Subaru Outback estate - Reliability & safety

Subaru has a good reputation for building reliable cars and the Outback achieved top marks when it was crash-tested by Euro NCAP in 2021, so we expect it to be a dependable and safe servant for everyone from families to farmers.

The Subaru Outback made a surprise appearance in fifth place in the 2023 Driver Power customer satisfaction survey. It wasn’t a surprise that it finished so high up – after all, it isn’t the first time we’ve seen Subarus well inside the top ten. But it was a surprise that enough owners are clearly so enamoured with their rugged estates to respond in sufficient numbers to make an appearance.

And just as they have for years, owners really love their Outbacks. It scored first place out of all 75 cars in the survey for reliability, first place for its interior (with excellent visibility and comfort in particular), and second place overall for practicality, with a first place within this sub-category for boot space. Essentially, an Outback should be a joy to own, and cause you very few problems either.

Safety

The Outback was last tested by safety experts Euro NCAP in 2021, and was awarded the maximum five stars for crash safety, just as the previous model had been in 2014. It earned 88% for adult occupant protection and 89% for child occupants, while earning a decent 84% score for vulnerable road users, and a very high 95% for the car’s safety assist systems. Standard protection kit in the Outback includes front, side, chest, pelvis, and knee airbag protection, as well as ISOFIX mounting points for child seats in the rear.

All Outback trim levels include Subaru's clever EyeSight crash-prevention system, now in its fourth generation, as standard. EyeSight includes adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, lane departure warning and lane centering, pre-collision braking and throttle management (Subaru says that the technology will actively prevent a collision at speeds up to 31mph), autonomous emergency steering, traffic sign recognition, and an intelligent speed limiter, as well as a function that alerts the driver if the vehicle in front pulls away without you noticing.