[OzarkOverland]

Just turned 5,000 miles this weekend on our Ascent ... after 5 months of ownership, thinking of selling it.

Haven't had any major issues but overall the Ascent just feels 'finicky'. Little things like the radio presets disappearing - or the radio simply not turning on - or the 'remove key fob' message on the dash screen while driving down the road which requires shutting the vehicle down and restart to go away - to doors not locking after exiting the vehicle which requires restarting and turning off again to lock - to the liftgate not always going up when using the button on the dash ... all finicky little things that seem to point to potential future issues.

Not new to the Subaru brand and realize they can be quirky vehicles ... but in comparison, our 2018 Subaru Crosstrek seems like a much better engineered and made vehicle compared to the 2019 Ascent.

Again, nothing major just little things that may make us go back to Toyota for our main family vehicle ...

 

[MamaBear5]

Did you get an estimate of trade in value?

 

[pro10is]

If these are your worst complaints then you're doing great. No car is perfect, you can spend twice as much and still find problems. I've owned several Toyotas and while they're good cars, they're far from perfect with issues worse than the ones you mentioned.

If you sell now you're going to take a beating on the cost to sell a nearly new car and then buy another.

You made a great choice buying the Ascent, it's one of the best vehicles in its class. In fact, Consumer Reports recently rated it the best in its class.

Do what you will but the search for a flawless car is futile.

 

[bverant]

If these are your worst complaints then you're doing great. No car is perfect, you can spend twice as much and still find problems. I've owned several Toyotas and while they're good cars, they're far from perfect with issues worse than the ones you mentioned.

If you sell now you're going to take a beating on the cost to sell a nearly new car and then buy another.

You made a great choice buying the Ascent, it's one of the best vehicles in its class. In fact, Consumer Reports recently rated it the best in its class.

Do what you will but the search for a flawless car is futile.

I think this comes down to which flaws are livable vs which ones aren't. For me, it's the stupid faux shifting in the transmission. It's terrible, frankly, and very jerky at low speeds when cold. I am having some buyers remorse as well. Selling now may not be all that bad because the vehicle is still popular and could command a decent price on the used market.

 

[Trey T]

OP: do you have the power lift gate on the Crosstrek? The lift gate, utilizing linear actuator, is a brand new design for Subaru but a proven technology adopted by Toyota and many others.

 

[MamaBear5]

I think this comes down to which flaws are livable vs which ones aren't. For me, it's the stupid faux shifting in the transmission. It's terrible, frankly, and very jerky at low speeds when cold. I am having some buyers remorse as well. Selling now may not be all that bad because the vehicle is still popular and could command a decent price on the used market.

For me it's the wind noise on the highway and the noise from the CVT. Other small annoyances that are livable - no height adjustment on passenger side, horrible cup holders, not super comfortable second row bench seating. I have seen a number of used Ascents for sale on Autotrader. They are selling for almost what a new Ascent costs. Not sure what the trade in value is.



I did talk to one dealer, and they pretty much turned me away and told me I would need a $10,000 down payment on a new car, so I am assuming they would be offering me $10,000 less than what I paid for the car.



There are a lot of good things about the car, but the two major issue I have are enough for me to want to sell.

 

[subaru_ny]

For me it's the wind noise on the highway and the noise from the CVT. Other small annoyances that are livable - no height adjustment on passenger side, horrible cup holders, not super comfortable second row bench seating. I have seen a number of used Ascents for sale on Autotrader. They are selling for almost what a new Ascent costs. Not sure what the trade in value is.



I did talk to one dealer, and they pretty much turned me away and told me I would need a $10,000 down payment on a new car, so I am assuming they would be offering me $10,000 less than what I paid for the car.



There are a lot of good things about the car, but the two major issue I have are enough for me to want to sell.

Yikes! Makes me wary of buying one (as I've been considering.) Did the noise/CVT issues not appear on a test drive? (We drove one but never got above 55. Didn't notice anything.)

 

[OzarkOverland]

Did you get an estimate of trade in value?

I have not ... if I sell / trade it off then I will post details.

 

[OzarkOverland]

OP: do you have the power lift gate on the Crosstrek? The lift gate, utilizing linear actuator, is a brand new design for Subaru but a proven technology adopted by Toyota and many others.

We do not have the power lift gate on our 2018 Crosstrek.

On our Ascent, sometimes the lift gate button on the dash works and sometimes it doesn't ... last week the lift gate decided to stop halfway open a few times even though the height adjustment button is set to off.

 

[WebSnyper]

Just turned 5,000 miles this weekend on our Ascent ... after 5 months of ownership, thinking of selling it.

Haven't had any major issues but overall the Ascent just feels 'finicky'. Little things like the radio presets disappearing - or the radio simply not turning on - or the 'remove key fob' message on the dash screen while driving down the road which requires shutting the vehicle down and restart to go away - to doors not locking after exiting the vehicle which requires restarting and turning off again to lock - to the liftgate not always going up when using the button on the dash ... all finicky little things that seem to point to potential future issues.

Not new to the Subaru brand and realize they can be quirky vehicles ... but in comparison, our 2018 Subaru Crosstrek seems like a much better engineered and made vehicle compared to the 2019 Ascent.

Again, nothing major just little things that may make us go back to Toyota for our main family vehicle ...

Interested to hear what you end up doing. I was a bit concerned purchasing a new model (also, never owned a Subaru). I tried to get my wife to go with Toyota, honestly, but even the Platinum level Highlander didn't much impress her, and she definitely wanted a cross over as opposed to an SUV this time (couldn't get her to consider a 4runner). I'm a big Toyota fan (drive a 2007 FJ, up until recently we also had a 2013 Corolla, and previously owned a 2005 Sequoia), and will say Toyota seems to stay with tried and true tech as much as possibly, but is also slow to adopt for those reasons. I even had my wife look at Lexus (RX350) as we had no experience with those, but she gravitated right back to the Subaru. I would have probably waited for another 9 months or so to purchase, but we had a situation come up where we needed to unexpectedly purchase a vehicle.



Hoping issues you are experiencing continue to get worked out and hopefully much of the concerns are able to be handled via software updates, and we all benefit. Hopefully Subaru will be committed to back porting any improvements for the Ascent platform to those of us who took a chance on the new model.

 

[MAGNUMB]

If these are your worst complaints then you're doing great. No car is perfect, you can spend twice as much and still find problems. I've owned several Toyotas and while they're good cars, they're far from perfect with issues worse than the ones you mentioned.

If you sell now you're going to take a beating on the cost to sell a nearly new car and then buy another.

You made a great choice buying the Ascent, it's one of the best vehicles in its class. In fact, Consumer Reports recently rated it the best in its class.

Do what you will but the search for a flawless car is futile.

Maybe he got a lemon???and what cars have you purchased that have had more or the same amount of issues as what was listed? I guess I've had good luck, because besides my Dodge this car has had the most issues and the dodge didn't start showing issues until around 40k. Sure the issues on the Ascent are not leaving me stranded, but they are issues that need to be addressed at some point. Most recent I noticed was the rubber grommet holding the bottom of the radiator in place was halfway installed, sure i probably could have gone it's whole life without me lifting the rad and pushing in the grommet, but it's seem the folks in IN don't yet have the attention to detail some other plants excel in.

The is Ascent is great in it's overall packaging, but it does seem to have a fair share of quality control issues. I've had several flawless cars as far as quality control that i drove over 70k.

 

[amr2579]

Yikes! Makes me wary of buying one (as I've been considering.) Did the noise/CVT issues not appear on a test drive? (We drove one but never got above 55. Didn't notice anything.)

I am almost always playing music, but even when I'm not, I personally, didn't notice much road noise at all (seemed extremely quiet) granted I haven't gone high speeds (over 65 without music so if that is what is being referred to I can't say) and this is also coming from an '04 Subaru Outback.

 

[bverant]

I am having the driver's side front window replaced due to waviness and distortions. This is a big QC problem in my opinion. I expect the door panel will be loose and prone to rattling sounds and air drafts once the glass is replaced (glass is on backorder).

 

[Tony Bessel]

I don't want to make assumptions: have you talked to your dealer about any of these problems you're experiencing? While understandably annoying, I personally would not take the trade-in hit on a 5000-mile vehicle over them. Give Subaru a chance to make it right. They stand behind their cars and as long as you're being reasonable, I'm confident they can get this sorted out for you. If the Subaru cannot fix these things to a satisfactory level, you may consider looking into your state's lemon law.

We are a completely-Subaru fleet at home. When people ask me how I like them I explain that they are not for those that stress over rattles, squeaks, or the finer details. Every Subaru we've owned, including the Ascent, has squeaked, buzzed, rattled or had some quirk. That being said, they are rock-solid in terms of reliability and offer great confidence when winter comes here in MN.

It really sounds to me like though, for your own reasons, you just don't like the Ascent and wished you had gone with something else. Been there done that. General rule of thumb from experience: You can expect to lose about $10,000 from what you paid if you choose to trade in.

 

[GHP1]

The infotainment issues are a simple software patch upgrade. Tailgate issues could be just a temp situation where it lost its programing. Hardly IMO a reason to trade. I have a very early build and have had zero issues . I do have the fake shift feel but thats normal. I will admit Subaru does exhibit inconsistent build quality. Like I said, you would think my car that was built the second week of May would have some issues compared to one built months later. Also, given the newness of this model I leased it

 

[lassetjus]

Just turned 5,000 miles this weekend on our Ascent ... after 5 months of ownership, thinking of selling it.

Haven't had any major issues but overall the Ascent just feels 'finicky'. Little things like the radio presets disappearing - or the radio simply not turning on - or the 'remove key fob' message on the dash screen while driving down the road which requires shutting the vehicle down and restart to go away - to doors not locking after exiting the vehicle which requires restarting and turning off again to lock - to the liftgate not always going up when using the button on the dash ... all finicky little things that seem to point to potential future issues.

Not new to the Subaru brand and realize they can be quirky vehicles ... but in comparison, our 2018 Subaru Crosstrek seems like a much better engineered and made vehicle compared to the 2019 Ascent.

Again, nothing major just little things that may make us go back to Toyota for our main family vehicle ...

I don't have any of the issues you listed above.... you may have a lemon. Check your lemon laws in your state, so you can get back the entire cost of the vehicle.

 

[OzarkOverland]

We are a completely-Subaru fleet at home. When people ask me how I like them I explain that they are not for those that stress over rattles, squeaks, or the finer details. Every Subaru we've owned, including the Ascent, has squeaked, buzzed, rattled or had some quirk. That being said, they are rock-solid in terms of reliability and offer great confidence when winter comes here in MN.

It really sounds to me like though, for your own reasons, you just don't like the Ascent and wished you had gone with something else. Been there done that. General rule of thumb from experience: You can expect to lose about $10,000 from what you paid if you choose to trade in.

We're also a multi-Subaru family ... so we get it, Subarus can have quirky characteristics.

We like our Ascent - thats why we chose it after test driving competition from Toyota, Volkswagen, and Honda. As others have said - the Ascent offers great features / functionality and overall is garnering a lot of positive attention within the automotive industry for a reason. We haven't decided to sell it at this point and may not but I'm not overly concerned with the financials of trading / selling the Ascent if we elect to do so.

I also don't think our Ascent is a lemon ... we aren't dealing with major issues that make the vehicle unroadworthy. However, the culmination of various minor issues we have experienced within 6 months of ownership and 5,000 miles does create concern for the long term.

 

[OzarkOverland]

I have a very early build and have had zero issues . I do have the fake shift feel but thats normal. I will admit Subaru does exhibit inconsistent build quality. Like I said, you would think my car that was built the second week of May would have some issues compared to one built months later.

Our Ascent is also a May (05/18) build date.

 

[GHP1]

Our Ascent is also a May (05/18) build date.

Interesting, I would at least take in to a good dealer with your complaint list and see what they can do. It also provides a paper trail for you in case you want to lemon it

 

[Tony Bessel]

We're also a multi-Subaru family ... so we get it, Subarus can have quirky characteristics.

We like our Ascent - thats why we chose it after test driving competition from Toyota, Volkswagen, and Honda. As others have said - the Ascent offers great features / functionality and overall is garnering a lot of positive attention within the automotive industry for a reason. We haven't decided to sell it at this point and may not but I'm not overly concerned with the financials of trading / selling the Ascent if we elect to do so.

I also don't think our Ascent is a lemon ... we aren't dealing with major issues that make the vehicle unroadworthy. However, the culmination of various minor issues we have experienced within 6 months of ownership and 5,000 miles does create concern for the long term.

You are mostly correct, my state's lemon states the issue or issues have to compromise the usability or value of the vehicle. There are special provisions for when the issue involves the steering or braking system. Could you make an argument with what you have listed? Yes. Would it stick? Probably not. Even if you were able to make a strong case for lemon law, it is not as fast, easy, or pleasant as some folks think.

I totally understand where you're coming from though. You bought a new vehicle and you're expecting to be happy and excited about it. So far, a culmination of little issues has started to leave a bad taste in your mouth. As long as you can swing the financial part of moving to something else, which it sounds like you can, then do what makes you happy. I came into the Ascent after having done the same thing with a Toyota. I'm not real happy about the money lost but on the same token I sure am glad to be rid of that car.

I'm not sure what your selection process involves but as a bit of advice: when you find 'the' next car, ask the dealership to provide you an extended test drive without one of their employees present. Some dealerships, like mine, may require you to fill out some extra paperwork but it's well worth it. Drive it for 50 miles and try everything you can think of. Of course things can happen after-the-fact but for me the long test drive was worthwhile.