The 2026 Subaru Outback is already a contentious vehicle. To some loyal buyers, taking the vehicle that proved wagons could work in America if you just raised them up, added cladding, and eliminated the last vestiges of wagon-ness, is a form of betrayal. Never mind that the Legacy is dead and thus any reference to a sedan can no longer be made, so the type of person to buy an Outback usually does so because they don’t want something blocky and chest-beating in appearance. Holding the line on pricing would’ve gone a long way, but the line has most certainly not been held: while the old Outback starts at $31,415 including freight, the new one will run you at least $36,445. Ouch.
Granted, they aren’t exactly equivalent trim levels. It seems that Subaru missed the memo that people want simple and inexpensive cars again, so the base trim is gone for 2026 and the range now kicks things off with the $36,445 Premium trim level. With a digital gauge cluster, pleather, and a power liftgate as standard, it gets some of the toys the old Onyx Edition had, but the result is a machine $1,965 more than the old Outback Premium and $5,030 more than the old base Outback. That’s a somewhat strong ask considering the new Outback still uses the same naturally aspirated 2.5-liter flat-four as the old one.
Want a typical blend of mod-cons like a moonroof, heated rear seats, leather upholstery, and premium audio? The 2026 Outback Limited will run you $43,165, including freight. That’s $2,025 more than the old Outback Limited with no real changes in equipment, other than the digital cluster that every new Outback gets anyway. It’s a similar deal with the $46,845 Outback Touring, $3,145 more expensive than the old one, with the only add being hands-free highway driving assistance.
Then we get to the turbocharged models. The new $45,815 Outback Limited XT is $2,335 more expensive than before, the ruggedized, $46,445 Wilderness trim is $3,315 more expensive than before, and the $49,445 Outback Touring XT is $3,295 more than before. Same 260-horsepower 2.4-liter turbocharged flat-four, same CVT, the only adds over the outgoing models other than the engine are 19-inch wheels and a 360-degree camera system on the Limited XT.
Oh, but it doesn’t end there. The new Outback Wilderness also offers two option packages, one that costs $2,045 and includes a moonroof, a 360-degree camera system, and GPS navigation, and one that costs $4,090 and includes all of that plus ventilated leather seats. Tick that second box, and you’re looking at a $50,535 Subaru Outback.
While four-figure price hikes could be understandable if something dramatically new of significant engineering substance was going on beneath the surface of the new Subaru Outback, it rides on the same platform as the old one, uses the same powertrains as the old one, and seems more evolutionary than revolutionary under the polarizing skin. Plus, dropping the base trim just doesn’t feel like a good read of the room. A few grand at this end of the market is enough for the new Outback to butt heads with some brilliant family-hauling machinery like the Hyundai Santa Fe and, for high-tier trims, the posh Toyota Crown Signia, options that really give shoppers something to think about. Thankfully, if you’re looking for a deal, the new Outback hasn’t arrived yet, and now might be the time to pick up a 2025 model before the big changeover.
Top graphic image: Subaru
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This will sell. As someone who worked at a Subaru dealership, a large percentage of Subaru buyers could comfortably buy something in the 6 figure range but like the feel and optics of the Subaru brand. This price hike won’t affect their sales numbers in the least.
And with this the idle rich larping as “salt of the earth” adventurers takes its final form.
A-glamping we will go! Be sure to pack little Skyler’s epinephrine and meatless vegan jerky.
Punks!
Some of our company’s VPs have Subarus rather than the typical Audi A5 that the others have.
They usually respond back that they’d always had Subarus (which they did) even before they were in the higher role, that they didn’t see a reason to spend the pricetag of the Audi, and that it has lots of headroom.
I can’t argue with those points.
Subarus have a classless-ness about them. I think that’s what makes them so appealing overall
As much as I deplore the upscale family SUV crowd, it’s technically not all their fault. This is basically automotive gentrification. Osage pricing for the last of the liberal rich.
It reminds me of this small Cuban restaurant that opened up in our city. Excellent no-nonsense food at a low price. But once it got discovered by a more affluent, white clientele interested in “quaint vibes”, management made sure portions got smaller, the quality went down and prices tripled.
The rich love ripping each other off.
I always wondered how many Subaru buyers would cross-shop the Subaru against both Toyota and Audi.
Toyota? Yes, if they
made a wagonsold a wagon in the US.But now Subaru doesn’t either, so it’s a moot point.
There are definitely people that buy them as a reverse flex. If you go to well off parts of my area you’ll see a sea of anonymous white German luxury crossovers, Volvos, and plenty of Subarus. My wife and I are basically the target demographic (outdoorsy, environmentally conscious upper middle class professionals) and we definitely know people who make way more money than us that drive them.
Another to go down in history alognside the 2007-ish generation as bloated and losing the plot. The early 2000s model was a solid (Levorg with a few extra touches) and the last couple gens have been pretty good — I almost snagged a 2019 with the H6 before it disappeared. The following models were still good, but IMO too screen-dependent and the upper models were turbo-only, which gives me a little pause for a workhorse car.
Subaru, you just beat us into submission to accept your CVT. Now this?!
The styling is pretty atrocious. I miss the 3rd gen Outback (04-09) due to the restrained looks (that still look great today) mixed with the optional XT turbo/manual trim. Peak Outback.
“It seems that Subaru missed the memo that people want simple and inexpensive cars again”
Subaru got that memo, used it do dab the pizza oil off their face, crumpled it up and threw it in an overflowing trash can marked “Solterra Complaints”.
“I wonder why the Crosstrek is selling so well? Anywho, lets make the rest of the lineup more complicated, expensive, and huge” -Subaru, probably.
Finding out Subaru really only sells dolled-up, overpriced suburban haulers is like finding out your cool hippie uncle left Habitat for Humanity to work for ICE.
lol crackheads
I came very close to buying a new outback a 3 years ago. it was 30k CAD + tax and freight. I liked it because it was a wagon (ish). Now this is a disgrace. Also, the Subaru engines are very thirsty and fragile.
Those Subaru marketing people know they will sell whatever they put out there.I wonder what elixir is in their Kool-Aid.
OK, let’s see:
A pillar: paint
B pillar: double-gray plastic
C pillar: paint AND gray plastic
D pillar: double-gray plastic, with bonus aero bumps
And that’s before we get into the actual design of the painted part of the C pillar, which reads like CUV style from a decade ago.
Yeah, that wilderness edition trim is quite hideous.
Edit: Oh, god, I hadn’t realized that had permeated into all the versions. Ewwwww.
As much as I want to love modern Subarus and their low center of mass boxer engines, they’ve jumped the shark on price for sure. Not only that, the engine family that they use in these is quite long in the tooth, and a CVT is the only transmission foisted upon those unsuspecting buyers.
What’s worse, is that they don’t even offer a hybrid option. And the mileage from these engines is not the best.
Every model year for the past decade or so, it seems like Subaru is slowly chipping away at the uniqueness of the brand that its fans found so endearing.
At this point in time, if Subaru badge engineered a Suzuki Jimny to sell in the states, they might have a real sales hit if the vehicle is priced ultra-competitively.
Subaru and Covid-era Jeep are very alike in that they’re continuing to jack their prices up as if people will keep buying their shit no matter what. I think they’re in for a very rude awakening soon.
I don’t know. I keep expecting consumers to revolt and pull back, but they just keep piling on the debt.
The average car loan is now longer than 5 years. Show 90% of customers a monthly payment they can afford and they’ll sign on the dotted line without asking a single question. Unfortunately it’s good business for the manufacturers and dealerships because their biggest money makers are shitty loans.
Not trying to brag or anything because credit is dumb and mostly fake, but I have pristine credit and have for a while. It’s legitimately hard for me to shop for regular cars and I’m never the first priority once my credit is run. With my GTI I had argue with the manager for like a half hour to give me the 0% APR they were advertising even though I comfortably qualified for it. When I bought my Kona N it took more than a day of negotiating before they agreed to give me their lowest interest rate despite my credit score being neat 800 at the time.
…but someone with a 400 credit score who wants a car NOW? They’ll be out the door in 10 minutes when they see the $999 a month payment because the dealership is going to be raking in the money on that 17% interest rate the customer didn’t even bother to ask about.
Why say no to significantly more personal debt, when it’s so EASY to say yes.
With the price jump on the crosstrek, and the new forester hybrid they had to do this.
It is partly tariffs for sure, but it also is about doing some price differentiation in their own line up.
Either way it’s a BOLD strategy. They have made the current Gen outback a very nice place to be. But holy heck at 45-50k there are a TON of great options for anyone who isn’t buying a Ski car.
There are tons of better options even if you ARE an avid skier. You can get AWD on damned near anything and everything at this point, and Subaru’s setup is nothing special at all anymore.
Is the price hike because of tariffs? Or are they using that as excuse? The Outback has a “cult” that follows, and their customer base do great money wise, what is $20 extra a month? Thats the logic for many people.
Subaru already made some price hikes in May citing tariffs, but I suspect it’s another absorption of the tariffs too. Looks better timing it with a new model intro rather than an unchanged model or carryover model year. A lot of brands seemed to be waiting out the summer before making really big hikes.
The US and Japan just agreed to a trade deal that puts a 15% tariff on Japanese vehicles – up from 2.5% (Japan has no tariff on US vehicles). The customer is going to have to pay that extra 12.5% along with normal year to year inflation.
This vehicle is made in Lafayette Indiana; the relevant tariffs would be on steel and materials.
For US assembled vehicles you have the 50% tariffs on raw steel, aluminum, and copper. Then the 25% tariff on auto parts. And as of Friday a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum containing products that stacks on top of the regular country tariff. That all adds cost to US assembled vehicles
Then you have the tariffs on imported autos.
Most automakers are going to spread the average of those increased costs over all of their vehicles – just like last time.
RIP
Today we mourn the death of the world’s first sport utility wagon, cool enough to be pitched by Crocodile Dundee.
As usual, this stuff is what commenters on this site want, not the general public.
I predict a smashing sales success for this thing.
Yeah, the Maverick certainly shows that there’s no market for (relatively) simple, cheap, and less macho vehicles in America.
Is this comment from 2015, before t was decisively disproven?
One vehicle in a completely different market segment is your counter example?
Look at every trend in CUVs (this vehicle’s direct competitors) and tell me Subaru isn’t going toward more of what sells.
Ford quickly learned their lesson – the Maverick is about $8K more today than it was at it’s introduction.
Agreed that Thomas is wrong. I agree that “people” want simple and cheap cars. I would say that while “Outback buyers” are people, they are not the “people” we are talking about here. Outback buyers want this and can easily afford it, so it’ll be a success for sure.
I agree somewhat. I find it hard to believe that the general public wouldn’t at least want it to be better looking. I’m sure it’ll still sell well despite the looks though.
They will sell every one they make. But not to me.
Actual new car buyers have very little interest in cheap cars, as very clearly shown by the sales numbers for them.
I hope Subaru knows people can punch themselves in the eyeballs for free, the value proposition for the Outback is dubious at best.
They also made it too ugly . . .
To all automakers: Stop putting the DRLs above the headlights in a separate housing. It looked awful on the Juke, and it looks just as atrocious on everything else too.
To all automakers: please keep lowering the mounting height of the headlamps, it helps reduces glare in your mirrors, and oncoming traffic.
Even for the base after taxes I just couldn’t see wanting to spend 40k+ on a Subaru especially an outback just ridiculous new car prices are just getting more and more ridiculous.
Base 2010 Subaru Outback MSRP = $22,995
2010 Median Household Income = $49,280
A 2010 Outback cost the average household 24 weeks of income
Base 2026 Subaru Outback MSRP = $36,445
2023 Median Household Income = $80,610
A 2026 Outbacks costs the average household 24 week of income
(2023 is the last year we have official numbers)
Thing is though what were interest rates on an auto loan on 2010 vs today? Even if the rate is roughly the same 5% interest is much nicer on 23k vs 37k. Also my post was also bringing sales tax into the price also where I live (Indiana) you are tacking an extra 7% on the sale price so the higher the prices of cars go so goes the worse Uncle Sam is to you. Another thing with cars getting more expensive so has car insurance.
The average rate on a 60 month car loan in May 2010 was 6.38%
The average rate on a 60 month car loan in May 2025 was 7.67%
Multiple each MSRP x 7% sales tax and put the loan rates into a payment calculator and the 2010 is $480 a month. That is 12% of that household’s grow pay. The 2026 comes to $785 a month – also 12% of gross pay.
Loan rates:
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RIFLPBCIANM60NM
So I guess almost identical if you just compare the price of the car compare to income but I wonder if you compare to rent/mortgage and everything else that has gone up since then might be a bit different. To me just seems things today and are much more expensive then they were pre-covid and our dollar gets us less and less.
No doubt some thing has increased more rapidly than income and gains in income have not been evenly distributed.
However automakers have no control over housing, healthcare, college, etc. All we control is the price of cars and you have to got back to the 70’s to find a time when cars were cheaper than today. You can’t lay housing costs at the feet of automakers.
For decades cars have been getting better equipped, more powerful, more fuel efficient, cleaner, safer, larger, AND cheaper.
Yeah so true on the outside things that they do not have control (especially health care I rarely go to the Dr just because of how ridiculous deductibles are and the cost of just getting looked at) I do wonder though how much more automakers are making on a sale of a car today vs the past? Wonder if that has been pretty linear also or if they are making much more percentage wise per sale.
Depends on the company.
Ford was making 5%in 2010 and 2.5% in 2025
Toyota has climbed steadily from 2.5% to 10% (They are the most profitable full line automaker by far)
macro trends dot net had just about any company financial data you might want to see.
Haha not surprised on Toyota
VERY much agreed. If you adjust for what you actually get for the money, cars are just *wildly* cheaper than ever before. If you are the type who doesn’t care about the stuff that modern cars come with (and I am firmly in that category), there is a universe of low-mileage creampuff used cars out there of every shape, style, and variety – it’s just more work to find and buy one.
I would never in a million years buy one of these things new when I can buy an 8yo AWD Mercedes wagon for half the price, but most people don’t think that way. And Subaru buyers in particular are a special sort of special when it comes to drinking the KoolAid.
None of that matters. The percentages are all still relative. Stick your taxes and percentages into a finance calculator and divide it by the median household income – it still works out the same.
Car insurance is largely a function of vehicle value and while premiums have risen, auto rates have been pretty stable because they are highly regulated. So it all still works.
Where it doesn’t work is housing, because they haven’t built enough houses to keep up with population growth. But they build new cars every year, so that’s why vehicle cost has largely been stable relative to income.
Makes sense yeah housing has gotten ridiculous. Like I could sell my house for much more then I paid for it but I could not afford the mortgage of a house for the same I would sell my house for just due to current rates. As I stated in my other comment to me personally though my income has increased a bit over the past 10 years I feel like it really hasn’t gotten my much further as it seems our dollar is gets us less and less as time goes on.
Lifestyle creep is what’s going on.
That 2010 Outback MSRP is for a manual without destination too. $24690 for the base CVT in 2010, and if we make it really apples to apples, $25990 for a CVT Premium to Premium.
Very true. Apples to apples you have to go back to the 70’s to find a time when cars were cheaper than today.
I actually don’t hate the look of this in the non-Wilderness trim. It’s butch and boxy but not totally overdone like so many other mid sized SUVs. The green is great too. The Wilderness however is laughably overdone. To borrow Clarkson’s quote about the FL5 CTR, it’s a car that they wouldn’t stop designing.
With that out of the way, this is not competitive. That wheezy NA boxer is going to really, really struggle to motivate a vehicle this big and heavy, there’s no hybrid option yet, and as is tradition it’s exclusively available with goddamn CVTs. The 2.4 liter turbo should motivate it adequately, but I imagine that city fuel economy will drop into the teens which is just totally unacceptable in 2025.
I’m sure they’ll throw their new hybrid engine in there eventually, but boy will it be slow. The smaller, more aerodynamic, lighter Forester with that engine is already borderline slow with a low 8 second 0-60. If they put that powertrain in here you’ll have time for a smoke break before it hits 60.
I have a bit of a fondness for Subaru in general but this just seems like such a swing and a miss. And while reliability will be the eternal question with Stellantis, the new Jeep Cherokee is a similar size, more conventionally attractive, and will offer 37 MPG combined, apparently city ratings in the low 40s, and mechanical all wheel drive.
I can’t help but feel like that’ll steal sales from this, and I genuinely have no idea why you’d choose the higher turbo trims over a Honda Passport. It’s way better looking, has a ridiculous amount of cargo space, similar or better off road capability, and a transmission with actual gears. The 4Runner is also right there.
I’m beginning to think Subaru really screwed the pooch here.
All that cladding… Subie seems to be going thru their 80/90’s “Pontiac” phase.
Coming up next, wider is better?
Outback Wilderness WIDETRACK. MSRP $99,999! Come on down today!
This, combined with the new Jeep Cherokee, have made for a more depressing week than usual.
I really don’t understand why people are so mad about the Cherokee. It hasn’t been an actual off roader in 20 years. The last one was a front wheel drive based crossover that competed with the RAV4, CRV, etc. as well. Jeep hasn’t been focused on off roading in years, they mainly sell commodity crossovers now.
If you want a REAL JEEP/off road rig/MUH NA ENGINES REEEEEEEEEEE (not saying this is you specifically, more so just the overall vibe) the Wrangler is eternal. Like it or not a hybrid crossover Cherokee is what the market wants right now.
Well said. Some people just hate the current automotive market. Which is fine but automaker are in the business to make money not serve small niche markets.
What really gets me is all the shit people whine about disappearing still exists. BUT MUH NA V8 REEEEEE!
….all full sized American trucks offer NA V8s. So does the Mustang. The new Charger almost certainly will. The Trump admin is waging war on the environment as we speak, so none of this is at risk of going away.
BUT MUH NA V6 REEEEEEEEE! I’D NEVER HAVE A MID SIZED SUV WITHOUT MUH PEAKY, UNDERPOWERED, INEFFICIENT MOTOR REEEEEEEEE!
Buy a Passport. Or a Pilot. Or a Grand Cherokee. Or a Wrangler. Or a base RAM 1500. Or a Telluride/Palisade.
MUH MANUAL! MUHHHH MANUAL! OH MY GOD MY LIFE WILL NEVER HAVE MEANING WITHOUT MUH MANUALLLLLLLLLL! NO MANUAL NO CARE REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Buy a Miata. Or a Toyobaru. Or a spicy Civic. Or a WRX. Or an Elantra N. Or a GR Corolla. Or an Integra. Or a Mustang. Or a Z. Or an M car. Or a 718. Or a 911. Or a Supra. Or a Z4. Or a Wrangler. Or a Bronco. Or a Tacoma. I could keep going….
All of the panic is just stupid internet groupthink and manufacturers are already laughing all the way to the bank by putting most of the stuff enthusiasts want behind a paywall. Not only are your complaints invalid, but you’re getting played on top of all of it.
People are paying fucking $70,000 for IS500s, $50,000+ for CTRs, 40 grand for Integras to get past the manual paywall, etc.
I’m not mad about the new Cherokee, I think it looks pretty good, but any mention of the current Wrangler as a “real jeep” forces me to regurgitate the following statistical comparison in the hope that somebody somewhere at Jeep HQ sees it and is a little embarrassed.
1993 Wrangler (YJ) 2024 Wrangler 2-door (JL)
Length 151.9–152.6 166.8 inches +14.2–14.9 inches
Width. 66.0 inches. 73.9 inches +7.9 inches
Curb Weight 2,855 lbs 3,948 lbs +1,093 lbs
My mother-in-law has had two Outbacks. Currently in a 24 Touring XT, and she’s not happy with mileage. I told her the turbo wouldn’t be great, but she loved the interior. Had every generation of the Prius (including C and V models) until the current Prius, so she wanted to get back into a hybrid.
If she could have a hybrid Outback that would be perfect for her. Then she saw the new Outback and doesn’t like the look. Pretty sure the prices wouldn’t be helping that.
Yesterday we went car shopping, test drove two vehicles, sat in more. Candidates were the new Prius, the new Camry and the Ford Maverick. AWD, hybrid, easy to get in and out of were the parameters. The Maverick won. She’s waiting to see if the dealership can get the one she wants or if she needs to order one.
She flat out refused Subaru because ‘they made the Outback ugly.’
Annnnnnnd it’s ugly.
It was already a borderline SUV. It was a slow evolution. For lack of better comparison, it’s like Theseus’s ship. At what point was it no longer Theseus’s ship; at what point was it no longer a wagon?
That being said, man, is it ugly.
In 2017 I ordered a ’18 Outback Premium for $28,005. That’s $36,654.23. So it’s actually cheaper today. But yes, I totally understand that the loss of the Base trim being available…
I was driving next to a prototype the other day and it was absolutely gigantic. It’s also the ugliest vehicle I’ve ever seen in person, and I don’t say that lightly.
The Subaru Outback has been a crossover for more than a decade. All Subaru did in the latest redesign is make the front end more blocky
Everything’s AWD, everything has ADAS – what’s the point of Subaru anymore?
Dogs and love. Don’t you watch TV?