Year One in the Crosstrek

One year in the Subaru and it has been a good car.  It is good to run down unpaved paths with a great deal more undercarriage confidence than the previous vehicle.  I remain unimpressed with the level of technology in the vehicle and since purchasing it have discovered that many others are also unimpressed with level of technology in any vehicle.  Some things are acceptable; other points are purely ridiculous.  

As an example in 2024 model year, Subaru moved the climate controls to the touch screen.  This was a terrible move and not user friendly at all.  One has to physically look at the screen to see where to touch to turn the fan up or switch the output. This is a terrible user experience. There is also the case of the frost bomb that awaits the unsuspecting solo driver in cold weather.  

There a few other things do not really live up to expectations, but are mostly tolerable.  Gas mileage is not what it should be or could be.  If Ford can get 40 mpg out of a 2015 Focus, surely we could do a little better ten years later. "Eyesight" could be a little less helpful.  There is no need for the car to drive itself.

The chief complaint is the relative cheapness of the vehicle, which is starting to stand out.

Some things are what you might expect out of cheap car.  Scratches under the door handle, from repeated use are awful.  The above image displays the issue.  It took 8 years for my previous vehicle to even come close to looking like this.   Why do other cars not have this issue?  Is it cheap paint?

Some things you do not expect to see in the upgraded version of the cheap car.  The Limited has a Leather arm rest in the center console.   The photo above displays it poorly but a noticeable impression on the corner of the side of the driver has started to appear.  The Premium version, owned by a friend just as long, does not have this problem.  It has a much durable center console arm rest.  Subaru should have used the same framework and covered that with leather.

Lastly, the backup camera, and Subaru is not alone on this front.  The only camera I have encountered that does not have a problem with dirt and grime all over the lens was the 2015 Focus.  Ford seems to be the only manufacturer that knows how to place a camera so it does not get dirt all over it; that is, at least on that year and model.  Subaru did ensure that you have some means of cleaning off the camera,  even if it is mostly ineffective, amounting to drool running over the lens.

Those are the only complains so far, for the past year.  I am sure there are some that I missed that are trivial in nature.  It is a good car though.