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Fell in love with Subaru's eyesight I needed to get another one

4K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  packout 
#1 ·
My son is learning to drive and I wanted a safe vehicle for him. I loved Eyesight so much that I needed to get him a vehicle with one. I know the Crosstrek isn't an Ascent but just want to post this to show my love for Subaru. :)

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#2 ·
I did the same although surprisingly my 16 year old son loved the Ascent and the safety features he wanted a Subaru and purchased a 2018 Impreza. We specifically chose a year that had all the safety features. This January we are going to Steamboat Springs for him to learn to drive on ice at the Bridgestone Winter Driving School. They provide the vehicle but I look forward to driving the Ascent up to Steamboat and playing around in the snow.
 
#3 ·
When our daughter got her license, there was a need for a safe vehicle for her to drive. Since my spouse's MY11 Outback Limited was paid for, The Princess got that to drive and my spouse, AKA, Professor Dr. SWMBO, got a new MY16 Outback Limited with Eyesight. Our daughter is currently a junior at PSU and our plan is for the MY16 to be her graduation gift (much lower milage and nicer with more goodies than the MY11) and once again for The Professor to get a new Subaru. Darling daughter piles on the miles so she's going to be better served with the newer vehicle as she starts out on her own.
 
#6 ·
we loved our OB 2015 with eyesight (wife didn't want it first required salesmen to show how to turn off then fell in love with it now its required ) so when our daughter needed a car she bought a forester touring which she will drive and teach our daughter (now has learners permit) roll it over to her this summer then get another car. subi x 2
out OB has 56k miles my oldest daughter drives this as her mom handed over her car to her after 3 years nothing but routine maintenance 100% trouble free and safe. OB has remote start so as she parks her car away from her dorms will love that feature.

very pleased with our OB and 2019 forester.
 
#8 ·
No concerns that your children learn to drive with the eyesight "crutch?" What happens the first time they need a rental?
I'm thinking old-school manual transmission to keep both hands occupied.
The most dangerous time is while they are learning to drive. The more miles under the belt, the safer they become as not everything is overwhelming so they can pay attention to more things. Eyesight helps pay attention to the things they aren't always paying attention to. So by the time they are able to do a rental, or drive another car, they'll be much more experienced and safer. Plus better to have the safety features most of the time and drive without occasionally, rather than the other way around.

My fiance's daughter recently learned to drive (6 months ago now). I insisted she go to Team Safety Driving School and even paid for it. After the 8 hrs of driving that day, she was already more confident and also knew how to panic stop and do avoidance maneuvers.

I was trying to also have them get an Imprezza or Crosstrek with eyesight, but it was a bit too expensive. They did find a 2013 Ford Focus with <10k miles on it for a great price.

If I can afford it, in 4 years when my son starts to drive, I plan to get a Tesla Model 3 performance for my commuter car and let him drive the Ascent. Or I can swap it around when I need to tow and just limit the M3 performance for his driving.

So the short story is, teach them how to drive properly and safely, but add as much insurance that they stay safe as you can!
 
#12 ·
No concerns that your children learn to drive with the eyesight "crutch?" What happens the first time they need a rental?
I'm thinking old-school manual transmission to keep both hands occupied.
Next year I plan on teaching my 16 year old how to drive a manual transmission. He already has expressed an interest for a manual Subie. He learned on an automatic but very low tech vehicle and competed both his drivers ed and driving license test on a vehicle without any safety tech. While I want him to learn how to drive these vehicles I also prefer the safety technology that is available. The number of vehicles on the road has grown enormously so the inherant risks have grown as well. If he can avail himself of added safety notifications and responses I am all for it. My main focus is traveling with safety as a main priority.
 
#9 ·
A good on course defensive/evasive driving course is an amazing thing! I agree with @Kevin Williams about the benefits of them. I never took an official one, but, my father was ex-military turned driving instructor, turned police officer, so, I kind of got the unofficial version day in and day out. It was an interesting dichotomy of learning all the fun stuff in a parking lot, exactly what the car can do, and exactly how to react to various circumstances, to then being on the road with the man and needing to make sure every stop, turn and signal was textbook perfect. :ROFLMAO:

One of the other things I learned was that when and where safe to do so, to learn my car and what it can and cannot do. It's tough to find places, times and safe ways of doing such, but it's nice nonetheless.
 
#19 ·
Too bad they haven't added the driver fatigue/distraction feature like in the newest other models (Forester, etc). That is something I would want in my next car. In the past, I have had a few close calls, when I nodded off, and woke up on the shoulder. I used to do very long drives, and there were times I really struggled hard to keep my eyes open and stay alert. Luckily, I never had an accident. That was back in my younger foolish days. I don't do that now.

Maybe the current LKA would wake me up today, but have never "tested" that scenario. But I did read on another forum (not Subaru) where a guy nodded off and hit a parked car at 30 mph. Luckily, his airbags saved him, and no serious injuries. But this feature probably would have prevented the accident.
 
#21 ·
As mentioned elsewhere, all these safety features are definitely never an excuse to not pay attention. But it's amazing what can happen with just a quick glance down to the radio or HVAC, or quick look up into the rear view mirror, or quick turn to check on a misbehaving child. I'm glad this technology has become widespread across most makes and models nowadays, I just hope I never have to find out firsthand how well it works.

We are slowly working our way into adding a car to the stable (although now, I'm not sure if my son is getting the Lincoln or the ascent at this point), and it's amazing that a lot of this technology is not standard on numerous higher-end (primarily European) makes and models.
 
#22 ·
I completely understand. We traded in a falling apart 2000 Ford Explorer back in December for a 2019 Crosstrek PREMIUM w/ Eyesight, knowing that it would become my son’s car when he learns to drive in 2023. Until then, it’s my wife’s. But since I loved Eyesight and the adaptive cruise control so much, it got me looking at the Ascent to replace our 2000 Civic. Between my Eyesight experience with the Crosstrek, and how much I liked the way the Ascent drives, I got my Ascent in April. Now I’m hoping the joint Toyota/Subaru plug-in is available by 2023 so we can get that for my wife when my son get’s her Crosstrek.
 
#23 ·
Yep I reaffirmed how much I love eyesight today. I had to run an errand in SC. I live in Virginia Beach. I drove over 600 miles without touching the pedals today! More specifically from Va Beach to Florence SC since eyesight doesn’t do stop signs, then back. If they’d remove the silly warning to keep hands on the wheel I probably could’ve gotten a nap in!
 
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