djim

Same. 1.6 litres of noisy aircooled misery without the power to face down a moderate headwind. It was probably merely slow in its original guise as a Belgian army minibus or whatever but loaded up with a full camper conversion and with a massive fibreglass roof that made it half as tall again, it was punitively slow to get anywhere. Drove from Kent to Manchester one time and I thought the journey would never end. I checked the MOT status and weirdly after being SORN for years (and I assumed rotten and forgotten somewhere) it appears to have a current MOT and a replacement 2 litre engine. If anyone spots it out and about please let me know: SKL 248W

Not quite as smol but Volvo 460 too, I had one in 'Si 2.0i' trim and it went very well. Came with a spoiler and sports* suspension and everything. (looks like a full size Volvo in this pic but only the size of a jetta in real life)

I did the drop links on my Outback a couple of weeks ago and had the same problems with both the far-too-small-IMO allen key socket rounding out on 1 and the rusted to shit nut rounding off the corners on the other. I don't own either a nut splitter or a grinder so ended up hacking them off with a hacksaw and junior hacksaw. took about an hour each side with about 3" of saw movement each way. Not the most fun I've ever had, and it didn't sort the front end rattle either. next time I'll cough up for a grinder for sure.

Prob no help at all so sorry if teaching to suck eggs etc. On my 07 Outback and all UK Outback/ legacies of the same era (so seems likely foresters too) the immobilisers are all aftermarket sigma M30 units fitted by the dealer on import to meet uk insurance requirements. You get 30 seconds to start after unlock before the immobiliser kicks in again. If unlocked but immobilised turn ignition on all way (e.g. fully powered on but not turning starter) then press the button on the key while still in ignition. if key not working, immobiliser can be turned off using the alarm key pad if you can find it which is usually (on legacies) under a flap near the steering column. You do need the specific alarm code for this however but mine was helpfully on a card in the document pack in the glove box. Good luck! Edit: I've just checked the alarm manual and it does indeed say that it covers Foresters from 2003 -2005. If that is the case and it is a Sigma M30 I've got the manual here as PDF if you want me to send it over. There are options to turn off some of the most silly features.

Regarding people not slowing down, had something sort of similar happen to me yesterday. I saw a car with hazards on ahead on the A22 so slowed down and as i approached saw there was an Alsatian-looking dog in the road looking lost - the chap had stopped to check and get it off the road. I put my hazards on - this is about 3pm so not dark but I had lights on too - and as it is quite a fast road I pulled up 50 ft off but 2-3 feet from the kerb to give the guy some protection. The dog was not certain about the other guy so comes towards me and I get out and call it gently and it comes over and I get hold of it. Its a farm dog by the looks, collar but no tag and quite friendly. So now there's 2 cars with hazards on, broad daylight, and 2 guys standing at the side of the road with a large dog who is not really sure about either of us. Anyway, long boring story short, a couple of cars slowed down a bit to see what was going on but the general consensus was, hoon past without slowing down even slightly and give us a good glare for the hold up, like we'd decided to have some kind of pet social in the middle of the road. The dog was fine BTW, went with the chap who saw the direction it came from, and they went off together (with the scruffy dog on the front seat of his BMW) to ask at the nearest house.

Thanks Man, makes sense, I'll give that a go.

@loserone sorry for the slight thread hijack but when you had your legacy you said you had a few wheel bearings replaced. When they went bad how did you know which one to do? My Subi Outback has a drone related to road speed that I suspect is a bearing but jacking it up and spinning / flexing the wheels doesn't help me diagnose as there is so much drivetrain that moves with the wheels, even in neutral, I can't tell if they are turning smoothly or not. if one is bad will it be super obvious?

Personally I think it looks mean AF and I love it.

@jamiechod you were in the car right? If the car was running then I believe it was legally not 'parked' (traffic wardens cannot stick a ticket on you if you are on a double yellow but in the drivers seat with the car running). Maybe you could appeal on the basis you were actually just driving reeeealy slowly?

Oh that is nice. looks like the spiritual successor to the Kawasaki AR50

That has bothered me for years since I was 5 and my dad had one. It got to the point many years ago where now I smirk every time i see one. I mean, everything to the rear of the door is different from the saloon. Why not just get some slightly different shaped glass and a window frame. Honestly how much can they have saved by doing that...grrr etc.

Yeah, reading about this car was what brought me to AS in the first place, where I can live my chod ownership dreams vicariously through you (and many others). Glad to hear you're giving it a good fettle!

I quite like the gloomy look of this with its black wheels and black over doom grey. Various faults and 180k but it's a 190d, so barely run in etc, etc. what is not to like? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-190d-2-5-auto-2-owners-FSH/163785076173?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

Paid crossed and clenched.

Autoshite camper hand painted in fetching beige. Needs a lot of work but could look the part. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHERPA-CAMPER-VAN-1979-DIESEL-5-SPEED-AUTO-SLEEPER-MOT-TAX-EXEMPT-RESTO-PROJECT/383027835946