Subaru Australia is offering some Liberty Final Edition customers a full refund after it couldn’t deliver on the promised spec.
Based on the 2.5i Premium, the Final Edition adds 18-inch STI alloy wheels, front and rear lip spoilers and a mesh grille, plus a numbered badge in the cabin.
However, due to an internal error, the Final Edition misses out on various features initially promised, including its Harman Kardon sound system, black interior and exterior highlights, and Ultrasuede interior trim.
The Final Edition instead retains the standard black leather interior with silver inserts as found on the 2.5i Premium, and its exterior is unchanged bar the new wheels, grille and spoilers.
Subaru is importing 31 examples of the Final Edition, priced at $39,390 before on-road costs.
Though the list of changes over its 2.5i Premium base is shorter than was originally promised, the price remains the same.
CarExpert spoke to one customer who is weighing their options and is unhappy with what they’ve been offered. The customer said they were given the choice of three options, none of which they found appealing.
These were: free registration and compulsory third party insurance; a three-year service plan; or a cancellation of their deposit and a full refund.
Three years of servicing for the Liberty 2.5i costs $2313.98.
Liberty 2.5i Premium
Instead of taking one of these options now, the customer is instead going to wait to see the car in person but said they wanted the car they ordered, in the specification in which it was advertised.
Subaru initially advertised the Final Edition as offering $6400 in extra equipment over the 2.5i Premium, but priced at only $1990 more. The full list of equipment missing from the final Final Edition consists of:
- Harman Kardon sound system
- Ultrasuede interior inserts
- Blue stitching on the seats, armrests and dashboard
- Black stitching on the steering wheel
- Black trim on the air vents, dash, doors and steering wheel.
- Black fog light surrounds, side skirt garnishes, door mirror covers and rear exterior badges.
Power in the Liberty Final Edition comes from the same 2.5-litre flat-four petrol engine used elsewhere in the range, developing the same 129kW of power and 235Nm of torque. It’s all-wheel drive, and features a continuously variable transmission (CVT).
Of the 31 examples, 15 are Magnetite Grey with black wheels, 10 are Crystal Black with silver wheels, and six are Crystal White with gunmetal wheels.
It’s not how Subaru planned to send off the Liberty, one of its best-known nameplates, after 31 years on sale in Australia.
The company has sold over 153,000 Liberty models in Australia since its 1989 launch across six generations.
Though it’s the fourth best-selling vehicle in the Medium under $60,000 segment, it’s yet another mid-sized model to get the chop this year. Also axed were the Ford Mondeo and Kia Optima.
The mid-sized passenger car segment accounts for around just four per cent of the overall market year-to-date, so the Liberty has a decently-sized slice of a small (and shrinking) pie.
The Toyota Camry has the largest piece of all, accounting for over two-thirds of the segment.
There is a seventh generation of Subaru Legacy – as it’s known globally – but it won’t be coming here. For the first time, it won’t even be offered in Subaru’s home market of Japan as it’s made exclusively in left-hand drive in Subaru’s Lafayette, Indiana plant in the US.
We will, however, get the latest generation of Outback, which arrives in March.
MORE: Subaru Liberty news and reviews
MORE: Subaru news and reviews
