best way to put bikes on a 2017 Subaru Outback

[FLBiker]

We recently got a 2017 Subaru Outback and our old bike rack doesn't work well with it.  It's a trunk mount, and while I've put it on the car, I don't love it.  Sometimes, I find it helpful to open the trunk a little to get it off, but because the Outback's trunk is automatic this doesn't work great.

Thus, we're looking at other options.  I was thinking we could do something hitch-based, but we don't have a hitch on it yet so I'm afraid that would be pretty expensive.  We could also theoretically do something roof mounted -- we've got a rack already.  I'm not crazy about having to put them on top of the car, though.

Does anyone have experience with the hitches from eTrailer?  I was thinking of this: https://www.etrailer.com/tv-install-trailer-hitch-2017-subaru-outback-wagon-c13206.aspx

We're located in Canada, so I'll have to look a bit more into shipping, but any tips on how best to carry a couple of bikes on an Outback would be helpful.  Thanks!

[Arbitrage]

It so happens that I just installed a 2" hitch from etrailer onto my 2014 Subaru Outback a few weeks ago (for the purposes of adding a bike rack).  Not the model you linked, but the style with the flat plates the mount underneath the bumper. 

I had never installed a hitch before, but this went fairly smoothly - I did it by myself with no help other than Youtube.  As a frame of reference, I'm moderately handy, but by no means am I the type who would undertake major car repairs or house remodels myself.  There were a couple of minor differences between the videos and my car (video was for a 2015, which was a design refresh from 2014), but I took my time and got it done in a couple of hours.  I watched the installation video a couple of times beforehand and procured a couple of tools I was lacking - torque wrench and aircraft snips from Harbor Freight, and some cheap trim removal tools from Amazon. 

Don't have the bike rack yet due to backorder, but the hitch installation is rock solid.  A couple of hours of sweating and flexing MMM muscles to save several hundred bucks, while learning something new. 

[Uturn]

I have a Forester and bought a Curt brand hitch.  I know I looked at etrailer, but I believe I bought it from Amazon.  I also have a Kuat 2 bike rack, and it is an awesome setup.  The hitch install took about 45 min, but I did have to enlarge a couple of holes in the car frame.  A step bit made short work of that.

[ChpBstrd]

I put a 1.5" Uhaul hitch on a Corolla to hold a Bell bike rack and pull a 4*8 trailer. Works OK but with 2 annoyances:

1) It's so low that I scrape the bottom of the bike rack / trailer hitch on my sloped driveway. I've gotten used to this and no damage is done, but it sounds like hell.
2) The Uhaul hitch has always had a lot of play with any accessory I install in it, so it clunks back and forth a lot. Wish it was a tighter fit.

So I recommend a bike rack where the bar coming out of the hitch curves upward instead of being flat. Also, I'm thinking about replacing my frame-hanger rack with one that the bikes sit on top of. This reduced the amount they swing back and forth banging into each other, bending spokes with pedals and whatnot. I currently mitigate this problem with extra bungee cords.

[FLBiker]

It so happens that I just installed a 2" hitch from etrailer onto my 2014 Subaru Outback a few weeks ago (for the purposes of adding a bike rack).  Not the model you linked, but the style with the flat plates the mount underneath the bumper.

That sounds good -- do you have a link?

Was it this one?
https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch/Curt/C13410.html

And thanks for the other feedback as well!

[TrMama]

I also have a 2017 Outback and am planning on a 2" UHaul hitch plus tray style bike rack. The UHaul hitch was recommended by my local mountain biking MMMers. I wouldn't worry about bottoming out with the Outback. It's got a lot more clearance than a Corolla.

[economista]

We discovered a hitch was necessary with our 2017 outback. We wanted to do some kind of rack on the trunk and we went to a store that specializes in car racks, and it turns out the design of the outback's hatchback doesn't allow any kind of trunk rack. You can kind-of get one to sit on there but there is a chance of your car or your bikes getting damaged. They told us we had to go with a hitch.

[FINate]

A 2" hitch is like the Swiss Army Knife of the auto world. Towing, bike rack, cargo rack, ski/snowboard rack, even hitch mounted tables/hammocks/BBQs/etc. Much easier access than the roof, easy to remove when not in use, and doesn't create a bunch of wind noise at highway speeds.

IMO, the 1.5" hitches are too small and less compatibility with add-ons.

[Arbitrage]

It so happens that I just installed a 2" hitch from etrailer onto my 2014 Subaru Outback a few weeks ago (for the purposes of adding a bike rack).  Not the model you linked, but the style with the flat plates the mount underneath the bumper.

That sounds good -- do you have a link?

Was it this one?
https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch/Curt/C13410.html

And thanks for the other feedback as well!

That's the one.  No drilling or cutting of any metal required, which appealed to me.  Would probably be a slightly easier install on a 2017 than it was on a 2014, since the video would be apples-to-apples.  Puzzling out the little differences probably ended up costing me an extra half hour of install time.

[ChpBstrd]

One more thing to note.

On my car, the threaded holes in the frame were grimy/rusty after a few years of driving with noyhing in them. I had to use a large cheater bar on my ratchet to install, and was close to snapping the bolts the whole time. I recommend hitting them with some WD now if you will be installing a hitch in the next few weeks.