Mr B

looks practical and likeable looks. Bit of an old mans car with that wheezy power 😛 Grey imports can be a satisfying purchase, amazing how clean vehicles can be and accurate the auction vehicle reports are from Japan .

Glad you worked out the manual release, get a lot of drive in emergancy panics over this crappy engineered garbage . electronic hatch and rear cameras/sensors big issue on many brand modern cars. I seen some unable run as module networking corrupted from water ingress in boot lid components. All this garbage and hassle for sh1te you don't need. This is part reason I purposely make sure my immediate family don't own cars newer than 2005 . Older vehicle design from mid 90's to around 2005 worked great, is reliable and of good component quality, easier maintain, parts are plentiful and dirt cheap (although hardly ever need buy any 🙂 ) & your bank account gets fat as good example older vehicle motoring so low cost . All the low quality electronics and way it integrated in engineering design on modern vehicles is pathetic garbage. Mechanical handbrakes, door latches and so forth can last 3 decades no problems, New electronic crap nothing but issues and filling up skips with parts year after year until beyond viable repair in a decade . The Tesla's going be fun once matured another few years in British weather lol .

It potentially fairly easy area repair so cost could be pretty reasonable, especially if had a decent used lower rad panel to graft in. Could be worth doing some rust prevention treatment such as dinitrol ML and a black wax . Volvo got some good points but since the days of Ford ownership and currently the Chinese they nothing but constant faults and expense . If you want decent made cars that reliable and low cost minimal ballache then stick with older models . Newer vehicles are a complete waste of finances & engineered to milk your bank account dry .

It obviously got some structural role as it ties leg rails together and is rather beefy if purely for component mounting. It is an area that can fall out of mot when not within 30cm testable area . Bad point of tester seeing real heavy rot is will make them more diligent look elsewhere on vehicle for similar corrosion . It super easy chop worst or all of it out and fab one up out of some box section or u channel and flat sheet metal . New panels are only around £120 If wanting real cheap repair if find a scrap car with clean lower rad support panel you can chop out what needed and graft it into yours for small costs . I call what the yanks call the slam panel the upper support panel that the top radiator brackets bolt to and the bonnet latches into . The lower one I call lower radiator support panel . Not all models same part but they do cross to some extent .

Have used Strongflex before for front rear trailing arm bush and front wishbone front bushses and they seem as good as any other known brand. They use to be quite cheap via eBay or direct off site but prices gone up with brand recognition I guess and global hassles adds a cost ...

modern vehicle lighting is becoming a problem from too bright to multi function of one light so you loose side/dip function when indicating and unusual position/volume of lighting that seems fall out of general lighting legislation and certainly falls outside of good common sense . Very poor design/engineering that likely going create quite a few accidents . That modern garbage though, nothing but expense and problems .

Don't believe too much of what you get told via youtube or facebook lol . Still can get these and original subaru part 20174AA020 not expensive https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283764755433 https://www.importcarparts.co.uk/product/floating-bush-rear-sus-bed-20174aa020/ https://www.amayama.com/en/part/subaru/20174aa020 Other options are polyurethane bushes but they will be more cost than OEM . https://www.strongflex.eu/en/polyurethane-bushes-subaru-legacy-ii-outback-i-bd-bg-bk-1994-1999/1821-271801b-rear-crossmember-bush-5902553552584.html Just be sure your subframe proper solid, if good I would paint it with zinc rich epoxy then some tough ox or you could do a black wax coating like dinitrol products (if wax based coating most of it need doing after basic fitting steps or too messy handle) I done a few with Dinitrol ML then Black waxoyl or Dinitrol 4941 black wax and if done with some thought and care it can look like new, have a low cost and long term rust control with easy topup maintenance if needed .

Quite a few available but not direct in UK You could look at getting one fabricated but unless you got access to cheap materials and fabricator friend it will cost more . https://www.offroadmanni.eu/Skid-plate-for-Subaru-Forester-SF-2-mm-steel-engine https://get-primitive.com/product/armor-skidplates-and-protection/front-skidplates/front-skidplate-1998-2002-forester/

Perhaps look at the clutch hill hold to see it interfering with clutch movement. Hopefully adjustment/lubrication can resolve issue. be wise do visual checks rather than ignore it .

have a look here https://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Forester/ 2001 eu manual is good earlier is mainly usdm manuals but will still have some relevant info drop links (do fit forester as same as impreza) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284493914332 ICP will do genuine bushes in a kit or partial kits and they not silly money, will do bolt hardware also. They will have after market options too. you could akso look at polyurathane 80ShA from likes of strongflex

You can't really strip these master door switches, best option is good used unless can get fair price on new . Can you do picture from side of plug so can see some wire colours, also a pic of switch assembly bottom and top so can see what models might have same part. Basically the wiring for up is same as down, all that changes is the polarity, if the scenario for up is it moves a bit then cuts out every time you try the up switch it generally the switch and we done a few of them like this when had bad motors that been replaced . JDM model wiring can differ so wiring diagrams may not be exactly same plug pin layout or colours . You can power motor directly to see it can go up and no mechanical issues with track or motor . You can go to link below for online service manual which might possibly help. Choose: Forester 2006/ Click: Wiring Diagram Look for Power Window System and you should see some diagrams for RHD https://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Forester/2006/

Quite a common issue, window motors go bad from water ingress as water collects in the cast cup body of motor housing (removing motor housing and drilling drain holes helps this issue) As the motors deteriorate they demand more current which damages the switch contacts and causes symptoms you seeing as under load the voltage drop of damaged switch trips the breaker . Another tip source cheaper motors is rears are same as fronts but opposite sides: rear driverside fit front passenger & rear passenger fits front driver (do need clock plastic drain bung to correct orientation and possibly swap cable tails if fussy (on plugs with weather connectors) .

Assuming we talking about Sigma alarm . If you got one working remote and/or working pin code just pick up a tidy decent used fob off eBay, swap the fob board to your key fob and program it to your car alarm module . Some instructions can be found in this post: M30 user manual with full details is attached as pdf . m30.pdf

+1 on OEM thermostats only, all we use as aftermarket can be nothing but problems from our experience . Was the coolant system a muddy mess when pulled the thermostat ? If you unlucky you got bigger issues than thermostat/ water pump (water pump failure pretty much unheard of but you can check the weep hole to see if pump seal leaking) . Best way forward here is system/rad flush, refill and run then do a coolant pressure test see system holding pressure, chemical or exhaust gas tester can be used if no other problems get found to see if got combustion gasses entering coolant system (head gasket failure)

Sounds/symptoms you mention sound likely be centre diff issue, this can sound like a central rear noise & has potential come and go if it control duty effecting type of fault .