Anyone own a 2013/2014 Subaru Crosstrek or Chevrolet Trax?

[Coasting]

Sooooo I've come to the sad realisation that I can no longer afford to pay $300-$400 a month just in gas for my beloved pickup truck on my pathetic wage and attempt to save for well... anything else
And it would be cheaper for me to purchase a brand new, or almost brand new compact SUV and finance it, and be safe with a warranty, then continue to burn my money on gas for my truck.

I think I've got it narrowed down between the Chevrolet Trax and the Subaru Crosstrek... I THINK! I had been looking at the Subaru Forrester, and Mitsubishi outlander, Hyundai santa fe sized vehicles but I want even better fuel economy then those slightly bigger ones
Does anyone have one of these vehicles?
What do you like about it? What do you hate?
How has is handled in snow?
What is your gas mileage? (as L/100k, I know what people personally get is always different then what the factory brags about)

Thanks for any input!

[intarsiabox]

I don't own a Crosstrek but I have owned a Forester and the wife had an Impreza. Having driven numerous other 4WD and AWD vehicles the snow handling is much better with the Subarus. I couldn't even do doughnuts in frozen parking lots with the kids without having to take a run and jam on the e-brake. Gas mileage was OK but nothing stellar on either vehicle, granted the Forester was a turbo and my driving wasn't really what I would call gas mileage friendly. Good solid vehicles that will last you many years.

[Coasting]

That's my concern with the subarus... Most of the customer reviews online are saying ****ty on fuel economy.
But Subaru and GM always say their own version of what you will get, which is never seems to be on par with reality.
The Crosstrek is a 2.0L 4 cyl and the website claims 8.2 city, 6.0 highway.
The Trax is a 1.4L 4cyl and the website claims 7.8 city, 5.7 highway.

I Haven't test driven the crosstrek yet, but I did try out the 2013 forrester, and the on demand fuel consumption was less then flattering driving around Nanaimo.
The trax wasn't as spectacular as it claims the vehicle will get, getting closer to 12 on my shorter drive on our highway (120km/hr) but had it down to 5 on 1 stretch after a few resets.
Its seriously frustrating... mind you anything better then my truck getting 17.5 between the city and our 120km/hr highway, 21+ in greater vancouver, but I can get it down to 13.3ish or so on highways that average 80km/hr.

[Slick Fork]

One of our vehicles is a non-turbo forester (2011) and we absolutely love it. Perfect size for two of us plus dogs. Gas mileage tends to be around that 9 or 10 l/100km on the highway for us, so not great but significantly better than our half-ton was. I'd suggest that the Crosstrek wouldn't be that much better than the Forester in terms of fuel economy.

I'd agree that the Subaru's are next to impossible to get stuck in the snow, we got some Nokian winters for it and it just goes and goes through anything.

That said, there are a few things we're not wild about that were overlooked when we purchased. Things like interior "luxuries", the Subaru's are pretty basic compared to what you get from competing brands. Coming from Chevy and Ford trucks and cars, little things like the lack of auto headlamps irritate me, and the radio and speakers are junk. The other big complaint I have is the service costs. Factory spec is synthetic oil so regular maintenance just seems to be much more expensive than domestic brands.

All told though, we'd likely buy the Subaru again as the extra cost for service is outmatched by the performance of the vehicle and my wife doesn't seem to care that much about the interior amenities and it's her ride. Plus, you see tons of Subarus out there with obscene amounts of kilometers on them so that says a lot for their reliability. With the sheer number of recalls these days; I wouldn't be in a hurry to be a chevy right now.

If your only reason for ruling the Forester out is the fuel economy, I'd suggest that you wouldn't notice a huge difference between it and the Crosstrack in the real world. Coming from a truck; the extra height and space of the Forester might feel more at home to you.

[Coasting]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

If your only reason for ruling the Forester out is the fuel economy, I'd suggest that you wouldn't notice a huge difference between it and the Crosstrack in the real world. Coming from a truck; the extra height and space of the Forester might feel more at home to you.

That's what I was thinking, which is why I ruled the crosstrek out and played around with the forester. However I did have a 2013 forester and crosstrek side by side and the size difference isn't all that much, the biggest difference seemed to be a slightly more rounded ceiling to the cargo area as the crosstrek has a much more curved back end then the forester. But then I played with the trax for a bit that that didn't bug me which now has me going back to the crosstrek.

But yes fuel economy is my biggest concern right now, I think I cried a little inside when gas shot up past 1.50 earlier this summer. Thankfully were back down to 1.37 but still.... 100litre tank in the truck... 1 tank a week... my bank account is crying.

I likely would keep the back seats folded down on either model, give the dogs a bit more room.
Seems the subarus come with more standard like heated seats and fog lights that the chevs don't.

But that servicing info does help. Where I live its a bit of a further drive to get the Subaru to its own dealer for warranty work, otherwise I would take it to the GM dealer for anything else.

[sphelps]

To me compact SUVs are just trendy overpriced sedans. They offer little advantage in terms or room or towing capacity. A 4 door hatch will offer very similar interior space, higher fuel efficiency and come at lower price. Most compact SUVs operate on sedan frames and even have the same drivetrain. My suggestion is if you want or need a truck but want to save on gas because you drive long distance is get a diesel. Same for SUVs, my Jeep GC with a 3L diesel does 9.9L/100km with 17' foot boat behind it. If you're not towing or hauling I suggest you look at a car and stop pretending you need a truck like 90% of the truck owners out there, cars will ultimately do pretty much everything better when it comes to actual driving.

If you're looking for AWD there are plenty of options in the car world, for more cargo consider an Audi A3 or A4 wagon. the Quattro system is superior to Subaru in every way. We had a Subaru Outback before and found it very unstable on hi-ways that offered changing road conditions, my wife refused to even drive it on gravel roads as it would pull to the side if you hit a soft spot on the road. When we upgraded to the Audi it was night and day, we just had the A3 and it was an unstoppable monster in the snow and we would drive it in the worst hi-way conditions imaginable.

The trax is just a FWD hatchback, not sure I'd call it an SUV or compact. It's the same a kia soul, small, tall and under powered. Plus anything turbo charged will not reach it's EPA by a long shot. The outlander and the sante fe are bigger but still just cars at heart. You'll find them under powered and they won't offer much more space than an average sedan besides a little more cargo in the back.

I'd suggest you look in the used market, I have a hard time understanding the numbers when saying financing a new vehicle will save you money on gas and maintenance compared to your truck. $30K over 5 years is close to $600 per month and you still have gas and maintenance on top of that. Realistically if you get something really efficient you might save $150 a month in gas.

[FishyFishy!]

I just bought a 2014 Toyota Rav4 LE AWD, and I can't say anything bad about it yet. Power is great from a 4 cyl. Fuel economy is awesome. Interior space is fantastic. The sport mode actually feels like you're in sport mode (stiffens the steering, suspension and changes shift points in the tranny). Handles great. And it's cheap as well. I pay $300/month. And all my maintenance is free until 60,000 kms.

I haven't winter driven it yet, but i'm sure it will be awesome.

I would never even think if getting a chevy or domestic. After owning a few... I can say they just don't age well. My 1990 Honda Accord Wagon still dosn't rattle when I slam the door. My 2013 Ford F150 FX4 rattles like a mother and it only has 40,000 kms. Feels like the doors are going to fall off.

I too, like subaru's (no offence steve... I know you like bimmers and audi's). My buddy has an impreza and it's amazing in the winter. Never felt anything more solid on snow covered and icey roads. If you can afford an audi, then go for it, as their quattro is second to none, but for the average guy, there is a lot of good stuff out there from the japanese markets.

[hillegom]

Something to think about.
According to consumer reports, a 10km increase in speed above 100kph
increases the gas consumption by 10%
So if you are traveling at 120 then you are using 20% more fuel than you would if traveling at 100
Its always time versus money

[Coasting]

Haha our speed limit on the main highway was just raised from 110 to 120 last week. I watch my fuel economy numbers skyrocket every time I get on that highway so there no doubt that's true.

Yeah an Audi is not going to happen... That's nice and all but I don't make that kind of money, and never will. Not all government type jobs actually pay well. 600 a month is more then I pay in rent, I wouldn't be getting anything that requires payments of more then 250 a month, tops. I know what kind of budget I'm working with.

I've just heard great things about the trax and its fuel economy, however mechanically I guess they haven't been out long enough.

Wish somebody actually owned one of these 2 specific ones to get their take on it. Gonna have to head down to Nanaimo and really play with that Crosstrek again.

[Slick Fork]

How big are your dogs?

I agree with most of what Sphelps said regarding picking a sedan or hatchback with the caveat that if you drive with your dogs a lot and they're big enough then headroom becomes an issue in anything smaller than a Forester.

We've got a Sedan as well and if it's just the two of us the Sedan is fine for us + dogs but if we want to throw another couple in the back seat it's really nice to be able to put the dogs in the rear area.

Our two fit perfectly in the Forester's cargo area, we looked at a small hatchback and it just wasn't enough space. Ours are a border collie (50lbs) and Karelian bear dog (60lbs).