2016 Legacy Premier Reliability

... since it still has 1 year on the power train I still think I can extend it through subaru.

You can only add a Subaru Added Security maintenance agreement while the car is within the original 3 year/36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty period. Of course, your original power train warranty still extends to 5 years/60,000 miles. I highly recommend that you do not consider any third-party "extended warranty."

 

Just enjoy your Legacy, and put aside the money you would otherwise be paying for an "extended warranty" as a hedge against future maintenance surprises.

Edited September 27, 2019 by ammcinnis

Most extended warranties will cost more than you recover.

 

It's insurance. It's better to self-insure where the event will not cripple you.

If your cash flow is so close to the line that a bill of a few thousand will throw your finances into a tailspin, insurance may give you the margin of safety and peace of mind. If not, self-insure as recommended.

 

The car is likely reliable but not bulletproof. The decision is more about you and your personal situation and mindset.

my extended warranty has already paid for it's self

 

 

1 New front o2

2. New MAF

3. New intake gaskets

I have a 2016 and have multiple things that bug me about this car:

 

The infotainment system worked perfectly fine when I bought it, was the best one I'd ever used. Now nothing works fully.

 

 

I had the head unit replaced under warranty. Problem-free every since.

Most extended warranties will cost more than you recover.

 

It's insurance. It's better to self-insure where the event will not cripple you.

 

BUY the extended warranty:

1. One major repair will cost more than for the warranty costs you. Parts are expensive. Labor is BRUTAL. Free loaner cars help as well when parts are back-ordered.
   
2. If any of these items fail, you'll be out a small fortune: eyesight, infotainment, LED/HID headlights or tire pressure sensors
   
3. A warranty will dramatically increase the amount you can sell your car for AND the speed at which it will sell
   
4. Subaru will refund part of the warranty price at any time if you're unhappy
   

 

***NEVER*** buy the extended warranty from your dealer when you purchase the car. They get you for least 30-50% over the market rate. Shop around, call other dealers, and see what you can do.

 

I purchased my extended warranty over the phone from Jaime McGuinness at Planet Subaru. I heard on this forum that Planet is great to deal with for parts and warranties. Jaime took the time to explain the different levels of coverage and was EXCEPTIONAL. He saved me a small fortune.

Edited October 4, 2019 by jMeG

Thanks for the warranty info. I am past the 3 yr/36,000 mile timeline. Mine is almost 4 years old but I only have 22,000 miles. Another year on engine and 6 years nearly 80,000 miles on CVT. Not sure I am eligible?

 

Subaru confuses me a bit. They rank high in reliability yet everyone discusses these major issues. It's like loving your spouse one day and being unable to look at them the next.

 

So far I really enjoy the simplicity of my 16 Legacy. Just curious about whether it should be reliable or not.

Edited October 4, 2019 by bester1

BUY the extended warranty:

1. One major repair will cost more than for the warranty costs you. Parts are expensive. Labor is BRUTAL. Free loaner cars help as well when parts are back-ordered.
   
2. If any of these items fail, you'll be out a small fortune: eyesight, infotainment, LED/HID headlights or tire pressure sensors
   
3. A warranty will dramatically increase the amount you can sell your car for AND the speed at which it will sell
   
4. Subaru will refund part of the warranty price at any time if you're unhappy
   

 

***NEVER*** buy the extended warranty from your dealer when you purchase the car. They get you for least 30-50% over the market rate. Shop around, call other dealers, and see what you can do.

 

I purchased my extended warranty over the phone from Jaime McGuinness at Planet Subaru. I heard on this forum that Planet is great to deal with for parts and warranties. Jaime took the time to explain the different levels of coverage and was EXCEPTIONAL. He saved me a small fortune.

 

 

 

 

I got the extended warranty through the dealer, I just kept saying nope until i got the terms I thought were reasonable.

Statistically speaking, you shouldn't plan to expect the warranty to be worth it. It's not a sustainable business model to charge people less for the warranty than what the average payout will be. Of course there are people who will benefit from it, but the majority will not. It's essentially car repair insurance. If you decide to get it, it should be because a large auto repair will otherwise be more than you can afford.

Drove my 2016 Legacy over 400 miles today to visit my daughter. I79 and I80 in Pennsylvania(almost all interstate/ some town) and averaged 35.5 mpg. Comfortable, simple and pleasant driving experience. Last week had two flash updates at the dealership. Very good experience so far.

I've had my 2015 since new, I commute from PA to MD for work with it about 90 miles or so a day. I'm currently sitting at 104k miles, I've had one wheel bearing replaced under warranty and had the head unit replaced under extended Subaru warranty for display failure. Other than that, gas, oil changes and tire rotations. They are not exciting cars by any means but the do what there were made to do fairly well. Only real gripe is the fact that the more miles the car gets, the worse the gas mileage seems to get. I used to be able to average 34ish MPG, now 30-31 is about as good as it gets.

Thanks for the info Pudge. I am not sure there are truly any mid sized exciting mainstreamish type cars(although I think the Fusion still has a nice look). I hope I don't have many issues as I do not have an extended warranty($2,400) so I think I can hold the repair costs under that(as long as the head gasket issue stays away from this generation and I have 6 years/75,000 miles left on the CVT).

 

Regarding the CVT...I haven't seen too many issues reported in this generation. Unless I am missing something....seems like the issues with it have been mostly resolved.

 

Yes...Not an exciting car but coming from an 03 Accord to a 16 Legacy makes me feel like I am driving luxury(who would have thought I would have become hooked on having a heated seat...lol).

 

I appreciate all the input from folks. What should one expect to pay for a replacement bearing?

i dunno i think the Legacy drives just fine... comfortable on long road trips and bust 29.7MPG at 75 actual MPH...

I drove nearly 600 miles this weekend as I went to visit my kid in college. Car ran fine...no issues. However, after exiting the car after prolonged times....I smell a faint whiff of antifreeze when I exit the car on the drivers side.

 

I saw this was discussed but not sure if there has been any reason for this or any resolution? I don't see any leaks. Anyone have this issue as well or a resolution? 2016 Legacy with 25,000 miles,

I drove nearly 600 miles this weekend as I went to visit my kid in college. Car ran fine...no issues. However, after exiting the car after prolonged times....I smell a faint whiff of antifreeze when I exit the car on the drivers side.

 

I saw this was discussed but not sure if there has been any reason for this or any resolution? I don't see any leaks. Anyone have this issue as well or a resolution? 2016 Legacy with 25,000 miles,

 

I have also experience this with 38000 miles. I don't see any leaks and coolant levels have remained the same.

I’ve smelled this too many times to count. Service dept thinks I’m crazy. I did get this response from an SOA Employee... “coolant smell has to do due to the “new” coolant formulation evaporation... we at SOA are aware of. Lexus has the same problem with the coolant issue”.

i put a new rad cap on my car and the smell went away....

All in all, the car has been pretty nice. Same price as a new compact, has awd, heated seats, sun roof and free xm for a few months. Radio had 2 flash updates, 10 year/100,000 miles warranty on CVT, excellent safety scores......not a much to complain about....faint smell of burnt antifreeze...thats it. Hope to run it for awhile and don't see many worrisome issues. I do wish I had remote start tho. Coming from an 03 accord(I do miss it in some weird, small ways)....I feel like I am living in luxury....lol

 

My wife and daughters do think it is boring..ha,ha. Wait til winter hits here in Pittsburgh. They will want to drive it.

Edited October 31, 2019 by bester1

It seems as if the Subaru Legacy does well here....is it legit?

 

Top 10 Longest-Lasting Vehicles in iSeeCars.com Study Are All Trucks and SUVs

https://www.iseecars.com/longest-lasting-cars-study#v=2014

Interesting article. A quick look at the top list may imply sedans are less reliable than trucks & SUVs, but I have a different theory.

 

Trucks and large SUVs are more expensive than sedans. So when a vehicle reaches say 150k miles and an engine or a transmission goes out, perhaps people are more likely to spend the big money to get it fixed for a truck or SUV because if they don't, a new vehicle similar to what they had is likely $40k+ vs more like $25k. Notice how none of the SUVs on the list are small crossovers that are probably under $30k new. I have no evidence to back this up, but it seems logical to me.

 

Regardless, it's nice to see the Legacy towards the top! Although it's worth noting most of the 200k mile vehicles are old enough to where it may not mean much relative to the reliability of vehicles made in the past few years.

Amazing information you can get about your car and the market value if you put your Vin# in.

iseecars.com

Interesting article. ...

 

Regardless, it's nice to see the Legacy towards the top! Although it's worth noting most of the 200k mile vehicles are old enough to where it may not mean much relative to the reliability of vehicles made in the past few years.

 

 

Yup - the sample will have included very few if any Legacies in this generation. Some argue there has been a decline in quality in the latest generations, but only time and miles will truly tell.

 

 

"Methodology: iSeeCars.com analyzed 30 million used cars listed on iSeeCars.com over the last year and studied the vehicles with models years between 1981 to 2010 and those with over 200K miles on the odometer. For each vehicle model, the number of 200K mile cars as a percentage of the total number of vehicles listed for the model was calculated; the number was then used to rank each model."

Edited November 1, 2019 by waldguy

Biggest problem with fb is they leak over time... subaru in their infinite (lack of?) wisdom did not use rubber gaskets for sealing the front timing cover... they will all leak... just a matter of time...

I have 80,000 miles on my 2016 Legacy 2.5 in Lapis Blue...Bought new with extended warranty....Was in the shop last year for a engine noise that took the dealer almost two weeks to repair and then another week for repaint of rear bumper they scratched...Wind noise from left front door even after TSB replacement of seal...Get 30 mpg with my daily drive of 84 miles over two mountain ranges...Road noise went down a lot after getting rid of the Goodyear tires to Michleins....Tempted to trade in even after a transmission shop told me it would cost 8,000 to replace the transmission when warranty runs out...Probably get rid of it before warranty runs out.....

I am not sure how great the data is but according to carcomplaints.com the issues for the 2016 Subaru Legacy are minimal(however 3 recalls that were repaired). So, as far as I can see (thank goodness for the 10 yr/100,000 warranty on the cvt), the Legacy gets really good reliability ratings and kudos from Consumer Reports,Iseecars, carcomplaints....I mean, other than a bearing here or there/battery, most of the kinks were worked out by 2016 and it really is a hardy beast.

https://www.carcomplaints.com/Subaru/Legacy/2016/

 

I will say there does seem to be quite a bit of whining/complaining here on this site but not anywhere else(including Edmunds/cars.com). Even autotrader loves the 6th generation Legacy. Oh and JD Power could live without the Legacy...lol. Not sure about real posts vs trolls. Not sure it matters.

 

I have put about 5,000 in miles a short while, have averaged 32 mpg in western PA and on a long trip averaged 36mpg. 1 oil change(3 years free) and tire rotation. I did have the radio flash update and that did improve the radio. Love the huge gas tank. 1st time subaru owner and I can see why they have a loyal base.

Edited November 4, 2019 by bester1

I will say there does seem to be quite a bit of whining/complaining here on this site ...

That has been my observation here and on the Outback forum. It generally seems to follow the universal 80/20 rule as well: More than 80% of the whining comes from fewer than 20% of the participants. Some of the complaints are justified; many are not, or are blown way out of proportion.

Edited November 5, 2019 by ammcinnis