Overview & Reviews

For 2014, the Subaru XV Crosstrek sees the addition of a hybrid version to the lineup as well as smartphone integration (featuring Aha Internet radio) for Crosstreks equipped with the navigation system.

• Spacious cabin
• Standard all-wheel drive
• Fuel-efficient hybrid version.
• Relatively strong off-road capabilities

• Lackluster acceleration
• Substandard sound systems.
• Tiresome CVT and engine noise

User Reviews:

Showing 21 through 30 of 48.00

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  Subaru Crosstrek - A must have with Eyesight! - 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek
  By Robert Dorsey II - November 29 - 12:05 am

  We were not in the market for a "new" vehicle. But we wound up with a 7500 mile Certified Pre-Owned 2015 Subaru XV Crosstrek with their amazing Eyesight package (and this was why), which is essentially new. The car was a former service fleet loaner, so it was in great shape with low mileage with an attractive price. It and the two others they had were the only used Subarus in the entire Metro area that had the Eyesight package. I looked at over 300 different vehicles listed online as well as contacted about seven Subaru dealers, and none of them had any pre-owned with Eyesight. To find this package in a pre-owned, you will probably have to buy new unless you wait until 2017.
  
  The Crosstrek as a whole is a great vehicle (a little smaller than our former Kia Sportage), but I will focus this review on Eyesight, as there are a million generic reviews about the Crosstrek itself. So in short: It is all of the things you have heard about: good for small families, reliable, safe, and good for its symmetrical AWD. I cant speak about the electronics other than Eyesight (bluetooth, etc), because I dont really use them or care about them. The only minus is it lacks some acceleration, which I doubt will ever really matter to most drivers.
  
  Subaru Eyesight is a technology that they install on vehicles ($1,250 retail value, I think) that uses two front-facing cameras to help the driver in emergency situations as well as control the vehicles adaptive cruise control. Eyesight will help you both break and decelerate if you need it. It also will send audible alerts of various situations which are both convenient and a significant safety upgrade. Both my wife and I are new drivers and find this very reassuring, though I think anyone would appreciate it the same. I encourage anyone in the market for a new car to look into this technology: it is fantastic (and the 2016s have an upgraded version that includes blind-spot detection!)!
  
  While we have not had the car long enough to thoroughly test everything, the adaptive cruise control was a major plus, and only comes with the Eyesight package. It will intelligently cruise for you at any predetermined maximum speed, and slow down if the traffic in front of you gets too close/slow. It keeps a distance of 2, 1.5, or 1 seconds behind the vehicle in front of you, and informs you with tones when it has "locked in" on a vehicle. Imagine how strange it is to feel your vehicle brake, decelerate, and come to a full halt without touching the pedals (if it comes to a full stop, you get a tone, and about a seconds warning before the cruise control shuts off and the car will idle forward). The future is here!
  
  If you are looking for a relatively inexpensive SUV that will ride nicely, carry enough, and protect you, your family, and your dog, then the Crosstrek may be the right choice for you. The Special Edition that is coming out later in 2016 sounds very attractive with lane-change assist and some more advanced auto-driving technologies.

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  Great Car/Value - 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek
  By ronv171 - October 30 - 8:14 am

  Great vehicle, roomy, plenty of power on highway, rides nice, CVT trans is good. Fun to drive. Great value and features. Not a lot of road noise. Cargo room is great. I have had 3 weeks and so far avg 26-28 mpg. Very happy so far. My wife bought one also.

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  Disappointed with the radio - 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek
  By mitch79 - August 9 - 2:14 pm

  I bought my Subaru CrossTrek about a month ago. I fell in love with this car at first glance as I was already looking to buy a Subaru (possibly an Impreza). So when I saw an "Impreza on steroids", it was kind of a no-brainer. So far I like almost everything about the car. Im not too impressed with the gas mileage. I average 25 MPG but I figure thats not too bad for an AWD. My major complaint is that the radio seems to be outdated in this car as it is not compatible with any of the I-Phones (even my already outdated 4S). Ive rented 2012 and 2013 cars and have always been able to control my I-Phone through the USB port but its not gonna happen in this car. Very disappointed.

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  So far so good! - 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek
  By Mr. Vic - May 26 - 1:24 am

  I wanted something a little less expensive and easy at the pump, this car did not disappoint. The seats could have a bit more support and the stock tires arent the best but after 25,000 miles those are my only complaints. I love the way it looks and it laughs at snow. I average around 26 around town and over 31 on the highway. No repairs as of yet.
  
  Im over 30,000 miles now and Im still very happy. The heated seats are awesome and my brakes are like new. Ive reached 39,000 miles with no problems. The front brakes pads are large and still original. I replaced the back brakes about a thousand miles ago. Other than routine maintenance there have been no problems. I still really like this car.

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  Dont buy one - 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek
  By 923hon - March 26 - 3:32 am

  This car is crap... its so loud while driving, with the combonation of wind and road it literally sounds like you are sitting by the wing on a airplane, that i can barely hear bluetooth call even turned all the way up. have to have a/c full blast otherwise it barely blows. its guttless on freeway, good luck on on-ramps. gas mileage is worse than i was getting with my 94 pathfinder that was sent to scrapyard. there is no way in heck that ppl are getting anything close to 20 even. we get about 13mpg. it is the worst car ever. please do not buy one. its so awful and we are stuck with 380$ payments for the next 8yrs.

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  Dont Be Fooled by the Stylish Appearance - 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek
  By K White - December 27 - 11:30 pm

  I bought my 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek with 25k on it in January. At first, it was a great little car. For someone who lives in Vermont, a Subaru was almost a way of life, which is what drove me to purchase my Crosstrek. About two weeks after purchasing it was when I noticed my first problem with it, it shook so uncontrollably bad on the interstate that I had to pull over, turn the vehicle off and restart it. It was not long after that when all of the problems started to occur. My car now decides when the radio plays and when it does not, the automatic drivers window does not work anymore, the car skips and shakes when going down the road. Not to mention, how loud the motor is. Overall, my car sounds and feels like it is going to blow up when I drive down the road. I have not even had my car for a year and I am already ready to get something new due to how bad my car is. Unfortunately for me, I put $9500 down on it between my trade-in and down payment and to trade it in, would result in me "taking a bath" in my car. So it looks like I am stuck with it for another two or three years. This is not a vehicle I would recommend purchasing, dont be fooled by the stylish appearance.

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  Turns out looks really arent everything - 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek
  By t krause - December 20 - 3:03 am

  I was sold on the look of this car and Subarus reputation. My experience was rather poor. The battery died every few months. Subaru couldnt find anything wrong. If theyd told me that they put in a low-quality battery and it was a common problem then maybe Id have believed them and kept the car. They then suspected a faulty remote start - that they had installed when I bought it. It was at the dealership for about 2 weeks - when I finally just asked them what theyd give me for it is when they really started trying to fix it (mind you I had it for 2 years and it only had about 7600 miles on it). The other cons are minor: the radio quality was noticeably poor when the heat or air conditioner was running because the noise from the blower was so loud. A great sound system wasnt something I really cared about, but the noise from the blower was so loud you couldnt hear any sound from the radio at all when the heat/air was on. You had to put the heat/air at full blast in order to get a comfortable temperature inside the car. The most distressing problem was when you would shift from reverse into drive. There was a strange delay that Ive never experienced in another car. When it was ready it would "pop" and the acceleration was faster than you were expecting. It just had a weird feeling to it, not smooth.

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  Not Feeling the Subaru Love! - 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek
  By Daniel S. - October 4 - 11:55 pm

  I purchased the Crosstrek Hybrid based on winter handling performance and recommendations from family members who have owned multiple Subarus (but not this model). In the past, Ive owned other AWD/4WD vehicles, including a Nissan Pathfinder, Nissan X-Terra, Jeep Cherokee and Toyota RAV-4. My Crosstrek is the worst performer of the bunch. While I cant speak for the standard Crosstrek, the hybrid places the heavy battery components in the back, which changes performance dynamics IMHO. The first thing I noticed was the horrible winter braking. The car just slides and doesnt stop (even with new Michelin All-Season tires). As for hugging the road, the car has a tendency to hop and skip with any imperfection in the road. Sometimes I feel like the car is catching air. You just dont feel like the car is sure-footed in bad conditions. My girlfriend has a 2WD Honda CR-V, and she thinks it handles much better. I think the Crosstrek is too light and I think the battery in the back is affecting performance. I have other gripes too. The Crosstrek eats tires, even with long tread-rated tires and even after proper balance and alignment. With the Hybrid, you cant get a trail hitch because of the back battery placement. The Bluetooth really stinks and takes 4-5 tries before connecting with an iPhone. Even when driving the speed limit and gently, the car doesnt come close to stated MPG. Most of the time Im at 23-26 MPG. This is a hybrid for heavens sake? Lastly, I question the electronics. The first week I had this car "new", the check engine light came on and the dealership needed to re-program something to fix it. It took them a few days and I had to rent a car, which they never reimbursed me for. Occasionally the passenger "check airbag" light comes on, but then its fine for a few months. The car doesnt look bad. And its somewhat comfortable on the inside. Fit and finish are not bad. Rear cargo space is tiny - so youll need a roof shell for any family vacation. But winter performance is where the rubber meets the road - and the Hybrid Crosstrek falls way short. I will never ever buy a Subaru again and am definitely not feeling the Subaru love.

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  Defective Steering/Chassis - 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek
  By nass2 - July 28 - 6:32 am

  We recently purchased a new 2014 XV Crosstek that we had to return to the Subarau dealership 2 days later for a full refund due to unrepairable steering and/or chassis problem. The car had strong steering pull to the RIGHT. The dealership attempted to fix the car, but was unable to do so. The service adviser and technician told us that they have been having steering problems with this car. They wanted to have a Subaru engineer come out, so I requested to the alignment specs. The alignment was intentionally set to cause the car to pull LEFT to "correct" the problem, but it still pulled RIGHT. The dealer offered us a different Crosstek, which had the same problem after test driving it.

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  Sold after 19k miles - 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek
  By Joseph Robeson - July 13 - 11:33 am

  I bought a Crosstrek after moving to Montana from California. I had never driven in heavy snow before, and I wanted to make sure I would get around ok. I decided on the Crosstrek after reviewing all other AWD vehicles in the same price range. What I liked most about this vehicle was its ground clearance and drivability in the snow. I got around without any issues with the OEM all terrain tires. Im sure it would have been amazing with a set of good snow tires. Being that this was the sole purpose of purchase I was happy with it. I also enjoyed its relatively roomy interior, and good size trunk space. The seats were comfortable and ultimately once up to speed the drive was fairly smooth and quiet. When summer came around thats when I discovered it wasnt for me. What I absolutely hated about the vehicle was its lack of power and piss poor mpg. This is ultimately why I decided to sell the car. It was very slow and seemed to shift far too late. I consistently got a combined 23mpg with mostly freeway commuting. The cruise control was also poorly controlled in my opinion. Im used to a smooth consistent acceleration going up hills. This car would just floor it out of no where. The rev limiter would go crazy high, make a bunch of noise, and still the car hardly moved. I also feel like it should have included HID lighting. Overall the Crosstrek is a decent budget AWD multi-terrain vehicle, but needs more power and better lights.