There are a striking number of stories in this thread of incompetence and unethical behavior on the part of Subaru, and it makes me sad that the company has turned into such a wreck. Maybe they were always run this way but older technology didn't allow them to be quite so scummy.
I bought a Subaru in the aughts that I absolutely loved and had assumed my next car would be from the same company. But when I test drove and looked into a new model I was shocked at how many terrible changes had been made, and I didn't even uncover half of what is in this thread.
I'm not holding my breath, but hopefully the bad press affects sales enough to make the people running this company care and alter their behavior. The mechanical cars themselves are still nice to drive, but the terrible interfaces, obscene amount of spying, and intrusively unethical behavior really kill the experience.
IMO Subaru has been one of the most overrated car brands for decades.
Sure, these data privacy issues are rampant across the automotive industry. It really isn’t just Subaru.
But really what I’m talking about is the entire product. I have no idea why people like them so much:
- Some of the worst exterior styling of any brand
- Cheap interiors that are so ugly
- Their history is riddled with major powertrain issues especially for how well-regarded they are
- Historically horrific gas mileage compared to competitors as a tradeoff for symmetrical all-wheel-drive that realistically very few of their buyers need.
- Their gas mileage isn’t bad anymore but they haven’t even released any hybrids yet, meanwhile every competitor under the sun has hybrids all over the place
- Their current infotainment system is god awful with horrendous graphics and the climate controls are stuck inside it
I think the only positive thing I can say about the brand is the they’re the last company selling a non-euro-luxury station wagon in the US, but really it’s basically a similar stance as a typical crossover SUV so you might as well buy one of those (or just get yourself a used E Class wagon and end up with a much better car).
I bought a Subaru in the aughts that I absolutely loved and had assumed my next car would be from the same company. But when I test drove and looked into a new model I was shocked at how many terrible changes had been made, and I didn't even uncover half of what is in this thread.
I'm not holding my breath, but hopefully the bad press affects sales enough to make the people running this company care and alter their behavior. The mechanical cars themselves are still nice to drive, but the terrible interfaces, obscene amount of spying, and intrusively unethical behavior really kill the experience.