I’m getting the 2015 Subaru legacy and trying to decide between OEM rubber mats and WeatherTech DigitalFit mats. The latter I’ve seen a huge range of opinions on, from great to horrible, but not many postings about the Subaru mats. Any experience with either or both?
Do the Subaru factory mats extend up the side of the footwell? If not, I’d much prefer the WeatherTech mats. Just cleaned the ones in our '07 Forester, look like new, as does the carpet beneath them. Only issue is the rear seat ones don’t fit quite as well as the front seat mats, but the front seats is where 99% of the dirt is for us.
The Weathertech mats are better. Way better.
Lloyd’s makes good mats too.
Carpet mats are much better “feel” than any rubber mat. Carpeted mats are much easier on leather shoes for scuffing.
@powerdogvt–I can tell you from experience with 3 Subarus that, while the OEM rubber mats are of a decent quality, they don’t cover as much “real estate” as the WeatherTech mats do.
No matter how good a mat might be, if it leaves unprotected areas all around it, you are not completely shielding the carpet from…dirt…snow…salt…and other things that have a potential to degrade the carpet over time. I order WeatherTech mats for my cars, and have never regretted it.
Can’t speak to the specific brands, but I prefer rubber(ized) fully waterproof mats that have 1 inch x 1 inch raised squares (or some similar design) so that any water that gets on them stays inside those squares. The other thing I look for is the weight of the mat. The heavier, the better, as it stays in place much better. I was looking in the chain car parts store the other day at the mats, and didn’t see any there that were as good as the ones I have though.
Just want to be sure, WT fans. These are what I have in my old car:
http://www.weathertech.com/product-education-center/floor-mats-all-weather/
They’ve been great, but aren’t available for the Subaru yet.
These are what they do have now:
http://www.weathertech.com/product-education-center/floorliner-digitalfit/
They’re not as thick or deeply channeled, and I think they may be hard plastic instead of rubber.
So you’d still recommend the DigitalFIt floor liner over the OEM rubber mat?
Thanks.
@powerdogvt__The all-weather mats were the type that I used in both my '97 Outback and my '02 Outback, and they were excellent, except for one thing–namely the time needed to thoroughly clean the debris from within those deep crevices. The good news is that they trap and hold almost everything that falls from your shoes. The bad news is that getting rid of the accumulated “stuff” after it dries can take considerable work.
So, when I ordered my '11 Outback, I decided to try the DigitalFit floor liners, and I am happy that I did so. I wasn’t even aware that the all-weather mats weren’t available for this car, simply because it looked to me like that floor liners would be superior, so I never even considered the all-weather mats.
I’m not exactly sure what the composition of the floor liners might be, but they are definitely somewhat stiff, as they need to have that quality in order to hold their shape and serve the purpose for which they were designed. However, they are flexible enough so that I can bend them sufficiently in order to remove them periodically for cleaning.
For cleaning, I simply dump them upside-down to remove debris, spray a little Simple Green on them, and hose them off. Cleaning them is about as complex as rinsing a dish, so I really like them.
Where did you buy the WT mats? I’ve seen some complaints that the manufacturer’s customer service is really bad, but I’m having trouble finding 3rd party dealers that list mats for 2015 models.
I have always ordered directly from the mfr.
No human intervention with their customer service staff is necessary, and you can do it all on their website–or at least you used to be able to do that.
In today’s world I bet Mother Teresa would get some bad reviews. I, too, used the WT web site for two different cars, and had no problems.
VDC, I’m willing to bet that a high pressure washer would get them clean with a minimum of effort. I use one to clean my plastic deck furniture annually and it gets absolutely everything totally off, even residue that no cleaner will cut.
I’m not looking at the Legacy myself but going into the dealer tomorrow to look at and possibly put a deposit on a 2015 Forester, comparing the Weather tech to the Subaru mats they appear to cover the same area but I’ll need to look at ones already installed. The floor Liner is available for the Legacy from weather tech and covers more of the carpet. Only complaint about the factory mats i’ve found is that other than the driver’s side they tend to shift around a bit.
I am still a Husky floor Matt fan. The Classic is a harder, lighter material that cleans with just soap and water w/o needing a power washer too and empties more easily. Tried both and I go back to Husky mats for these reasons. Heavier rubberized mats are harder on shoes. Mine in the 4Runner at ten plus years only and going strong. Husky also makes the heavier version but the plastomer version just seems to work right for heavy snow/slush area we live in .
From what I’ve seen, if you want to order all-weather mats for a 2015 Legacy right now, there are 3 choices other than “universal fit”. The OEM, the WT DigitalFit liners, and the rubber Lloyd mats. The WT liners cover the biggest area, but the opinions I’ve seen vary on how well they fit specific cars.
My experience with Weathertech goes back 20 years. I ordered a rear cargo mat for the 1990 Ford Aerostar that I owned and it fit very well and was easy to clean. I am ready to order a rear cargo mat and front mats for my 2011 Toyota Sienna based on that experience. Until I saw this post, I forgot all about that Weathertech mat I bought for the Aerostar. I left the mat for the subsequent owner when I traded it in.
If the Subaru all weather mats are no bigger than the weathertech (I’ve only seen the Subaru installed in a vehicle) then the Liner will cover more of the floor if you wish. I’m going to try out the all weather mats for awhile myself although the Liner will probably be better idea on those rainy/muddy days here in the Northwest.