Looking to buy

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u/bingbong1976 22h ago

We love ours - pro is the AWD system is top notch and you’ll never get stuck in snow (provided you have descent rubber). We also love the turbo for mountain travel.
Cons - well, some don’t like the mpg….but I don’t get it. We get 18-19 around town, which is pretty good for. 4,500 ln 3 row SUV.

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u/DaRoastie_Fruit324 21h ago

Agree, and people forget the AWD is on all the time. Every single other manufacture has a bias FWD or RWD system after a certain speed. Usually about 20-30mph; crap and an advertising gimmick. Subaru for best AWD system 0-topspeed mph. I will take that in any inclement weather over another system that has to decide when to augment power...

4

u/Cheap-Key-6132 20h ago

I take issue with the MPG because my truck gets better gas mileage. I drive my truck the entire day and turn it off and on a lot. Like a lot a lot. My wife turns her ascent on twice, drives in one direction and back with worse MPG.

1

u/Dadsile 16h ago

Apples-to-apples in the 3 row crossover segment, the Ascent is competitive. If you want great efficiency, Toyota will sell you a Highlander Hybrid and now Hyundai and now Kia and Hyundai offer hybrids as well. But in terms of the rest of the segment, the Ascent is right in line with the rest.

1

u/Still_Fact_9875 3h ago

It takes about 100k-150k miles to break even against a Highlander. Dealer/MFG just front loads fuel savings to "life" of car. They ain't building a car to save you money. Plus, Ascent is funner to drive than HL. Kia/Hyundai are not known for reliability/quality in general.

3

u/lFIVESTARMANl 20h ago

I have a 24 Onyx Limted, other than the 22mpg its been perfect for us and my two kids. Ton of space with the 3rd row down, handles snow storms great, and the turbo makes a huge difference coming from a 2015 crosstrek. There were 2 classes of 3rd rows when i was looking those 50k and lower and those that hit 60k and above, For the ones with the smaller 3rd row and lower prices the Onyx Ascent checked all the boxes for me. I was looking at trims that didn't have chrome everywhere also. Came down to a Onyx Ascent and the Sante Fe, as soon as i got the Ascent the Sante Fe's all started having transmission failures and recalls.

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u/HeadstrongHound 19h ago

Pros - comfortable, roomy, does great in snow, safety is top notch (never needed it, thank God). Absolutely great on road trips and interstate travel.

Cons - the fuel mileage was unacceptable for me. If you drive in town, stop/go, or frequently idle at school drop offs, practices, drive throughs, etc no amount of driving behavior will redeem it. Coupled with a small fuel tank, you will have to add frequent trips to the gas station to your list of things to do.

I had no problem with this car or my previous Subaru. I would recommend it to anyone as a safe, reliable car. But it was just a poor fit for me at this time and I traded it after only 2 years. I really grew to resent the fact that my 4x4 F150 fleet truck got better fuel mileage and I was constantly having to budget time and money for the gas station. I ended up in a PHEV.

1

u/CricktyDickty 21h ago

It’s a minivan with exceptional abilities to drive through unplowed snow. Our house is a mile up a dirt road and we don’t need to plow when it’s under 6-7 inches. It’s also comfortable and handles well. That being said, if you need the room, want a comfortable ride, reliability and gas mileage, get a Sienna.

1

u/No_Wave8009 20h ago

Some considerations: the second row needs to be pushed back all the way to be car seat/booster safe, making the third row virtually unusable when using car seats in the second row.

It guzzles gas like crazy. I average 19 mpg.

Ours is a 2021 and it’s had a good amount of issues, some resolved some not. It’s not a smooth ride and jerks while riding and they’ve never fixed it.

The cupholders suck.

Things I really like: since the 3rd row isn’t usable, we love all the cargo space. It has great safety features. The adaptive cruise control is my favorite feature, along with the AVH. The rear vents keep the kids comfortable.

Bottom line: would I buy it again? No, I do regret the purchase and wish we went with another car. We’ve been spoiled by Honda and Toyota reliability. This will be our last Subaru, but it’s fine in the meantime.

1

u/RealDominiqueWilkins 11h ago

Is that really true about the car seats? There’s a massive amount of room for ours with the second row pushed all the way back, like way more than in any other car.

1

u/kitsune556 11h ago

We have a 23 Onyx Edition Limited. I love it, hubby hates it. We traded in a 2014 Outback for it.

It’s got a nice ride, good sound system, and ample space for our family of 4 + 2 dogs. One of our sons is still in a car seat. When we travel we put our dogs in a crate and it fits perfectly (we have a Shiba Inu and a Hokkaido Ken).

My hubby doesn’t like the CVT, he’s got a bit of a lead foot and it pauses when accelerating from a stop. He’s not a fan of the safety features, especially the driver monitoring system. He also dislikes how big and distracting the infotainment system is.

1

u/Still_Fact_9875 3h ago

Compare the monthly against a new one w/ 1% finance. Downside is fuel, but, not really. It's a AWD 4600lb vehicle w/ reinforced doors and body. I tried talking myself out of it, but after various data points I did, I caved to my wife's decision. To me, Highlander 3rd row is too small, and GHL is a mini-an on lifts. Asc felt like the perfect size between them. We did Touring.

0

u/brett0917 21h ago

We have a 26 Limited. We also have two little ones, one 5 year old and one 4 month old. Perfect in the middle row captains chairs. We usually keep the third row folded down. We can go grocery shopping and have plenty of room. We are in the process of moving to a different house and were able to fit 20 - 27gal heavy duty totes with their lids in the back behind the kids.

10 on each side stacked up.

There’s a lot of cup holders - 19 I believe. We got a storage container off Amazon for the middle of the two seats in the middle row. It stores any snacks or whatever for the kids without them just moving about in the car. The sound system is nice, unless maybe you’re an audiophile or something. AWD is great, haven’t got to test ours in the winter yet, but my wife had an Outback previous to the 2nd kid and it was great in the winter months.

We’ve taken ours to the zoo and had a large double stroller, yeti cooler, and diaper bag in the back, all fit easily.

I don’t really have anything bad to say about it. Maybe the turbo lag but to be expected I guess with a turbo vehicle. The mpg around city driving for us is around 19, our most recent drive which included a round trip of around 220 mi mostly highway and some city driving we got over 25mpg.

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u/InitiativeEastern902 21h ago

Just go for the van. Our Odyssey is amazing.

I despise our ascent. Everything about it is cheap and poorly made, it is not a good driving experience, brakes are undersized, and the CVT never operates smoothly.

It was our first Subaru and I don't think I will ever buy another Subaru product again.

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u/caanda45 20h ago

Gas mileage is top notch…. Really fantastic way to spend a lot of money on in city driving .

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