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Strange, if the level is physically ok then could be a sensor problem.

Hello and happy to say I pick up my new to me 3 year old Outback next week. Have done a fair bit of research since we decided to buy it. At the moment considering the benefits of putting all season tyres on it and advice on the best options would be great. We live in Scotland and had several 4X4 over the years but the outback will be our first car with 4 wheel drive. Thanks Dave

Glad you like it, you missed out the best bit, heated seats, XV is the first car i've had thats had them hahaha

Just gone out again on the last trip so I've ordered a replacement sensor.....

Shall start with the warnings and info to get em out the way The first thing to ask is probably what experience do you have of running a high performance car? Do you understand things can go wrong very quickly if your not used to the performance (trust me, been there done that. I killed my first launching it over a hedge upside down after dodging a stupid pedestrian who decided to cross the road in front of me. Not really my fault, but car was still smashed to bits), plus the rozzers are always on the lookout ;) Next is have you got a handle on the costs involved? They drink fuel, which needs to be decent so vpower or tesco 99, depending on how you drive could be low teens mpg. Keeping on top of servicing and maintenance is a must, Oil changes should be done every 3k miles (dont listen to anyone saying 10k miles etc etc), full belt and tensioner kit every 3 years or relevant milage. Don't forget that while you may pay 20k for it now, when it was sold it was 30-40k and parts costs reflect that. This also brings on the point that A its a 20 year old car and while japan is alot easier on them for rust etc, its still had 20 years of wear and tear and B expect it to need some bits and bobs, highly unlikely it will have had a proper service, oil change etc etc when it was sold so could easily rack up £2000 worth of basic service stuff, oil change, coolant, spark plugs, belt kit, may need a set of tyres etc etc etc, additionally parts will be worn, including expensive parts like engine, gearbox suspension parts etc. O dont skimp on tyres, expect £100 ish per corner for a decent set of something like pilot sports. Tax rates on them can vary alot, depending on where it falls, mines £760 a year (some imports seem to be cheaper some not) Make sure you get some quotes for insurance, including making sure you declare each and every mod it has or just before you do them. If you dont and either get caught by the rozzers or need to have insurance involvement, as soon as they inspect the car (and they will) you'll be facing charges of driving without insurance, no insurance payout, plus what ever other costs and a very black mark on your record going forward that will give you difficulty getting insurance on any car. Bear in mind im yet to see any imported cars that are not modified so the declaration bit is a must. So the good, Holy feck are they fun to drive, they don't say miles of smiles for no reason. Straight line they are fast, but not a rocket ship other than on launch. Being AWD they launch like a scalded cat due to the traction they have, but then they loose more power through transition loss (roughly 15% for 2wd 25% for awd). Back roads, well thats a different story, thats where they really come to life. I may have, 20+ years ago and in a different country cough cough, left a police pursuit volvo for dust on some back roads in a mildly tuned uk classic. In such a fashion i didnt even realise he was trying to catch me and too fast for the cars vascar to get a reading on the twisty roads. The funniest thing was i wasn't even flat out as i was just having a bit of fun on my way up to the garage. But just shows how rapid they are as i am by no means an expert driver. The JDM impreza comes with a 2.0 engine, twin scroll turbo vs the UK 2.5 engine, single scroll turbo, which you prefer is really personal preference as they both have good and bad points. Also they sound slightly different due to the exhaust manifold being equal on the JMD and unequal length on the UK. The JDM is no longer a forged pistoned engine as they were years ago, but is still good for about 400bhp ish out the box with supporting mods. The UK is a bit of a dog engine wise, it has various issues with headgasket failures and ring land failures with the 2.5 so 350bhp is about the limit you'd want to go to. But it tends to come with alot more torque, which for me makes them a better road car engine. Modding wise your only really limited by your budget. (prices mentioned are just approximate so could be way out), also should be noted some cars just tune better than others and it varies wildly, I've seen cars struggle to break the 300bhp mark no matter how they get mapped. A remap, exhaust and panel filter will see around 330bhp (up from 280 ish). Although the improvements in responce far out weight the extra power imo, will prob come in around £2k, At that stage your then onto replacing the standard turbo, maybe injectors etc to take you up towards 400bhp. prob around 5k ish After that you then get into 10k+ for an engine build and alot of supporting mods, aftermarket ecu's etc etc etc Exhausts vary from quiet to mahoosive bean cans that you can hear from 5 miles away haha there are plenty of options for suspension upgrades from simple lowering springs to full coilovers. Roll bar upgrades, etc etc etc (its a big list haha) Brakes again have plenty of upgrades, but most folks just simply go for a set of AP brakes which vary in price depending on pads and disks. (may need to include a set of larger wheels to fit them) One word of warning is to be carefull of tuners promising mega results etc etc, if it sounds too good to be true, it may well be and there alot of dodgy tuners in the subaru game. Dam that was a wall of text haha, but def important to think about it seriously. There's loads more to learn about em but that gives you a bit of info have a read through, Here's a link to mine which is a late 06 uk,

Rust can happen, but doesn't normally cause big issues unless its sat for a long while (months). Is it the ABS kicking in and its a case of water getting into the sensor?

Hi pete. U still got ghe forestets. I. From longbenton. Just recently got an auto

That's I've read while researching before my purchase too I think because I haven't owned an STi before so I do get a bit of the 'grass is greener on the other side' vibes. The blue will always be a desire for me though haha 😄

my usual go to is importcarparts, could try there. Yeah its a fairly quiet forum, like most nowadays in truth. Still active, people pop in and out :)

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.

Regarding the possible cause(s), I'd suggest you also post your issue on here, as they have a much wider experience of Subarus and OBs. https://www.subaruoutback.org/ Hope you get it sorted.

I received an email today entitled 'Subaru Map Update Portal' informing me that a update was available for my Outback. After checking it through my virus checker etc. I clicked on the link and was taken to the Portal where I had to register and was then sent an activation code. After eventually getting the code and inputting it, to be told I again needed an activation code but when I put that new code in I was then further informed my account was already activated (you're getting the gist of this right!). I realised this wasn't going to be straightforward. Any road, eventually I got an account set up and logged in the vehicle with its VIN - all well again. Then I had to download the map installation system (more shenanigans), but eventually done. The page helpfully (not!) in formed me that Starlink was no longer in use since 2023 (I'd not bothered anyway as it was useless), it then proceeded simply to offer me more opportunities to download the map installer - again, with no way forward. The map installer is for OS X (my laptop) so it should have worked - it didn't. Route two: checked the online manual on the page and saw there was a mobile phone route. Ah ha! Phone put and I got to the page www.subaru-maps.com, and logged in, I had again to download the map installer, but was only given the option of OS X version or Windows - so no ios then! Urgh. Getting more and more frustrated, I went to the 'contact us' link and scrolled down to the UK link and clicked, to be taken to UK Subaru page https://subaru.co.uk/customer-support where I was informed by 'customer support' "sorry - page no longer exists'! What a complete waste of time and sadly simply reinforces the image of Subaru technology being all froth and little substance. Rant over - so back to the my padded cell...!

On a similar theme, I was in my local Subaru dealer this morning and saw a new sign encouraging me to update my details on the Subaru website so I would always receive special offers, latest news etc. I scanned the QR code on the sign only to find it sent me to the same “Sorry - page no longer exists”……..

They also got me this Cross Sport type S I’m currently driving 🤣🤣 Still got the little white beast too but looks different since I last posted