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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Having owned and been quite happy with two Subarus in the past 30 years, I have but one word for Subaru: LOL.
I live in the land of Subaru’s (Denver). I really don’t see that many of the new Forrester. I just got out of my 2015 crosstrek that I had owned since new. After putting almost 8 grand in repairs in the last 4 years I was completely over it.
Ugly and expensive, plus IMO Subaru reliability is largely a myth. Hard pass.
Ugh. I’m due for a new company car in two years and planned on purchasing another Outback before seeing the redesign. Subaru’s new blocky design across all platforms is unappealing given the reliance on cladding to jazz it up.
The only SUV/CUV that has really knocked the “blocky” redesign out of the park in the last 5-7 years is this generation of CRV and Passport/Pilot/Ridgeline. Maybe I’ll become a Honda guy again like I was in the 90’s.
I think people will just buy Foresters instead, assuming they are still brand loyal, which lots of Subaru folks are.
It’s almost like the Outback’s design brief was: “Let’s make the Pontiac Aztek look like a high quality, refined piece of timeless design by comparison”.
So much talk about price jump…..it’s almost like there is something driving this….like some market forces inflating some things…..and a giant idiot creating a trade war….
As a long time Subaru owner who’s had two Foresters and two Outbacks, respectively… this thing is gonna fail. SO HARD. Subaru’s momentum is gonna screech to an unceremonious halt because not only is this thing ugly as hell, it’s also WAY overpriced. WTF, literally five years ago, a base model Outback was $26k and you could get a Premium with a sunroof and heated seats/mirrors for under 30. There’s ZERO justification for a damn 10k price increase across the board in five friggin’ years!!!
Subaru and all these other greedy manufacturers are about to find out that in the Orange Shitgoblin’s manufactured recession, ain’t nobody gonna have money for these price increases, and combined with the hideous looks, they’re gonna have to slap $7-12k incentives on the hood just to get them moving.
This will end up being like the aborted 2012 Civic and 2013 Malibu; so poorly received that they end up getting an emergency facelift after 1 model year.
They should have just made the much prettier hybrid Earthtrekker or whatever the hell it is the new OB and called it a day.
Yeah… we got our 2019 at the end of the run, so discounts were part of it, even if my hurry was more about seeing they were moving to touchscreen controls. It was $21k for a limited with every package option (and we specifically wanted the cloth seats). This feels kind of insane and everything going in the opposite direction of what I’d be interested in.
Looks like the offspring of the previous Outback and a Tasmin.
Agree on the plastic cladding craze across all brands. Liked the Mazda CX 30 for many reasons, but so much plastic cladding, maybe 1/3 of the height of the sides. Ended up with a base Impreza, no cladding whatsoever, very easy to wash and wax. Ironic.
50k for a Subaru, doesn’t even have an STi Badge
Upon seeing this again, my reaction is the same as when seeing first pics and then live, in person. It looked like a hideous comical joke gone wrong.
”OK junior designers, I want a superfast mockup that includes every rugged-y styling cue you can find, all at once. just pile them on top of each other. You may use AI. You have one day.”
One day later: “That’s our new Outback!”
By contrast, the much-maligned huge parallel-fluted cladding of Pontiacs was conservative, graceful, and well-considered and well-integrated. Here the front wheel surrounds have embosses on debosses on ridiculous horizontal caps on the needless plastic arches, which also has frikkin’ vents in the needless arched plastic. Tiny little vents in the cladding! Who the h thought this was a good idea ?? And this applies to the front end, the back end, the rocker area, the roofline — every single element is overdone. It’s fractally overdone. “Yo, I heard you like bumps, creases and slots, so I put bumps, creases and slots on your bumps, creases and slots!”
It has not jumped the shark. Rather, in trying to jump the shark, it jumped directly into the shark, the shark chewed it up for a few seconds, then spat it out for bad taste.
its a 4-6 percent price hike and every other car is going up in price. a base model civic is 27.5k that used to be SI money. EVERYTHING IS TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE.
This is what rich Cos-Players want, so this is what we got.
The whole thing now looks like it’s made from Lego. Appalling.
Like Legos that were crushed and mangled so they no longer fit together, and they have to be held together with The CraGle.
You take that back. Lego would never have created this monstrosity. /s
I know style is subjective, but seriously, who, besides a Subaru loyalist, looks at this then at the Passport and says, yeah, that’s the look I want.
“Hey honey, let’s look at that Santa Fe again. I barely even notice those boxy wheel surround things anymore, are they still there? And the warranty is better.”
I mean, my wife is (and to some extent I am) a subaru loyalist and I don’t understand this direction at all.
This Subaru loyalist ain’t buying another Outback that looks like this one…
Am wondering how much tariffs are affecting pricing? That said I don’t find the looks as bad as others, but I do agree they lose the message making it more SUV then wagon. We’ll see how sales of these goes however!
They’re made in Indiana, so probably not as much as other cars. But surely that’s a part of it
Do
Not
Want.
What a colossal piece of garbage this is. The best thing the Outback had going for it was its value, and for that you some (not me, but some) could forgive the laziness of the engines and transmissions since Subaru has been offering the same slop for the last three generations of the outback. But now? Who would rather buy a grotesquely styled garbage SUV crossover thing when there are plenty of more competitive and better looking crossovers out there from every other manufacturer?
Whoever cooked this project up is delusional
Clearly in the minority, I would rather it be more car-like.
It’s what I kept telling myself with the Forester when we got one: “It’s just a tall wagon, not an SUV” I said.
Counterpoint: Go to a Subaru dealer and tell me how many vehicles they have spec’d below the Premium package. I’ll save you time….it’s near 0. So while a $2k jump for Premium to Premium is still a good chunk, it isn’t the $5k jump you are making it out to be comparing Base to Prem.
That said, this thing should be a bleeping wagon. Can you hurry up and just get the Levorg here already?!
I do suspect they are trying to decrease segment overlap, as there was a range that included the Crosstrek, Forester, and Outback at similar pricepoints and not massively different size.
Like you said and with Weston’s reference to pricing below, the Forester and Outback have always been pretty close. It was more like “how do you want your boxer+AWD, hamburger- or hot dog-style?”
The new Outback looking more like a Forester+ is probably no accident either. They’ve always flip-flopped in which one sells better but I suspect they are trying to establish the Forester’s volume a little more, and they are hoping that those wanting an entry level Outback will entertain a Forester. Unless the Forester follows the Ascent, Impreza, and now Outback in dropping a base trim.
i feel like the new outback is still a wagon. it resembles the Volvo 240 in a lot of ways. they just added some hood height to make it a bit more “imposing” And most “crossover suvs” are really just cars on stilts anyway so the lines of what is a hatchback, what is a wagon, and what is a “suv” is very much blurry in modern day. The outback was arguably the original crossover. The times they are a-changing.
The AMC Eagle would like word with you.
I’d like to reference the eminent 21st century philosopher Jason Torchinsky in asking why they continue to rake the liftgate forward like that. I think that the original question was in regards to Volvo wagons, but it applies here. My 04 Outback has the same problem: with the gate raked forward, we lose out on useable interior volume. Give us a totally square roofline with a flush liftgate, especially if they’re looking over the FSJ’s shoulder for the rest of the car’s design language.
Also, this thing needs a 60% reduction in cladding. It looks like someone turned a Hoka into a car.
I agree, the cladding is absolute madness.
I wonder if they’ve fallen into the same trap as camping gear/apparel: the expectation is somehow that garish looks=outdoorsy. And for no reason other than inertia of brands that just never bothered making their products actually look good.
Some of it is styling and some is engineering. As cars have become more aerodynamic over the years the flat roof as started to taper at the rear. The lower rear window the lower the rear view mirror needs to be. Well there is a limit to how low you can go so the other solution is to bring the intersection of the rear window and roof farther forward to where it is higher and then extend the roof line with a little spoiler.
The difference is roof profile is very clear if you compare my 2003 Jetta Wagon to my 2014 Golf Sportwagen.
The obvious solution in the 21st century is to replace the class rearview mirror with a mirror cam.
The ‘25 Forester (which is new) is actually more expensive than the outgoing ‘25 Outback. It makes sense to price it above the Forester. I think maybe it’s too nice, disappointing that there’s no base version. Even “base” models these days have a ton of options you don’t need and won’t miss if they’re gone. I just want to get where I’m going in reasonable comfort for crying out load.
The Forester has that big sunroof, which is awesome 😀
I bought a ‘25 Forester Premium and you can launch an ICM through that sunroof. It took me a few hours to realize it had heated seats, I didn’t even know!
Subaru never had a lot of optional features, but they did use to bundle features in 2-3 option packages on the volume trims. They seem to be going to more monospec: Forester hybrids include the options, Crosstreks reduced options packages with the hybrid arrival – and that’s certainly the case here.
The Premium is priced pretty well for what most people shopping these types of vehicles are looking for. With the pleather (a lot of buyers aren’t caring as much about leather but just easier cleanup) and rear power gate standard, that covers some of the key features. It’s still pretty close to the segment below, about on top of an EX AWD CR-V. But a comment on another site pointed out the Santa Fe is right there too and the promise of a lot more power or economy on the lower end. And certainly more entries when you get to the upper 40s.
Pleather seats. . .we have those in black in one of our cars. . .they are the worst! On a hot sunny day, you can not sit on them. Give me cloth seats any day. I would pay for nice cloth over leather.