nickhowes

All lights back on, so it's giving me plenty of value for money! Shall just have to get used to driving with warning lights on. Other than this, it's a great car - loads of room, loads of oomph and the sure-footedness I expect from a Subaru. I almost wish there was something wrong with the transmission!!

Yes, he's cleared the codes and just said that, if they should return, drop by and he'll clear them again. I should be thankful that there's no functional problem with the 'box, I suppose! I'm tempted to buy a brand new 'box that's on offer on Fleabay for £999....

Mr gearbox has cleaned a load of gunk from the switch, so hopefully the warning lights will stay off! He tells me that the switch is just a component of the valve body, but is integral, so the only way round it is to replace the lot. A brand new gearbox is apparently £3400, so it seems a bit steep to want about a third of that price for such a small item. Ho hum......

Thanks for the advice and I'll certainly try CAF. I've had some experience of the cost of Subaru parts before, as a Japanese spec Forester that I had needed a new sensor. That cost upwards of £180, when the electronics involved must have been worth less than a fiver! This model is going to be frustrating, I know, as to fit an aftermarket audio, I have first had to source an adaptor for the dash (£240 plus £60 to the VATman and Parcelforce!). It's a nice drive, though, so I'll stick with it for now.

It was a private sale, but I don't think that the fault occurred with the previous owner, as I drove the car down from Yorkshire with no lights showing. It was only a couple of days later that it started. It's not a gearbox problem per se, but a faulty switch. The gearbox man says that Subaru won't sell the switch separately and £1100 is the part only! I'll just have to get used to driving with a constant fault light showing and put up with having no cruise control, which is disabled automatically when the lights are on. This is my 5th Subaru and I've loved the previous 4, but it'll be my last unless Subaru come up with a solution. I'm writing to Subaru Japan, as Subaru UK seems to be just a bunch of charlatans.

Disco lights back. Have had the car into an auto gearbox specialist, who has traced the fault to a switch in the gearbox. Subaru will only supply the switch as part of a valve body (even though it is separate) and this will cost £1100. Is this company just a bunch of crooks?

Am I the only one who's had problems with the audio setup that Mr Subaru has chosen? I've removed the stereo and other gubbins and it's a Kenwood GX201RE with 6 CD autochanger. Thought I'd try a different approach and go to the Kenwood site and, guess what? They deny all knowledge of the unit. You couldn't make it up!!

Well, this is a frustrating old topic! Haven't been able to replace the standard audio with an aftermarket one, despite there being a huge number of potential candidates, as Subaru saw fit to make the audio, the nav unit and the climate control all part of the same set-up. The CD player is only offering me "Error 99", so I can't use that. Subaru UK is a rubbish organisation when it comes to support for its older models, it has to be said!

Contacted Subaru.co.uk on Facebook to find out where I could get a Subaru iPod interface for my 2005 Outback 3.0 RN. Not available and no suggestions as to how I could go about finding something to do the job. Poor marks for support so far, but there are alternatives on Ebay, so I'll look into them. It seems that I'll have to disable the 6 CD changer to use them - ho hum!

Just had the Outback on a diagnostics test. Previous owner had done an oil and filter change - oil leaking into belly pans and the dipstick was 1cm over-filled. All disco lights now cancelled and I am breathing again!!

Nothing as simple!! Hopefully, it'll just be a sensor, although the last time I had a sensor failure was on an import - the last Forester - and it cost a fortune!

Just bought a 2005 Outback 3.0 RN. I've owned 2 Legacy Estate Turbos and 2 Forester Turbos in the past and loved them. Have had time off Subarus for the last 2 years with a Lexus IS300 Sportcross and have now got Lexus out of my system, feeling the need to get back to 4WD. Drove the car back to Hampshire from Yorkshire and have now got a disco light show going, with the Multifunction, Vehicle Dynamics Control lights staying on and the SPORT indicator flashing. It's a lovely car, but I'm wondering if I've bought a dud!