Judd

What a bind, managed to break the clear plastic lens on the OSR light cluster, SG9 2008. Anyone breaking one of these, or any suggestion where to find a new lamp unit at an affordable price, dare say i'll need to be sitting down at the dealer parts desk if i have to go there.

Agree with Vred Sportracs, an excellent tyre. We have two sets for the XT, Fulda Sport Control thingies in 17" flavour, these really are very good tyres in both wet and dry, stick like the proverbial to a blanket, But, a hard noisy ride is the price paid and when they are worn out i shall find something else, possibly Falkens which are doing very well on daughter's Civic which she thrashes to hell, but you won't find much better in the wet than Uniroyal Rainsports, though to be fair i've never tried them on a Scoob myself and they wear quickly but are usually cheap to buy from Camskill or similar. The winter set, 16", are Cooper Weathermaster and once during last winter the car felt extremely skittish on one particular roundabout, but that never repeated itself elsewhere and i think it was either excess salt dropped there attracting the damp, or possibly a previous fuel spillage, the ride on these tyres is much softer and forgiving and i could well be tempted to move away from the 17" and go for 16" all year round....those 215/55 x 17 sizes are particularly expensive too, much more palatable in 215/60 x 16. As for general skittishness, i agree with above this must be the tyres unless there is a serious fault with the car, the previous Outback and the current XT have been the most stable in all weather cars i've ever driven, just point in the direction you want to go and the cars just sort it all out for you.

Corrosion wise, the Forester has had an easy life corrosion not an issue, though i have extensively rustproofed it anyway with Bilt Hamber's finest. The Outback was obviously a much older and cheaper car, but apart from exhaust the only real rust was on the rear subframe, again i de-rusted that and rustproofed it and it never was an issue again, but i hasted to add neither car had lived in Scotland. The biggest issue with all Japanese cars is how susceptible to salt corrosion the brake calipers are, so bank on fully stripping cleaning and lubing those on any car you get, standard Brembo discs and pads are reasonably priced at ECP, especially when they have a sale on online, and they have improved the braking on every vehicle i have fitted them to. One thing i forgot to mention about 3 litre Outbacks, or at least the up to 03 models, the cats sit just below the inner drive shaft couplings and the heat from them will cause early failure of the rubber boots, fortunately these cars were made to be worked on in such areas and the drive shafts fully dismantle quite easily so new boots and regrease is an easy sat morn job. If you take a torch and peer down from above at the rear of the engine both sides you should be able to see the inner boots when checking a vehicle over. Hope you find yourself a good one, as you mention prices are all over the shop.

The problem with Subarus, and Landcruisers the same, is that so many of them spent their early years in Scotland and the North, where salt damage is much worse, and unfortunately few people realise the car exists underneath so never even bother to hose the salt out at the end of winter, neglected vehicles in such an environment won't last long. The other issue with such vehicles down south, is have they been used for boat launching, so have the back end dipped in salt water every few weeks. A few years ago they started to put the addresses of MOT stations on the MOT history, but that has since stopped, pity, it made avoiding Scottish vehicles much easier, so now you're relying on the service history alone to work out where the car spent it's time unless its a one owner jobbie. My advice is don't be in a rush, my present Landcruiser and the good lady's Forester we were not even looking to buy either, i just happen to have kept an eye on the ads, both Trader and Ebay motors, and both of the present cars stood out as being good examples of exactly what we wanted. For individual cars like these you have to be prepared to travel, and quickly, the Toyota in particular good examples get snapped up quickly because there's a lot of neglected rusty underbody examples out there and i've driven 150 odd miles to look at supposedly pristine examples only to be back in my car within 5 minutes of seeing the misdescribed thing, haven't even opened the doors or bonnet in some cases, luckily it was a Monday and my rest days usually fall on a Mon, so we shot 75 miles pronto and bought mine the same morning it went online, had been traded in for a new motorhome and for sale at the same place and all my boxes were ticked. So long as you've got some transport for the time being i'd wait until the right car crops up, it will appear but you might have to wait several months, but be prepared to move very quickly when the right one comes up.

To give you an idea we paid a grand more than that for a 2008 with 27k miles probably 18 months ago.

Cut off point for VED rip off is as i recall is March 23rd 2006, so registered after that date its well over £500. We're in that band with the good lady's car, but we bought it well underpriced (it had only done 27k miles) so the difference in VED is already paid for as it were for as long as we're likely to keep it. Any car in the top ved band is going to be a hard sell when the time comes, so make sure you buy it cheap enough. The car and engine you are looking at is an unknown quantity, only you can judge the car on its merits, though doing your research on the indy might throw up whether this is likely to be a gem or a lemon, first question is what sort of warranty, and on what, is the chap prepared to offer, i don't mean a worthless bombsite authur daley special either, i mean the indy himself warranting the car...something my MB indy always did on car he sold on.

Wifey has gone from a 2002 H6 Outback, to a 2008 2.5 XT Forester. Outback softer ride, quieter, more refined, solidly planted on the road, no matter what the weather if you've got decent tyres on the car will just do whatever you ask of it. XT faster, much noisier inside, harder ride, more nimble but can feel a little skittish in comparison to the glued to the road Outback, due to the estate section being square there seems as much room in the boot as the Outback for the dogs. Not a great deal of difference in fuel costs, we had both converted to LPG which they run well on. Exhausts for H6 are not cheap, we ended up getting a full stainless system fitted for less than the cost of the genuine by-pass silencer (on the pre 03 model), there is no correct aftermarket standard system available for the 3.0 litre up to 03 that i could find, sellers try to pass off the 2.5 silencer as the same, they aint.

Slipped the summer wheels and tyres back on the Foz this afternoon, 17" as against the 16" winter set, quieter but noticeably harder ride.

I've driven artics for over 40 years now, the worse thing they ever did was to fit speed limiters, it has been the prime causation of the endless lines of lorries and the hated elephant overtakes. Unfortunately it's also yet another dumbing down tool, (it joins all the three letter acronyms that remove the need for skill and vehicle control, with predictable results) and it would be mayhem if they removed lorry limiters now. Unless you've driven vehicles limited to the approximate same speed as others, you have no idea just how horrible the experience is, tailgating bullying carving up forcing in, all these things will increase once you get limiters. Apparently the limiters being proposed for cars can be overridden, but we all know it's the thin end of the wedge, and within a very short time that override will be removed.

It's many years since i used them, and in both cases it was Mercedes ECU problems, well known for wiring loom/coil issues shorting back and blowing the ecu, keep in mind that these MB ecus were around £1500 from the dealer at the time, dread to think what a new one would cost now, programmed to individual vehicle so used not an option with the immobiliser/unlocking system fitted to my model. I used http://www.avilec.co.uk/about/ based on the isle of wight, not especially cheap but the repair was sound The second ecu failure, another car different issue, i thought i could save some money by using a different repairer (do not repeat my mistake, i won't), so sent the ecu off, came back no fault found, still faulty, sent it off to another repairer who could talk the talk, he informed me the unit was scrap so should he just bin it for me to save the return postage...yes my dirty dealing antenna sprang up (the parts in these ecus are both rare valuable) so of course i had it back, and once again sent it off to Avilec, who returned it repaired no problem and it's still doing sterling service on my 23 year old MB. Not saying they can help you necessarily but if they can do it the job will be right. What i discovered being a cheapskate is that a fancy website (which the other two jokers had) means diddly, and you'd think at my age i would have learned that good quality work just isn't cheap, well i did know this but obviously needed a reminder.

If it doesn't already have one already, get a flashlube system fitted. Preferably an electronic system not the much cheaper vacuum fed system that normal engines are fine with. I believe both Subaru and Mitsubishi stopped offering new cars with LPG conversions, because (on Mitsi at least) they didn't fit flashlube systems so both had problems with valve seat recession.

Any Japanese car that has an LPG conversion really needs a flashlube system, it a system whereby a light oil is fed into the inlet to 'lube' the valves which helps keep the combustion damage to the valves and seats at a minimum, LPG is a hotter burn than petrol and Japanese cars tend to have softer valve seats than say the typical German car. I've had two converted, an H6 Outback (same engine as what you are looking for but probably lower tune) and the present Forester XT, the H6 had an electronic lube system that injects into the inlet manifold close as possible to the valves, the Forester has something i haven't seen before and that is pressurised flashlube feed that injects straight into the flowing gas. All good LPG installers will suggest an electronic flashlube system on Subarus, German cars can get away with a simple and cheaper vacuum feed, not the Scoobies, so make sure the system has a proper electronic or pressurised system not one that is vacuum feed, obvious with vacuum feed, its basically a bottle of oil with a single pipe leading away down to the engine, no wires no flashy light on it to tell you its working. The big problem buying used LPG is that you don't know how its been cared for, ie we went and looked at an LPG converted Outback a few years ago, the flashlube bottle was empty when we arrived, now how long had that been the case, and the engine was definately missing so chances are valve seat recession was the problem which would cost serious money to put right, ie both heads off new valves and new valve seats at the very least, and that's if it hasn't started to burn a piston. As i mentioned in the previous post, these 6 cyl boxer engines run silky smooth, any sign of lumpiness or hesitation summat is up. So, try to find a car that has done as few miles as possible since conversion and preferably one where the original converter is still in business, because not all installers/converters will work on all systems, also you want one where the owner has a clue what they are doing and has kept the system serviced and the flashlube topped up, so be very careful who you buy from, a fastidious mature previous owner who had the car converted and used it themselves is the best bet. They need top quality spark plugs, iridium or platinum not cheap, but once fitted they tend to last a very long time, 5 years or more, engine oil stays clean for ages because LPG is a very green fuel though the govt thieves only see fit to give you about a £15 a year discount for using one of the most environmentally efficient fuels out there, which goes to show their green policies are all hogwash. Best to have a chat and spend a bit of time with someone who already has an LPG car, so you see how they start on petrol and switch over to gas when a pre set temperature has been reached, most of the tiny switch/level displays work the same but it's useful to see one working so you know that the car you are looking at the LPG system genuinely works and the car runs smoothly on both fuels. Its also advisable to run on petrol only every now and then, to keep the two systems running well. Some systems run on part gas part petrol depending on engine load, on our Forester under full power the system allows part petrol mix through, that wasn't necessary on the H6 but is on the Forester. Make sure the car is registered on the LPG online system, which means its been converted by an approved installer and ideally you want the receipt for the system installation, most insurance companies are quite happy if your car features on the system, if not they will want to see the certificate of installation and if not registered online then it's probably an old system, and the gas tank is supposed to be recertified at 10 years anyway, though i doubt many are so done. The tank will more than likely be a toroidal unit sitting in the spare wheel well, sometimes on saloons people have a larger cylinder tank in the boot, i have such on my old Merc coupe, with the toroidal tanks they don't have a massive capacity and 200/225 miles is about as much as you'll get out of a tankful, and make sure the car still has a spare wheel! Presumably you have good lpg supplies in you area, if unsure then https://www.filllpg.co.uk/?page=home.php is a brilliant little site for finding lpg suppliers and the approx cost at the time. Be warned most people get an LPG conversion to cover miles cheaply so seldom do they sell early, check your potential purchase very carefully, any poor running walk away.

The 3.0 litre is a flat 6 engine, very little in the way of head gasket issues, and best of all chain driven camshafts. General rules of car buying apply, find the best cared for example you can, they need fresh engine oil every year and they do need fresh coolant now and again, make sure the service history and MOT history compliment each other, many Subaru owners self service their own cars once out of warranty so don't necessarily expect a full Subaru £££ SH, but a conversation with the owner will soon tell you if the owner was capable and bothered about proper maintenance. The brakes, like all cars but particularly Japanese need to be serviced correctly at least every other year, that doesn't mean peering at them through the wheel and squirting brake cleaner in their general direction either, it means full strip clean inspect and lube up. Corrosion weak spot is the rear subframe, check this carefully, cars that have spent their lives in Scotland or the far north will have seen more salt than those in the south, but given how the online MOT history no longer states the MOT station address this is difficult to pinpoint if vehicles are transported south for sale, SH if present should help here. Suspension is reasonably robust but if abused and/or neglected will suffer like any other car. Check the front inner driveshaft boots, these sit just above the Cats on H6's and can perish and split open, they can be seen from above if you look with a torch, luckily they are a doddle to replace, boots that is. The engine is strong, on tickover it should purr smoothly and you should be able to balance a coin on top, if it shudders or rocks at all something is amiss, this applies especially to cars which have been LPG converted and owners haven't bothered to maintain the flashlube level and valve seats may have suffered. What would i do upon purchase? same as i do all my cars go right through it, full normal service including changing all transmission oils, coolant change, full brake strip out and service and fluid change, remember the parking brake is of the drum inside disc design, so the rear disc/drums have to come off to inspect clean and lube up the parking brake mechanism, then wash the underbody fully once the winter is over and fully rustproof it. If it needs spark plugs, well all i can say is enjoy the experience 🙂, any skin that once covered your knuckles wrists and lower arms will have been removed by the time you have got those in and out, and you will need all sorts of plug sockets drives and extensions as you try to get them in and out in the confined space between the engine and chassis rails.

Good to see someone else using a proper trolley jack, IMHO the most important tool you can buy and not one to skimp on, which too many people do.

We had those same wheels refurbed when we had our Outback2, simply shot blasted and painted in very bright silver (seemed to have metal flakes in the paint cos glittered nicely), circa £200 should get them done plus tyre removal and refit costs, a pretty wheel in good shiny condition when compared to the dross out there fitted to so many cars. The only problem with them is keeping them clean regularly due to so many nooks and crannies, so suggest you invest in a 5 litre bottle of Bilt Hamber's Autowheel, which is gentle on the finish and dizzolves the dust in minutes, i can't understand why so meany people run around with caked on brake dust for months on end and think that a quick wash is going to fetch that baked in grime off, it won't. Getting diamond cut refaced is expensive and it simply doesn't last like good powder coating, by the time 2 years have gone by they'll be covered in spider crawls under the laquer again. All in all i'd suggest staying on the standard 215/60 x 16's, they are just right for the car, cheap enough size too and so long as buy a decent make you can't unstick the motor on that size, plus being 60aspect you keep that lovely soft ride, plus the high sidewalls make it very difficult to kerb the wheels.

Oil grade is an interesting thing here. My son had a highly tuned RA Imp running stupid hp, the engine was built and fitted by a chap who rallied Subarus, he recommended Millers 10w60 full synthetic as the best oil for these hot running engines, and to be fair that engine never gave a moments trouble despite being driven as hard as any vehicle i've seen. For what its worth i'm really not sure about 5W30 in these cars, we are running 5w40 in the Foz XT, but that's only my humble opinion.

Neither the good lady or myself would want to go back to 2WD, especially with a motor with some poke. The weather we are about to experience is what makes full time 4WD the best thing since Y fronts, slippery wet cold roads at junctions roundabouts bends no problem, these drivetrains just sort it all out for you, no embarrassing wheelspins, no struggling to put down grip, that grip is worth a hell of a lot of bhp when so much of it can't be used because of grip issues. My tuppenceworth is if you must sell find something that drives all the wheels.

Bilt Hamber is the stuff i use these days, more expensive than Waxoil but little waste and it does what it's supposed to, Dinitrol is another good product probably on a par with BH, but where BH excel is in the applicator probes for their large aerosols, i've never yet had a blockage but it's really too late in the year to be doing this job now unless you have access to a warmish garage and can get the car thoroughly clean and dry. BH make two types of underbody wax, a harder type for high abrasion areas, and a more liquid type for cavities. I cover all suspension and subframe components, and the exposed areas of sills and underbody which will suffer abrasion, if you have time its best to prepare the vehicle well and apply a hard coat of chassis paint to well rubbed down suspension/subframes before applying the wax after the paint has dried. I use the cavity wax inside sills, inside underbody strengthening, inside doors bootlid, bonnet, and inside all wings and quarter panels, and don't forget to remove the spare wheel and check the wheel well. You'll need about 6 to 8 cans of underbody wax and about 4 to 6 cans of cavity wax to do a thorough job and this will cost around £200, you can save a decent amount by buying the bulk lacks if you have suitable spraying equipment, it sounds expensive but if you do the job right you will have done a better job than the professionals and with better products...i say this because i had a Hilux professionally rustproofed @ some £400 11 years ago and since using BH's products i've done better DIY jobs since. I have no association with Bilt Hamber other than as a satisfied customer, their website is easy to use and you will find the stuff no cheaper elsewhere. For brake pipes i suggest greasing them with Castrol CL grease, which is waterproof.

Forester 2.5XT 2008 auto, around 20/23 mpg generally driven briskly using the power regularly, worse in town use. Fortunately running on LPG, currently @ 56ppl. Near enough the same fuel consumption as the 2002 Outback H6 it replaced, that too was running on LPG.

Agreed, and my size 11 work boots would customise a scrotes backside quite well.

I kept the winter set of alloys and tyres when we sold the Outback, tried them on our XT, perfect fit, and a decent all round size. 215/60 x 16.

My son had a well modified 2 litre type R running around 330hp. The biggest issue was gearbox, the standard box isn't up to coping with that sort of power if hard driven, he ripped two gearboxes to shreds under full power in either second or third. I'm far from an expert in these things, but don't just be looking at the engine, the drivetrain especially the gearbox has to be capable of handling that type of power too, remember in a normal car the wheels will spin if too much power is applied suddenly, with a Scooby that wheelspin safety valve isn't there so the next weakest link in the chain is what breaks, and you have the extra initial torque of those 500cc's trying to get loose. Not trying to piddle on your parade, just i've seen how much these rebuilds (and the engine work) cost the lad each time, best of luck.

We had BRC system fitted to the present Foz XT a few months ago, running very well indeed. Previously had our 2002 Outback H6 converted, that too never gave a moments trouble and still gives good service with my son, but will be sold shortly as they are emigrating. Flashlube or its equivalent valve saver is a must on Japanese engines or valve seat recession will be a problem, preferably pump driven, the system on our conversion pumps the oil straight into the gas mix, which is not something i've come across before.

Ok it was technically last week, but slipped another engine oil change in, carefully avoiding the almost fire hose speed hot oil comes out of a Foz sump. Won't be a problem any more as a Fumoto http://www.quickvalve.co.uk/ quick oil drain valve is now in place instead of the normal drain plug, so hot oil splashes on me and the driveway are a thing of the past. However not recommended for my Landcruiser sump, so not to worry i still get my twice yearly hot oil bath, only with much filthier oil, can't win them all.

If fuel economy is the only issue, and you really want to keep it, what about an LPG conversion, toroidal tank in the spare wheel well, job done. There is a very good chap near Doncaster who does conversions, the only reason we didn't get him to convert ours was the distance involved, we used someone more local to us. No better on fuel, but @ between 55 and 60p per litre.....