Dunk: Sorry, but I haven't read all the posts, but in New England, Subaru is considered a go-to car for winter, budget, cargo space, etc. Awesome reputation as far as I know, and I do a fair amount of reading on car reviews. I tend to prefer the previous iteration of the Outback, but the new one is nice too. Just my thoughts.

We have a forester and love it. We did get away from the lower profile tires on it and put some with a bit more tread on because of the winters, but haven't had a problem.

Factory batteries are junk, get an optima and don't worry about another one ever again

Nokian tires make them handle like snow rally cars.....

Mother in-laws outback is fun unless its offroad in snow. Bumps aren't quite so much fun.

She's a nurse.

I commute in a 2008 Subaru Legacy...not slow at all, btw, mountains or not. AWD is rockin' in the snow, 28-31 mpg depending on tires.

Only complaint: a bit cramped. could use more leg room.

22-Agreed on the battery.

One more point, the stock speakers blow.

Agreeded the OEM tires (Bridgestone Potenza'a 92A'a) are junk. They're horrible in the winter and if you get 25K out of them you're doing good(that's with regular alignments). I bought snows on steel rims and with those if you can't get through you have no business being on the road. I've got Cooper CS4's for 3 seanson driving. They have excellent wet traction and with a little over 10K on them they're showing only minimal wear. Subaru should be ashamed of using the Potenza's as original equipment.

we own a Lesbaru Forester.

Solid car. Thinly built, so the few problems they do have, WILL crop up. But easy to work on yourself if you are so inclined.

#3 Ditto that.

BTW, get a G37 instead, dummy!

:)P~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a Subaru parts manager i would have to say the are very good cars if taken care of, some of our mechanics have older legacy's with over 400000 miles on them. the biggest problem we see is the oil leaks after about 75000 miles which isnt that big a deal. I drive an 08 Tribeca and love it pleanty of room and lots of power with the 6 cylinder 18 mpg around town and 24/26 highway

I like them.

But I'm a lesbian nurse.

The WRX is real fast

Suburus do seem to be popular among the lesbian crowd. (Not that there is anything wrong with that. [except the lumberjack/Canadian type])

Suburu, VW, and Scion all have a cult loyalty/following.

re #31: no, the WRX is Not super fast. The WRX sti is super fast on the open road and twisties. Don't attempt to drag race them, unless you enjoy broken drivetrain parts.

Any vehicle with a hatchback, to be worth a damn, should be big enough for a couple of full-grown adults to get in and screw. Otherwise, you've given up a trunk for nothing.

I was a Subaru dealer until last June. They are a GREAT car....