True…to an extent. I’ve never seen an ad in which I saw a Sube being driven in quite the same way it sounds like this one was. Streams and dirt roads are one thing. Ruts and bumps that are deeper and higher than the car’s ground clearance are another. I have a Subaru, and I take it off road. But when I do, I drive slowly (at a crawl if necessary) I don’t drive over anything that I’m not sure of the depth/height of, and if I’m not sure I stop and get out of the car and make sure I’ve got the ground clearance to make it. I’ve seen plenty of Jeeps, Hummers, etc that have bottomed out or broken axles precisely because they were driven the way it sounds like this Subaru was. 4/All-Wheel Drive doesn’t mean “invincible,” although for some reason a lot of people seem to think it does. Honestly, the OP’s whole story is a little mind-boggling.
I’m certainly not saying that the OP wasn’t, to be blunt, stupid in how she treated the car. But from the beginning they’ve pitched the Outback as being invincible. I think manufacturers should stand by the image they project.
Just like the old “Like A Rock” Chevy truck ads, where they’d show people doing stupid stuff like dropping half a ton of rock into the bed from 10 feet up. Do that in real life and you’ll damage if not destroy the truck, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t stand by their visual claims.
All car ads are misleading and BS for the most part. That doesn’t mean one can sue because the car maker won’t cover damage caused by the car being operated in the manner shown on TV.
Some may or may not remember the gentleman about 20 or so years ago who sued Ford Motor Company over something just like this.
He went to the boondocks with his F150 and buckled the frame/entire truck right between the bed and cab.
A suit was brought against Ford because he claimed to be using the truck in the same manner as shown on the TV advertising. This suit was tossed.
Drag out your paperwork about the extended warranty and also peruse the warranty terms in the owners manual.
You will find that both will state (in a nutshell) that warranty will not cover problems caused by modifications, neglect, abuse, or normal maintenance/wear and tear items. Just like every other car maker on the planet.
Yes, yes… I know I was ignorant I think we have pointed this out um about 100 times by now… hence the poor choices part of this discussion… I have learned from my first hand experience… and I did take the road at a crawl that night. I was just ignorant of how to treat my car, and yes at one point when I first got this car I thought I could go anywhere in the snow (which when I did go i could and safely). But then my friend pointed out to me my driving habits that I adopted, and after experiencing some of these issues while driving (bottoming out) I learned first hand (the hard way yes but I did learn) how to drive my car now if I need to go on one of these back roads.
Subaru shows a car flying through puddles and other terrain. They do not show the car falling off into a deep mudhole with a hidden rock below. This type of driving could break a real 4WD or so called SUV if conditions right.
I have taken a rented Toyota Tercel (SLOWLY) on very rough roads including fording 6" deep streams crossing road and over 12"- rock dry river beds without issue in Costa Rica. My then girlfriend(now wife) did regret not spending 2.5x on a small SUV they suggested.
Just FYI, Subaru Outback does have nearly 9" of ground clearance. More than some “SUV’s”. However the undercarriage is made for very careful offroading not abuse. Subaru does this purposely to avoid the CAFE standards and qualify the Forester and Outback(top sellers) as “SUV’s”.
On the subject of ads. One time a new Jeep owner had his vehickle towed to the dealer. As the Service Manager, I was confronted by a very upset owner.The transmission was shot, along with the starter and brakes.
I asked the owner what happened. He replied that he was crossing a ‘stream’ in the mountains.I informed him warranty did not cover this.
He got red in the face and asked me to walk up to the showroom. Sure enough ,a big poster depicted a Jeep going through a river bed with plenty of water.
I told him the Service Dept had nothing to do with the Sales Dept or the idiotic Marketing Dept of Jeep. I had to deal with the Warranty Division of Jeep, and I wasn’t about to loose hundreds of dollars out of my dept budget when his warranty claim would be denied.
I did give him a 1-800 number to Jeep. I also told him I would point out the poster to the Service Division Rep and Sales Division Rep.I would have been as mad as he was if I also was dupped in this manner.
Thank you very much for your input on the Warranty. I thought that that was what the dealership would say.
Thank you for your advice.
Shame on your parents for making your first car brand new.
There is no substitute for experience, which you didn’t have, and that’s not your fault.
Your parents should have known better.
It’s easy to say “I want the best for my child”, but often parents don’t know what’s really “best”.
Dumb mistakes are tuition for the school of life.
Any updates on whats wrong wiht your car?? I hope everything is ok. 
I have no experience with warrenties and the such as my first car was a 1992 Pontiac transport van which i worked and saved the money for myself. I was on my own insurance as my parents didnt want me on theirs due to the fact that if something went wrong they wanted me to be responsible for it. And when i started driving i used their old junkers, and if something happened (which were a few times) i had to pay for the damages. and i agree with the very first comment about calling mom and dad. Mom and dad always know best. (sometimes…;))