2025 Legacy vs 2025 Camry: Which Offers More for Midsize Car Shoppers?
For 37 years, the Subaru Legacy and the Toyota Camry have gone head-to-head in the midsize sedan market, offering people more space and capabilities than a compact car while still delivering solid everyday performance. Whether you plan to run errands in downtown Rhinebeck or head to Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome for a weekend adventure, choosing the right midsize vehicle from these popular options will get you where you need to go in comfort and style.
Unfortunately, 2025 is set as the final showdown between the Legacy and Camry, with Subaru recently announcing this will be the venerable vehicle’s final model year. If you’re in search of a Subaru Legacy for sale, you’re almost certainly wondering what Subaru is planning for a swan song—and whether it’s worth getting over the Camry, which was just redesigned and has no finish line in sight. Let’s compare the 2025 Legacy to the 2025 Camry and see what the final legacy will be for a nameplate that was long considered Subaru’s flagship car.
Engines: More Options for the Way You Drive
No two people drive alike—so even if they’re interested in the same vehicle, they shouldn’t be forced to accept the same power plant under the hood. The 2025 Subaru Legacy continues its recent tradition of two engine options to suit Rhinebeck drivers. The 2.4L turbocharged flat-four Subaru Boxer engine in the Sport and Touring XT trims generates an impressive 260 hp, giving you some zip as you head down Route 9. This far outshines the lone engine option in the 2025 Toyota Camry, which maxes out at 232 hp. Toyota has discontinued its Camry V6 engine, meaning anyone who wants some thunder under their right foot will only find it in the Subaru.
Are you more of a daily cruiser who doesn’t need that added oomph? The 2025 Subaru Legacy Base, Premium, and Limited trims offer a 2.5L Boxer engine with 182 hp. It’s a budget-friendly, fuel-efficient solution delivering an EPA-estimated 30 MPG combined that still has more than enough power to get you anywhere.
Powertrain: All-Wheel Drive All the Time
One of Subaru’s selling points has long been offering all-wheel drive (AWD) as a standard feature. For the 2025 Subaru Legacy, the brand knows not to mess with a good thing. Every Legacy, even the Base trim, includes the automaker’s legendary full-time Symmetrical AWD system, which is known for its impressive stability, nose-to-tail balance, and traction in poor driving conditions. When a heavy upstate New York winter snowstorm hits, you’ll be glad you have AWD always working.
Toyota finally introduced an AWD option to the Camry lineup several years ago, and it continues with the switch to a hybrid-only powertrain for 2025. But it’s still only an option—one you must pay extra for—and by Toyota’s own admission, its AWD is an on-demand system rather than full-time. For now, anyone who wants AWD will be better off sticking with the proven reliability of the Subaru Legacy and its Symmetrical AWD system. You’ll also get standard traction control, active torque vectoring, vehicle dynamics control, and a four-wheel independent suspension that adds high-performance fun on any terrain.
Interior: More Room for You and Your Passengers
No matter if the drive is five minutes or five hours long, you want the ride to be comfortable. The 2025 Legacy has more front and rear legroom so everyone can stretch out. You’ll get 42.8 inches of space in the front and 39.5 inches in the rear, meaning no cramping on road trips. The 2025 Camry can only manage 42.1 inches of legroom for the front seats, and rear passengers are limited to 38 inches, which is less than ideal if you have a lot of tall friends.
The gap is similar when it comes to head and shoulder room. In the 2025 Legacy, you have 39.4 inches of front headroom, 58.1 inches of front shoulder room, and 37.2 inches of rear headroom. Camry drivers and passengers are stuck with 38.3 inches of headroom and 57.7 inches of shoulder room in the front, though they do get 37.6 inches of headroom in the rear. All in all, though, the Legacy has a noticeably roomier interior; it's why so many people check out these sedans when they visit their local Subaru dealership. Cargo space is identical, with 15.1 cu.ft. of space for everything from suitcases to beach supplies.
Extras: Tech and Toys Everyone Will Love
There are only so many rounds of road trip bingo and 20 questions you can play when you’re out and about. Having the right tech on board will make every trip fly by. While the upper trims of the Legacy have long offered the best of the best, Subaru has upgraded its midrange trims for the 2025 model year. Every Legacy from the Limited on up now gets a standard power moonroof for enjoying the night sky, built-in navigation for finding every upstate New York adventure spot, a heated steering wheel for those frigid January mornings, and a DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation System to keep you engaged with the road ahead.
Conversely, on the 2025 Camry, the moonroof is merely an optional feature on even the top trim. As for the heated steering wheel, it’s only standard on the top-level XLE and XSE trims. These are a lot of features that Subaru takes for granted and that Toyota treats as a luxury. This perfectly complements Subaru's modern features, such as the 11.6-inch infotainment touchscreen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and the massive driver assistance package.
As a bonus, the Subaru Legacy Touring XT is one of the few remaining new cars that has a CD player in the onboard stereo system. If you want to keep your classic collection of albums and audiobooks in rotation—and do so through a 12-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, which blows the doors off the top nine-speaker JBL system in the Toyota Camry––you can with the 2025 Legacy.
Carry on the Legacy at Ruge’s Subaru
As you can see, even in its final edition, the 2025 Subaru Legacy has a lot going for it over the new 2025 Camry. It makes more power, gets you through the harshest New York conditions, is nice and roomy on the inside, and offers an excellent blend of new-school and old-school design features. The Legacy is also one of the safest midsize sedans around, earning a five-star overall safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and routinely securing Top Safety Pick awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. All of this comes at a starting MSRP of just $24,895—a full $3,500 less than the price tag on the introductory 2025 Toyota Camry LE.[a]
All in all, the 2025 Legacy is a more-than-worthy farewell to this sedan that has delighted New Yorkers over the decades. To get your hands on the last and greatest Subaru Legacy, visit Ruge’s Subaru at the corner of Montgomery and Chestnut in Rhinebeck. As a third-generation family business, we are Rhinebeck’s leading Subaru dealer with a history of serving drivers in the community since 1935. Contact us to schedule a 2025 Subaru Legacy test drive and discover the Ruge’s Advantage Program, which includes a lifetime engine warranty, emergency roadside assistance, and more for all new vehicles at no extra charge.