Judd

Compared to our Landcruiser (a completely different system with electric pump for brake assistance) yes the typical Forester brakes feel poor in comparison. I don't think this is a fault as such its just that where so many modern cars are overservoed, Subarus are more old fashioned in that regard requiring more pedal pressure, no trouble stopping our Forester but it requires probably twice the pedal pressure required in other overservoed or overassisted vehicles, i prefer that to the too soft braking of the Toyota but my wife prefers the other way round, by the way the handbrake is excellent, yes yours needs looking at. For many years i used Ferodo standard brake pads, gave a soft progressive pedal and needed less foot force to stop the car, sadly they vanished from the standard brake material scene, increasingly as asbestos disappeared the new materials were harder which not only required more servo assistance but we got to the strange stage where discs would wear out as quickly as pads, at one time changing discs was unheard of, now they are regular service items. Case in point where those Ferodo pads proved themselves beyond doubt, family Golf Diesel mk 2, OE pads hard as nails, discs wearing out faster than the pads, required Herculean effort to stop the car, not easy for the mature lady owner, i swapped out those OE (Textar as i recall, same family as Pagid) pads and fitted Ferodo, car transformed, but this was the daya before ABS and it caused an imbalance, car became prone to locking the front wheels because the Ferodo pads were a 'grippier' material, so had to refit new new Ferodo brake shoes to the rear to restore balanced braking. Go back more years still and when cars had drum brakes all round, almost no cars had brake assistance but were no harder to stop, my 71 5.7 litre Mustang had unservoed drums all round, good brakes until you needed to stop from 3 figure speed when fade became the problem, if you tried stopping a typical disc braked car without servo assistance you would have to come up with several hundred percent more pedal pressure to stop the car. Back to the present, i've found Brembo friction materials to be as near as dammit as i can find to Ferodo of yore, sadly they don't have that rough coating that Ferodo applied designed to deglaze the discs as they wore in, but in all other aspects braking is improved all round, and if you use Brembo pads and discs i've found the last a long long time, again i suggest that just like tyres its best to have the same brake friction materials all round for balance. Where to buy Brembo, i usually get mine when GSF have one of their many sales on, worth registering on their site so you get emails to let you know when the sale is on, usually 60% off. Don't forget your brakes need proper strip clean lube servicing, ideally every year but every other year if not. Remove pads, clean everything up and examine everything carefully, exercise pistons in their bores (i do this by removing one pad only and pumping the brakes gently to move the pistons in their bores then lever the piston back gently, repeat several times each piston), then lube all sliders etc with the correct brake grease (not coppaslip) and re-assemble, and if it hasn't been flushed for some time maybe the brake fluid needs replacing...sadly few people service their brakes correctly and nor do many car dealer workshops (squirting brake cleaner in the general direction of the brakes is not brake servicing) and you will find very few makers specify correct brake servicing on the service schedule Toyota is one that does on every major service which for most is every other year, ironic when brakes are the most important part of your car together with the tyres but also one of the most neglected parts. Sorry its been such a long post.

One other thought, check you haven't got a split CV boot (inners just as likely as outers) on the front with a joint running dry and/or full of road grit.

Wheel nuts all tight, wheel bearings all good, suspension good, anti roll bar links not worn etc? Correct wheels with the right spigot fitment? Transmission oils at the correct levels? If you had a centre diff in the locked position you get weird sounds and sensations as the transmission winds up, though i'm unsure if a Forester has a centre diff lock even as an option.

I've had two cat back stainless system custom made and fitted while i waited at https://www.mijexhaust.com/ Walsall. One on the previous Outback (2002 H6 so single pipe, OE system some £1500 if i recall correctly) and on the present Forester, both very good systems, both £295 inc vat, lifetime guarantee, don't know how they do it for the price. Whether they would quote a similar price for yours i don't know, obviously if it splits into two tail pipes it will be more. MIJ is probably too far from you, roughly 75 miles from where i live, but there might be an alternative maker nearer you, i'm fairly sure i heard on another forum, possibly the Landcruiser forum, about a similar good value exhaust maker possibly in Cardiff or Newport but don't hold me to that.

If you struggle to find that Laser adaptor, its in my garage and i keep it in the blister pack so the part number is available. I'm not sure about how the drive shafts come out of the gearbox either, most cars it's a sprung circlip holding them in a slight groove so a suitable placed lever between joint and box provides enough pressure to pop the spring past its groove. The roll pin design of earlier Outback was superb, just pop the roll pin out with a small hammer and suitable drift and the shaft just slid off the output spline, that should be how all shafts are attached, the roll pin wasn't taking any drive strain just keept the shaft from sliding along the splines, whoever designed that had future maintenance in mind not just cheap and cheerful manufacture. Hope repacking those joints improves things for you.

Before you splash out, have you repacked all 4 joints with fresh grease? To make life easier, Laser make a grease gun adaptor, which is a long thin nozzle like a 3mm bore pencil, this connects onto your grease gun (i keep one solely for repacking CV joints) so you can just cut the narrow end clamp of each boot, feed the adaptor under the boot and up into the joint and pump some grease directly into the joint. Can't recall the last CV joint ot drive shaft i've had to change, might have been on a Pug 306 in the 90's, i don't let them get to being worn but pump some grease into each joint every couple of years, usually at the same time i strip clean lube the brakes. I haven't removed drive shafts from the Forester, but did renew the split inner joint boots on the previous Outback (they all do that sir), apart from the front hub being a really tight fit on one bearing the job was simple enough, the Outback joints were secured to the shafts by circlips, so once clips unsprung the whole joints could be slid off the shaft and taken apart for cleaning and regreasing, despite running for probably several months though a winter fully split by the previous owner there was no wear to be found in these joints, these are very well engineered cars, i hope the Foz shafts come off and apart as easily. On the Outback the drive shafts didn't pull out of the box, the shafts were held to the output shafts by roll pins, usually with boxes you lose some oil removing standard shafts, but its a good opportunity to renew the front diff and transmission oils whilst there, you never know repacking might see the existing joints have a new lease of life.

I'm no expert or mechanic, are you certain nothing is staying on, eg something as simple as a vanity mirror light, assuming nothing still live would it be possible to fit a throw switch to one of the battery terminals connections so the starter battery can be physically disconnected easily without using a spanner whilst the car is parked for a week or more. I agree this is ridiculous, but with these modern designs so much is running constantly it might be in your best interests to find a way around this so you arn't inconvenienced and the dealer doesn't faff too much guessing the issues.

Pagid being part of TMD friction have a good aftermarket online catalogue with detailed diagrams of pads, you will be able to find yours whatever Subaru or country they came from originally (if they arn't Uk spec Forester OE brake calipers/discs), i have used the TMD online catalogue before to compare and confirm i'm ordering the right pads by comparing the diagrams and dimensions with the pads already fitted. https://www.brakebook.com/bb/pagid/en_GB/PKW/107/2048/15990/applicationSearch.xhtml

One other thought, is it getting the right sort of motoring to allow the DPF to regen adequately, has it regenerated in your ownership time to your knowledge?

Honestjohn's real mpg https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/subaru/xv-2012, as submitted by owners of the cars, shows average real mpg to be 47mpg, so you arn't that far out, depending on the use your car gets, terrain travelled, periods of constant running versus multiple junctions bends urban stop start driving and last but not least how you drive, no criticism here or suggestions you are doing anything wrong, but many drivers do not use terrain correctly or allow the vehicle to drop speed via overrun etc, we are all guilty of less than perfect economy driving to an extent, that 38.6 might be quite reasonable. Glow plugs generally only work for up to a minute if that at cold start, they do not continue to operate once past initial running phase, and unless your car displays difficulty when cold starting ie one or more cylinders misfiring till they get warmed up enough to fire i wouldn't worry about them, remember glow plugs in many modern engines have a nasty habit of snapping off in the head when you try to remove them (big expensive job), so best left alone unless they actually fail. Being a typical Japanese car my first action would be to strip out, inspect and clean the brakes, exercise the pistons in their bores to make sure they are free to move and lube everything that moves with the correct red brake grease upon reassembly, particularly any sliding pins, include the park brake if its the drum inside disc design (rear discs have to come off for access)..i have no idea what system of park brake the XV uses, i'm speaking generally of most well made Japanese cars which haven't gone over to satan's electric parking brake of doom...edit, nope i see a proper park brake lever so should be the very best of all rear brake designs, drum inside disc. A good check for binding brakes and wheel bearings is to select a suitable stopping point on a longer journey you make that you can come to a halt in without touching the brakes at all, ie a long layby uphill on a long quiet dual carriageway, where you can use the hill to stop, then once stopped have a feel around the brakes and hubs for any excess warmth. Also check tyre pressures and look at the treads for uneven wear that could indicate an alignment issue, i don't think your fuel usage is that far out that it's more than a minor issue causing the lower than average, if anything. edit, one other minor thought, proper AWD cars like Subarus require very similar tyres and tread depths all round or the various diffs can be working continually to adjust for rolling radius of mismatched tyres (leading to slight drag and excess wear to diffs), also more rugged all terrain or full winter tyres usually use more fuel than standard summer style tyres.

Phwoar, if that had been my first ever Subaru my grin would have extended 3 times round me bonce, come to think of it even at my age i'd still be grinning like a Cheshire cat. Well bought mate, cracking car. 👍 I'll keep an eye out for you/it, regularly visit the Lombard Way industrial area, if an old bod in an artic tanker gives you a blast on the horn and thumbs up you'll know who it is.

I have the older SG9 version, which is shod with 215/55/17 normally, my full winter set are the alternative specified, ie 215/60 x 16, so slightly smaller tyres all round than your model, no trouble at all with clearance though i appreciate its a different model. The point i'm making is that as well as quieter running the ride is vastly improved on the 16" even though there's only 5% aspect ratio difference on my sizes, so with your potential difference of 10% aspect the ride should be so much better after the change if you go for the 16's. As a bonus quickly looking up Goodyear Vector All Seasons as an example of decent spec tyre, there's something like a £30/40 saving if you go for the 16's. Only one question i can think of, the 16" wheels arn't specified as winter only with reduced tyre speed spec?

Ageing Subarus are difficult to value because the people who want them are very much individuals and few and far between, these are not mainstream cloned vehicles and don't appeal to the mainstream car buyer, this applies doubly so to fast Foresters in my opinion, they are fairly anonymous looking estate cars with no attempt at sporting styling (apart from the lowered STI's), this appeals to some of us who like sleeper type cars and have no interest in impressing anyone else, they are expensive to own and run and horrendous on fuel. 56 plate like my 08 model has that £555 annual VED bill hanging around its neck, which again puts lots of people off, it would probably be more valuable as a sale had it been 55 plate so earning the cheaper tax. Whether its worth repairing is up to you, do you really like the car enough to ignore its value as a sale prospect and concentrate instead of what it means to you? unless its otherwise pristine i doubt you'd get your money back to be honest if you repaired it and then sold it, i'd be more inclined to sell as is if you want shot of it, its not the type of car to appreciate as it ages further.

Yep, same here and no definately not opening the links.

Hmm, on looking again it appears the overflow pipe is connected to both filler points, still caps are now on as handbook shows. Anyone any ideas on those little bulbs please?

Had a poke nose in the handbook, and ity would appear mine are on wrong, handbook clearly shows the radiator cap is the shaped cap and the filler point the round one, i'll swap them over tomorrow. On the Forester the overflow tank is connected to the radiator not the filler cap as in your WRX Siluro.

Thanks Siluro, that's question 2 answered, and yes mine are the right way round. I would have thought the two way valve would have been on the radiator to allow the overflow bottle to do its work, but there's somethiing else at play no doubt.

Yeah i know first worlds problems and all that. Those tiny bulbs that go inside the fog light switches on a SG9, one of mine has blown so i'd like to buy a few replacements, you have to dismantle the switch to get them out, anyone know what the code is for the bulb and where (apart from the dealer i might get them please) T3 springs to mind but not sure. I had a small dash bulb blow on my previous Toyota Landcruiser, one that illuminates depending on which automatic hear you had selected, couldn;t find them anywhere, dealer part only, i wouldn't be surprised if this is the case here nor would i be surprised if Subaru don't sell the bulbs separately. Second question, on the Foz there are two coolant caps, one on the rad and one on the filling point near the air filter housing, which is supposed to be on which please, one is round the other is traditional rad cap shape.

Hi Tom, I don't believe it just posted a full message and its vanished. Here we go again, grr. https://www.mijexhaust.com/subaru.php Had two exhausts made there, first time 5/6 years ago was a really long day, circa 7 hours, they'd obviously overbooked which is understandable as they no doubt get a number of no-shows, this summer we were in and out in 2.5 hours, a few decent little cafes nearby so you can get a bite to eat etc. See you are in North Wales, my son had his RA engine and box rebuilt not far from you, but i don't know if the chap concerned is still into Subarus, we are talking probably 10 or more years ago, he used to prepare and rally his own cars and know his classics, if he's still the owner of the business he might have something that would suit you and a lot closer to home. His name is John and its Dutton Tyres, Gronant Rd, Bryn Newydd, Prestatyn 01745 852441...you might think a long way from here Northants to his place and it was, but luckily both Russ and i drove car transporters for a living then so whoever was going up there stuck the Subaru on top, if you get to see him for any reason please pass on Brian's (Russell's dad) regards.

If you can get to Walsall with the car, MIJ will custom make and fit a full stainless cat back system while you wait, had our XT done recently for under £300 incl.

Certainly wouldn't refuse MIntex at that price, owned by the same people who make Textar pads etc if i recall. IIRC they came like some others with the non swept parts unpainted where some other makers paint the non friction surfaces, when that's the case i apply a coat of black hammerite or similar so you don't see the rust on those parts through the alloy wheels, just personal preference whether you do and which colour you choose.

Steelmate make some of the best parking sensor systems out there, not cheap but high quality with individual replacement parts available which you won't find with the cheapies, we had front and rear sensors fitted to our new Hilux at the time, very accurate, small unobtrusive led display on the dash showing which sensor was being triggered, i could maneuver to within a couple of inches front and rear, thought provoking ''watching'' a child walking across the front of the truck as the leds lit up in turn marking his progress.

Sadly i too agree. If this was a petrol powered model then i'd say yes make the greatest use of it, but unless you travel for an hour or so on open roads regularly, giving it a fair chance to regen, then you will probably have DPF issues....if your normal motoring means you get a decent run fairly regularly then by all means give it a shot, if it causes issues then you can get the garage to force a regen then either modify your usage or sell the car on, at the very least you will have discovered if such a vehicle type is for you. This is where lorries are so much better, on some you can see the condition of the DPF via the dash menu (precentage of ash reading), and on some manually trigger a regen when suitable, all will warn you when a regen has started giving you the choice to carry on (i've driven an extra 5 miles once to allow a normal vehicle triggered regen to complete), and almost all of them have a full forced regen facility where you can park somewhere quiet where the much increased heat from the exhaust won't be a problem then press a switch, the engine will go to fast idle and 30 mins later the vehicle has self cleaned the DPF...in practice after some 400,000 kms with 2 different make DPF equipped lorries i have not yet needed to trigger a forced regen and only had to cancel a normal vehicle triggered regen once due to just arriving at a customer where i would be blowing product into an explosive atmosphere right beside the vehicle, not a place for excess exhaust heat. Now why couldn't car makers have made this type of operation or even the state-of-play info available on cars, OK some people wouldn't have a clue but we're not all as stupid as car makers seem to think (one size fits all again), on most cars you don't even get a dash light to warn a regen is in process so it's too easy to stop regens mid cycle after a shortish run, this could happen repeatedly...after all the driver knows if they are about to embark on a suitable joureny, the computer in reply doesn't know you are only driving 4 miles to the supermarket. I have one other thought for you Urban Forester, it might be possible to get the software (don't ask me where or what i'm not a techie sort) so you can link to the diagnostics port and see for yourself the state of play of DPF, might even be possible to trigger your own static regen if you get any trouble...Toyota owners have access cheaply to a system called Techstream, i have it myself for my Toyota 4x4 use it mainly for checking injector values etc, there's probably something similar where Subaru owners can get into their vehicle's diagnostics without spending a small fortune...hopefully someone on this forum could advise if such a system exists.

That's annoying. What the hell is the matter with people these days, uncaring selfish irresponsible low IQ louts are breeding like locusts, this is nothing to do with class by the way it's arrogance bullying and never being held to account for their actions from when they were in nappies..arguably some of them are still in nappies judging how they behave.

Remember M&S actually means very little other than the precentage of open tread, ie not a slick. Winter rated tyres will have the 3 peak mountain and snowflake symbol embossed on the sidewall, this applies whether full winter rated or proper all season, they may or may not have M&S stamped on the side as well but it means nothing regarding winter grade rubber. I don't know if Germany requires winter specific tyres or if snowflake stamped all season rubber satisfies the requirements.