Compare the2024 Subaru LegacyVS 2023 Volkswagen Arteon

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Legacy have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Volkswagen Arteon doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Legacy are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Arteon doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Legacy has standard Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Arteon doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Legacy. But it costs extra on the Arteon.

The Legacy’s optional driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Arteon doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Legacy and the Arteon have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Legacy the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 55 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Arteon has not been fully tested, yet.

Subaru’s powertrain warranty covers the Legacy 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Volkswagen covers the Arteon. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Arteon ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

The Legacy’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Arteon’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Subaru vehicles are better in initial quality than Volkswagen vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Subaru above average in initial quality. With 64 more problems per 100 vehicles, Volkswagen is rated below average.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Subaru vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Subaru 16 places higher in reliability than Volkswagen.

The flat cylinder configuration of the boxer engine in the Legacy lowers its center of gravity, enhancing handling stability (That’s why Porsche uses boxer engines.). The Arteon doesn’t offer a boxer engine configuration.

On the EPA test cycle the Legacy gets better mileage than the Arteon:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Subaru Legacy uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Arteon requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Legacy has 1.1 gallons more fuel capacity than the Arteon (18.5 vs. 17.4 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Legacy has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Arteon doesn’t offer a CVT.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Legacy is 1.3 inches wider in the rear than on the Arteon.

The Legacy Limited handles at .85 G’s, while the Arteon SEL Premium R-Line 4Motion pulls only .84 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the Legacy’s turning circle is 2.2 feet tighter than the Arteon’s (36.8 feet vs. 39 feet).

The front grille of the Legacy 2.5i uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Arteon doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Legacy has 9 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Arteon (105.5 vs. 96.5).

The Legacy has 1.7 inches more front headroom, 1.6 inches more front legroom, 1.2 inches more front hip room, 1.6 inches more front shoulder room, .2 inches more rear headroom, 8.3 inches more rear hip room and 2.7 inches more rear shoulder room than the Arteon.

The engine in the Legacy is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Arteon. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Legacy’s available exterior PIN entry system (not available on Legacy Base). The Arteon doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its Car-Net can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Subaru Legacy and the Volkswagen Arteon, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Subaru Legacy outsold the Volkswagen Arteon by almost 13 to one during 2022.