Do you think of midsize sedans when you think of safe vehicles? Probably not. However, you shouldn’t be fooled by the size of a model when considering its safety merits. If you’re considering purchasing a Subaru Legacy, you may be interested to see if this model can protect you and your loved ones as well as its competitors.

The Subaru Legacy doesn’t have a ton of name recognition, but it stacks up quite well against popular models like the Honda Accord. This midsize sedan is packed with cutting-edge technologies, and it comes standard with an all-wheel-drive system. Both of these things heavily factor into its safety rating.

What driver-assistance technologies are offered on the Legacy, and are these systems effective enough to protect you. Let’s take a deeper dive into its smart safety systems and see what the experts have to say.

The Subaru Legacy has an impressive assortment of safety features

Its become common practice for manufacturers to add more standard safety features to its models every year. The Subaru Legacy is no exception. The 2019 model year brought about many changes for the midsize sedan. Subaru added forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, and adaptive cruise control as standard equipment. 

A 2020 redesign brought about a host of changes, but the car’s lineup of driver-assistance technologies remained unchanged.

Shoppers looking for ultimate protection should opt for the 2021 Subaru Legacy, which has a relatively low starting MSRP. This iteration of the midsize sedan comes standard with two innovative features. The first, rear seat reminder, alerts the driver to check the back seat when exiting the vehicle if any object or person is detected. The second feature, adaptive headlights, was optional on previous models but were made standard due to their effectiveness. These headlights respond to the driver’s steering input to help better illuminate the road during turns.

The 2021 Subaru Legacy also offers a healthy amount of available smart systems. These include a front-view camera, blind-spot monitoring, lane-change assist, rear cross-traffic alert, driver drowsiness monitoring, and a reverse automatic braking system.

The experts weigh in

Safety features only get a car so far. Structural integrity plays a vital role in protecting a vehicle’s occupants during an accident. That’s why it’s crucial to see how a model performs in crash tests conducted by reputable organizations.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) named the 2020 Subaru Legacy a Top Safety Pick +. Notably, the 2021 model hasn’t been tested at the time of this writing. The 2020 model only received an ‘average’ rating for its standard headlights, but its optional adaptive headlights earned a ‘good’ rating. Now that this equipment is standard, the 2021 Subaru Legacy should perform even better than its predecessor.

Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave the 2020 Subaru Legacy a five-star overall safety rating. The midsize sedan earned perfect marks in the frontal crash, side crash, and rollover categories. However, the NHTSA issued one recall for the 2020 Subaru.

Is the Subaru Legacy a car you can trust?

Few midsize sedans boast the incredible level of safety that’s offered by the Subaru Legacy. It may not have the sheer bulk of larger vehicles, but it is structurally sound and provides a boatload of standard driver-assistance technologies.

Those in the market for a new 2021 Subaru Legacy should consider choosing the Premium trim, which is just a step above the base model. The Legacy Premium gives you access to an optional package that includes blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. The package will only run you an extra $1,000 over the trim’s MSRP of $25,145. That’s a pretty good deal, and the additional safety features should give you a little more peace of mind.