I agree with the posters who tout the bad weather capabilities of Subarus. My wife and son drive them and we really don't care what people think. They really work well in snowy, icy conditions, and the AWD system seems to be the best available at the price point. They do seem to be rough on tires, although the newest two are much better, and the gas mileage is not great, but those are secondary and tertiary concerns. We did have one that had recurring oxygen sensor problems and also needed new head gaskets at 60,000, but the company ate all but the first sensor replacement. We also don't run them for 150,000 miles, and the value holds up well around here, so getting a decent amount for a used one is not a problem.
When my son was in high school and got to drive the hand-me-down Outback, I made the mistake of telling him about the Campfire impression of Subarus, and that became a problem, but he endured. (He did not have a choice.) He now drives an Impreza that we gave him before college. He does a lot of bad weather driving over a 9000 foot mountain pass, and he realizes now that performance beats stereotypes and marketing. I don’t think we could have put him in a safer vehicle for twice what we paid for it new.
