Jantay53

We bought a 2021 Subaru XV ex demo car last October, just before we went on holiday - luckily by taxi - so the car was in the garage for 3 weeks. The battery was flat when we came back. Last week we had a flat battery on Thursday morning, after the car had been run for about 45 minutes on the Monday. The first time, the dealership told us it was because it hadn’t been run much. They also mentioned that they leave all the cars in the showroom on trickle charge overnight which I didn’t think anything of at the time. I foolishly accepted this but after last week’s incident, when a very kind neighbour came and jump started us so we could get to the hospital, I’m now beginning to worry - especially after reading the above comments. We swapped our old Outback for a newer vehicle so we would have more reliability but this, with 6000 miles on the clock, is worse than the old car which had done 98000 miles. Should I go back to the dealer or should I buy a new battery?

Thank you for the advice. I suspect it is a learning experience for the garage, and doubt if they had the specialist removal tool. I don’t think they’ll reduce the price because of this though. I’m now thinking of going to Scoobyclinic in future.

I’m new to the forum and have been reading this thread because we have what we now know is a glowplug problem on our 61 Outback. Our local garage has had the car three weeks and finally quoted £1500 for the repair. Does this seem reasonable? They’ve also taken the engine out of the car to do the repair - is this usual and will this have to happen every time there’s a similar problem? We’ve had Subarus for 30 yrs but this is the first time we’ve come across a fault like this.

Many thanks Tidgy. We’re not too far from Chesterfield - can’t believe I’ve never heard of them before! I’ve found them online and will definitely try them in future. After reading the forum thread it seems a fairly common, but potentially expensive problem. Might have to reconsider our Subaru loyalty if it’s something that’s liable to recur.

We’ve had Subarus - Imprezas, Legacy and currently Outback - for over 30 years. Never had much trouble with them until the current 61 diesel Outback which recently displayed several warning lights on the dash. The garage we’ve always used (not a Subaru dealer) checked it - on diagnostics they said - and decided it was just a warning light malfunction. The lights came back on just before we were due to go on holiday so we the left car with them. On our return garage says it was a glow plug failure and one broke as they tried to get it out. They’ve now had it 3 weeks and say it will be upwards of £1500 to repair. Does this seem reasonable? At this stage there’s nothing we can do except have it repaired but I’m now considering looking for a new regular garage as this seems OTT.  Any recommendations in N Notts/Derbys area?

Hi, I’m Jan from Nottinghamshire. We’ve had Subarus, Imprezas, Legacy and currently Outback for over 30 years. Never had much trouble with them until the current 61 Outback which recently displayed several warning lights on the dash. The garage we’ve always used (not a Subaru dealer) checked it - on diagnostics they said - and decided it was just a warning light malfunction. The lights came back on just before we were due to go on holiday so we the left car with them. On our return garage says it was a glow plug failure and one broke as they tried to get it out. They’ve now had it 3 weeks and say it will be upwards of £1500 to repair. Does this seem reasonable? At this stage there’s nothing we can do except have it repaired but I’m now considering looking for a new regular garage as this seems OTT. Any recommendations in N Notts/Derbys area?

Hi, I’m Jan from Nottinghamshire. We’ve had Subarus, Imprezas, Legacy and currently Outback for over 30 years. Never had much trouble with them until the current 61 Outback which recently displayed several warning lights on the dash. The garage we’ve always used (not a Subaru dealer) checked it - on diagnostics they said - and decided it was just a warning light malfunction. The lights came back on just before we were due to go on holiday so we the left car with them. On our return garage says it was a glow plug failure and one broke as they tried to get it out. They’ve now had it 3 weeks and say it will be upwards of £1500 to repair. Does this seem reasonable? At this stage there’s nothing we can do except have it repaired but I’m now considering looking for a new regular garage as this seems OTT. Any recommendations in N Notts/Derbys area?