2021 Outback XT - in the shop again!

[JJAbrams]

Have had this car for 13-months now ... and it's been in the shop for a total of 3-weeks! Had two Outbacks so thought it was a no-brainer to get this 2021 model. Our last one was getting long in the tooth and 0% financing was attractive and the turbo is awesome. And, we love Outbacks for cruising the back roads of Pacific Northwest through mud and snow and everything in between. The new one is fun to drive, solid, love the adaptive cruise control. First, the power steering control box went kaput. Loud sounds coming from it when turning wheel far to right and left. Took dealer two weeks to find part, then find a tech who could install it. Windshield - broke during road trip, no biggie, bought the supplemental insurance when we got car. Windshield replace went fine, but camera realignment wouldn't take. The camera went bad. That took a week to find the part and get installed. The Apple Carplay? Hit and miss ... we bang the phone to get that to work after it disconnects all on its own. To the dealers credit the repairs were both covered under warranty and we drove a loaner from their fleet. That said, we love the Ascent loaner ... and are going to trade-in the 13-month old experiment. Why? There are knobs on the dashboard that you turn to adjust the temp, a simple button push to recirculate air, just like that - no friggin menus to scroll through on the huge piece of glass they put on the dashboard. A CD player!!!! We didn't want a Tesla when we bought our third Outback, we wanted a good old reliable Subaru, the ones that only go to the shop for regular maintenance. The Ascent that we put 300+ miles on over the last week is a good "old-fashioned" Subaru and it is a lot of fun to drive. We hope that proves to be true. Or, we will be right back here on Subaru Forum with our report.