Scotty would advise to stick with 4-cylinder Subarus, not 6-cylinders. I'm sure the Outback will be a vastly dependable upgrade to your LR that unfortunately failed you, but do still inspect the one you see and make sure it hasn't been driven hard. That's my advise, but anyone else that has more insight, do please add on below.

Sorry to here about your land cruiser.

I am not scotty .. but he has done some video on  Subaru.. 

I have several friends with late-model Subarus (2015-2019) and they seem to be fine, none have needed anything except normal maintenance. Their newer engines don't suffer from head gasket problems and Subaru's CVTs over the last several years seem to be OK at least if you don't abuse them. (I wouldn't try to tow an Airstream trailer with one!)

Given that Subarus tend to have high resale value, depending on what kind of current incentives there are it might make more sense to buy a new one. (Some of the Subaru owners I know were looking for used ones and wound up buying new ones because of that. Personally, like Scotty I'm way too cheap to spend that kind of money! 😀 )

If buying used, as has been mentioned stay away from the Subaru six-cylinder engine, it's a gas hog and overall endless money pit, and have a mechanic like Scotty check the car out for problems BEFORE buying!

Thank you for the replies.  I will not finance a new car, never been a debt guy.

We have a budge of 13,300 so will buy used.  I have owned subarus in the past and ran into the head gasket problem, but those were late 90’s models. 

Personally would like to have my 97 Tacoma back, but buying for the wife so that prob wouldn't fly lol.

Anyway thanks for the responses.

Poker King

Hi. Ok so a few things. I do suggest getting the 4 cylinder. If you can get a manual transmission but the automatic or CVT are ok. If you do a lot of offroading and hill climbing, the Subaru's CVT will limit engine power. My mom has a 2013 Forester with the manual transmission. The only major things that had to be replaced were the catalytic converter & gas cap @ around 100K miles (under warranty), battery & alternator, starter, clutch, belt & and tensioner. We recently had to have the exhaust fixed due to rust (lots of salt and junk are put on the roads in the winter here). Her car also goes through quite a bit of oil as hers is a known oil burner. I have used 2 oil brands and they seem to be better than the others I have tried. Royal Purple and High Mileage Castrol. I do also add some Lucas oil treatment (the thick stuff) as good measure to help prevent wear. Another thing to add is her car does make a rattle/spark knocking/detionation sound and I think its a knock sensor not working correctly or the aftermarket belt tentioner. I am not 100& sure on that but seems to be running very well. Last thing, if you don't tighten the gas cap past 3 to 4 clicks, it will set off the emissions lights (Check engine, traction control, and cruise). She has about 118K miles and its going strong. Never gotten stuck and their AWD system works better than the people with 4x4's on my road.

Again,  TY Nick for the response.  I remember now having to repair the filler neck on our 98 Subaru as it rusted out.

along with the head gasket and speedo cable.  Dumped it when it started showing signs of other issues creeping up.  It had 160,000 on it.  

PokerKing

Again its all about service history on the vehicle your looking at. At the money you want to spend the Subies will have a few miles on them so be diligent in your investigative work.

That is true, i am looking at these many things.  

Leaning towards a newer Hyundai Sonata.

Pokerking

I would never buy a Suburu CVT or just about any other CVT, they are terrible in terms of going bad, they are not repairable and super expensive to replace

Just an update,  we bought a 2008 Toyota Highlander sport with 136k on the motor.  $10,400.00.  

In great shape overall, but a hail damage vehicle which neither of us care about.  

However,  driving it home today, the inevitable happened,  the one known major issue happened, the oil cooler line burst.  Low oil pressure indicator came on,  luckily we were a mile from my workshop, and we parked it.  Checked the oil and it was empty,  looked underneath and oil everywhere.  

Should be an easy fix for the replacement line, but damn the luck this year, lol.