Subaru pioneered a whole new segment almost 30 years ago with the introduction of the Subaru Legacy SUS in 1998, for the 1999 model year. Essentially a Subaru Outback with a sedan body, SUS stood for a Sports Utility Sedan. This lifted four-door was effectively capable of doing everything you might expect of a small off-roader but with a trunk on the back.
When this car is brought up, it’s usually as a one-off oddity, a bold but ultimately failed experiment. We would argue that it was just ahead of its time.
The SUS Was Conceived By A Northeastern Car Dealer
1999 Subaru Legacy SUSBring a Trailer
1999 Subaru Legacy SUS Performance Specs
Engine
2.5-Liter NA 4-Cylinder
Power
165 hp
Torque
162 lb-ft
Transmission
4-Speed Automatic
Drivetrain
All-Wheel Drive
Massachusetts-based Subaru dealer Ernie Boch Sr. first conceived the Legacy SUS. He saw a market opportunity for a daily driver that could handle the roughest of Northeastern roads and pitched the idea to Subaru. The automaker handed 300 1997 Legacy sedans over to Boch, decked out with Outback-style body cladding and 7.3 inches of ground clearance, for a regional test run. When Subaru saw how fast these cars were selling, a national rollout was the next logical step.
Subaru started with a Legacy GT, powered by a 2.5-liter flat-four producing 165 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque, adding two-tone body cladding, raising the ground clearance, and adding fog lights and a hood scoop. The scoop gave it a bit of a rally-car flair, but it packed the same naturally-aspirated four-cylinder you’d find in the standard Legacy GT. A set of Michelin XW4 all-season tires completed the look.
Inside, you have SUV-ish folding rear seats for expanded storage space, and even a weather band radio for the dedicated adventurer.
The car’s 103.5-inch wheelbase, 34.8-foot turning circle, and shallow approach and departure angles meant that the Legacy SUS wasn’t exactly challenging the Jeep Wrangler when it came to off-road adventuring, but the Sports Utility Sedan had no trouble tackling broken roads and light trails.
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The SUS Lived On As The Outback Sedan
2004 Subaru Outback SedanBring a Trailer
While the SUS is remembered as a one-year wonder, the fact is that Subaru continued forward with the model for another eight years, selling it as the Subaru Outback Sedan. This was effectively the same car, with lifted suspension, body cladding, and a hood scoop, but a different name.
The Outback Sedan is, itself, something of a forgotten oddity. Whenever these cars pop up in the Subaru forums and subreddits, you see plenty of comments to the effect of “I had no idea the Outback was offered as a sedan.”
There are no exact numbers for the Legacy SUS or the Outback Sedan, but Subaru sold anywhere from 54,000 to 71,000 Outbacks a year from 1999 to 2007. The off-road sedans no doubt made up a small percentage of these sales, but it was enough to keep the SUS and the Outback Sedan around for nine model years, in total.
The Off-Road Sedan Didn’t End With Subaru
1980 AMC Eagle Exterior Finished In WhiteBring A Trailer
Not only did the off-road sedan concept not end with Subaru, but we also wouldn’t be doing our due diligence if we didn’t point out that it didn’t exactly begin with Subaru, either. The AMC Eagle beat Subaru to the market by nearly 20 years, launching in 1979 for the 1980 model year.
The Eagle was an all-wheel drive compact, available as a sedan, coupe, hatchback, wagon, or convertible, with 6.9 inches of ground clearance. It was produced toward the end of the Malaise Era, predicting demand for a more fuel-efficient alternative to gas-guzzling off-roaders. The Eagle stuck around until 1987, so we’d say AMC predicted right.
Volvo Took The Baton From Subaru
2016 Volvo S60 Cross CountryVolvo
2018 Volvo S60 Cross Country Performance Specs
Engine
2.0-Liter Turbocharged 4-Cylinder
Power
240 hp
Torque
258 lb-ft
Transmission
8-Speed Automatic
Drivetrain
All-Wheel Drive
Off-road sedans seem like a uniquely American concept, and the Legacy SUS was built in Lafayette, Indiana, but the wagons that serve as the basis for an all-terrain four-door are an increasingly European segment, so it’s no wonder our neighbors overseas took the idea and ran with it.
The Volvo S60 Cross Country is more of a unicorn than the Subaru Outback Sedan. The brand produced this car across four model years, but always in low numbers. Estimates suggest that Volvo may have built fewer than 3,000 units in total, across the global market, with most of them (1,887 units) going to the US.
The Cross Country stood 7.9 inches off the ground, 2.5 inches higher than a standard S60. It was protected by body cladding and skid plates, and featured hill-descent control.
On the rare occasion that one of these cars goes up for auction, its relative scarcity has kept prices relatively high. It typically sells for around $18,000, down from an initial MSRP of $43,700 for the 2016 model year.
Subaru’s Off-Road Sedans Are Rare, But Findable
1999 Subaru Legacy SUSBring a Trailer
The only Subaru Legacy SUS we can find on the market is a 5,000-mile 1999 30th Anniversary Edition sedan which auctioned for $10,100 back in 2020. The Outback Sedan is a little more common. We were able to turn up the following listings around the web.
- A 183,936-mile 2004 sedan is selling for $3,695 in Wisconsin.
- A 2005 sedan with 180,572 miles is selling for $4,400 in Pennsylvania.
- A 239,627-mile 2006 LL Bean Edition sedan is selling for $3,995 in Colorado.
- A 163,548-mile 2004 sedan is selling for $2,800 in North Carolina.
- A 106,000-mile 2007 LL Bean Edition sedan is selling for $6,995 in Michigan.
Note that these listings are only provided to give you an example of what’s out there. You’ll need to conduct your own search to see what’s available in your area and within your price range.
Based on our findings, these cars do tend to go cheap when they hit the market, but it’s very hard actually to find one for sale, and even harder to find one with low miles. If you can somehow find something with under 100,000 miles showing (we couldn’t), we’d say any price under $8,000 would be fair, given the scarcity.
An Outback Sedan Should Be Cheap To Maintain
Given that a Subaru Outback sedan is just an Outback Wagon with a different body style, RepairPal’s annual maintenance estimate of $627 should apply to both versions of the car, with the following listed as the most expensive common fixes.
- Coolant change $383 – $449
- Vibration diagnosis $122 – $179
- General diagnosis $122 – $179
- Clutch hydraulic system bleed $70 – $103
- Active suspension system diagnosis & testing $61 – $90
According to CarComplaints, 2000-2007 Subaru Outbacks are among the least troubled model years, with the worst of the bunch being the 2006 edition, with just 45 complaints on file. The most worrying problems involve oil leaking from the heads, which usually requires a $2,440 fix for a new head gasket.
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The off-road sedan is scarce in more ways than one. Automakers seem to explore this idea once a decade, and they always produce them in limited numbers. There’s definitely demand for this kind of car, but it’s so limited that the market usually bottoms out pretty quickly. After a few years on the market, anyone who wants an all-terrain sedan will buy one, and that’ll be that.
All of this is to say that we can give the Outback Sedan (and the Legacy SUS) a full recommendation, but good luck finding one.
Sources: Subaru, Volvo, RepairPal, CarComplaints.
