The head gasket issue was a real thing, and eventually caused problems for some owners. Subaru's reputation continued to build through the years that added up until an engineering mod fixed the problem.
From what I can see, and from my own experience, they are quickly becoming the most common car on the highway. Subaru's loyal customer fan base is really something. And good reason for it.
My wife was badly injured in a snow caused car crash in 1983. From then until we bought the first Subaru, she'd stay home if 6 flakes of snow fell in the county. And this even in the years we had our Suburban. Eight months after I bought my Outback, she bought hers. Snow isn't even a consideration now when she feels like driving 90 miles to see the grandkids.
The capabilities and handling of the Outback in bad conditions engenders an almost cocky sense of confidence. And with as many as are on the road, if there were serious mechanical issues, they'd be broke down everywhere.
I've seen exactly one on a flatbed in the 3 years I've been driving mine.
What year did they fix the head gasket issue?
Been a while since I read the article, but IIRC they had 3 different designations of the 2.5 motor that could potentially be prone to oil pooling in the area of the haed gasket and causing issues. I think I read they were all phased out by 2011-2012 and any newer motors should have an engineering change to improve oil drainage from the area.
Note that even among the potentially problematic motor series that problems were not common enough to make these cars much less popular. These were the years that made their rep for reliability, and saw their explosion of numbers on the highway.
Note that these cars are in full production and they sell so quickly that dealers cannot keep them on the lot. It was around a year ago that the dealership where I bought mine emailed me and offered to buy it back. On my next service visit I noted 3 used Subaru's in the showroom. An Outback, a Crosstrek, and an Impreza. Not a new car on the lot anywhere.
At 3 years old with now 153,000+ miles I wouldn't sell mine going into winter for what I paid new for it.
