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If its any guide to you, my previous Subi was a 2005 model manual Forester. I undertook minor modifications on this vehicle such as fitting a sump guard & 40mm suspension lift kit. Then explored some of the roughest & remote dirt tracks in northern Western Aust. It proved more than capable when drived with respect & care. I eventually replaced the vehicle with my current Subi when it had done approx 450,000Km. I had to replace the motor at 300,000Km & replaced the clutch as required. In general it was an exceptionally reliable vehicle. My advise would be to undertake regular servicing. Remember replacement filters and regular oil changes are good insurance ! I had few problems with my vehicle. You may find that headlight plastic lens will cloud over eventually & require cleaning with abrasive to restore clarity. Also the headlight unit may eventually leak in heavy rain. Difficult to cure this fault other than drilling a small drainage hole in the bottom of the unit ! Personally I would rate the older Subarus as being easier to work on than newer models such as my present 2022 Forester which has far too much technology. I have owned Subaru 4WD / AWD since 1975.

Perhaps you've already tried this, but I'd simply give my AA/RAC/Green flag, etc. a call and let them work it out (but DON'T buy the battery from them!).

Hi all, require some help please. I dont have heating, i have changed thermostat, heating switches and the blend door actuator. But this hasnt helped. The only thing left as far as i am aware is the heater matrix, before i do this is there anything else first? I have bled the system fully, and the heater matrix in the car isnt blocked. Please help. Thanks, Matt

Hi - I'm trying to program a third key for the car, and there are millions of different methods on the internet, none of which seem to work. I'm sure it'll be simple, but is there a definitive answer please for a UK car? I also have the two white male/female plug/sockets under the dash..... do I connect these to put the car into 'program' mode? Thanks!

Many years agoI used to find a pair of spheres with holes in on each side of the car which I adjusted with a pin. I haven't needed to look for years, but my 2010 outback isn't quite as I'd like and appears to have two slightly different sized slots one above the other on each side. Does anyone know how these are tweaked?

Hi, I have owned about 6 Legacy/Outbacks,and am now on a 2019 Outback 2.5 SE. I am cheating a bit as I live in southern Spain now, but it is a bit of a Subaru desert and no one except the main dealers knows anything about them. So I am hoping to get info and advice from the old country. The roads here are relatively empty, which is great, but often very poorly surfaced. Huge holes, ridges, switchback ripples and speed humps or dips. My last Legacy (2007) coped well, but the newer Outback (140k km) bounces and bottoms out all over the place. I replaced the shocks with standard factory ones but only slight improvement. Bounces in a straight line now instead of all over the road. I expect I will have to get Bilstein shocks, but what springs? I don't want to increase ride height, just reduce the seasickness. I see cheap cars going over speed bumps at 50kph without moving, and my car bottoms out, front and rear, at 20kph. Other than that I think it's great! Also it has a LPG conversion which is very good.

Hi, my name is Matt from West Sussex. I have a subaru wrx hatchback.

Hello I have a 2017 XV and bonnet release cable has broken how can I open the bonnet. All garages are shut and I need to top up my screen wash. I can't see what I need to do. Any help appreciated.

Does your car have a little flip out cover on the underside of the dash, where you will find a keypad? This is the case on our 2008 Forester, hopefully your car too. If so and you have the cars code number, (hopefully someone placed it in the handbook pack when the car was new), if you key in this number on the pad it should allow the car to start...this is very handy if the fob battery fails when you are away from home as i found out. Note, makes sense not to leave whatever that number is written on in the car.

Hey Matt, welcome.

That is a Subaru Branded oil pump, well, it says subaru on the box soni hope it is!

Did you swap the ecu? The imobiliser used to be linked with the ecu and the keys on the older models. so if the ecu was swapped the keys wont work the immobiliser. Could it be something like that?

tbh ive seen walbro look different even with different brands that are just rebrands lol but it does look like the codes match this one, https://www.glencoeltd.co.uk/ti-automotive-fuel-pumps-walbro/ti-automotive-walbro-255-lph-in-tank-motorsport-fuel-pumps/ boost gauge will go negative at idle, have you changed the engine bay fuel filter? Whats rpm is it trying to idle at? tbh sounds like you need to get it to a specialist and see what they can find.

XV has bluetooth connectivity as the wife plays spotify through it. from what i understand apply p[lay wasnt added till 2017/2018, but might be worth trying it and see if it will as im sure ive seen it mentioned people just connecting their phone and playing through the system. Initialy id just try to connect it and see what it does

Yeah the first one just tried to scam you, unless there was some other reason they said it needs a new gearbox. Could be idle control valve or possibly battery/alternator related, sounds daft, but on our XV when the battery was really low it kept stalling when loaded up by the power steering or dropping to idle.

Hi , Harrogate roughly 1 hour 20 mins from us as we live close to Great Ayton in N Yorks but thanks anyway for information. We didn't get Free servicing but we paid £300 for three services we also got free mats and a full tank of fuel which I believe you normally pay for 👍, I suppose all subaru dealers are different depending on the sale. I've read that the lanoguard needs replacing every two years and it's a clear solution, it will be interesting how much I get quoted and how it compares to yours, congratulations on your 66 years young I only mentioned the "old git " as my darling wife of 36 years uses the term quite often especially since I retired 🙂 We intend to make this our last New car as my wife is taking early retirement in December 2026 so intend to do all I can to make it last , rust prevention, early oil changes etc, I too had Several Skodas, 2 early rapides in the early days of penniless marriage and my final one when we had some cash the Octavia Vrs which I absolutely adored, happy days gone by 🙂👍 Safe motoring and happy Xmas to you and your family 🎅🎅

I no longer have the car so the good condition dog guard is available £20...come & collect or you can arrange collection! (awkward shape) I also have a set of used (no broken tabs) side skirts for the same vehicle £25 the pair again come & collect or arrange collection Location near Stratford upon Avon

As long as the new pulley is the same diameter that is not an issue. Do you have dashcam if you do and it's hardwired is parking mode on? I would start with a voltmeter. Anything over 13v with load on should mean alternator is possibly ok. In which case you could be looking at parasitic draws. Normal alternator is normally around 13.5v-15v Smart alternators is normally around 12v-15v

Is this still up for grabs mate?

they where well aware of what they were doing sadly, i know of meetings that happened a years ago that they just ignore what they were told. Lets just say subaru UK themselves could have had a p25 years ago if they just said yes.

Welcome to sods law. It knew, i'm telling you it knew!!!!! lol At least no big bill for now I'd keep an eye on your oil level by checking it regularly just in case the sensor is on the way out and that nothing funky is going on

So done some digging, apparently they are like rocking horse poo now and in reality do very little so just tend to be removed and just bypassed.

I went for 98 as opposed to 102 purely due to the ride comfort concerns. They were about £4 a tyre more, but didn't think that was much of an issue. Unbelievably, picked up a nail art the Le Shuttle terminal on one of the tyres and had to use a repair kit, which did nothing, then recovery, who were excellent, put a repair plug in which is holding well. Quandary now is that although the recovery guy said that the repair is long term (used on lorries with very high PSI's and holding fine for at least six months), I'm now left with a brand new tyre that possibly can't be permanently repaired due to use of repair gunk, but has a possible long term repair in place. So frustrating! Do I bite the bullet and buy a new tyre or just sit on the repair and hope it holds for the duration of the tyre wear?

I used to do the swap annually on my Outback, but now I use Michelin Cross Climate, fully legal in the Swiss Alps all the year round.

Hi everyone, I have a Japanese import Subaru WRX S4 GT-S Eyesight (2015). Original key: • Subaru smart key part number: 14AHA-01 • Frequency: 312.15 MHz FSK (JDM) • Push start + Eyesight I bought a genuine replacement key (same part number) from China, but it cannot be programmed. The car does not recognise the transponder at all. What I’ve tried: • Local UK auto locksmith – failed (no transponder detection) • Subaru UK dealer – confirmed they cannot program JDM keys • Advised to contact Subaru Japan I understand this is a JDM immobiliser / SSM issue rather than just a remote pairing problem. Question: Has anyone in the UK/EU successfully programmed JDM Subaru smart keys (WRX S4 / Levorg / JDM Impreza, 312MHz)? Or knows a specialist / importer / locksmith who can handle JDM immobiliser programming (SSM3/SSM4, EEPROM, ECU bench work, etc.)? Any advice or contacts would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance!