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2021 Subaru Outback Pricing and Specs

Price Guide

$41,244*
Subaru Outback
Expert Rating

CarsGuide has published 7 expert reviews of the Subaru Outback 2021. It has an average rating of 8 out of 10. Read all the reviews here.

The Subaru Outback 2021 prices range from $32,560 for the basic trim level SUV Outback AWD to $54,010 for the top of the range SUV Outback 3.6R AWD.

The Subaru Outback 2021 comes in SUV.

The Subaru Outback 2021 is available in Diesel and Unleaded Petrol. Engine sizes and transmissions vary from the SUV 2.0L SP Continuous Variable to the SUV 3.6L SP Continuous Variable.

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Interested in a Subaru Outback?

Explore prices for the 2021 Subaru Outback

$29,000

3 Listings

$32,149

1 Listing

$34,249

10 Listings

$36,349

11 Listings

$38,449

16 Listings

$40,549

22 Listings

$42,649

38 Listings

$44,749

32 Listings

$46,849

11 Listings

$49,990

3 Listings

$29,000

$49,990

Subaru Outback FAQs

I want to buy a new Subaru Outback. I've been warned there are problems with the CVT auto transmission in some older models. Is there an issue with the newer models?

Subaru has a long history with the CVT transmission, and it hasn’t always been clear sailing. The first Subaru to feature this transmission was the Justy in the late 1980s and while we saw the similar Sherpa model, Australia never got the CVT transmission. In fact, the Justy had so many transmission problems that it was dumped from world price-lists in about 1995.


Our first taste of the Subaru CVT was in 2009 with the launch of the fifth-generation Liberty and Outback models which featured a CVT on four-cylinder petrol versions of the car.


The CVT has since been extended to the brand’s Impreza, Forester, XV and even the sporty WRX line-up.


And, yes, there have been issues reported by owners. While catastrophic failures have not been widely documented, the Subaru CVT’s overall behaviour has been criticised on a number of levels. Those include a jerkiness to forward progress (particularly in low speed and light throttle conditions) harsh shifting, shuddering under acceleration and a delay when selecting gears from Park. In some instances, a reflash of the electronic control module has improved things, for other cases, Subaru has introduced a completely new, improved software package.


Part of the reason Subaru has copped so much flak over the CVT is that the symptoms it displays are often the death-knell for other types of transmissions and consumers- rightly – have been worried. To counter this in the USA, Subaru extended the drivetrain warranty of 1.5 million cars with CVTs from five years and 100,000km to 10 years and 160,000km.


But even if total transmission replacements don’t seem common, do you want to live with this gearbox? For many people the answer is no. But to be fair, most of the problems seem to have occurred on pre-2018 models and later CVTs appear to be better units.


In the case of the Outback you’re interested in, with the update of that model in 2018, the CVT was revised with a revised torque-reduction control to improve upshift clarity, a short-pitch chain was used for lower noise and a revision to the shifter was made to improve shift feel (although we suspect that’s feel through the shifter itself, not the way the transmission feels when it selects a gear).

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Does the 2021 Subaru Outback Touring have any electronics issues?

Subaru is firmly committed to the CVT (Constantly Variable Transmission) concept as it gives a theoretical efficiency advantage over conventional transmissions. The catch is that to make the CVT feel less alien, many car-makers (including Subaru) engineer in electronic `ratios’ which kind of sidesteps those theoretical advantages.


It’s true that Subaru CVTs have experienced some reliability problems in the past, but in the case of the Outback, that appears to mainly affect vehicles built between 2010 and 2015. After that build date, things improved dramatically on the reliability and durability front, not to mention the driveability and comfort offered by the CVT. So we wouldn’t be too concerned about this aspect of the vehicle. Given that you’re buying a brand-new vehicle, you’ll get the full five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. And as proof of Subaru’s faith in the CVT concept, for the 2018 facelift of the Outback, the CVT got a seventh `ratio’ and a shorter-pitch chain to reduce cabin noise. So a brand-new Subaru CVT should represent the best the concept has ever been.

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* Price is the median price of 147 listings for the Outback 2021 for sale in the last 6 months. The Price excludes costs such as stamp duty, other government charges and options.

Disclaimer: Glass's Information Services (GIS) and CarsGuide Autotrader Media Solutions Pty Ltd. (CarsGuide) provide this information based on data from a range of sources including third parties. Whilst all care has been taken to ensure its accuracy and reliability, GIS and CarsGuide do not warrant or represent that the information is accurate, reliable, complete, current or suitable for any particular purpose. You should not use or rely upon this information without conducting an independent assessment and valuation of the vehicle.

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