Best Of

Was just reviewing the maintenance/repair log for the Outback.

We bought it on 2/28/2015, and the last service I have recorded is from 2/27/2025, so 10 years.

In that time, I've spent just over $5900 on maintenance and repairs - a bit less than $50/mo to keep the old dear on the road (excluding gas and insurance, of course).

Last I checked, it was worth probably $11-12K in trade value (car has just about 74,000 miles on it), so the depreciation from the original MSRP of $38K (approximately) is around 65-70%.

We bought the Outback for a few reasons:

1. wife wanted a "wagon", rather than an SUV
2. we planned on keeping this one for 10-15 years
3. we wanted to get off the negative equity carousel of trading cars in after 2-3-4 years

Mission accomplished for all three items. It still drives pretty well, none of the creature comforts have stopped working (though the CC will act up every now and again), and it's getting in the low to mid 20's for mileage, which isn't bad for a 3800 pound car with a heavy 6-cylinder engine in it. It does have a ding here or there, which is to be expected of a car this old.

Would I like something new (or, at the very least, newer)? Sure, I'm a charter member of CCBA, I'm always looking. But, just not keen to take on a hefty car payment at this time.