How Many Miles Can A Subaru Crosstrek Last? (+Reliability Scores)

How many miles can a Subaru Crosstrek last? When you’re in the market for a new or second-hand Crosstrek, that’s, of course, a very reasonable question to ask. After all, you’re probably looking to get the most bang for your buck. In this blog, we’ll look at this question in great detail but first, let’s start with a quick answer:

On average, a Subaru Crosstrek lasts between 200.000 – 230.000 miles. A Crosstrek needs to go to the garage for unscheduled repairs about 0.13 times per year, with a 7% chance of severe problems. Furthermore, Crosstrek owners spend an average of $492 per year on repair costs.

Having said that, we’re certainly not done. Below we’ll first explain in more detail how many miles a Crosstrek can last. After that, we’ll also show you how much a Crosstrek costs per year and which production years are most and least expensive. Furthermore, we also discuss the common problems that the car can have. Read on!

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How Many Miles Can A Subaru Crosstrek Last?

First, we have to look at the Subaru Crosstrek as a group. For this, we went to autotrader.com where we gathered information on all the Subaru Crosstrek that are currently for sale. We ended up with a sample size of 5.990 units. Then, we divided these vehicles into groups depending on the number of miles they had driven. The results are displayed in the table below.

Amount Of Miles	Percentage Of Cars
Cars With 150.000+	1.47%
Cars With 100.000 – 149.000	7.75%
Cars With 45.000 – 99.999	29.73%
Cars With 0 – 44.999	61.05%

What we see in this table is the fact that 1.47% of Crosstrek that are in the second-hand market have a mileage of 150.000 miles or higher. By itself, this number doesn´t say a lot. However, we´ve written 100+ similar articles on different cars in the United States. From this, we know that a percentage of 3-5% is typically considered good. Therefore, the Legacy does seem to not be able to live up to the benchmarks we would typically expect.

However, there´s more to look at than just this table. For example, the Crosstrek was only introduced in 2012. Furthermore, the Crosstrek has been selling many more units from 2017 onwards than it did before that. Because of this, it´s logical that many units haven´t crossed 150.000 miles yet: they´re simply too young. Therefore, we have to look at many other data points to determine whether or not the vehicle is worth getting.

How Reliable Is A Subaru Crosstrek Compared To Its Competitors?

Furthermore, we also have to compare the Crosstrek to its competitors. This will give us a much clearer understanding of how well the Crosstrek actually performs. Once again, please keep in mind that we´ve written similar articles for all the vehicles that are displayed. Therefore, we´re confident about the results.

First of all, we have to say that many competitors of the Crosstrek are also quite new. The SUV revolution only started a decade ago. This means many SUVs have only been sold in the past ten years which means not many have had time to drive extreme mileage.

However, from our research, we do see that the Crosstrek is capable of holding its own within this category. It´s basically on par with most of its competitors whereas only the HR-V (which is an extremely reliable SUV) is capable of beating it. Overall, we would say this is a positive point for the Crosstrek overall.

Model	Sample Size	Expected Mileage	Highest Mileage
Subaru Crosstrek	5.990	215.000	250.000
Honda HR-V	3.624	250.000	290.000
Hyundai Kona	5.630	210.000	165.000
Jeep Renegade	10.046	200.000	225.000
Mazda CX-5	3.124	220.000	170.000

How Reliable Is A Subaru Crosstrek Compared To Other Subarus?

Besides comparing the Crosstrek to its competitors we also have to have a look at Subaru as a brand. The reason for this is that this will give us a better understanding of what we can expect from the brand in terms of reliability. The results are displayed in the table below.

Model	Sample Size	Expected Mileage	Highest Mileage
Subaru Impreza	4.507	215.000	275.000
Subaru WRX	3.548	200.000	225.000
Subaru Crosstrek	5.990	215.000	250.000
Subaru Legacy	2.922	210.000	260.000
Subaru Outback	13.542	230.000	280.000
Subaru Forester	11.068	220.000	300.000

What we can conclude from this is that Subaru does seem to build reliable vehicles that are consistently capable of crossing the 200.000 miles mark. However, we also conclude that none of their vehicles seem to be extremely reliable which we would classify as having an expected mileage of 250.000 or higher.

For this reason, we conclude that Subaru is definitely a reliable brand, but that it doesn´t put up numbers like Toyota and Honda.

How Much Does Maintenance Cost Per Year?

Furthermore, there´s more to the reliability of a vehicle than just the number of miles we expect it to drive. For example, you also have to know how much the car will cost in terms of maintenance to make sure you´re not paying extremely high annual maintenance costs. To gather this data, we went to Repairpal and Caredge.com.

Here we found that you´ll spend an average of $492 per year to keep a Subaru Crosstrek on the road. On average, you would expect to pay $521 per year to keep a compact SUV like the Crosstrek going. This indicates that the Impreza does have lower than expected maintenance costs which is a good thing.

Model Year	Annual Maintenance Cost
2016	$497
2017	$508
2018	$413
2019	$400
2020	$387
2021	$313
2022	$266

Now, we do have to say that the Crosstrek is quite new which means the average maintenance costs are lowered because problems haven´t yet occurred or because of the fact that they´re still covered under warranty. However, this is also the case for most of its competitors. Therefore, we would still say the Crosstrek carries good annual maintenance costs for an SUV this size.

Owners’ Reviews Of The Subaru Crosstreks Reliability

Besides knowing all the data, it’s, of course, also essential to see how owners experience the Crosstrek For this, we went to Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds, and Cars.com. All three platforms have gathered hundreds of reviews from actual car owners. We summarized our findings in the image below.

Overall, we can conclude very little else than the fact that the Crosstrek is received positively on all platforms. What´s more surprising is the fact that this goes for almost all model years of the second-generation Crosstrek. The only model year that was received a bit less positive is the 2019 one, which only received a 3.9 out of 5 rating on Edmunds. This one did seem to have some persistent problems for some owners. However, in general, the sentiment is summed up quite well by this quote:

I wanted a reliable car that would last forever. I bought the vase model and feel this fits my need. The downside for most is the slow acceleration. Honestly how fast do you need to go to merge. The comfort in this vehicle is amazing. I haven’t noticed a blind spot. I am 5’1″ tall and the ease of getting in and out of this vehicle is awesome. Not to mention the driver seat adjusts perfectly. I love this SUV and have ordered my badges

Source, 2019 owner

Subaru Crosstrek Common Problems

In this section, we will give you all the common problems that the Crosstrek has, which you should check when you are looking to buy one of these in the used market. This can also be helpful for people who aren’t sure which model or year they’d like to buy, especially since the problems with models like the Subaru Impreza or Subaru Outback.

NOTE: Before buying a used car, I always like to make sure the vehicle isn´t having any problems that you should be aware of. The easiest way to do this is by buying an OBD2 scanner. These scanners can easily be plugged into any car you’re interested in, and they’ll give you a rundown of potential problems.

Third Generation (2023 – Present)

At the time of writing this article, this generation of the Crosstrek has only been on the market for a couple of months. Therefore, issues aren´t yet detected.

Second-Generation (2017 – 2022)

The biggest problems of the second generation are definitely the 2018 and 2019 model years.

The Subaru Crosstrek faced many problems in these years with the electrical system malfunctioning being the most reported one. Subaru recalled 2018-2019 Crosstrek vehicles under the pretext that the ECM was not working correctly.

The Engine Control Module (ECM) continued to power the ignition coil, even when the engine had been shut off, and it could result in a short circuit or a blown fuse. This could potentially start fires and can be a real cause of concern for Crosstrek owners. If this short circuit occurs during driving, the vehicle may stall, increasing the crash risk. A recall was issued for this problem.

Another problem faced by the Subaru Crosstrek that generated waves in the automobile industry was the poor quality of windshields installed in this model. For 2018 or newer models, the cracked windshield turned out to be a huge problem. The cracks usually appear in the lower half and gradually enlarge, severely hampering visibility. A lawsuit was issued and the warranty of these windshields was extended.

First Generation (2013 – 2017)

Subaru’s EyeSight is a safety suite of several cutting-edge technologies, including pre-collision braking, lane departure alerts, and adaptive cruise control. The system relies on a two-camera system to monitor the road ahead. However, several users have reported that it does not perform its intended functions. This problem is more frequently reported in the 2015 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid.

The major problem with this technology is that it uses cameras to function properly. During snow, fog, or any other event that hampers the visibility of these cameras, the EyeSight is also rendered useless.

There´s also a rust problem which is more frequently reported amongst owners who live in colder climates. Moreover, this problem is more prevalent in the model year 2014-2016 of the Subaru Crosstrek. The leading cause behind this problem is road salt. To prevent rust from wreaking havoc on the underside of your car, timely car washes are of utmost importance.

Is a Subaru Crosstrek A Smart Buy?

Finally, we have to answer the question of whether or not the Crosstrek is a car that´s worth getting. When we look at the potential mileage the vehicle can drive we see that it´s performing similarly to other SUVs in its category. It´s only beaten by the very reliable Honda HR-V. Furthermore, we also saw that Subaru as a brand does seem to build vehicles that have a long lifespan.

Moving on to the maintenance costs we saw that these were lower than average which is always going to be a positive sign. The owner’s ratings that the car received are incredibly positive as well. Practically the only model years to stay away from are the 2018 and 2019 ones since they did have some serious recalls.

In our opinion, your best bet would most likely be a 2017 model year since this one doesn´t have the rust issues of the 2014 – 2016 model years and it also doesn´t have the recalls of the 2018 – 2019 model years. If you´re looking for a newer model, everything from 2020 onwards is a good pick as well.

Subaru Crosstrek Maintenance Schedule

If you want to keep your Subaru Crosstrek healthy for a longer period and save your money on expensive repairs, then you don’t want to go wrong in this section. A well-maintained car could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars on repairs, and you would also remain carefree while driving it.

Before/On Every 6,000 Miles

• Change Engine Oil
• Replace the oil filter.

But it’s actually better to change these before 6,000 miles for best performance and long-lasting protection. Still, we applaud Subaru for giving real numbers for the oil change while so many other manufacturers give stupid numbers, just so the maintenance cost will look less. 

Before/On Every 20,000 Miles

• Replace the passenger compartment air filter
• Inspect the tires
• See if there’s any prevailing rust
• Check for any fluid leaks
• Tire replacement

Before/On Every 40,000 Miles

• Replace the air intake filter
• Replace the transfer case fluid
• Inspect the evaporative control system
• Change the automatic transmission fluid (it’s better to change this earlier ) 

Before/On Every 60,000 Miles

• Inspect the spark plugs
• Inspect the ignition coils
• Have an engine diagnosis with a scanner tool and see for any abnormal readings
• Inspect the electronics system
• Inspect the brake pads and rotors
• Drive belt replacement
• The manufacturers recommend changing the first coolant at 60k miles and the later ones after every 30k miles. It depends on different factors, you should check the color of the coolant to tell which one it is. If it’s the silicated one, you would have to change it after every 30k miles and if it’s the extended drain coolant, then you can change it after 100k miles.

Before/On Every 100,000 Miles

• This is where the suspension components start to wear and you might have to replace the worn-out ones if any
• Inspect the transmission fluid and replace it if necessary.

Closing Thoughts

In today’s blog, we have explored the lifespan and maintenance details of the Subaru Crosstrek. The quick answer to how long a Crosstrek lasts is between 200,000 and 230,000 miles, with repair costs averaging around $492 per year.

But remember, while the Crosstrek is generally a reliable choice, keeping an eye on common problems and understanding the maintenance needs of different production years can help you get the most out of your vehicle.

In conclusion, buying a Subaru Crosstrek can be a wise investment, offering many miles of service for a reasonable annual repair cost. Make sure to stay informed to enjoy a hassle-free ownership experience. Thank you for reading!