It's hard to believe that I bought my Subaru Impreza a year ago! My initial impressions of the car were pretty good. Now that I've put about 10,000 miles on it, I am convinced that I made the right choice with the car. We've taken it on a few road trips pushing, but mostly I've driven it around town.
I've never owned a "sports car" and this may be the closest I come to one. This car is truly fun to drive. I've been playing a lot with the paddle shifters especially going down mountains. Also, being closer to the ground, I definitely feel the acceleration.
Tech wise, CarPlay is now a requirement for every car I get. The interface is clean and Apple updates it periodically with new features, something car manufacturers are not known to do with the infotainment systems. Up-to-date maps and navigation alerts such as alternate routes and accidents are handy. My only problem with CarPlay is that I have to wait for the infotainment system to fully power up before I plug in my phone, otherwise CarPlay fails to start. However, I'm testing a theory that the Subaru STARLINK app crashes when I connect my phone to the car. The app is useless and I'm not sure why I left it on my phone until this week.
I was concerned about the smaller cargo capacity especially going on trips and camping, but those concerns have so far been unfounded. I've managed to cram everything in the car without having to use the roof box I bought. The gas mileage has been pretty good with some trips giving me close to 38 mpg. Unfortunately most of my driving is city driving and a hybrid would have done much better in those circumstances. If Subaru had a hybrid Impreza, I'd definitely be interested in that.
The car has had a few recalls which is expected on a new platform and I hope I get years of continued service out of it.
Overall this car was a very good purchase. It may not be for everyone; it is the right car for me!
Comments
December 20th, 2017
Richard
Great post and glad the new car (and CarPlay) is a success.
I have a 2016 Toyota Tacoma 4DR, pretty loaded truck. It has Toyota’s “Entune” system built in and no CarPlay. I was hoping connecting my iPhone via bluetooth would do the trick but it really sucks: the lag when using Siri is so bad it’s not useable. Now I just use the phone, unattached which isn’t great but the best option I’ve got right now. I just ordered an Apple Watch mostly to do phone more easily in the truck. We’ll see how and if it works.
We just bought my wife a 2018 Honda CR-V and it has CarPlay. Besides being a fantastic car (lots of great features, excellent design and a turbocharged engine) I have to say, CarPlay is fantastic. We can plug in an iPhone and have it recognized in seconds. Siri and the entire voice UI works flawlessly as long as we have signal which can be spotty in various places in NW Connecticut and it’s just a pleasure to use.
The only bad part is having to exit it to listen to FM radio or deal with deeper car controls. Honda needs to work on the transition in and out of CarPlay from their built in OS.
I don’t know how Apple licenses CarPlay to car makers but I’ve read that Toyota is the last major holdout and this really pisses me off because I think their trucks are the best in every other respect. I told our dealer that if Toyota adapted CarPlay next year I’d trade in my truck immediately for it. I generally keep cars/trucks for over ten years but CarPlay is worth the trade in loss.
December 20th, 2017
Scott Gruby
I’d love for the FM radio to be better integrated into CarPlay, but I’m not hopeful it will change any time soon.
I have no idea why Toyota is so insistent on doing their own infotainment system. Car manufacturers should just give up on doing the infotainment systems and let Apple and Google (Android Auto) handle it as they seem to be doing a much better job as well as being able to keep the systems up-to-date. When I tell people that CarPlay was close to the top of my list of features I wanted in a car, they dismiss me as being a tech geek (which I am), but it makes a huge difference in the usability of the system.
I’m glad that Honda has CarPlay as I think my wife is going to want another Honda to replace her 2007 CR-V. As long as the car holds up, we’re still a few years out.
April 12th, 2018
Rebooting the Subaru Impreza 2017 Infotainment System | Scott Gruby's Blog
[…] few months ago in my post about a year with my 2017 Subaru Impreza, I mentioned that sometimes CarPlay doesn’t start. […]
January 1st, 2021
Toyota RAV4 Prime – The vehicle I wanted 4 years ago – Scott Gruby's Blog
[…] heals on putting CarPlay in their vehicles, so I settled on the Subaru Impreza and was reasonably happy with it. However, as time went on, there were a few things that started getting on my nerves about […]