We have been looking at all 4 cylinder SUV/CUV 4 cylinder vehicles & have it down to Outback & Cherokee. Cherokee was redesigned in 2014 & Outback redesigned 2015 so both packed with latest technology. These cars will not be used for towing but will be everyday transportation in northern WI & UP & cross country interstate trips. What has been you experience with these 2 models as far as reliability & maintenance as we keep our cars for 150K miles or so.
Comments on 2015 Subaru Outback & 2104-2015 Jeep Cherokee 4 Cylinder Reliability?
- Thread starter whitedust
- Start date
mustardbucket2
Member
We have a 2012 Outback Limited with the 2.5L Boxer engine that we bought new and it now has 49K miles on it. LOVE the car; it has all the options we need like heated leather seats, power seats, sunroof, etc. Plenty of cargo room in it and can fit adults comfortably in the back seat. We easily get 30+ mpg on a trip at 70-80 mph on interstates. Daily driving gets about 29 mpg. The car is adequate in the acceleration dept, nothing too sporty but it gets up to 65 mph fairly quickly. My wife did get a ticket for going 80 mph in it. 
Only oil changes and tire rotations for maintenance up to this point. The only negatives were that the sunroof track was defective and needed to be replaced. A year or so later we had rust develop on the roof along the sunroof opening. The dealer repaired both under warranty though. I think the rust was caused by carelessness during the track replacement. We will buy another Subaru in the next year or two.
Only oil changes and tire rotations for maintenance up to this point. The only negatives were that the sunroof track was defective and needed to be replaced. A year or so later we had rust develop on the roof along the sunroof opening. The dealer repaired both under warranty though. I think the rust was caused by carelessness during the track replacement. We will buy another Subaru in the next year or two.Not the same cars but same brand. Saab 92x,Subaru drive train,no problems,still in the family and trouble free. Over 100k on the clicker . We own a Commander ,08,hasn't been back to the dealer since we bought it. If you google either of those cars,they are turds. I don't think you can go wrong with either of your choices. The Subaru may have a bit better QC,and fit and finish.
Bought a loaded Outback in 2013 for my wife and traded it in for a 2014 Santa Fe. The car was solid, good mpg and only had 12,000 when traded. Test drive the Outback on the highway and see what you think. To me, the steering was too touchy or too sensitive. Most young people like that sport tuned feel. But I found it to be nerve racking and drift if you let go of the wheel even for a second. Around town it was fine but it is lower to the ground than most SUV/CUV's and found it harder to enter and exit. This is just my opinion but have owned a number of these type of vehicles.
highhertel
Member
My 09' Forester ate O2 sensors like candy, Subaru would not stand behind replacements. Add on top of that the cheap, tinny ride (which was very rough) and lack of any kind of power, I was not pleased. Subaru is not what they once were in terms of quality 15-20 yrs. ago. Don't know much about Jeeps, maybe there are other manufacturers that might meet your requirements.
I will stick to my Ford, thank you.
HH
I will stick to my Ford, thank you.
HH
Oh no.... 2015 Cherokee loaded with 4 cylinder is more money than the 2015 Outback loaded about +$4K more ..not sure if you know but Cherokee was redesigned 2014 & Outback redesigned this year 2015. Anybody using Outback eyesight feature or simular tech package in Cherokee?
In that case, Subaru give you much better resale. But you did say you drive them 150k so maybe that is not an issue
camping4me
New member
I was a diehard Subaru fan. Note was.
My first two were great. My Forrester was the best out the three I owned. The last one was the worst new car I have owned. It was an Impreza Sport. It was getting ready to blow a head gasket when we traded it in with less than 50,000 miles on it.
They go get good gas mileage, but in my opinion the quality has gone down a lot.
Just an FYI, my Subaru's were all wheel drive models and they eat tires. They all had new tires twice during my ownership of each and back then two of them were leases and I did not exceed my lease miles.
My car of choice now is Honda. Mine is all wheel drive and I have only had to put new tires on once and it is nine years old.
My first two were great. My Forrester was the best out the three I owned. The last one was the worst new car I have owned. It was an Impreza Sport. It was getting ready to blow a head gasket when we traded it in with less than 50,000 miles on it.
They go get good gas mileage, but in my opinion the quality has gone down a lot.
Just an FYI, my Subaru's were all wheel drive models and they eat tires. They all had new tires twice during my ownership of each and back then two of them were leases and I did not exceed my lease miles.
My car of choice now is Honda. Mine is all wheel drive and I have only had to put new tires on once and it is nine years old.
Thanks I heard that about the 4 cylinder head gasket so called Subarau & yes did have problem with leaking headgasket due to temp change but corrected that in 2009.
I can't comment on the 2 cars you are looking at but I had a 2012 Impreza 2.0 Limited I bought new. I didn't have it long enough to say it was going to be an unreliable car but I can say it was aging way sooner than it should have. It needed tires @ 25,000 miles, brakes were really noisy and it was developing a lot of rattles and squeeks. Very cheap build quality. I dumped it at Car Max @ 30,000 mi. It only came close to it's mileage rating once on a trip to Michigan. It was just shy of 32 mpg. it was rated at 36 hwy which I know is never going to be achieved but driving back and forth to work the best I got was 26 - 27. The 96 Taurus I was driving did 29 avg. for comparison.
We have had 2 Jeep Grand Cherokees and currently have a 2006 Commander. Neither of the Cherokees had any problems, were decent on gas (one was a 6 one was 4.7 V8) and the Commander has been perfect and has just shy of 100,000 on it. Still as solid as when new and in very good condition. No doubt in my mind the better vehicle is the Jeep.
We have had 2 Jeep Grand Cherokees and currently have a 2006 Commander. Neither of the Cherokees had any problems, were decent on gas (one was a 6 one was 4.7 V8) and the Commander has been perfect and has just shy of 100,000 on it. Still as solid as when new and in very good condition. No doubt in my mind the better vehicle is the Jeep.
mustardbucket2
Member
Fun comments here on the Subaru! Our 2012 Outback is the first we've owned and it has been good. We heard the "Leslie" comments too, and laugh . It has NO problems eating tires or wandering on the highway like others have experienced; the thing is nice to drive. It has more ground clearance than our 2013 Avalanche, since the Avalanche has the front facia that extends lower to the ground. The Outback goes through snow great. It has plenty of rear cargo room too - more than other SUV's (Cherokee, Acura MDX, RAV 4) that we looked at. We can haul 2 western horse saddles in the back without folding down the rear seat, which is what we were looking for. Maybe some issues that others have had were worked out when the Outback was redesigned for 2011?
. It has NO problems eating tires or wandering on the highway like others have experienced; the thing is nice to drive. It has more ground clearance than our 2013 Avalanche, since the Avalanche has the front facia that extends lower to the ground. The Outback goes through snow great. It has plenty of rear cargo room too - more than other SUV's (Cherokee, Acura MDX, RAV 4) that we looked at. We can haul 2 western horse saddles in the back without folding down the rear seat, which is what we were looking for. Maybe some issues that others have had were worked out when the Outback was redesigned for 2011?highhertel
Member
Keep in mind when buying an AWD that you will be replacing rear wheel bearings after 75K. Not sure why, but every make and model AWD I have owned I had to do replacement.
HH
HH
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Thanks everyone for all your feed back on Subaru & Jeep. Jeep sales people seemed off the wall regardless of dealer regarding 2015s just could not get there with them. 2015 Subaru Outback had every feature we wanted so ordered a loaded red 1 with slate leather including eyesight package.....due in at Thanksgiving.
http://www.subaru.com/build-your-own/outback.html?zip=54554
http://www.subaru.com/build-your-own/outback.html?zip=54554
highhertel
Member
I am sure you will enjoy your new car, AWD are great vehicles imo. Does Subaru still make a donation to charity of limited choice for new purchase?
HH
HH
Not sure wether that is dealer driven or Subaru driven sales guy was talking about that to my wife but my mind was on the PO so dismissed that information wanted to grind the price a bit more. There was something going on adpot a dog in Wausau at the dealer this weekend but like I said a distraction from biz at hand.