ernieb

@Ade, Sounds more like they got you the wrong cable, I feel for you. Maybe try and photograph the cables you have to help the company who supplied the harness identify a correct version?

Fingers crossed 🤞

This the bar I used, Hague Camera Headrest Mount for cars.

@Bob, is it a new XV? If it is you should not attach the DashCam to the front windscreen as it’s likely to interfere with the Eyesight camera systems. Not sure about the fuse I fitted my Dash Cam to a bar fitted on the passenger head rest bars and feed the power via the 12v or USB in the console between the front seats. It does restrict the front and rear views but gives a good overall view as the driver would see the road situation.

Agreed they are worth having, should be fitted as standard. I got mine installed when the car was delivered as part of the “deal”. They don’t seem to fit very securely.

That looks better than the OEM supplied visor.

What do you mean by none standard gas. A friend of mine just had his Skoda recharged with the latest “eco” friendly gas and it was £75. I would normally expect to pay not much more than £90. Or is it just the normal Subaru pricing structure for service items?

Agree

@GGMan, The new Eyesight and lane Assist in combination is like auto drive and think it would be very effective on the motorways.. I believe there is a control to adjust the sensitivity, on the 2020 model, of the Lane Assist and would perform as you say. The 2018 XV currently it works but is a bit digital. I really enjoy my current XV but the new XV e-boxer is a joy to drive, not easy to say why but a combination of many little things.

@GGMan, We also use Android Auto and Waze, great combination. But we paid for a Head Unit that was meant to be correct. When we took a demo drive in the 2020 XV e-boxer I meet the Subaru UK MD, nice bloke and pretty dedicated to increasing the dealership, brand and sales. I did speak to him about the Tom Tom maps. I did not side step the problem in fact although I said mine were now up to-date he said his was not as it was missing a round-a-bout when he travelled to Cambridge. I did say the issue lies with the supply chain for the maps, not being under the control of Subaru?

Awhile ago, I signed up to be kept informed about the introduction of the new Subaru XV e-boxer. A few weeks ago I got an email inviting me to go on a demonstration drive, I chose the one at Longstowe Hall Cambridgeshire. I had the option to test drive the 2020 XV or Forester, I choose the XV. All the cars available for the test drives were imports from Japan but right-hand drive. I’m unsure when the car is spec'd for the UK if the finish and fittings will be the same. Brief Review. The new e-boxer 2020 cars are “mild” hybrids and based on the standard symmetrical all wheel drive Subaru XV chassis and a 2.0i injection petrol engine producing 110 kW or 150ps. The battery, lithium iron, is 118 volts with a maximum output of 13.5 kW, this is fed into a 12.3 kW or 16.7ps output electric motor which is coupled to the gearbox. The battery is fitted under the boot floor pan and seems to have reduced the fuel tank slightly as well as reducing the height under the boot cover by about 25 mm or 1 inch in old money. In addition the battery will have increased the overall weight of the car and subsequently reduced the towing capacity, I guess, by a similar amount. The exact details and UK specifications of car were not available as were figures for the fuel efficiency, emissions 0-60mph time etc. Subaru’s e-boxer mild-hybrid technology automatically controls when the car uses the electric motor. This allows the high-voltage battery to remain more compact and lighter than standard hybrid but does not allow the driver to manually select EV mode. The test drive itself was on normal roads around and about Longstowe Hall. This lasted approximately 45 minutes and we were accompanied by a professional driver who does this work for a living. Initially he demonstrated the car, essentially the new EV functions which were clearly displayed on the central display. I was surprised when we got in the car that there was no charge in the battery he explained that the car recharged the battery very quickly which proved to be true. After a mile so I got into the driver's seat and took the car for a tour around the country lanes. In comparison to the 2018 model XV the 2020 model e-boxer XV seems an all round better drive. When accelerating hard the engine is assisted by the battery motor and selecting sport mode on the steering wheel gives a significant improvement to the acceleration performance. In sport mode the battery is used solely to assist the engine with no regeneration under braking. Under normal driving conditions you’re unaware of the battery being used to either assist the engine or to be recharged other than looking at the central display. When the car is used with low acceleration or creeping along, say in a traffic jam, the car is automatically switched into EV mode, in EV mode it’s extremely quiet. The car has many similar features to the 2018 model we own, Eyesight technology, X mode with hill descent control and Subaru rear vehicle detection. In addition, the 2020 model features a driver monitoring system using an infrared LED and a camera which monitors the driver for signs of inattention or sleepiness and if detected warns them to refocus their attention. A feature I really did like was the side view monitor, this is a camera facing forward and fitted on the passenger side wing mirror and displayed on the multifunction display, this reduces the front near side blind spot and should make street parking easier. I found this could be turned on while the car was moving so quite useful when trying to negotiate a tight spot on a country lane. We covered quite a few miles over various roads surfaces in our demo and the car performed very well. We were given a pricing document which shows that the 2.0i SE premium Lineartronic MHEV is £30,995 on the road compared to the current 2019 version which is £28,525, so quite a price lift. (The 2020 price does include the option to select free of charge the Crystal White Pearl paint finish, the 2020 pricing is good till 31st December 2019) I guess the $64,000 question is would I buy one. I think subject to UK specifications etc., and getting a good trade in for our current car I could be very tempted. The event was friendly and well run and we felt very relaxed and unpressured and I’d gladly recommend going to one if you ever have the option.

Received an update notification for the Head Unit (Harman) via e-mail yesterday. Downloaded and installed and I’m happy to report that finally the maps now appear to represent real life. I’ve checked a number of the roads that did not appear and they are now all present. Additionally this update did not clear presets for the radio etc., so that’s all good.

Updater Process pdf Ernie HARMAN Map Updater Process.pdf

So finely the year long saga of awaiting TomTom map updates to my MY18 XV have been announced. The manufacturing year is important as there is a significant difference between how this is accomplished with a MY18 and MY19 onwards. MY19 can be updated over the air as was intended and was originally built into the MY18 head unit. MY18 has to be updated via a USB, old style. This also shows another difference, MY18 updates will be approximately once a year and MY19 more frequently. There is a dealer bulletin but this YouTube link is correct for the UK, Once you've created and account, downloaded the map installer for your PC or Mac you need a clean 16Gb USB pen drive. The maps are downloaded to the PC/Mac and uploaded to the USB drive, make sure you have a cup of tea, good book it takes awhile, mine took a couple of hours. I have a very fast internet connection (380Mbs) so maybe time of day and sever activity makes a difference. The install is easy, instructions are displayed on the Head Unit, engine must be on and took me about 25mins to complete, it states that it could take an hour, my system was version 12.XX the new one 18.XX. It all works as expected and deletes any radio presets, which it does warn about. NOW, the $64,000 question are the maps current for the UK, NO. After 12 months of ownership which had maps originally at least 6 months out of date, the maps do not include the new M1 junction 11A and associated link roads, so maybe in another 12 months this might be included! Subaru have extended the 3 year updates by one year so for me 2021, but I'm still very unhappy about the poor support and have once more addressed this issue to the dealer. These maps are for the whole of Europe so could make driving in unknown areas very difficult. I'll post any comments I receive.

@Gary Buchs Still very happy with our XV, 10 months on and about 10K miles. It continues to perform well and the Eyesight technology is fantastic making stop start trips on the M1 though road works a comfortable drive. I spend a couple of months each year in Derbyshire so I'm happy to report it also copes well with the 4 seasons in a day that seem to regularly occur, the Cross Climate tyres really help. The only downside is that I'm still awaiting the TomTom map updates!!! They were out of date when I collected the car and are supposed to be updated every year, my dealer is unable to give me a date as to when and how this will occur, dealer or over the air (this function is built into the car but not confirmed as being the way the map updates will happen. Happily the Android Auto works really well, charges the phone and using Goggle/Waze I get very good road, traffic information. Good luck with the test drive and let us know how you get on? Ernie

Interesting, I’ve not had mine not open but have noticed a certain reluctance but put it down to cold hands rather than the car. From your posting it looks like there is an issue with the design as the UK temperatures are not the worst this car will see. Maybe the lubrication they are using is not cold weather tolerant? Thanks for posting.

Interesting comments about potholes. We all can tell stories of potholes as most roads in the UK have them but the situation seems to be getting worse rather than better. Even worse now is the number of near misses I see where drivers try to avoid them swerving at the last second into traffic. I've just reported one outside our house that was repaired, badly, a few years ago but has very quickly reopened and is now 90 x 50cm and spits stones onto the drive. I've certainly seem cars with rims that have disintegrated as a result of potholes so the potential damage to the suspension and drive systems must be high. Anyway glad you got it sorted.

Hope it all works for you with the new car it's always a shame when circumstances force a change that in your heart you really don't want. Ernie

That looks to have been a real pain it the BTM!

I don’t have a roof box but the wing bars are very good, super quiet. Happy Christmas and New Year to all.

I had mine fitted as part of the deal, I usually throw that in at the end as a final sweetener! I see you have the CrossClimates fitted, very happy with mine.

@Dogconker good luck with the new car, I had an Isuzu Trooper 3.1D many years ago and that would tow my van up the side of the house if I asked it too. I’m sure this will e very similar, good luck with it.

@Norrie, I hope you get the car fixed OK but it's a little worrying as the failures you'r experiencing should not be occurring at that milage. It's the kind of thing I'd have expected back in the 70's rather than with a modern car. It sounds potentially like a "batch" failure of the parts at the time your car was produced although that is little comfort to you.

I've only done a few K on the Subaru but used them on the Skoda Yeti, there was still plenty of rubber after 34K when I sold the car so I've not run them to end of life. I think when I sold the car there was 5/6mm so should give many more miles. However, I bought the tyre in particular for it's wet and cold/wet performance which is what we seem to get most of the time in the UK. The SUV version of the CrossClimate is what I have fitted on the XV and I done about 2K and it shows no signs of any wear.

On the Subaru I’ve fitted the CrossClimate SUV version of the tyre. I got mine from Costco when they offering £80 off a set of four. Just checked Costco are making the same offer till the 25th November, bought on line.