Subaru Outback Parts, Specs and Maintenance Guide

The Subaru Outback is a jacked-up all-wheel-drive wagon that has outsold most traditional SUVs in its class for over a decade, and the 2010–2025 span covers three generations built on a shared formula: a flat ("boxer") engine, standard symmetrical AWD, and a CVT on nearly every trim. 6L EZ36 six (the six paired to a real 5-speed automatic, not a CVT) and is the generation most associated with early-CVT anxiety, a steering-column recall, and FB25 oil-consumption complaints that ended in a class-action settlement. 6R onto Subaru's High Torque CVT, and is remembered for CVT chain-slip complaints (Subaru quietly extended CVT coverage to 10 years/100,000 miles on many of these), touchscreen/infotainment flakiness, and a spontaneous-windshield-cracking lawsuit.

The BT (2019–2025 production, 2020–2025 model years) rides on the Subaru Global Platform, dropped the six-cylinder in favor of a direct-injected FB25D four and, starting with the 2022 Wilderness trim, an optional 260-hp turbocharged FA24F four, plus EyeSight driver assist standard across the range; it has its own recall history (a brake-pedal bolt recall right out of the gate, a passenger airbag-sensor recall, more windshield-cracking claims) and an ongoing parasitic-battery-drain lawsuit. Across all three generations maintenance is Subaru-typical: 6,000-mile/6-month full-synthetic oil changes (3,000/3 in severe service), a class-leading 11-year/137,500-mile first coolant interval, a Group 35 battery, and 89 ft-lb lug torque. The CVT is the component owners worry about most.

Factory fluid-change guidance is generous (many owners change it well before Subaru's official interval), and a failed unit is the single most expensive repair on any of these three generations.