Sell Me on the Ascent

I've been borrowing a Toyota Highlander (3rd gen, couple years old) for about a month; Here are my notes on it vs the Ascent Touring:

1. The interior is rather pedestrian on the Highlander, and controls aren't as intuitive
2. The Highlander controls body roll slightly better, and has a bit more of a road feel
3. The Ascent is more comfortable and open. Example: gear shift area comes up higher in the Highlander and makes it feel more cramped than it is
4. The center console on the Highlander is just kind of... weird. Cupholders are really big (nice for a handle mug) but they don't hold the drink well. The storage area is a big cavern, and I do not like the slider
5. Mileage is equivalent
6. Highlander is V6 and does have more immediate power, but under typical driving is equivalent
7. The instrument cluster has a bunch of open space to put things on the Highlander, but this is a negative to me, as I like a clean car
8. The visibility on the Ascent is much better
9. Safety, telematics, blind spot, lane keeping is MUCH better on the Ascent. Make sure whatever year you get it has the "lane centering" instead of just the "lane keeping"
10. Ascent roof rails are a bonus
11. The Ascent's sun/moon roof is awesomely big
12. The lift gate is faster on the Ascent. I feel like I'm just waiting around for the Highlander to do its thing.

A few other comments:
I just drove a brand new Acura MDX for a couple hours and It's very nice, but I wouldn't trade it for my 4 year old Ascent. The Ascent, in summary, is a luxury car without the price, and is upmarket without being fussy. Everything is in the right place, it looks nice, has a very quiet and comfortable ride.

My input, wife has a 2020 Outback gas milage 30-33 on a 2600 mile road trip that we just completed. I have a 22 Onyx, love everything about the SUV. The gas milage which I think is everyone's biggest complaint is in the 26-28 if you are doing highway driving and NOT USING THE TURBO. My drive to work is 20 miles each way about 75% highway and I average around 19-23 per gallon. As for the touch screen I agree with you, after having my wife's on the outback and then getting the Ascent Onyx, I prefer the smaller screen with knobs. I tend to keep my 3rd row down but have had my 2 nephews who are both 6' sit back there. They both could not believe that they could fit when I moved the captains chairs up a little.
I also was looking at the highlander hybrid. Reason with Toyota, we have an 06 sienna with 189,000 that is still running strong. For the price difference 10k more and after driving the Highlander, my opinion is the Ascent. When you hear the complaints about the gas, it is a 3 row SUV with a turbo. Stick with Subaru don't think you can go wrong.

2019 Ascent Limited and a 2023 Honda Pilot Elite. The Honda might not be on your radar. The Pilot has an option that the seat moves to allow you more room to get in before it goes to the preset driver’s seat position. The Pilot feels bigger interior wise but doesn’t drive bigger. If you are used to driving a CVT then you are going to have to be used to going back to a regularly automatic. I thought I would be praising how much better the 10 speed auto would be. It works , it does its job but I think I like the CVT. Mileage is the same for both. In the 20s for highway driving. 18 -20 for mixed. City is abysmal for the Ascent in our experience and takes some easy on the gas pedal to get it better than 12. The Pilot in eco or standard is in the 16 in the city.
We had a few issues with our Ascent. The changes in the new Ascent, the price and discount we could have got with a 2023 wasn’t enough to look at it again. The price of an Ascent right now is better than the Pilot. The Pilot just went up $400 from MSRP. You probably won’t be able to get a deal on the Honda.

Consumer Reports think highly of the Ascent (attached). However the reliability of Ascent has increased steadily since its first introduction in 2019. When you buy used, keep that in mind. For many who traded in the older Ascent think the 23 is a much improved "mature" version of the Ascent. The Touch screen is better than most in terms of having enough direct access to key controls. I don't think this is a deal breaker. A larger screen makes the map in Apple CarPlay easier to see.

rockthebeef said:

30 mpg is attainable on long stretches of highway. Once you factor in any loss of momentum, the mileage drops considerably.

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You mean steady-state, right, @rockthebeef ? Like, at cruise?

That I'll definitely agree with.

My response above is intended to take into effect real world highway use - everything from on-ramp merging to passing to any emergency maneuvers, not just steady-state.

I know the OP is looking for a used Ascent, but the 2023 now has that feature where the seats will move to give you more room. I have mine turned turned off.

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You mean driver's seat position registration (https://cdn.subarunet.com/stis/doc/ownerManual/MSA5M2300B_STIS-Opt.pdf, pages 35-38? That was available from the outset of MY19, as long as the drivers registered their seating positions with their corresponding key fob. The only thing that this feature did not adjust was the thigh extension.

In this manner, a family with two primary drivers who are of disparate height can easily set up the vehicle to accommodate their seating preferences prior to entering the vehicle.

However, the mirror adjustment memory is a '23+ feature not present on the pre-Driver Monitoring System-equipped versions of the Ascent.

But if you mean the auto-seat-retract on-entry, then yes, that's a '23+, too, and is not present on the versions of the Ascent that came before.

rockthebeef said:

Yes, steady state (at a moderate pace). I didn't even realize I posted that comment! lol. It was leftover from a reply I chose not to send earlier today before your reply.

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No worries - I was just wondering if I've got something really, really wrong with my Ascent! 😅 And I was sweating your hypermiling Kung-Fu.

...and yes, I mean the auto seat retract. I don't recall if it's on entry or on exit, but it was excessive for me. I'm not a large individual, though I am just beginning to grow sideways these days.

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My wife needs an auto-forward so that when I valet for her, she doesn't get in her car the next morning only to fall through to the next galaxy.

I'm "only" 48, so I barely remember a time when it seems like a lot more cars had this feature - some also with steering columns that got out of the way via various mechanical contortions.

My wife and daughter are both around the same height and build (torso/leg proportions), so they share reasonably well, but I'm 10 to 8 inches taller (and am exponentially larger in girth, growing with each chicken wing.....). So having the two smart fobs that key to our settings has worked out pretty nicely so far. I guess a bit more of a welcome at ingress wouldn't not be nice, but I don't know that I have the patience to wait for the seat to track back and forward, all the time....I ain't got the time for that!


I gots to GO!

ScoffingYayap said:

Hey gang,

I drive a 2020 Subaru Impreza hatch. Absolutely love it to pieces, but the simple fact is it's becoming too small for me. I'm 6'2 and 225 lbs, and at age 29 I'm finding out that what people say about turning 30 is absolutely true. It's not necessarily getting hard to get in and out of my car but loading it up can put a strain on me. The kicker was today I somehow hit my knee on the steering wheel getting in (Long legs).

Tl;dr, I want something bigger, a good highway cruiser.

I'm considering Foresters, Highlanders, and Grand Cherokees but I'm leaning most towards the Ascent. I'd get an Outback as I think they're just about perfect in every way but I despise the big touchscreen - my girlfriend drives one and I just hate it. I am aware the 2023 Ascents have that big screen so I'd be buying used. Seems like there are some pretty good deals on 2020s in my area. I test drove a 2022 a while ago but held off as we were buying a house soon (And they had it listed for $48,000).

I do a lot of highway driving in the New Jersey tri-state region. I've heard of issues with the CVTs but it seems a programming update can remedy said issues? How is everyone's everyday gas mileage? I do a ton of driving but mostly highway and I keep it easy around 70 mph, which in my Impreza gets about 38 mpg. Is about 30 mpg attainable in an Ascent? A bigger gas tank would be great for me too as I usually put about 2,000 miles a month on my car.

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I have a 2023 Subaru Ascent Limited. I can't compare the space comment, since I'm skinny dude at 5'8" and about 125lbs, tons of space for me! But as other's have said, the 2023 at least offers the option to have the seat automatically move all the way back when you open the door, then automatically moves to your preferred seating position when you sit down, all without having to push a single button. I personally don't use this, because I have a rear-facing infant seat right behind the driver seat which would get crushed if the seat moved any further back (rear facing child infant seats take up an incredible amount of space, I have to move my seat all the way forward in my WRX to fit it in there...not a knock on the Ascent or WRX).

I did want to mention about the large touch screen (also not my favorite), by pointing out that the temperature Up/down, volume up/down, and radio tune can all be controlled via physical buttons (for temp) and knobs (for volume/tune) at the edges of the touch screen. I'm not sure if this is similar to the outback you've driven or not. Additionally, the additional HVAC controls are on the touch screen, but are 'hard coded' to always show up in the same exact place on the bottom of the screen no matter what 'app' you have open on the screen. I feel this is a good compromise compared to other in-car touch screens I've seen, where often the HVAC can be buried behind a menu somewhere. In the 2023 Ascent it's always available on every screen in the exact same spot.

Side note: The radio tune (next/previous, etc) and volume can also be controlled via the buttons on the steering wheel.

In addition much of the radio and hvac controls can be controlled via voice with the press of a button on the steering wheel. I personally don't use the in-car voice recognition for that. I use the physical buttons to change the temp and about 99% of the time use voice control for android auto for all my entertainment/music. The only thing I actually use the screen for is viewing maps/gps, viewing the 360 surroundview cameras and watching the oil temp (the top of the screen is also customizable). Btw, the 360 surroundview camera has a physical button you can press to turn on the camera view on the screen. I'm really glad they kept that as a physical button!

@ScoffingYayap if you're getting 38 with an Impreza you might get 29 in an Ascent. I have found that wherever you are in fuelly.com with your current vehicle is where you'll be in a future vehicle. 38 is way at the top for an Impreza, and the highest for an Ascent is 29. The Outback will be significantly higher with the 2.5, marginally better with the turbo, and pretty much the same if you get the Wilderness since it's geared like the Ascent.

Regarding the big screen, we like it so much in our 20 Outback that it was a selling point for us adding a 23 Ascent. Just leave the HVAC on Auto and change the temperature to whatever you like, the system does everything else quite well; the people that don't like it are the ones who like to do fan speed or whatever on their own. The beauty of the big screen is full screen maps.

You say the Outback is just right for you, and if you're seeking fuel economy get the 2.5. Many users on fuelly, including me, have achieved 38mpg, and I did that with both my 19 and 20 Outback. High mileage on the Ascent is a little tougher and will top out right around 29, which I have achieved once. We're going on a summer trip that will hopefully yield some more high mileage tanks; on our short 1,000 mile trips we've been averaging around 27.

The Pilot was on our short list, and if you look at fuelly you will see that most Pilot and Ascent owners average right around 20. The Ascent, like any large SUV, is going to get low mileage on short trips. We've seen as low as 18 on trips under 3 miles, but if you travel farther than that it's easy to get mid-20's. By comparison, the Outback 2.5 yields over 30mpg right out of the gate, it's very economical.

Outback vs Ascent (we have both): if we could only have one it would be the Ascent because it is way more comfortable. The advantage of the Outback is by comparison it feels like a go-kart and easily zips around corners. The Outback is our choice for economy or more difficult soft-road excursions, the Ascent is our choice for comfort and long trips.

Take a half hour in the dealer's lot to play with the big screen. If you learn to like it great, but if not I would look for a 22 Ascent because every year has become better and better as the bugs are worked out. If you read comments on this forum from previous Ascent owners, they all say they like the overall experience in the 23 better. Yes there are some who have resisted the 23 because of the big screen, but those who have actually bought one truly like it.

Good luck with whatever you decide.