norfolkRX

2019 Subaru Impreza 1.6 SE Review This was going to be the car's one year (with me) review but has turned into a 2 year one instead. It's my likes and dislikes compared to my previous 2010 Impreza 2.0 RX. I bought this car wih 2100 miles on the clock at 3 years old. Likes, not in any particular order: 1.Although only 1.6, the engine is livelier than the 2.0 L. 2.Better fuel economy - useful when you need a 2nd mortgage to fill up these days. 3.Rear camera is useful. 4.The rear vehicle or person crossing warning is very useful in car parks or backing out of restricted places. 5.I maybe wrong but the boot seems to have more space. 6.Headlights good on full beam, less so on dipped and other motorists don't like the brightness - which I can understand. 7.Seats reasonably comfortable - I am 6'1" and my other half is 5'. 8.The AVH Automatic Vehicle Hold seems to work well and is usefull in traffic though you might want to be more obviously stopped to prevent someone re-ending you. 9.Tyre pressure indication is useful. 10.Digital Speedo - you have both but even though I'm old school I prefer the digital readout. Dislikes: 1.It's auto so no engine braking when going down hills. 2.The rear suspension is too stiff and doesn't hold the road going round uneven corners. It feels like the front and back are set up differently or two different cars. 3.No SatNav as standard (approx £1200 add-on) - can't connect the mobile reliably. 4.Road following headlights OK but a bit of a gimmick and something else to go wrong. 5.Rain sensing wipers OK but the manual controls are still better for changing conditions. 6.Lack of a spare wheel - out in the country you can wait hours for rescue. 7.The b!@@$y 'fuel saving' engine cutoff. It saves a tiny amount of fuel but wears out the start motor. Also if pulling out onto a main road with traffic, you want to be sure the engine will respond. And why when you park in a car park does the engine switch off but has to re-start to turn the car off - grrr! 8.Eyesight is another gimmick and only warns you of the bl**ding obvious. If conditions get confusing for it, it just switches off !?? Thanks for your help!! The warning is flashed up just at the time when you are dealing with the obstacle and don't need to be distracted. 9.No soft bump stop on full steering lock - not very sophisticated. 10.Parts are difficult to find because so few cars have been imported - I did relise this when I bought it. 11.The auto-dipping rear view mirror not as good as a manual dip. 12.The key fob battery doesn't last long if you don't put it to sleep. Also why does the transmitter have such a long range? If not in sleep mode, it will communicate with the car from inside the opposite end on the house to where the car is parked!! 13.You can have a triple meter displayed on the small display, useful you might say, Oil and Water temp are OK but why Average Speed instead of something more useful like battery condition? If you've got this far, great perseverance - what are your experiences?

I've been trying to connect my 2025 smartphone to my 2019 Impreza. It needs both a Bluetooth and USB connection to display Googe Maps' quantity of data. Occasionally I can get it to connect to the car but it doesn't last long and fails with a message something like "Connection failed - remove cable and re-connect". The cable is brand new so I'm suspecting the USB x2 sockets on the car. I quite like Google Maps aerial view as a SatNav on the car's main screen. Has anyone else tried this or got a fix for it? Thanks

Driving a Subaru can protect you from many things but . . . . .

That's good to know and hear a real world experience - I'll have to get the manual out again and find out if there's a warning light or something if the system is not working.

Just wondered if anyone had experience of the Eyesight Pre-collision Braking actually working? I've had the Eyesight warning go off several times and the centre display put up a warning when approaching sharp corners, but I've never felt the brakes being applied as a result. I assume because the warning has gone off, that the driving situation has met all the requirements for the pre-collision braking to happen. It would be nice to know it's there and functioning without having to drive into something to prove it works . . . .🤔

and I meant to post this link:- https://www.paulstravelpictures.com/Articles/Subaru-Forester-Common-Problems-Repair-Maintenance-Guides.htm which are step-by-step How Tos that some nice person has posted - including the interior lights.

A selection of the LED replacements for the interior bulbs - the festoon bulbs were a bit of a struggle to fit as although they are the same length, the end caps are a different shape.The LEDs should reduce the current draw to between one third and one quarter of the originals. Whether you like the bright white light of the LEDs or the yellowish light of the originals is a matter of personal preference.

You are not wrong there, but as an engineer (mechanical), I would be completely lost without problems to solve 😉

My Impreza is registered Dec 2019 but the Dealer mode says: Product Information: Subaru-Gen3-Mid-EU-MY2017-REVA and I thought it was a Gen 5 MY2019?? Presumably it was on holiday for a couple of years in one of those huge car parks in the Midlands. Maybe they disconnect the battery? Mine too has the original Panasonic stop/start battery and the jury is out on it's condition. The previous owner had the car for 3 years and only did 2100 miles total - makes you wonder if they had issues too, with it being used so little. I'm fairly sure Updates is Off because I'd heard of people having problems with it.

Yes, I found some of your previous posts on this - thanks. I'm not sure how useful the setting is as it only says it's charging (14.3V) or not (12V) - but not battery health other than by implication. It's much like my voltmeter, except my old school solution doesn't need setting up each time and is visible all the time. An ammeter across the battery terminals would be useful for checking the level of parasitic currents that are usually present and if anything else is adding to them. At the moment I'm looking at replacing lights, that might get left on by accident, with LEDs. The dealer I bought the car from did actually warn me not to leave the car unlocked or the doors or hatch open without having the engine on - this was a first for me!! Do you know if setting the key fob to sleep also reduces how often the alarm system is looking for the fob and therefore reduces the drain on the car battery?

Well, I fitted the Voltmeter which I got from:- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gorgeri-Universal-Voltmeter-Voltage-BX100007/dp/B08CNFBPMG/ref=asc_df_B08CNFBPMG/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=499298107818&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=18332633606580583942&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045081&hvtargid=pla-1004357903227&psc=1 other Voltmeters are available . . . It turned out to be a neater installation than I had expected and more importantly - less work! The supplied bracket can be screwed to the centre cup divider, leaving the other cup holder still usable. The whole installation is easily removable and the only damage from standard is two small holes in the centre divider.

SFBS, and Yes, I'm another 'victim' of Subaru's poorly designed electrical system. I got a "you want to go somewhere, well not today Mate" from the car this morning. The battery was showing only 4 volts and Yes, it was partly my fault for leaving an interior light on, but come on, should a car with so much electrical equipment & stop/start be fitted with only a 65Ahr battery as standard? And given the car has so many safety systems on it that protect the driver from themselves, why use an incandescent bulb for the interior light (which might be left on by accident) when a low power LED would have been more suitable. This circuit should be timed to be switched off sometime after shutdown - I can't see any reason why the interior light would want to be left on in a locked car (other than by accident). On the binnacle on top of the dashboard it is possible to display some useful info like Water Temperature, Oil Temperature and Average Speed . . . . Average Speed!! really? how useful is that, why not a Voltmeter given the car has so much electrical/electronic stuff on it?? Anyway I'm going to fit a voltmeter in one of the redundant cup holders (I don't drink and drive) in the centre consol - it will be powered from the nearby accessory socket. I've checked that power is removed from this when the car is switched off. While I'm on the subject of electrics, why can't you default off the stop/start system? Rant over . . . . 'til the next time . . . 😉

Needless to say the seller's quick fix didn't work, but using this stuff did - now I have nice clean glass. https://soft99store.co.uk/en/home/34-glaco-glass-compound-roll-on-4975759103080.html Also just got the Bosch A157S wiper blades which fit fine.

Normally I'd agree on that but with the current economic downturn I think ordinary people (as opposed to Subaru fans) are watching costs - there's a lot of WRX and STI models for sale at the moment.

Apologies for digging this one up, but only just got round to trying it out - thanks Justin for the post - you do have to be fairly quick with the fingers to get into the settings. The Factory Settings seem the most useful. I thought my late 2019 car was a Generation 5 but slightly confused by stuff under the System Info & Product Info settings - in the latter is says: "Subaru-Gen3-Mid-EU-MY2017-REVA". Also several software titles mention dates ranging from 2015 to 2017 so has the dealer just not updated the car or is this standard for EU models? Or, has the car been sitting in a field for two years before being sold? I know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it . . . .