Subaru Legacy reviews

Although in hindsight I wished I had purchased the face lift model I have not been disappointed over my (to date) 7 year ownership. It is one of the last pre-face lift Spec B Tourers in lovely grey metallic. Purchased nearly new with 1 previous owner it is still in fabulous condition. Apart from serviceable items it's not even required a bulb! Cant say you could even possibly consider that to ever be likely with any euro box! OK its not the most sophisticated interior but by god its reliable and hard wearing. It has comfortable leather heated electric seats, all the gadgets including touchscreen nav, A/C, cruise, a whopping moon tilt and slide sunroof etc etc. It lacks only for an IPOD/USB connection (standard on face lift models) It is now 10 years and 90k miles young and absolutely EVERYTHING still works, nothing has faded, fallen off, split or broke. The chain driven flat 6 is a creamy smooth thing of beauty. Sure its not got the immediacy of a turbo. Mid mid range is where it's at and it pulls strongly all the way to the redline and the exhaust has the unmistakable flat 6 howl when you do give it the beans. My longest trip display shows an average of 31.7mpg over 6k +miles. I have tried but never got it above 40mpg although setting the cruise to 56mph will comfortably see mid 30's The AWD handling of Subaru's is legendary and even on such a large vehicle as a Legacy Tourer with a heavy lump under the bonnet its handling is excellent and very rewarding to drive. A larger aftermarket anti roll bar and anti lift kit are relatively inexpensive upgrades and they do go a long way to dialing out the under steer characteristics of the symmetrical system. The Spec B (Bilsteins) can be a little harsh on some of the worst of UK's roads but the upside is it can be thrown around without any dramatics should you wish to! The rear seats fold flat and although its not the largest load space in its class it swallows drum kits, bikes and large items with ease. To sum up its been a legend of a car. Effortless to drive, Refreshingly reliable and one I am struggling to find a competent replacement for

A very reliable and spacious estate. Rear seats fold flat giving great cargo space. Four wheel drive gives exceptional road holding and stability. Only real downside is its lack of economy, but at 2.5 litres petrol, to be expected probably.

Best car i've owned, great performance and handling, well equipped and safe, heated leather,sat nav, SI drive gearbox, can't find a car to replace it with, which can offer the same value for money ,4x4 grip and reliability , likes a drop of fuel, average around 25mpg,

Purchased legacy estate 2.0 D SE Navplus, after being reduced by £2k. All bells and whistles. First impressions are very good, esp fuel economy. Very happy with car so far.

This car does not excel in any field but is a Swiss army knife in many fields, there are better diesels, there are more comfortable estates, there are higher performance cars and more economical ones, but the Subaru has no real faults and is durable and reliable. Expect 6 to 6.5 litres per 100 km on the motorway and about 8 around town, nothing special. Never believe the car's computer - indicated values are 10 to 20% optimistic.

Best car I've ever owned. Effortless cruising on long journeys. Nippy around town. Great fuel economy. Can drive easily up any hill in the snow. Totally reliable. I could go on and on about how great it is but you'll probably get bored to death!

Performance = Adequate for size of engine. Handling is superb Running Costs = Drinks fuel with abandon. - Normally achieve 28 miles per gallon. Comfort - Very comfortable and well appointed. Reliability - Have owned this car from new. Has been totally reliable. Should have replaced it 3 years ago but have kept it because I've been so satisfied. Space and practicality - Plenty of space and very practical. Safety is important to me and this car has airbags all over. In conclusion, not the prettiest, cheapest car to run, but superbly built, superb handling and very comfortable.

Super car performance from twin turbo engine with enough space for 2 adults, 2 kids, a large dog, push chair, shopping and suitcase. All wheel drive so astonishing in snow, 0-60 in under 5 secs, but relatively poor MPG. Not been so reliable this year although it's pushing 15 years old. But i still don't want to replace it as i am so impressed with it!!

Some parts are dear, but also some goood used suppliers on ebay etc. Always check new price first though, as we've been quoted more for used spares than Subaru charge new. On our second, and well over 150K miles with incredibly few repairs. Winter tyres, on a cheap set of used alloys, and it's great all year round car with the 4WD. Why buy a 3-series or A4?

First time I have had a Subaru and am very satisfied with all aspects in all road conditions. Drove over Pyrenees this summer and fuel consumption excellent. Air con brilliant and almost immediate. Icy conditions, although I drive slower than in good conditions, the car held the road well. Plenty of room and comfort with safety belt holders for dog in the back. Childs car seat fits well.

This car is practical,looks good in silver. the auto box is smooth and has sport mode. mpg is nothing to write home about but is manageable. plenty of room load area suit,s my needs. performance for a two litre engine is very good,no problem overtaking slower traffic. Reliability is above average. all in all a reliable car would recomend strongley.

This is my first Subaru and I probably won't ever buy another brand again. The all wheel drive is superb, cornering and handling at speed are fantastic, it is rock solid on the motorway and for a two litre diesel the acceleration is pretty good while still getting 43MPG.

It is a bit thirsty and tall passengers find it a bit cramped but aside from that it is an absolutely brilliant machine. The 3-litre flat six is wonderfully smooth and almost unbelievably flexible. I have had several cars with hefty six-cylinder engines but this puts them all into the shade. It pulls sweetly from 900rpm all the way to screaming point at the 7000rpm red-line without missing a beat, simply piling in more and more power as it does so. Although it is quite a big car, it has all the agility one would look for in a hot hatch or small sports car. In the three months I've had it, there's been no ice or snow so I haven't had it out on a really slippery surface. Nevertheless, what I can say for the 4WD system is that applying lots of power at a T-junction on a very wet surface results in no loss of traction, where a two-wheel drive car would certainly come unstuck at one end or the other. Added to that, most of the minor stuff is pretty good. The built-in SatNav is annoyingly out-of-date and the CD-player is a bit temperamental but the radio is fine, the climate control is top-class and even the cruise control is the best I've ever had. The seats are comfortable (if you're not too tall) and you can carry a lot of stuff without even having to fold the seats down. If you want a big fast estate car that behaves well on nasty surfaces - and you are less than 5'10 - look at the economics of this: the fuel might cost you a bit, but the capital cost of a good second-hand example is enough lower than the obvious rivals, that it might just be a good deal.

In general it is still in very good order, only now starting to show any signs of age. It is extremely reliable and over all its lifetime turned out to be a very worthwhile and good value purchase. Worst downsides are becoming the running costs: day-to-day fuel(upper 20s mpg with careful driving) and repairs/spares (OEM parts have limited supply outlets, e.g. exhausts, and can be very expensive - though as long lasting and robust as the car, but there comes a time when £750+ expense on spares for a car valued at £750 becomes questionable); non-OEM spares tend to be of significantly inferior quality. If the running costs weren't becoming an issue, this car could quite easily last me for many more years to come.

I've had this car for nearly two years now. I took a bit of a gamble buying a 4 year old car with 80k miles on but apart from a whining clutch release bearing which the dealer did under warranty and an anti roll bar bush rattling the reliability has been very good. Spec wise, mine is an RE model with heated, electric adjusting leather seats 6 disc cd, climate control etc. The only real complaint is the steering wheel has cruise control buttons but no radio controls and I had to buy and fit the optional aux input socket for my ipod which was easy enough to do but should almost be standard equipment these days. Performance is pretty good for a big estate car. The tyres it came with were awful but since fitting some good tyres it handles any road condition from dry to snow superbly, which is my main reason for buying Subaru in the first place. Add that to the 50+mpg I easily get on a long run (without driving like a nun) and you get a pretty good car that should be on any shortlist for someone looking for a do anything estate car.

Best all round car i have ever owned, 4 wheel drive, supercar acceleration and enough space to fit 2 kids pushchairs suitcases and a large dog. Driven carefully fuel is good, and has alot of comfort even with performance suspension. Fully recommended.

My previous Legacy was quite thirsty. Having now swapped to the diesel version I find the opposite. Although there are more fuel efficient cars out there most of them achieve this with small engines and poor performance. The diesel Subaru gives a great balance of performance and fuel efficiency. Its strongest points are its fantastic handling (even in the wet you can be totally confident) and its capability in the snow. Its weakest points are the low tech radio with no iPod/MP3 connection (this is fixed in later models). If you go for the SatNav version then updates are expensive. I don't know why they do this as I know a lot of people who buy a lower spec car and get themselves a portable SatNav device. I think Subaru sell less top of the range cars because of this. The dashboard somehow doesn't match european produced cars of the same price, though this bothers me less than it does most motoring jounralists. Overall I love this car. If you enjoy driving then I would definitely recommend it.

reliable car, 165bhp nothing amazing,but it is all wheel drive. confident auto box smooth changes. good sound from the boxer engine. average fuel consumption. all in all compitent car. my third in a row.

All wheel drive was a revelation. I will not be going back to a front wheel drive car again. Boxer engine makes a lovely noise and the handling is superb. Fuel consumption averages 44mpg which for an all-wheel drive estate and a slightly heavy right foot is pretty good.