Judd

Passed MOT, advisory on split rubber on front drop link, got a pair on order. Just thought you'd like to know how bad the emissions are to justify the £575 (£10 dual fuel discount) VED cost this year, CO 0.00 HC 16ppm out of an allowed 1200.

LPG conversion, also bought a set of Rallyflaps for the STi version which with a minor bit of jiggery pokery i made fit the standard XT, good rally style flaps have made a massive difference to the amount of mucky spray the car kicks up (mine are plain black), i've also extensively rustproofed the car as i do with all long term cars. We run the standard 17" wheels with a summer set of tyres, but i already had the alternative 215/60 x 16 wheels with almost new winter tyres which we used on the previous Outback, so obviously they go on during the winter season, if i didn't already have the winter set i'd probably have fitted a set of Vredestein Quatrac all seaons tyres for all year use, the ride is noticeably more comfortable on the 16" rubber though being winter rubber its softer compound.. Standard brakes all round, more than adequate and cheap and simple to work on, as is everything about the car apart from spark plugs, after a couple of years the engine light came on, auxilliary air pump failed (they all do that sir) and they've been removed and programmed out. Be aware, if and when the exhaust needs replacing do not think that you can get the right aftermarket jobbie supplied anywhere, you can't, and i nearly dropped a clanger over this, but thanks to Mr B a regular poster here who warned me at the last moment and i avoided that mistake. The standard system on our cars is 2.5", the aftermarket replacements they try and sell you wrongly are the 2" system meant for the 2.0 litre NA model, instead i had a stainless system made and fitted at MIJ Walsall while i waited for just under £300 (plus a drink for the lads) which was £50 cheaper than the mild steel wrong system was going to cost anyway. If you have a poke nose on this forum you'll find a thread from me and some pics of the fitted system. Other than that it does everything we ask of it, i overservice all my cars anyway, and on that note if yours is the automatic you'll find the gearbox has its own external spin on transmission filter, looks like an engine oil filter but works the opposite way, filtering only part of the oil constantly unlike the engine filter which filters all oil continually, i've changed that and given the car a quick gearbox oil change every now and again, possibly even easier than an engine oil change, seriously these cars are so easy to work on. No visible modifications as such, i like the fact it looks like an ice cream van with no XT badges, only the bonnet scoop giving the game away and only petrolheads would know what that means, so you don't get hot heads in hot hatches trying to prove anything.

Well bought, i thought mine was low mileage at mid 40's but yours is a rare gem. Not many Subaru indies about, two options of good ones i know of, either Zen performance at St Ives Cambs who you'd have to travel to, or you could ring Tim Farmer who's mobile and lives in Lincolnshire, he's on 07880 661866 and will obviously come to you. Make sure whoever does the job includes stripping cleaning and re-lubing the brakes properly.

New rear pads and discs plus swapped out one rear drop link, then a wash down with the Dirt Busters cherry snow foam i recently bought to run through my pressure washer dispenser, which does a cracking job. MOT Tuesday.

Much as it goes against the grain i'd go for the Honda, and spend some of the substantial fuel savings on premium all season tyres. sadly Subaru Diesels earned themselves a bad reputation for terminal failure and whilst the problems are supposed to be cured then Subaru stopped selling the Diesel, which sort of makes me wonder. Honda same as Subaru, looks after the brakes by servicing them properly regularly, my daughter who has a veritable fleet of petrol Civics will be here shortly for dinner, she swears by the things and to be fair none of her cars have let her down.

Yes they go well, but the main reason for having a Subaru in my humble is the handling and transmission. Came into its own not 2 hours ago, really bright low late sun circa 1615 on the way home from work this afternoon, country road sun is at the back of me, come round a rh corner to find a Fiesta heading straight at me half on my side of the road, i expect dazzled by the sun...though driving into a low sun he should have been aware and had a clean screen etc to start with...anyhow swift left verge jobbie for me to avoid a head on smash, the Forester just took it in its stride, no drama, no fuss, helped that the Foz is so narrow. Yes the fuel consumption isn't anything to write home about but the safety aspect of Subarus isn't stressed enough.

Those air pumps were fitted to the 2.5 turbocharged engines, not sure what others they might be found on, far as i know they only run for 30 seconds or so after a cold start to help keep initial emissions down, they all seem to fail eventually. Very expensive to replace, best taken off and programmed out. In my humble the number one reason for buying a Subaru is the transmission and how it makes the car totally safe and secure in almost all road conditions, allows you to take advantage of the superior grip if in a hurry without looking a right plank with the typcal tyre squealing antics other cars suffer from. The downside to the transmission is in fuel usage, its a lot of transmission to drag around when not needed compared to other AWD systems, but given some decent servicing the transmission seldom gives any issues unlike others which cancels out the cost. I wouldn't buy a Subaru Diesel of any age unless so cheap i could scrap it if and when it failed. The downside to Subarus is that there isn't a high number of good indy mechanics you could trust one to, aftermarket parts supplies except for normal service/friction parts isn't great and dealer parts are very expensive, on the good side if you look after them with good regular servicing (paying extra attention to the brakes** as you should with all Japanese cars) the chances of needing big repairs is low in my experience. ** that's just one of the reasons i'm so against electric park brakes, makes normal brake maintenance more involved and more difficult than it need be to exercise the pistons in their bores during routine servicing, a practice that together with good regular cleaning/lubing will see you with superb brakes that stop and wear better with calipers that can literally last forever.

Avoid cars that have lived in Scotland, excess road salt but that goes for many cars not just Subarus. I'll second finding the best maintained you can and continue with that regime. I have no experience of the new models, we've had a H6 Outback which was bomb proof and the current Forester XT which has needed the not needed auxilliary air pumps removing and deleting from the ecu, other than that its been regular good maintenance with no breakdowns or failures to proceed. We would have a newer Outback but will not have an electric park brake out of principle (also the reason why a Toyota Avensis estate isn't sitting on the drive) because it was something no one asked for and adds unecessary complication and cost for no benefits whatsoever other than to cater for people who can't control their vehicles competently.

I have no idea if what you are suggesting would work. However if its doesn't work you're close to chaps who can sort it for you, Zen, St Ives.

It's surprising just how loud some tyres can be, the winter set on our Foz make the sound you describe, perfect description by the way tram like, especially noticeable in built up areas when slowing from say 30mph when the sound is reflected from surrounding buildings. First week after i fitted them for this season wifey asked me if there was a wheel bearing on the way out, its not its the noise the tread pattern sets up, soon as the summer set of Falkens go back on the noise will vanish. Have all season Yokohamas on our Prado with much heavier AT tread pattern and those are really quiet but the Prado is well soundproofed from the factory, some tyres just kick up a racket.. Those conti cross contacts are proper all terrain pattern with multiple sipes as you would find on a typical full winter tyre doesn't surprise me they are making a noise, our generation Foresters are not very well soundproofed, might be worth investigating fitting some of those rubberised self adhesive sound proofing pads you can buy relatively cheaply, i haven't done so with the Foz but have seen big improvements doing this with other cars.

I'd apply jump leads or jump pack, if the battery has stood a long time then some cells might be too sulphated to take a fullcharge. Also, following Mr B's suggestions if still no joy and its an auto try it in N as well as P. On our previous Outback maybe once a year the inhibitor switch would play up in P, moving it to N would see the car start and the issue might not raise its head for another 12 or more months. I have no idea if you have to depress the clutch pedal to start a manual Foz, but that too might be worth trying, the previous owner could have had such a switch fitted. If still no joy look around for a secreted switch, i know of cars that have switches installed that prevent the low tension signal reaching the starter solenoid, not fool proof of course but another problem for some low life to have to defeat.

Nice to know Quedgeley still operational, used to lift new Subarus out of there regularly when i drove full size car transporters.

On some of the larger 4x4s with low range, some owners switch the engine off and then shift range to avoid that grating sound, might be worth a try. You shouldn't be smelling clutch in any normal driving, something may be amiss there, don't know if there's any adjustment possible on the Foz.

Much obliged for the confirmation. Will continue with the trad red rubber grease where any contact with rubber is likely.

Both those products, Granville and Ferroslip, are they sutable for contact with rubber seals etc? or is the standard red rubber grease still required for those parts.

Much obliged for that Jay, will look for some Ferroslip

Constant rattling/clicking sound? could be CV joint, might get away with repacking the joints with fresh grease, certainly worth trying. A more suspension knocking sound might be drop links, cheap enough to buy and easy to fit DIY. You'll have to get underneath and suss out what's wrong.

The only Molyslip i can recall was the super thick stuff some people bought a tin of to chuck in their engine/gearbox back in the 70's, when i say chuck in i mean even warmed it was the consistency of treacle, taken from a cold shelf you'd need a spoon to dig it out. Many thanks for the tip though Jay.

Thanks for updating the thread Wulbert, wish others would do the same after someone like MrB has given his time and knowledge. Just rereading my waffle from earlier, i missed something out and was reminded when you mentioned having to shave down the edges of the new pads slightly to make a nice sliding fit. On many, probably the vast majority, of calipers the pad edges sit in and slide as they wear on stainless steel sprung anti rattle clips, these clips invariably end up with crud underneath over time, so when you next do the brakes remember to ping those clips off, give them a good wire brushing and the caliper underneath where they fit, an old small cold chisel is handy at this point for scraping that crud from the nooks and crannies of the caliper where these clips fit, then refit and be amazed how the new pads just slide gently into place where before you whipped the spring clips off it was a real struggle to get them in. Note i sometimes give the barest wipe of coppaslip between the anti rattle clip and caliper if the caliper is starting to show signs of corrosion, and i do mean just a sliver enough to help slow further corrosion down but without there being any chance of the stuff being forced out and ending up on the pad itself, its not essential and others may disagree about the coppaslip in there.

If you can afford to buy the car you want and afford to lose a massive percentage of its value should the market bubble burst then by all means do so, after all you can't take it with you, just be aware that things can and do go pear shaped very quickly by accident or by design...look at what happended to the values of high VED cars in the 2001/2006 age group when the useless govt of the day suddenly and unfairly backdated road tax and put them in the highest VED bands, yes that only lasted a few months before politicians of the time realised it was a big vote loser and grossly unfair even by their low standards, but many owners sold cars quickly and lost a lot of money during that time before the values of high co2 cars of that years stabilised again, however none of us know what the useless present or future govts have planned re taxation or car owning permissions, or anything basically, ie the narrative of the current farce changes weekly. Make sure any vehicle you want to buy is the best condition example you can find in rust free condition underneath (current thread re XV steering rack worth looking at if only to see what salt can do unseen) and preferably has lived in the southern end of the country so seen less road salt, then service it above and beyond and keep it rust free by whatever means you prefer so it keeps its value for as long as possible, the best condition older vehicles sell easily, rusty uncared for examples don't or at giveaway prices.

The pinion is steel, the rest of the steering rack casing probably alloy, hence it will corrode evetually but not as obvious or as quickly as steel, dare say owners of XV's reading this will be looking to get some spray grease or similar squirted in where the steering column clamps to the rack, there will probably be an exposed universal joint at the bottom of the steering column where it clamps to that spline, that wouldn't hurt to have a blast with spray grease if the fitting garage haven't already done so because those UJ's can start to seize on some vehicles (Small Landcruisers, Prados are known for this) which makes the steering feel really weird. Tp be fair the spline on your rack looks really rusty for such a new car, makes me wonder if there's a water trap in the design or maybe the top section of the steering rack get undue road spray directly. Regarding road salt, its the most devstating product possible they could put down on the roads, even if you use the car sparingly between end Nov and end April whenever the roads are wet you'll be throwing salty water all over the undersides of your car, the further north you go the worse the problem, and why some of us do all we can to avoid buying cars that have lived in Scotland and the far north. What i do (as do many) is periodically during the winter when you wash the car give it a rinse over underneath with the hose to keep the worst of the salt at bay, best just after a drive on really wet roads, 15 mins with a garden sprinkler set up under the car in two or three places is a popular and easy wash down, and then once the salt has finally disappeared after the spring rains get serious about washing the undersides, if you run your fingers around the lip of the rear wheel arch what you fetch out from there will be an eye opener and give you some idea of the problem. The salt issue is also why many including me tend to strip clean and lube the brakes correctly soon as the warm weather arrives, because that salt is doing exactly the same damage to the brake calipers.

Never tried Halfords own and haven't a clue who makes them, but had several sets of Phillips Extremes and Osram NIghtbreakers is various cars, plus Osram Truckmates in an artic with well known poor beam patterns, all have been long lived with better light output.

One wonders why the teh shop that supplied the refurb didn't want yours as an exchange, that's usually what happens if they don't recondition your particular part. Might be worth finding out which workshop it was and ask them if there's a deposit you could get back if they had your old one back, obviously leave this a few days in case Subaru need the old one back if they're going to offer any goodwill. Serious amount of corrosion there, has the car seen a lot of salt? suggest having a good look underneath the vehicle to see if some remedial rustproofing measures might be worth considering.

see Whilst i didn't have to replace the CAT, the cat back system i had made and fitted is still doing its job, a long drive from Norfolk its true but could well be worth considering.

Good luck with the sale. For anyone with a Forester interested in these, i use the winter set from our previous 2003 (same fitment as 2007 model) Outback's winter set on our 2008 Forester XT, in fact cos it was sunny i swapped them over this very afternoon. Like yourself when these 2 sets have done their time i too shall swap over to all seasons, the quandry will be use the 16" winter wheels or the OE 17" summer wheels, both of which are as new due to the relatively high profile 55 /60 aspect tyres.