SebP10

Welcome! I can't comment explicitly on the Outback, but the floor vents below the front seats on my 2016 Levorg and my wife's 2017 XV both blow A/C when set to feet. Neither car has any other vents in the rear so I can't confirm how they may work on an Outback, but, as Subaru interiors are not very sophisticated, if the Climate Control decides it needs to cool then all vents that are active will blow cool air. Hope this helps (although may just be another variable in your quest for the truth!)

It was a job that I've needed to do for a long time, but without a spare wheel it's a pain in the whatnot! Not made easier with a sloping drive, either. I took it to work on the 24th and it didn't sound healthy when cranking in the morning. I left it idling for 5 mins or so to clear the fog (way more than mist) from the windscreen, but my commute, even taking the scenic / fun route, is under 9 miles so it still didn't get a good charge, so was still grumpy on the 28th. However the Optimate is now green, so 50-odd hours @ 530 mA (600 mA charge less the 70 mA drain) have topped it up nicely. I'll swap the cars over later so the Levorg can have some 100% renewable electricty too (well, it is according to the recent adverts for our energy supplier anyway!)

After many, many months of general procrastination I finally got my BTM engaged and swapped the wheels from front to rear on both sides, despite a 3t jack failure (lifted enough to get it on stands but then refused to lift to remove the stands; new seals or skip for that, then!) After managing to get the height on a 2t jack (not easy with almost 9" of ground clearance) the car is now on charge for more elastictrickery as it's been a little sluggish starting recently.

If it has HIDs you will notice that after switching on they take a couple of seconds to reach full brightness. (FWIW, our 2017 XV has HID low beam but just a standard halogen high beam. The difference in colour is very noticeable, with the HIDs being white to the halogen's yellow.)

Managed to get an indicated 40 mph (60 limit) at the apex (no crossing of the white lines) on the only fun corner on my commute 😁 (it's a K-right, with a very, very slight camber.) Wasn't trying too hard, just thought I'd see what she could do. Still on the OE Geolanders. Only 3 mph less than the Levorg has managed, too 🤔

Found this info on a North American XV site: From the Service Manual: Front: Cambor: 0 degrees 10' +/- 30' Caster: 5 degrees 58' Steering Angle: Inner Wheel - 38.5 degrees +/- 1.5 degrees Outer Wheel - 34.0 degrees +/- 1.5 degrees Front Wheel Toe-in: 0 +/- 3mm Rear Wheel Toe-in: 3 +/- 3mm Thrust angle: 0 degrees +/- 30' Link here... https://www.subaruxvforum.com/threads/xv-crosstrek-oem-wheel-alignment-spec.1768/

Our 2017 XV lost a lot of DAB channels a year or so ago, as did the Levorg and the portable DAB radio in the garage. I've tried rescanning several times and non of them pick up as many stations as they used to. It makes me wonder if it is a signal strength issue round my way rather than something specific to the cars? You could try driving somewhere open and high (whilst it's still allowed!) and trying a scan as it may be that once they're stored it will find them. Hope it works as R6 is the best station (IMO!)

The service booklet states to inspect the auxiliary drive belt(s) annually and replace at 100,000 miles.

Don't know if you've made a decision yet, but Tyre Reviews has just posted a new video on all-season tyres... May be worth a watch if you haven't taken the plunge.

As above for All-Season tyres, but look at the TyreReviews website or on his YouTube channel for some interesting tests. I've had Vredstein Quattrac Pro tyres on the Levorg since Dec last year and they are very good in the cold and wet. We didn't have much of a winter down south last year but they came 2nd in an AutoBild All-Season tyre test (See TyreReviews) to the Michelin CrossClimates, which seem to be the class leader. I only went for the Vredsteins over the CrossClimates (and Conti / Goodyear / Nokian) as they are asymmetric, which makes wheel rotation easier. They are also 3PMSF stamped. MPG dropped slightly, but grip is more important. But any All-Season tyre from one of the top brands should be fine.

Hey Ned! I haven't replaced them (still under drive-train warranty, so avoiding doing anything to affect that yet), but the videos just popped up on YouTube suggestions, and the extra lift on the bonnet seemed like a good tip (nowt in the handbook, obviously.) The two I watched both did them without messing around with engine mounts, they just took the battery out for the N/S and the airbox for the O/S (links below...) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLet3J2KAT0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuAv2ZcjN-I&t=376s It looks a bit fiddly but straightforward. There is no need to mess around with engine mounts, and the second video completed the job in 30 mins-ish. I'm not so concerned about working on it now (once the warranty expires.)

Found out (from watching a YouTube video on spark plug replacement) that there's an extra hole in the bonnet for the stay. This puts the bonnet practically vertical (and gets the stay lower) for better access when working on the off-side cylinders. Probably not recommended when it's windy!

My wife took the XV to Aylesbury today to have the front brakes replaced. The car was cleaned inside and out and she paid for it to be bombed too. They also checked the sat nav for updates as the car is coming to the end of the three year free period (something I have had to do myself up to now.) All in all she was very impressed by the service. There is no doubt that we will use them again in the future.

I saw that too. However, given that manufacturers are charged €95 for every 1 g/km of CO2 they emit over 95 g/km, I doubt it will be coming anywhere near Europe.

No, we use Northampton, although the XV is going to Aylesbury on Friday for front discs and pads. I saw that they got the Customer Care award last year in the Subaru magazine, so we'll see what they're like. Well, the Mrs will as the Levorg is in for its 4th service. Front and rear diff oil change this year. ££££! The service history is electronic now, but the dealer should print it off for you if you ask. I just keep the service receipts in the folder as a record.

As you've got directional tyres the numbers suggest that they have been swapped F-R. The handbook has rotation details for directional and assymetric, so as I swapped the fronts a couple of months ago I'm going for F-R, which will put the former NSF on the OSR, so (theoretically) least wear. This is not quite following the handbook, but I'm more concerned about getting the rears on the front to balance the wear. I've looked for a spare wheel but the prices seem to be a bit OTT, or I'm timing it wrong. (And then something else comes along to swallow funds; for example, the oven packed up at the weekend and initial investigations indicate it may be terminal / not economic; typical!)

It does sound like Bozzybear had a duff battery... However, it's becoming clear that new Subarus have a battery drain issue. (Interesting to hear that a dealer believes it is the alarm / immobiliser that is fitted when imported.) From some rudimentary checks the alarm only seems to draw 4 mA (locked with key so alarm off) so the rest (above unlocked state) must be the immobiliser? Both our cars draw 71 mA when parked and locked, For the standard 62 A battery this will drain it in only 35 days, so it probably won't have enough "umph" to start it after only a couple of weeks. I have bought a 4.8 W AA solar panel which does ok for us as one car can get 9 hours of sunlight at the moment (clouds permitting.) Did anyone else get the Subaru email at the start of lockdown recommending that the battery be disconnected if the car was to idle for a length of time? Seemed interesting to me that they would recommend that (albeit with a caveat that your insurance should be checked / informed.)

It was with the panel connected so the voltage will be inflated slightly. If I remember correctly the voltage was around 12.55 V on first checking (after the 10 A spike of unlocking the doors and then interior lights whilst popping the bonnet) but rose steadily to over 12.60 V in 30 s as it recovered. The sun was high enough that the bonnet did not obsure the panel. We're fortunate that the dashboard gets sun from around 1030 until 1900 at the moment, so I think it is breaking even over 24 hours at the moment (on sunny days.)

I left the XV alone, apart from occasionally opening the door to pop the bonnet and check the battery voltage, for three weeks and it started on the button without fuss. The battery voltage was generally around 12.6 V, so the 4.8 W panel seems ok at this time of year, althought the car is pointing almost south so gets a decent amount of sun (when available!) I agree it won't give a net charge to the battery, but if it buys some time then holidays (when allowed) will have one less thing to stress about! I may look at a higher power panel (size dependant) for winter use (Mrs could be working from home until the New Year so the car may be stood for a while.) Overcharging won't be as much of an issue once the nights draw in and the sun is lower in the sky (and sorry to bring winter up before the longest day)

Yes, I'm still here! I measured the tread depths with a set of vernier (actually digital) calipers at work on Monday. The fronts have ~5 mm tread left and the rears have ~6 mm. (I was expecting it to be the other way round as it was serviced on Friday and the tyres should have been rotated 🙄) The OSF was lowest, but I swapped them across a couple of months ago so it was the NSF and so hardest hit here in roundabout country (not far from MK.) It's a little worn on the outside edge of the tread (from the roundabouts), but there are no cracks in the sidewalls. I'm going to swap them around at the weekend (huge fun with no spare!) to get the lowest tread on the OSR and the greatest on the NSF to even out the wear.

The tyre pressures were checked and set the previous evening to the normal low-load pressures. It was the floaty feeling on a dual carriageway that was unnerving. A sort of half-way to aquaplaning, if that makes sense? It was the feeling you get when the tyres need replacing at around 3 mm, not when they've got ample tread left. And for A/S tyres, I've gone for Vredestein Quatrac Pro on my Levorg, as they generally come second to the Cross Climates in tests, but are assymetric so tyre rotation is far easier. They're also "3PMSF" marked. The XV may now get a set of these (more likely the 17" equivalent Quatrac 5) or Cross Climates this year after yesterday's excitement! The prices are similar so I may go Cross Climates and compare. (Reviews on here seem positive!)

Well this is rather good timing! Whilst driving back from the service yesterday the heavens opened and the XV was not at all stable. It's still on the OE Geolanders with 5-6 mm of tread left. The tyres are dated 10/17, so just over 3 years old and not cracking, so it took me a bit by surprise by how twitchy it was. Likewise, they've been great up to now (although I don't drive it that often), but they felt as if they were down to 3 mm or less. Maybe they are beginning to harden? As you've got a summer and winter set I would do as suggested above and look for something with an A-rated wet performance for the summer wheels.

The Levorg is going in for a service in a couple of weeks so I'll mention it to them. If it's Subaru approved and nets them a few quid I'm sure they'll give it a go!

Well the A/C was checked at the service today and they found a leak in the condenser. The service sheet says "no damage, manufacturing fault" so it will be getting one fitted under warranty in July when it goes in for its first MOT. Interestingly they said the leak was near the bottom, so I have no idea what all the oily residue is coming from the top connections. (Note to self - check new condenser once fitted and compare with the Levorg as it is clean and dry.)

That sounds like excellent service. The XV had it's third service today, and they had set-up a one way system in the showroom and sanitised the controls and key when finished. I thought they'd done quite well. (No bomb though!)