Mazda built a compact crossover that drives like a sport sedan and lasts like a Toyota, then fumbled the 2026 redesign by burying climate controls in a touchscreen. The 2017-2025 generation is the sweet spot: upscale interior, engaging handling, and owners routinely hitting 200k+ miles with nothing but oil changes. The rotary dial infotainment that reviewers love actually works once you learn it. But the new model ditches those physical controls just as competitors are bringing them back, and the community is furious. Shopping used or hunting a leftover 2025? You're golden. Eyeing the 2026? You're the guinea pig for Mazda's cost-cutting experiment, and early sentiment suggests they read the room wrong. Buy the outgoing model while you still can.
The 2020-2025 Outback hits a sweet spot: spacious, safe, snow-capable, and reliable if you change the CVT fluid every 30-40k miles like clockwork. Owners genuinely like them, crash protection is stellar, and the wagon shape still feels practical without crossing into bloated SUV territory. Then comes 2026, and Subaru torched the recipe, literally went boxy-SUV styling that's splitting the fanbase hard. The interior finally ditches the all-touchscreen nightmare for real buttons (thank god), but early units are showing infotainment glitches out of the gate. The base 2.5L engine has always felt gutless for a vehicle this size, and the CVT still demands religious maintenance or you're gambling on a $7k repair. If you want the Outback people actually trust, grab a 2024-2025 before they vanish. If you're eyeing the 2026, wait a year for the bugs to surface, and maybe test-drive something with the turbo engine, because the base motor is a chore.