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Subaru XV G5X 2.0i AWD (2017-2020)

Also referred to as: Subaru XV G5X 2.0i AWD 2019 and Subaru XV G5X 2.0i AWD 2021.

3.4 from 5 reviews

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BuckwheatPerth, WA

11 reviews
2 likes

XV G5X 2.0i AWD (2017-2020)

Good car - goes anywhere with a small boot.....

published 6 months ago

Got a new 2.0-i base model for my wife a few months ago. It goes well and no problems at all, but.....The boot feels like something out of a Toyota Corolla....which was her previous car...So small......That said the driver and passengers are far more comfortable in this Subaru.....considerably more than the Corolla......It is a funny car, seems a bit of wasted space for the factory......we liked the ground clearance of the XV.....and the rugged persona.....but if Subaru did a lift kit on the Impreza hatch...and added X-mode...we would have gon...Read more

e for it. Contrary to reviews etc....from the XV we are getting 6.5l/100k....consistently in mixed freeway and local Perth driving and better than any review I have read. It feels strong enough and goes where it is pointed......Good car, great quality, and I am impressed enough to be saving up for a Forester.....It has a good size boot.....

Purchased in April 2021.

Build Quality

Cleaning & Maintenance

Noise Level

Value for Money

TransmissionContinuously Variable (CVT)

BoughtNew

Year2019

Performance

Acceleration / Power

Handling

Braking

Suspension

Gear Shifting

Fuel Efficiency

Design

Interior Design

Boot Size

Features

Comfort

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4 comments

Buckwheat3 months ago

A few more months down the road. Still a big fan. In fact, a bigger fan....
Have had more opportunities to drive this XV off-road....and it performs really well. It's not a Jeep Wrangler, and most ... Read more

Rubicon's would be able to keep up with the XV... A slight joke - but only slight. This vehicle is awesome in the dirt. The suspension irons out the bump and grind so well - you are almost totally isolated in the cabin - but the steering feedback and X-mode smarts have you going at a decent clip in tough circumstance....in comfort. It's almost Range Rover like in cabin ambience when it is working so hard in the scrub. It is so good - it's unsettling.....because I never expected it. Great size as well for negotiating terrain - not like a large 4WD where you have to constantly fidgit around for the best angles.....that you can make. It's like a Wrangler - with class and quality..... Wish list for Subaru Inc......Make a 'Rubicon' version of the XV.....Higher lift (really required for soft sand - 2" would be fine - otherwise be prepared to back out if the nose digs in), add bi-range X-mode (aka Forester iS), and very serious off-road tires - with a full-size spare carrier to put on the roof....That'll do.....you will sell 10,000 per year in Australia....easy. You will offer hi end Wrangler capability, with far better build quality, much cheaper to maintain and fill the tank - and comfort levels the Wrangler will never attain. Highly recommend the Subaru XV for road and dirt....I think it is the best vehicle out there for doing well in both situations....

SubaruSubaru Australia3 months ago

Thank you so much for your excellent review @Buckwheat! We’re so happy to hear that you’re loving your XV as we’re so proud of the many great features it has. If we could ask one small favour, we woul... Read more

d be thrilled if you could post this on Google Reviews as well! Such a well-written review deserves to be seen by everyone. Thank you again, and we'll be sure to pass on your feedback.

Buckwheat2 months ago

Thanks for your interest in the review Subaru Australia. However, I only post product reviews on this website. Nothing against Google, but it's not as good as this site. That said, I did mention th... Read more

at I was strongly considering a Forester of my own. Sadly I no longer am. As the review update shows, I am quite liking the XV. Right size, right performance, it has earned a lot of respect from me. My wife retires in the next couple months. She loves her XV and doesn't want me punishing it. LOL....So, I want an XV of my very own....and I will get one within an hour of her retiring. It'll be an i-Premium - likely a demonstrator or a slightly used example. I'll let someone else carefully break it in. This vehicle will likely have to work very hard for its petrol - and be prepared to last me the rest of my driving career. Anyway, just a couple mildly additional tips. I note the US models are moving to the new 2.4 litre turbo...great engine.....I don't know if it is considered for the XV - but that would seal its triumph against the Wrangler in head-on off road confrontations - if lifted 2". The on-road is already won....XV miles ahead. This engine is a winner! ....How is the 'dinosaur' Suzuki Jimny doing? The Suzuki is doing great - they are selling them fast and furious. It does off-road superbly - but not in comfort - or technically. Very basic and built to price. On road, the Suzuki is hopeless - it is not fun, nor something you want to spend hours in as an Australian would - to get to their off-road destination. Let's see - put the 2" lifted XV, bi- mode, X-mode, with the 2.4 turbo at $34,000 driveaway...in a current style i-Premium configuration....Advertise a few Youtubes, and TV commercials to compare it with the Suzuki Jimny and the Jeep Wrangler...and watch what happens.....You would be giving Australia exactly what they want. Stand back, and write up the orders.... Also, not having a full-size spare - is ridiculous for such a capable vehicle...and I am referring to the current XV. You want to take on Jeep?....get that sorted. I was thinking a roof carrier would work....Then I thought why? The market this vehicle targets as off-road (and it does off-road extremely well) but with a lame compact spare....I might be disappointed, if hundreds of k's away from a decent town that can fix my flat. Of course, those more experienced will have their repair kits, and a full size spare in spite of the factory ignorance, as well as the inflation kits for lifting the vehicle in sand, etc....Others will mistakenly depend on Subaru reliability and reputation. Take the hint? If the rear passenger has to lose an inch of legroom to fit a full size spare - it's ok....do your best. And make the XV an off road warrior. Others can buy the Impreza. Ganbatte ne..honto! Kudesai...

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Donna GSouth East Queensland, QLD

3 reviews
5 likes

XV G5X 2.0i AWD (2017-2020)

Great driving

published 1 year ago

New to Subaru, great driving so far, however, very new so no apparent issues currently. Would like to see automatic lock feature, always appreciated that in my previous car. Only local driving to date, used for business, planning a small road trip to test more features.

Purchased in April 2021 at Von Bibra.

Build Quality

Cleaning & Maintenance

Noise Level

Value for Money

TransmissionAutomatic

BoughtNew

Year2019

Performance

Acceleration / Power

Handling

Braking

Suspension

Gear Shifting

Fuel Efficiency

Design

Interior Design

Boot Size

Features

Comfort

See all answers

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WiseyToowoomba

69 reviews
3 likes

XV G5X 2.0i AWD (2017-2020)
Verified purchase

About the best in our application - all considered.

published 2 years ago

We are a family of 2 adults and 3 teenagers. We live in a rural area, and our big focus is practicality. We detest glitz … preferring to leave such frivolity to city folks. So when it came time to replace our stalwart X Trail the list looked a bit tedious. The brief we needed filled was - it had to have 4WD capacity; had to be basic .... carpet and leather is for loungerooms ... not cars; It needed good clearance, and it had to have space for our monstrous boy's legs in the back. That was it!!

Tried a Hyundai Kona … but with our knees brushi...Read more

ng against the dash, and even less room in the back …. it seemed more of a joke than anything else!! The fact that I couldn't fit under it even to visualise the engine oil drain plug didn't help its cause! Reference to the "Australia's Best Cars 2018" website revealed a heady performance by the XV … taking out second place from all comers in its class …. and there were a stack of them. So off we went to have our first serious look at a Subaru … ever. And we walked out an hour later having signed up on the spot!! There was no need to look anywhere else! Ooodles of leg room front and back - belying it's "small" look. Ground clearance was unbelievable …. we have yet to find anything on the market that compares in the class. Even more than the X Trail it's replacing. The vehicle is only available with an automatic transmission … and a CV one at that. We have slashed a star off the score just for this. We are staunch manual transmission people, and cannot fathom why many manufacturers are dropping this option from their lineups. Having said that though, it's not hard to learn to live with the CVT with its unusual (to us) joltiness … and the steering mounted paddles easily allow manual up and down changes. The engine oil filter is mounted right at the upper front of the engine. If this is any indication, this car will be an absolute cinch to maintain …. we do all our own.

Badge2.0i

TransmissionCVT

Engine Size2.0

Date PurchasedAug 2018

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Earl HofertAdelaide

41 reviews

XV G5X 2.0i AWD (2017-2020)

Crappy Little Car

published 2 years ago

Disclaimer: I want to say first that I do not own this car. I own a nice car. A real nice one. I am a fancy man and not the target demographic for this car, so it makes sense that I don't like it. With that said, I get to drive one of these XV's regularly and I can say it's a cheap, flimsy, unrefined car that isn't nice to drive.
The engine is harsh, coarse, noisy, gutless and it sounds like it really hates to rev despite the fact that you have to rev the nuts off it to get anything out of it at all. It has no torque whatsoever anywhere withi...Read more

n the rev range. I don't mind an underpowered engine if it's fun to rev but this thing sounds atrocious and is not rewarding to engage with at all. This engine is a wailing dinosaur. The CVT transmission is flaccid and embarrassing and it isn't well engineered. I had to stop on a steep hill today and when I mashed the gas to get back up to speed, nothing happened. Not in a hyperbolic "this thing is gutless" way but in a literal "this thing doesn't work properly and is dangerous" kind of a way. I nearly got rear-ended because I had the accelerator pinned to the floor but the car wouldn't move an inch. Very worrying. Never experienced anything like that before in any car. Even though it's an automatic it often judders and you get that 'bunny hop' effect. You can feel the whole car juddering back and forth at low speed as the dim-witted CVT hasn't the faintest idea what it's doing. It's mild juddering but it's there. The ventilation system is inadequate. The windows fog up too easily and require the AC to be blasted to clear it. Basically, unless I have the AC on the windows will fog up regardless of temp or outside climate. The vents are an odd shape, size, and are poorly positioned. Cabin air filtration is poor so if you're driving anywhere near any other cars at all you smell their exhaust, so you put on recirculated air and then the windows fog up so you have to put the AC on. The controls for the air are positioned away from the display that tells what setting they're on. So for example you have to look down to find the knobs for the ventilation, you put you hand to the knob, but then you have to cast your eye up to the screen in the top of the dash and then visually locate the animation that tells you if you've got the air directed at your feet, or your face, or whatever. The controls should be more intuitive and adjusting them shouldn't involve looking all over the bloody cabin because I'd prefer to get my eyes back on the road. The engine stop-start function is a pointless gimmick that just gets on my nerves. It can be switched off but it has to be switched off every time you start the car and it can't be permanently disabled. The car is noisy and has poor sound insulation. Even at low speeds the cabin drones with road & engine noise. When pushed around corners I do not like the way the back end of the car moves around. The front end is very quick and direct which is nice at low speeds but at high speeds I get the impression that the back end isn't as stable and responsive as the front and it feels like sometimes the back end can't keep up. It has ECO tyres from the factory and they're not especially grippy. What good is the AWD if the tyres don't grip? The car doesn't feel very well balanced under panic braking from high speeds. Uh, what else. The boot is tiny. Barely big enough for a weekly shopping. You couldn't get a Labrador in there. The radio comes on every time I start the car, even if it was off when I turned the car off. The dealer says that it's meant to do this but I don't believe him. Why would Subaru design the radio to come on automatically every time I start the car? It's annoying, the dealer doesn't want to hear about, and I think it's a fault with the software. Seats are soft and not supportive and the seatback is adjusted with one of those levers where you have to lean forward off the seat to adjust it so you can never get it quite right. When I press my knee onto the inside door trim it moves a lot. Everything moves a lot when you push it. All of the plastics are scratchy and cheap and thin with nothing behind them to pad them or dampen sound. All plastics are a depressing grey/black. The only splash of vibrancy in the cabin is some bright orange contrast stitching in the seat upholstery which you can't see once you're sitting on it. Whole interior feels cheap as chips. The black vinyl on the interior door handle is so thin and cheap that I'm sure I could poke a hole through it with my finger and it looks sloppy. Really lame, pathetic little car. Fuel economy is not very good considering how pathetic and limp-wristed the performance is. 8 - 9 litres per 100km is pretty terrible for a car that has compromised its own performance so much in an attempt to gain fuel economy. Touchscreen is tiny and so are the buttons on it, and the touchscreen isn't very sensitive near its edges which is where 90% of the buttons are which means I have to press at the screen several times to change radio stations or whatever. Input delay on the touchscreen can be several seconds. There are way too many buttons on the steering wheel. Too many buttons in general. My own car has twice as many features and half as many of these tiny little buttons all over the place. Work that one out. Headlights are sub par. The headlights are not bad around town/suburbs but if you venture out onto dirt roads that have no lighting (which this car is designed for, supposedly) then the lights just don't quite get the job done as well as they could/should. I recently drove the car in heavy rain and I could hear water running/splashing in or around the B-pillar. I don't know if there's some kind of drain passage there or what but it was an intrusive sound an inch from my ear and it became super annoying real quick. Sounds can bounce around in the odd acoustics of a car interior so perhaps the water trickling sound isn't coming from that area, but that's where I hear it and it's right by by ear. As I mentioned before this car has poor sound insulation so this trickling water sound was impossible to tune out. What else... Oh! The engine stop-start necessitates a specific battery which can accommodate highly frequent up/down cycles. It also requires a very specific engine oil to avoid all that extra engine wear on those constant start ups. The battery and oil are harder to find than average and are more expensive than average, negating the minuscule amount of money saved on fuel. In 2,000kms the stop-start feature has saved a whopping 1.2 litres of fuel (or like, a dollar fifty) and this is in practically nothing but rush hour bumper-to-bumper stop-start traffic which is meant to be the ideal situation for the stop-start system to shine. If you do mostly highway and suburban driving the stop-start will probably cost you money in the long run in the higher cost of engine oil, battery, and the extra wear and tear on the starter motor and alternator and all that stuff. Total gimmick, if the salesman at the dealership talks it up like a great feature just roll your eyes at him and make a jerking motion with your hand. The reverse camera is pretty good, the steering is quick and direct and at low speed the car has nippy handling, and despite the fact that the seats are soft and unsupportive they're really quite comfy. The backseat is big enough for two adults to sit in reasonable comfort which is more than can be said about some other cars this size. When reversing up a steep hill the CVT makes a funny woo-woo-woo sound that reminds me of a 1950's movie ghost sound effect and this makes me smile. But then, this isn't my car, I didn't pay for it, and I'm laughing at it - not with it.

Badge2.0i

TransmissionCVT

Engine Size2.0

Date PurchasedFeb 2018

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Review

XV G5X 2.0i AWD (2017-2020)

Needs more power and the option of a manual transmission

published 2 years ago

The new subaru xv has decent handling and always feels well planted. Its higher ride gives you enough clearance for some mild off road driving. The interior is fine and easy to use. I am disappointed with the power that the car has, it is ok for an everyday drive but struggles with quick acceleration, going up steep hills and overtaking. I would have also liked to have the option of a manual transmission

Badge2.0i

TransmissionCVT

Engine Size2.0

Date PurchasedNov 2017

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Read also:

Subaru XV G5X 2.0i AWD (2017-2020)

Reviews

3.4

BuckwheatPerth, WA

Good car - goes anywhere with a small boot.....

4 comments

Buckwheat3 months ago

SubaruSubaru Australia3 months ago

Buckwheat2 months ago

Donna GSouth East Queensland, QLD

Great driving

WiseyToowoomba

About the best in our application - all considered.

Find out how Subaru XV G5X 2.0i AWD compares to other Small / Compact SUVs

Earl HofertAdelaide

Crappy Little Car

Needs more power and the option of a manual transmission

Questions & Answers

Get an answer from our members and Subaru Australia representatives

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