Subaru Legacy vs Buick Encore: which is more reliable?
The Buick Encore is ahead of the Subaru Legacy on the federal record, 79/100 against 73/100 — a real but narrow gap that a bad model year on either side closes.
The record, side by side
Subaru Legacy
- 13 model years scored
- 999 owner complaints on record
- about 10 complaints per year on the road
- 49 recall campaigns, 31 safety-critical
- best year 2023 (90/100) · worst 2020 (45/100)
Buick Encore
- 10 model years scored
- 598 owner complaints on record
- about 7 complaints per year on the road
- 22 recall campaigns, 16 safety-critical
- best year 2021 (94/100) · worst 2015 (61/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Legacy against Encore
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Subaru Legacy
- Visibility/Wiper — 243 complaints
- Electrical System — 238 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 200 complaints
Buick Encore
- Engine — 221 complaints
- Electrical System — 84 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 69 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Legacy's complaints concentrate in Visibility/Wiper, the Encore's in Engine. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Subaru Legacy — avoid: 2020.
Buick Encore: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020….
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Subaru Legacy prices at about $30,400 and a Buick Encore at about $23,600 — the Buick Encore is roughly $6,800 less, and they return 30.0 against 26.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Subaru Legacy or the Buick Encore more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Buick Encore scores 79/100 against the Subaru Legacy's 73/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Subaru Legacy and Buick Encore years should I avoid?
Subaru Legacy: 2020. Buick Encore: no year scores below 45. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Subaru Legacy and the Buick Encore?
The largest complaint group on the Subaru Legacy is Visibility/Wiper (243 complaints); on the Buick Encore it is Engine (221).
Is the Subaru Legacy or the Buick Encore cheaper to own?
A recent used Subaru Legacy prices at about $30,400 and a Buick Encore at about $23,600, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.