We have a 1995 Subaru Legacy which is coming to it last days. What would be a comparable auto to replace our Legacy. We need a vehicle that can carry a canoe and camping gear.
Take a look at the 2011 Outback.
When you compare it to similar vehicles like the Toyota Venza and Mazda CX-7, you will find that it gets better gas mileage, is roomier, has a better ride, and is a bit less expensive. Reliability is essentially the same on all 3 of these vehicles.
And you still get the Subaru logo and brand quality.
You should also go check out the new 2011 Forester, it is also pretty nice.
Subaru still makes the Legacy sedan and the Outback wagon, as well as the Forester. Assuming you’ve been happy with your '95 Legacy you may want to stick with Subaru. They still get very high reliability ratings from Consumer Reports magazine.
There are other vehicles with comparable reliability. You should do some shopping and see what’s out there.
Ravs and CRVs are comparable to Subarus too. The Nissan Rogue is a sleeper and performs well with it’s CVT.
Too bad you can’t see anywhere but straight ahead in the Rogue. Major blind spots, way worse than the very poor average level of blind spots in new cars / CUV’s. Subaru is way better than average this area.
Subaru is better in this area, worse in others. What’s your point? All cars are compromises. If OP liked the old Subaru legacy, the new one should be at the top of list as well.
The point is that you shouldn’t drive a car / CUV w/as many blind spots as a Rouge. So while you are enjoying your CVT I hope the bacup camera and side detection mirror flashers don’t stop working. Lets design a car w/lots of blind spots and then drive up the cost with all sorts of tech. to cover up for our poor design, yeah great plan. No wonder the feds are talking about making backup cameras required equipment. Blind spots all for the sake of style and in some cases another star in a crash test rating. I’d rather see well and avoid the accident instead of betting my life on that random extra star.
We did this before. There seem to be more cars out there with poor outward vision. Still, Some are good performers in other areas and worth a look. The Matrix/Vibe is a good example of a recommended car with poor visibility. You design the car or make a better recommendation and let OP decide. It’s OP’s money. Just remember it’s for camping and canoe toting too.