3 Of The Best Years For A Used Subaru Legacy (And 2 To Avoid)

Subaru discontinued its famous Legacy sedan in 2025, ending the story of one of the brand's most foundational vehicles and its longest-running nameplate after more than 35 years. And though you won't find them in Subaru showrooms anymore, a used Legacy can still be an appealing car purchase for many different reasons. 

For starters, Subaru's signature symmetrical all-wheel-drive system is always something that made the Legacy stand out from its primarily front-wheel-drive competition. Also, that drivetrain helped the Legacy become the base for the Subaru Outback, which would eventually outlive and outsell the sedan that it was based on. For driving enthusiasts, at certain points, there were also performance-oriented versions of the Legacy that were more in line with a grown-up version of the Subaru WRX.

While looking at a used Legacy as a daily driver today, you've got a lot of different options to choose from. Subaru made the car across seven generations, with a variety of different engines and transmissions. With a bit of research and discretion, a used Legacy can be a great car that outperforms its rivals in situations like bad weather. That being said, it's only natural that some Legacy models come more recommended than others. We've consulted several sources to single out three of the best model years for the Legacy, along with two that you will probably want to avoid. 

If you are looking for a used Legacy that's going to give you the smoothest ownership experience right off the bat, one from the 2025 model year is the most straightforward recommendation. This is for the simple fact that, at time of writing, it's still virtually a brand-new car, likely with a full factory warranty to back any potential issues. But even apart from the inherent "newness" of the '25 Legacy, it's a car that's earned high marks for reliability in its class from organizations like JD Power.

Being the final model year of the seventh-generation also means Subaru should have worked out most of the kinks from earlier models. You can also get some extra peace of mind knowing that the drivetrains are virtually identical to those in many of the crossover vehicles that the Japanese automaker still produces.

By the final years of its existence, many would say the Legacy had lost some of the character that made its earlier iterations more interesting. Our review of the 2025 Legacy found the car to make up for in value what it lacked in excitement.  It might be gone from the new market, but when it comes to its core mission of being a safe, spacious mid-sized sedan with proven AWD capability, the seventh-generation model gets high marks. 

In a lot of ways, the 2009 Legacy represents the end of an era — and the last of the classic, '90s and 2000s-flavored Legacy models. The 2009 model was the pinnacle of the fourth-generation of this sedan, which is ranked highly for reliability when compared to other-gen models. One 2009 Legacy owner leaving a review on Cars.com noted that their drivetrain "felt invincible" after 160,000 miles of hard driving through harsh weather conditions.

Another notable thing about the 2009 Legacy is that it was the final year model year before Subaru began introducing CVT transmissions. All '09 models were available in either a manual or traditionally-geared four or five-speed automatic. One more cool thing about this generation of Legacy was the number of options it gave buyers, including both naturally aspirated and turbocharged four-cylinder  boxer engines or a naturally aspirated 3.0-liter flat-six.

If there's one major factor that might dissuade someone from the 2009 Legacy, that would simply be its age. This vehicle is well over 15 years old at this point, and a used one will be harder to find in general. If you do, however, the chances of it being a well-cared-for daily driver candidate are even lower. Still, if you're fortunate enough to find a nice example, you can enjoy the classic pre-CVT era of Subaru's midsize sedan.

The 2018 Legacy comes near the end of the sixth-gen model run, and both the 2018 and 2019 versions of the car are generally considered among the most trouble-free of that generation thanks to Subaru working out issues from earlier models. The automaker also gave the Legacy a pretty significant refresh for 2018 with a number of improvements and the addition of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which can make any car feel notably more modern. 

Reliability has shown to be decent for the late sixth-gen cars, with JD Power ranking the 2018 Legacy in the top three among mid-size competitors. Another thing that might draw more enthusiast-minded buyers toward the 2018 Legacy is the availability of the highly unique flat-six engine in the 3.6R model. Even if it isn't a horsepower monster, the EZ36 powerplant has a ton of character, and we've also ranked it among Subaru's most reliable engines.  If you are looking for a used Legacy that nicely splits the difference between the latest seventh-gen model and earlier, higher mileage models, a 2018 or 2019 could be a solid choice. 

If you've settled on a sixth-generation Legacy, you'll probably want to avoid the first-year 2015 model. It's fairly common for the inaugural year of a car's generation to be more trouble-prone than others, and the 2015 Legacy is no exception. 

The majority of the big issues for this model year stem from its CVT transmission. The issues were so prominent that Subaru actually extended the factory warranty on the Legacy to cover ongoing CVT failures in 2017. By this point, though, enough time has passed that you'll likely be on your own for any future transmission issues. Owner feedback on sites like Reddit say that you can sometimes get lucky and just need to replace the CVT valve body. This is much less expensive than having to replace the whole transmission, which can cost nearly as much as the car itself is worth at this point.

If that wasn't enough, this Legacy was also among a number of Subaru models subject to a lawsuit over premature battery drain and related failures. The good news is that you can help protect yourself from some of these issues by simply choosing a later, post-refresh version of the sixth-gen Legacy.

The 2010 model year marked lot a lot of big changes for the Subaru Legacy, but not necessarily ones that are looked back upon with fondness. This was the first year of the fifth-gen Legacy, which was notably larger than the car it replaced. The bigger news in 2010, though, was the debut of the new Subaru Lineartronic CVT on the base model Legacy 2.5i.

Reviewers were initially impressed with the fuel efficiency of the continuously variable transmission in the Legacy. However, just as they would with other Subaru models from the early 2010s, CVT issues would come to be well known on this model Legacy. Some have also pointed out the possibility of head gasket issues on its EJ flat-four engine. They aren't as failure-prone as earlier engines have become known for, but there's still some inherent risk.  

At this point, considering both the overall age and the likelihood of costly repairs being necessary, an early fifth-generation Legacy is probably best avoided unless you happen to find a car with full maintenance and repair records. Barring that, you better be a skilled mechanic well-versed with the intricacies of Subaru boxer engines and CVT transmissions. 

We considered many factors when putting together this list, including third-party reliability ratings, owner surveys, mechanic and owner testimonies, number of owner complaints received by the NHTSA, and professional road tests and reviews. In addition, we also considered factors like class action lawsuits, recall notices, and warranty extensions.

When selecting model years and generations, we also purposely left out those that were more than 20 years old. This way, their advanced age, heavily variable physical condition, and limited availability wouldn't override any particular qualities or rankings when it comes to suitability as a daily driver.