Rare Limited Subaru Legacy Wagon With 5 Speed Trans., Sunroof, Leather, Awd on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Consumer Reports says infotainment systems 'growing first-year reliability plague'

The Consumer Reports Annual Auto Reliability Survey (right) is out, and the top two spots look much the same as last year's list with Lexus and Toyota in first and second place, respectively. However, there are some major shakeups for 2014, with Acura plunging eight spots from third in 2013 to 11th this year, and Mazda replaces it on the lowest step of the podium. Honda and Audi round out the top five. This year's list includes six Japanese brands in the top 10, two Europeans, one America and one Korean.
Acura isn't the only one taking a tumble, though. Infiniti is the biggest loser this year by dropping 14 spots to 20th place. Other big losses come from Mercedes-Benz with an 11-place fall to 24th, and GMC, which declines 10 positions to 19th.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's not traditional mechanical bugs hauling down these automaker's reliability scores. Instead, pesky problems with infotainment systems are taking a series toll on the rankings. According to Consumer Reports, complaints about "in-car electronics" were the most grumbled about element in new cars. Problem areas included things like unresponsive touchscreens, issues pairing phones and multi-use controllers that refused to work right.

2019 Subaru Legacy, Outback cost more, but get more features

As with the Subaru Impreza, the 2019 Subaru Legacy and 2019 Subaru Outback are seeing price increases for the new model year. The starting price for the base model Legacy 2.5i starts at $23,430, an increase of $375 over the 2018 model. The Outback's starting price of $27,320 is up by $510. These prices are listed with destination charges included. The higher trim levels mostly creep up as well, with the exception of the Legacy 3.6R Limited and Outback 3.6R Limited, which have both dropped in price slightly. The full list of price changes can be seen in the table below. Although prices have gone up, Subaru compensates a bit by now including EyeSight on every single version of the Legacy and Outback, including the base trims. EyeSight includes a suite of driver safety aids such as automatic forward emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist. On the previous 2018 model Legacy, EyeSight was not available on the standard model, and was an option on all other trims. On the 2018 Outback, EyeSight was only standard on the 2.5i Touring and 3.6R Touring, and was an option for Premium, Limited and 3.6R Limited. It wasn't available at all on the base 2.5i. The 2019 Legacy 2.5i Sport also picks up blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert as standard features. Both the Legacy and Outback see a few little interior tweaks, too. All models now get an instrument panel that includes a 5-inch LCD display. The 2.5i trim gets extra lighting and a pair of front USB ports, and Premium and Limited trims get a standard auto-dimming mirror with compass and Homelink garage door opening button. These 2019 Legacy and Outback vehicles will be arriving on dealer lots over the summer, so they should be there soon if not already. Subaru Legacy 2018 2019 2.5i $23,055 $23,430 2.5i Premium $25,155 $25,580 2.5i Sport $27,205 $27,680 2.5i Limited $29,955 $30,130 3.6R Limited $32,805 $32,430 Subaru Outback 2.5i $26,810 $27,320 2.5i Premium $28,910 $29,420 2.5i Limited $33,610 $33,820 2.5i Touring $37,405 $37,770 3.6R Limited $36,310 $35,970 3.6R Touring $39,605 $39,970 Related Video:

Subaru reveals WRX STI racecar for 24 Hours of N"urburgring [w/video]

Subaru has announced that it will be running a race-spec version of the upcoming WRX STI in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in June. The 2014 race will mark the seventh year in a row that Subaru has campaigned a car at the day-long Ring race, but this will be the first race outing for the new WRX STI, which isn't set to debut until next week at the Detroit Auto Show.
Subaru will be in the SP3T class, for turbocharged engines displacing 1.75 to 2.0 liters, and is targeting its third class win, after finishing second last year. To do that, it'll be going toe-to-toe with racing versions of cars from Audi, Volkswagen and Seat.
The team will be led by Hideharu Tatsumi, who was responsible for last year's team. Drivers will include Toshihiro Yoshida and Kouta Sasaki, while another pair of European drivers will be announced at a later date.