2010 Outback 2.5i opinions

[Ravenwoods]

I'm going to look at a car for sale . Automatic transmission, 170,000 miles. Sounds like he replaced the cam and crank seals. Any opinions on this car or what to look for specific to this year and model?

[heartless]

2010 is definitely going to be canbus electronics, which is a whole new can of worms in and of itself.... cant just swap stuff like aftermarket radios or anything like that.. it all has to be programed into the canbus system
 

that nonsense started around 2006 - and is a bit of a pain in the backside and i personally would steer clear..
in fact, this time I went backwards in years - but it was the right car at the right price at the right time... I went from a 2004 Forester to a 2001 Outback and I could not be happier.

[idosubaru]

18 hours ago, heartless said:

2010 is definitely going to be canbus electronics, which is a whole new can of worms in and of itself.... cant just swap stuff like aftermarket radios or anything like that.. it all has to be programed into the canbus system
 

that nonsense started around 2006 - and is a bit of a pain in the backside and i personally would steer clear..
in fact, this time I went backwards in years - but it was the right car at the right price at the right time... I went from a 2004 Forester to a 2001 Outback and I could not be happier.

Aftermarket stereo's can be installed into 2010 Outbacks, that's a nonissue.  You might be thinking of the 06-09 Outbacks where the issue is the stereo and HVAC controllers are married into the same console.  Those are problematic, there are ways around it, but that doesn't matter here - 2010's are not like 06-09 and you can add an aftermarket stereo.

[GeneralDisorder]

The 10-12 Outback's have problems with internal HG fire ring failure causing overheating. And they like to drop valve guides. 

If it's a CVT model those are the early one's - "countermeasure" torque converter is a must to prevent stalling when hard braking. Valve bodies and wiring harnesses and torque converters for days on those models. 

And yeah - CANBUS nightmare.

I'm not a fan but I don't like smacking myself in the head with a hammer and some people like that I hear so I'm not going to judge. 

GD