuel as it can optimally use - so there is no fuel wastage.

Finally, I have just had the 50,000 service (2.5 years). They rang to say it needed a fuel system clean - I only ever use premium unleaded. I was a bit surprised at this, but it always idled a bit roughly when it was cold. I said OK - do it. SO I pick up the car at 5pm - and a bill for $900. Hell! $314 for the fuel system clean. And complete drain and new lubricants for the gearbox and diffs.

But what a difference to the car. All of the problems I complained about since it was new have disappeared. It is a completely different car. Very smooth to drive - no roughness at cold idle. Gear changes are very smooth up and down and 2-3 and 3-4 now happen at 2500-3000. THat's 1000rpm less than before. And they tell me that they did not do any adjustments. Bullshit!!! Either the car comes bad from Subaru or I got a bad one.

I complained to the dealer and they've come back with a mediocre offer which I'll probably have to accept. I'm not convinced that it's not Subaru problems that should be fixed under warranty.

So better be prepared for expensive 50,000 km services. But if it does what it did to my car then there is some compensation. A $900 service is in BMW territory.

I too have an 04 Premium pack 3.0l Outback and I swear I was reading my own review when I read yours!!

You have experienced almost identical problems to my own. I find that the gearbox and engine are not well mated - perhaps they should look at a 6 speed auto? It tends to hold gears, particularly going up a hill when cold.

I also experienced the clunking of the gearbox (or whatever) sometimes also after planting your foot, the gearbox downshifting and then quickly releasing the throttle. Took it in, they did a software upgrade and it has made it better, but not totally un-noticeable.

My $50,000 was also close to $850 which came as a bit of a shock. The dealer told me that if I though that was exxy I should wait for the 100,000 kay service and be prepared for $1500 so I am really looking forward to that!

On the positive side, the car is pretty well specced and very comfy, also sticks to the road like glue and the AWD is fantastic, but does give a little bit of understeer when pushed hard into a wet corner. That may be the geolandar tyres more than the car though.

What I like most about it is the grunt. You punch it above 3000rpm and it goes hard all the way to 6500 but it is a thirsty beasty at times.

I would buy another one, but may look at a Forester turbo next time.

An update - I wrote the original comment. I've just picked the thread up again and was intrigued that two people stated that they could have been reading about their own car.

I've just turned 70,000km and the car is 3 yrs old on 24th May 2007. After the 50K service when things took a turn for the better they have now detoriated pretty well back to where they were before - with the added feature that quite often when slowing down it clunks at 30kmh - as a couple of other writers have pointed out. I can't recall that it did this previously. The changes from 2-3 and 3-4 have returned to the 3500rpm range.

I'm doing a fair bit of travelling between Brisbane and Hervey Bay hence the increase in mileage. I replaced the Geolanders at 60K - they probably had 10K left in them, but the roughness was getting to me. I'm now on Bridgstone Potenza G3's ($263 each) but they are remarkably quiet and handle extremely well - most happy with them.

If the 100K service is $1500 then I may dump the car before then - that's ridiculous! I presume that they change belts the plugs and I understand that they have to drop the motor to get a couple of them out. The Cressida had platinum tipped plugs that were supposed to do 100K, but they seem to fade badly after 80K and cost about $25 each. It still doesn't add up to $1500 though.

Currently I'm still OK with the car and can endorse the writer's opinion about "grunt". Try some Shell Racing V-power or whatever!!! the 100 octane stuff and it makes the car perform even better on the highway.

I'll try and be a more frequent visitor to this site in future.

I own a 2004 Subaru Outback Wagon with the 2.5 L engine and I also have similar problems with the transmission. I bought the car with 33,000 miles (53,000 Kilometers) and it now as 40,000 miles (64,000 Kilometers).

I have noticed the transmission downshifts too soon from 3 to 2 and when it does I feel the transmission clunk into gear, making the car slow down and the engine rpm jump up.

I also noticed there seems to be play in the power train when the car is in overdrive. When I pump the accelerator (or just quickly let off the pedal), I can feel the play in the transmission or drive line. To best describe the feeling, it feels like I am driving with a manual transmission where one can feel the play in the gears.

Fortunately, the dealer just said they are honoring the 5 yr, 50K warranty so I should find out in a few days if they offer the electronic patch which would hopefully solve/help the problem.

I hope this helps future readers or car buyers. If anyone has any ideas or solutions, please fill me in!