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@matt lol cheers mate, i happen to love my wee NA wagon. 160bhp, 0-60 in 8.5 secs, it's not a turbo sure, but its far less crap than many other cars on the road...

yeah this stuff...about 3 coats.

I did my centre console at the weekend, used Matt Pack full dip gunmetal grey colour. It's definitely a matt finish, might be good to try some glossifier stuff on it, but anyway quite happy with the results for a first effort!

So I did the centre console at the weekend. Pretty pleased with the colour. I put too much on the bit by the gear stick so maybe peel it off and try again sometime, but a cheap and easy face-lift for the interior I think.

mine had 5 previous owners, and that's me had it 7 months now without any issues, so I wouldnt personally stress too much about number of owners. I have had 11 different cars in 14 years of driving, some I have kept for as little as 5 months - mostly due to boredom lol. Good luck finding a good one anyway.

got my wagon back after some fluid changes. Engine oil and filter + gearbox and rear diff oil. According to service history these were never changed since new (in 2005) - guy said the old oil was like milk when it came out, so its good it was done.

Had a go this weekend with the plasti-dip stuff (I used Full Dip from Matt-pack), did the wee air vents as a starting point to see how it easy it was, and how it looked. Pretty happy with the results anyway, they were a bit scratched and faded before. Will see how long the stuff lasts! Will do the full centre console next weekend hopefully.

Fitted the red JDM hazard button. Simple job, got the genuine part for £21 off ebay and makes the dash look much smarter.

@oilman thanks for the quick reply - its a manual, so will get the gearbox oil changed and rear diff - will that be 75w-90 for gearbox and rear diff? Will take your advice and go for 5w-30 for engine. How quick do you normally deliver?

@oilman hi - sorry to hijack this thread... My 2005 wagon (2.0 na engine, 160bhp) is going in for engine oil next week, and I also want to change the front and rear differential oil. I found no evidence of this oil ever being changed in all the receipts and history I got with the car... So just to ask what is the best oil for the differentials? Does front and read use the same fluid? 0W-30 for the engine seems to be a good shout? thanks,

just to give a different view on this...A colleague in my work has been running boxer diesels for the past 6 years. He had a 59 plate outback, then a 12 plate forester and now has a 14 plate forester. He does about 20,000 miles a year and has never had any engine or dpf issues. Although he only keeps them for a couple years so in the long run couldnt say. Just to let you know, it's not all doom and gloom! But in general I am now off diesels with DPFs - I had an A3 1.9 TDie with DPF and it got all clogged up and needed £800 replacement. I was doing decent miles too, so it wasnt all stop start trips. Petrol cars are cheaper to buy and insure so dont get too fixed on getting better mpg...

@matmidgley good result with the plasti-dip centre console. I am going to give mine a try once the weather gets a bit warmer. Definitely stealing your cardboard box spray booth idea! Have bought gunmetal grey colour. How hard/easy was it to remove the round discs from the airvents? Heard they can be a b**ch...

have bought some Full Dip (seems to be a slightly cheaper version of Plastidip) in gunmetal grey colour - will give it a bash when the weather warms up a bit. Also got the red hazard switch off ebay. Will post some photos when I'm done!

treated my wagon to a chrome AWD badge - jealous of those new subaru's that have them!

Hi all, anyone had a go at Plastidip on the interior trim? the youtube video makes it looks a pretty simple task...thought I might try gunmetal grey, the silver in mine is pretty scratched so would like to improve it. Any photos or advice would be appreciated...prep work/sanding? drying times in Scotland in winter, etc! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcR9kin3Tv8 also would really love to change the wee orange plastic bit on the HVAC controls to red! Does this part exist? anyone ever changed theirs, or tried to paint red? photo shows the ones I mean...

@BLITZ did you ever get these done? I'd like to change mine to red on my hawkeye too. Any pics of the end result? Thanks.

probably needs a wash. anyone ever been pulled over for un-readable number plates? all this cold weather and grit on the roads in Scotland doesn't help...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322270932137?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT I bought this one for my 55 hawkeye and it works perfectly with my old laptop running Windows Vista.

Stupid question time! I have never seen a low fuel warning light in my Impreza - you can see from the photo that the gauge was pretty low...but still no light. Should it have come on by then? I am also not sure how big the fuel tank is - according to Parkers website it's 60L, but I filled up to click just after taking that photo and it only took 46 litres, which makes me think its a 50L tank. You can see in the other photo that when it's filled the gauge is above the F mark, so maybe the empty E mark is the same, and I am just not being brave enough?! Maybe I still had 14 litres in the tank... Anyone else with a hawkeye wagon got any thoughts? I think the blobeyes had 50L tanks? Mine is a 55 plate so an early hawkeye and maybe not with the 60L tank...

Welcome mate, https://youtu.be/Uj9lzb3dcCM thats the video I used to help install mine. I didn't bother completely unscrewing the gearstick btw as it wasnt necessary. Also Ebay bits needed for wiring loom and aerial cable: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250413926808?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252218630012?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT good luck!

@Anthbax its Seven Petrel, over in Leith harbour. I've been at the pipeline place in Old Kilpatrick a couple times too - normally some nice motors in the car park there!

at work last week - my wagon looks pretty small next to the ship.

I bought the ebay one for £9.95 delivered - works really well with an old laptop running Vista.

My 160bhp na engine is pretty consistent....for AWD and pretty good pace 32mpg is not too shabby.

I would put a bottle of DPF cleaner in the fuel tank ASAP and give it a decent run, something like Forte. That helped with my last car which had a DPF.