kash0613

Had my 2018 Xv serviced(3 year) at the end of Feb at my main Subaru dealer in derby,no advisories. Went to have four new tyres fitted at my local tyre fitters and they told me they had checked the front pads as they looked worn and told me they were in a dangerous condition(see attached photos) They tried to order me a set bit the wrong ones came each time too. Ended up complaining to the Subaru dealer who serviced it and I'm awaiting a set to come through the post to me. In the mean time I haven't got a car to drive. I didn't expect such poor service from a main dealer,surely that should have been picked up at it's service and I've done very few miles since. So,I can basically confirm its difficult to get hold of the right pads. It's knocked my confidence in Subaru I must admit.

id happily go full electric now to be honest but we have a small Swift base camp caravan that's a necessity as far as holidays go for at least the next 12 months and finding a reasonably priced full ev that can tow any caravan is an impossibility hence my interest in a phev next time. When we are not towing I can see us running in ev mode for 99% of the time which may well pay for the change of vehicle in itself if not offset the cost by a great deal. It's a shame that Subaru are so far behind the ev/phev curve at the minute as I absolutely love my xv in terms of the driving experience and safety systems.

Lol,I find the american crosstrek sites to be very similar....they are a very different breed from us now,despite our shared heritage! Looks like you will enjoy your new car ernie! I'm definitely thinking of a slightly larger hybrid suv too but I'm probably going down the MG HS phev route,they are a similar size to your new one, loaded with kit with a decent 30 odd mile ev range....I can get a ex demo for less than 25k too including a seven year warranty at the moment....I probably won't be changing until next year however as I've just bought a set of new windscreen wipers and Michelin tyres! Id be interested in updates on your new car ernie so pop.back in mate!

Blimey,just like that ernie? You have been the only other regular poster on here,who am I going to talk to now? Good luck with your new car,can I ask the reasons for the change and why you went to another brand and the rav4 in particular? I feel like I'm the only mk2 owner left!!

Yes,I'd agree on that,I also saw the video conclusions and to be honest it does look as though a set of winter/all season tyres and a raised SUV would probably fulfill my requirements too. I'll probably keep the Xv for a year or two and then review my options then. By the way,North Americans have had the option of a plug in Xv/crosstrek for several years although I'm not sure if it's range in ev mode.

Agreed,Subaru are way behind the curve in this one and I personally won't be spending 45k on a new car anytime soon. The new MG HS Phev looks a very nice bit of kit,they are selling them new/pre reg for around 27and now and that's very keen for a forester sized car with a massive amount of standard kit. I sat in one recently and the quality was very impressive.I liked the look of it. The only downside to it was that it's only offered in front wheel drive in this country. Nice to see a full manufacturer not dealer backed 7 year warranty as well.I can see why MG are selling so well at the moment.

The interior guard behind the seats is an official Subaru item but the tailgate guard is custom made by a company called hamster baskets who can configure it to your preference. Here's the link to their site https://www.hamsterbaskets.co.uk/ I can highly recommend them,the guard fits like a glove and is removable and transferable.

I'd like that very much as I tow a small caravan and in between doing so a phev would save me a fortune!! I see that the XV is being totally redeveloped for 22/23 with a quite different shape which may help get a proper hybrid on board.Hopefully they spell be able to offer better deals too.I don't lease but most people seem to do so now and Subaru leasing is extremely expensive..another reason they don't sell many.

That's true ernie....crazy to think that Subaru sell over 40000 caravan month in the States alone but struggled to sell a thousand here since december. It's not the quality of the cars that's at fault,it's the lack of marketing from the importer who aren't backed by Subaru itself unlike in America who run the show there.

Right,well that helps to explain it a little. It can have it's 3 year service at Geoff Cox derby,but I'll definitely be looking at a specialist for the 4th,presuming I still have the car.

Mines going in for its third service next week at the not inconsiderable cost of £350 which seems awfully steep. The 4th however will be in the region of £700 which to be honest seems pretty outrageous. As such I'll be looking for a specialist next time around,I'm sure....any recommendations in the midlands?

Had mine done last week,no parts needed and took about 40 minutes at Geoff Cox derby. Excellent service.

And you ernie,all the best and a happy New year

Mines going into Subaru derby on the 17th,no mention of any other work than is specified on the recall. Get to have a nose at the new hybrids that they have in stock too. I'm waiting for the new levorg to come out most though as it will almost certainly be my next car,it looks fantastic.

Absolutely ernie,your posts were what drew me to this forum in the first place but basically there only seem to be two contributors on here....for the reasons you stated in sure

Mate,this forum is a barren and desolate land,check out the American crosstrek forums instead,much livelier

Yeah, understand that although the 2.5 litre outback has similar emissions to the 2 litre XV and the road tax is the same for each in this country (from what I can see online)

I see the Xv in North America is being introduced with the 2.5L petrol boxer engine..... 182 bhp and a decent increase in torque would be handy although I'm reasonably happy with my 2.0L petrol. Any news of it's going to be brought over here? I would certainly be interested in a couple of years when it comes to change especially as I now have a small caravan to tow.

We love the peaks and the lakes although initially we will be looking to do some very local sites. We aren't new to caravanning,we towed with a Freelander td4 and a Saab 93 ttid but the characteristics of the petrol xv are obviously different and it's been four years since we had the last caravan so I'm no doubt rusty. Very much looking forwards to getting away in it and hoping we have bought ahead of the curve. Hopefully you will be getting out to your family lodge at the same time too.

Collected our new caravan today,it's a lightweight Swift Basecamp which comes in at 1000kg fully loaded so it was towed surprisingly well by the Xv whilst bringing it home. It's going to be a driveway warrior,however,until we can actually venture out again into the peak District however and get some overnight stays in.

Yeah,it's just a bit of fun which encourages brand loyalty I suppose

Basically,you send your vin number to Subaru on a application together with the activity badges you are interested in and the number of subaru's you have owned and they send you out the set of badges for free. I'm a Subaru noob so I asked my friend in the states to order me the my first Subaru badge together with the activity badges you can see. Unfortunately they won't accept European vin numbers,hence the convoluted way I had to go about it,using my anerican friends vin number.

Managed to obtain a set of Subaru ownership badges from a good friend in Canada and received and fitted them today. Very pleased with them,it's a shame Subaru UK don't have the same scheme running here.

i already had a solar charger which plugged into the 12v socket but as we know,thats no good for the xv or indeed my sons corsa which,if not used for a few days,goes flat. Reluctant to spend forty quid or so on buying another charger with the obd attachment i looked on amazon and found a female 12v socket with an obd socket on the other end for just over fifteen spondulas .I had a quick chat online with the seller and he assurred me that it would be perfect to adapt my existing solar charger for use on our cars. So i ordered one last week and fitted it to my sons corsa initially (worth less than my xv,so a more suitable test bed!) I had to cut away a small portion of hidden trim in the vauxhall to allow it full acess to the obd port (the adaptor has the wires protruding from the side,not the back) but it was a two minute job. It seems to be working but ill check it properly tomorrow.

I very nearly bought a levorg before the xv,so I went on the levorg forums...and yes,it was like a desert! The only reason I didn't get a levorg was that I couldn't get a 2018 model when I was looking last year. Pretty pleased I hung on now however as I like the updated infotainment and softer suspension of the xv. The 1.6 turbo would have been nice though.