The Happiness Function

Having a reliable vehicle in the backcountry is so important. It is no wonder Subaru has an outdoorsy cult following. The brand cultivates and inspires adventure travel and road-tripping, which we are all about at The Happiness Function.

If you don’t have a Subaru Outback and want to hear more about our experience and ways to make buying a car more pleasant for yourself, you’re in the right place.

If you have a Subaru Outback, and are curious about some of the road trip essentials we use, keep reading. We share the best Subaru Outback accessories we have for recreating outdoors.

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Are You Considering a Subaru for Road Trips?

We road trip a lot; road-tripping and exploring the U.S. are a massive part of our lives and the blog. In fact, this is one of the main reasons we purchased a Subaru Outback.

Buying a car can be stressful. There are so many options. We wanted to share our personal experience to help others with their car buying endeavors.

Subaru Outback Owner Review  

As owners of the 2019 Outback, we are in awe of the quality of adventure it offers us. To name a few perks, our wagon has:

• AWD
• Beautiful and functional black interior/exterior
• Top of the line safety features
• Moonroof
• A trunk that automatically lifts with the push of a button
• It rides so smooth

My husband geeks out over all the excellent tech features. The Outback has quite a bit of tech, such as:

• Proximity sensors – front, back, sides – tells you how close you are to objects and other cars
• Adaptive cruise control
• Lane keep assist and sway warning
• Pre-collision braking
• Pre-collision throttle management
• EyeSight ® driver assist
• Great sound system

But most importantly, the engine is powerful and fast. We have the 3.6R engine. The car goes up steep hills NO PROBLEM.

Of course, this article is all from my perspective. I’m sure if my husband was writing this article, he would have more car lingo to add.

The Outback is plenty large enough inside to store all our gear as well as creature comforts for road trips and car camping.

Keep reading to hear more about some of the Subaru Outback accessories you might want for your rig.

Best Subaru Outback Accessories for Adventures

1. Curt Hitch

We had a CURT hitch (link to Amazon) professionally installed for our Thule bike rack (link to REI).

2. Thule Helium Pro 2-Bike Hitch Rack

Here is the two-person bike rack we have (from REI).

The model lays back so you can still get in the trunk without having to take the rack off.

That’s why we purchased it.

3. The Perfect Inflatable Mattress

The Outback is even large enough to sleep in the back if you want.

The Exped Megamat Duo 10 medium wide (link to REI) inflatable mattress is in the photos below. The mattress fits perfect in the back.

Read our gear review on the Exped Megamat if you would like to sleep in the back of your Subaru.

4. Cargo Net

I had to have an envelope cargo net (link to Amazon) to keep things from sliding around while roading tripping.

Outback Safety Review

I feel safe in the Outback. Safety is one of the reasons we love Subaru.

After owning our vehicle for a few years, we can tell Subaru did not sacrifice comfort for safety. Our vehicle has state-of-the-art safety features. These safety features include blind-spot and nearby vehicle notifications.

It has a rear camera for backing up and parking.

Every time I get inside, I thank it for being so safe due to a 5-star safety rating. It is crucial to have a car that makes you feel safe, especially when road-tripping across the country.

The Outback is fantastic for buzzing around town running errands and has proven itself in all types of weather events (pouring rain, crazy wind, ice, snow).

Our Buying Experience

My husband and I moved from Colorado to Oklahoma. We knew we wanted a Subaru coming from the adverse weather conditions of Colorado.

We purchased our 2019 Subaru Outback from a knowledgeable and welcoming team at a dealership in Edmond, Oklahoma. The team made our car buying process comfortable and easy. They treated us well; they were patient, kind, and made the experience easy.

Car buying advice: Find a salesperson that treats you with respect and is friendly. If a sales associate makes you uncomfortable leave.

More car buying advice: Buy last year’s model or a demo that has low mileage. It will be super nice and cost less money. That is what we did!

Know your budget and price point.

Take your time, test drive, go to lunch, test drive again and make a decision.

Final Thoughts

Our Subaru Outback allows us to go anywhere in the U.S. to travel and recreate outdoors.

The accessories we have enable us to take our bikes and sleep in the back of the wagon quickly.

There is so much room for all our gear.

We are so happy we got ours.

Good luck buying a car and finding the perfect equipment to compliment your adventures.

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