THINK TWICE

The FB flat-four's defining defect is excessive oil consumption, and it runs across the line, not just the Forester: the Outback and Legacy carry the 2.5L FB25 and the Impreza and Crosstrek its 2.0L FB20 sibling, all with the same piston-ring flaw. Roughly 140 federal engine complaints across these four models name the engine burning or losing oil -- led by the Outback (66), then Impreza (39), Legacy (18), and Crosstrek (17) -- concentrated in the early years (2013-2014 for the FB25 cars, 2012-2013 for the FB20 cars). It drove the same class action and Subaru warranty extension for oil consumption that covered the 2014 Forester; that coverage is long expired. By high mileage a given car has already declared itself -- it either burns oil or it does not.

Check — Check the oil level and its condition on the dipstick; ask the seller how much oil the car adds between changes and look for a Subaru oil-consumption test in the service records. A quart low every 1,000-1,500 miles is a renegotiate-or-walk finding, because running low starves and can damage the engine.

Separate from oil consumption, the FB20 2.0L cars carry a real federal engine recall: 18V772000 covers 2012-2014 Impreza and the 2013 XV Crosstrek (along with the BRZ/Scion FR-S, which are outside these models). Per the recall, the engine valve springs may fracture, causing an engine malfunction or a stall, which raises crash risk. The corpus backs it up -- 60 engine complaints on these exact model-years describe a valve-spring failure or a stall. The dealer remedy replaces the valve springs free of charge.

Check — On any 2012-2014 Impreza or 2013 Crosstrek, run the VIN through Subaru's recall lookup and confirm 18V772000 (valve springs) shows completed -- it is a free fix. Listen for rough running or a misfire and ask about any stalling history.

The Lineartronic CVT is the recurring powertrain risk across the models that share it: POWER TRAIN is 11% of Outback (644/5,895), 12% of Legacy (182/1,457), 7% of Impreza (91/1,388) and 15% of 2019 Ascent (86/555) federal complaints, and the narratives repeatedly describe the CVT shuddering, hesitating, jerking or whining and then losing drive power. It is largely a warranty/class-action matter, not a recall (the exception is the Ascent drive-chain recall).

Check — Test-drive deliberately: from a stop and at light throttle, and holding a steady 20-45 mph, feel for shudder, hesitation, jerk or whine, and any hard or delayed engagement. Check the CVT fluid (clean, not burnt), and ask for CVT service, reprogram, or replacement history and any remaining extended CVT coverage.