Subaru's head gasket problem was fixed around 10 years ago when their flat four engine was redesigned. The head gasket problem had nothing to do with the boxer configuration of the engine, it was due to lousy head gasket design which they let go for a ridiculously long time. (In fact the Subaru 6-cylinder engines and turbocharged 4-cylinder models those years used a different gasket design that was not prone to failure. However you may want to avoid those, particularly the six, for other reasons.)

I know Scotty keeps saying that the boxer configuration is an old, antiquated design but inline engines are even older. Probably the main disadvantage of the boxer is that if you do need to work on the cylinder heads or head gaskets the engine needs to come out. 

watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xylBi6ImiQ

Boxer engines like blowing head gaskets. I'd rather look at straight 4-cylinder ones. Their AWD is the best.

Full disclosure. We are a 4-Subaru family (wrx, forester, crosstrek x 2).  However, that’s mainly just because that’s how it worked out rather than any particular affection for Subaru. 
Basically, Subies are great at what they are good at and average otherwise. 
The good: light off roading, easy to work on yourself, decent fuel economy, parts are cheap, more reliable than you think (ignore all the head gasket talk; that hasn’t been an issue for years), fantastic AWD systems and manual transmissions, resale value 

The bad: rough, noisy, unsophisticated, slow (other than WRX), CVT transmissions

Basically, as long as you know you’re not getting a luxury car, you will probably be happy with a Subaru. For what it’s worth, their dealer network is growing fast, which bodes well for future brand support.

My first choices are Honda and Toyota. 

But Subaru and Mazda aren’t too far behind. 

Honda or Toyota for sure. 

Subaru's are not in the same build quality class as the other two.