outback's aren't very good cars because after 96 the 2.5 was mandatory,it has plenty of power,but a thirst for head gaskets and if the timing belt goes off one notch. they seem to rot out like crazy up here

Yeah I was at the junkyard not too long ago, and there are a LOT of subaru's in the import section, not NEARLY as many toyota's and very few with the 4AF(E)

I constantly get told my car looks like a Subaru. =( Its just because Subaru copied Toyota and then sold millions of them here.

probably one of the few reasons subaru had success with it,is after 1996 i think all they built were all wheel drive's PERIOD,plus they used bigger motors.don't get me wrong I like subaru's having owned one an outback no less,but given the oppurtunity i'd take a previa or corolla all-trac any day over a subaru.

apparently the all-trac system provides better grip than the awd subaru system but they're both very good cars. I think toyota really made a mistake with the 1.6L 4afe, they could've at least fitted a 100kw 4age and a little higher/stiffer suspension

I think one of the reasons for the discontinuation of the All-Tracs in the U.S. were that there was not enough general interest in an under-powered AWD/4WD vehicle.  Or maybe it was just poor marketing and not understanding the regionalism of the U.S. market.