Subaru Outback

[SpikeyBush]

Seen a 2005 Outback 2.4 petrol auto advertised at a dealer. Seems to tick all my boxes. Do these ever break and when they do are the repairs costly?

[Clanad]

Our experience with the Subaru of any style but especially the Outback and Forester is excellent (I'm in the U.S.). We bought an Impreza (smaller four door sedan) for our youngest son, mainly because it's 4-wheel drive, because we live out in the boon docks and the roads can be less than favorable. It's been trouble free for 70,000 miles. Gas mileage isn't spectacular but still better than most cars of its size. We get around 20 miles to the U.S. gallon. It doesn't have the availability of a diesel engine.

The engines are all the same 'Boxer' style, meaning that the four cylinder engines are horizontally opposed, rather like small aircraft engines except the Subaru is liquid cooled rather than air cooled on airplanes.

The Outback is built on the Legacy frame which is somewhat larger than the Impreza we have. It's available here in either a four door sedan or the SUV, which is by far the more popular model.

It's real strength is its all wheel drive and suspension which is super strong.

The 2.5i model is powered by a 2.5-liter horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine that makes 175 horsepower. The 2.5 XT upgrades to a 2.5-liter turbocharged engine with 250 hp and 250 lb-ft of torque. The 3.0 models come with a 3.0-liter horizontally opposed six-cylinder (H6) good for 250 hp and 219 lb-ft of torque. All are the standard 'Boxer' style.

All are available in either manual or automatic transmissions. The interiors are superior in the use of longer lasting materials, but somewhat pedestrian. You really couldn't go wrong as long as the one you're looking at such as mileage, care and history.

Good luck!

[jake-the-peg]

Reliability index here

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/

This compares the frequency of breakdowns and cost of repairs

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search/314

Subaru Forester is very average

You might also consider a Honda CRV which has a higher reliability index
http://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search/117