Well I have owned two Subarus, and I didn't like the first one. It was my very first car. Now, years later, I own a 2001 Outback VDC that I have already put 76k miles on. I admit that my experience is especially enhanced by a great dealership that I can trust (Santa Cruz Subaru) even though I know of people who have got theirs from bad dealers (Steven's Creek). I digress... Subaru changed their motors in the mid nineties, and they have become much better, and have a lot more power. My VDC is very nice because it has 212 hp and gets 27 mpg on my commute! I really enjoy it and find it to be the best vehicle I have ever driven in poor weather. I differ in the opinion that you can get a better Honda for the same price. Hondas are much more expensive if you actually put the options on them to match a subie. As far as quality goes... I have had no problems. And looks? Well, somebody said that they are fugly. That must be somebody that doesn't like wagons in the first place. I like wagons, and I especially love the combination of cargo space, passenger space, and low center of gravity. It isn't an SUV that will roll if you back out of your parking space too fast.
Also, I prefer AWD to 4WD. I sacrifice a little bit of turning radius and gas mileage in order to have my safety devices on all the time. Unless you are an actual 4 wheeler, wouldn't you want it on all the time? I am not going to stop on the side of the road when the rain starts, but I sure want all four wheels working together when it is raining!
IMHO