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First few trips including motorway, city, minor roads, farm tracks, unmade lanes, snow and ice! Collected my 23 plate XV SE Premium a few weeks ago and immediately treated it to a new set of Continental All Season Contact 2. First impressions? Road holding is superb in a variety of conditions. Living in very rural mid Wales, have been able to test on muddy roads, very wet roads, through some floods, we even had two days of snow up to about 3 inches on the roads, then rutted farm tracks with frozen snow and broken ice. So far, all I can say is wow. My old car was a battered 2013 4wd Duster with full mud and snow off road tyres and that could cope with most conditions admirably. However, the XV was happy in all conditions so far with no complaints, plus it's a heck of a lot more comfortable than the old war horse! I had read about the CVT taking a bit of getting used to, the adaptive cruise being a pain, the safety stuff being a bit too safe, the acceleration being poor, the engine noisy, the infotainment system being glitchy, the music system being poor as well as many other complaints (mainly from motoring journalists). All I can say is that my initial experience is this:- The CVT is pretty smooth and Subaru have done a good job of making it feel like a conventional auto. Adaptive cruise is extremely controllable, all the way to standstill and pulling away again. Safety is superb, love the little lights on the mirrors letting you know something is alongside, the fast flash when someone is coming up fast or a pedestrian is walking behind you in a car park. The front view camera is superb when parking, as is the rear parking assist camera. Acceleration is smooth and steady, not the quickest, but that doesn't bother me. I'm not trying to win the RAC. The engine noise is acceptable, certainly not excessive on acceleration. No glitches with the Infotainment system so far, got a decent USB cable and the set up is easy and quick, Android Auto works well, the built in navigation is quick and easy to update to current maps, system is easily customisable, intuitive and the touch screen easy to navigate. Google Voice commands work well. DAB is decent with seamless transitions between digital and FM, essential round here as signal is sketchy. How loud do motoring journalists want their music systems? Up into the low 20's on the control and the music is loud and crisp with no distortion. Sat at around 15 is plenty loud enough for normal listening. Air con is fantastic, heated seats perfect, space great, boot is compact but sufficient, seats are comfortable, handling is out of this world for a high ground clearance car, all the toys work well, Eyesight system is superb. Fuel economy is around 40mpg so far, EV system around London was excellent this weekend and the thing I love the most is that I've only seen two other XV's so far! Cool Marque with a nice bit of exclusivity. Granted these are pretty early days, but so far very impressed and pleased with my purchase and looking forward to many happy miles in the Scooby. Off to Europe next week, so let's see how we handle autoroutes and cobbles!

Sad thing is it really shows how bad subaru UK is/was when info like this shows up.

Hi chaps after abit of help I’ve run out of things to try and I’m at my wits end 😂 so ill keep it short. my issue is hunting at idle and will sometimes stall , boost gauge also goes into negative when it’s hunting, I’ve replaced the manifold, all lines vac etc, pcv, idle control valve and MAF sensor, still the issue persists, today I cleaned the fuel pump filter in the tank it was pretty blocked to be fair, still the same, was told it’s a walboro 255 fuel pump but I’m not sure if anyone can confirm from piccy ? also tuck plugs out and they are black not wet but black and they where brand new. Maybe my issue is fuel related I’ve done some research and my regulator reads nearly 3 bar on tickover with vac line connected, this seems high to me ? anyway I’ve gone on abit if anyone’s got any advice pointers etc please let me know regards Lee

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 🎅🎅

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

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.

Have you tired the usual importcarparts?

Hi. Outbacks /Subarus are still fairly rare in the UK so also consider this US site where Subaru's and Outbacks are very popular, so much more info. https://www.subaruoutback.org/ As I'm on my second Outback, I clearly have a fondness for them. I like their safety, size, comfort, etc. There are quirks however, and the mainstream dealership I've found to be wanting. Look for an independent garage if there's one near by. They're reliable but change the oil much more regularly than the owner's manual suggests (every 6000 miles?) if you want to keep it long term. Great off road, with proper all-season or winter tyres. Reliable and I never had any issues with my last one 50,000 aside from dealership problems. They'll be heavier on brakes and tyres perhaps, and expect to get 30 - 35 mpg if driving on A and B roads with hills. I wouldn't buy one for heavy commuting, or doing local trips to and from the shops. But for safely driving the family around the countryside, and all your gear, in comfort, they're great.

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

not sure why you should have issues finding one, they are just a typical car battery? have a look on https://www.yuasa.co.uk/ should be able to search for either make/model/engine or by reg number