Our Cars

Subaru XV 2.0i-S – long-term – Week 11

31 Oct 2014

Isaac Bober 2

The Subaru XV 2.0i-S is back on the road and none the worse for its forced lay-off due to injury. Welcome to Week 11.

Run by: Isaac Bober
Travel: 3740km
Fuel consumption: 7.0L/100km (7.0L/100km official)
List price: $36,990 (+ORC)
Service Costs: Nil
Week ending: 31 October

Read our full review of the Subaru XV

FOR THE LAST few weeks the poor old Subaru XV 2.0i-S has been parked up outside my house undriven. Why? Well, a few weeks ago it, all of a sudden, began screeching. And when I say screeching, I mean imagine several banshees all screeching into a megaphone at once.

The sounds was deafening. People stopped and looked as I drove down the street, although for a moment or two I thought the sound was coming from someone else’s car. Sadly, it wasn’t. I couldn’t figure it out…

And that began a series of trial and error attempts to track down the source of the noise. I climbed under the car and poked and prodded bits and pieces, I took it for a drive around the block at home to check if it was a CV joint that had somehow failed so early in the car’s life. That was ruled out pretty quickly as there was no juddering and the sound wasn’t a thud-thud, it was a definite screech.

Then I thought it was maybe a wheel bearing… but the screeching, the more I drove it (and when I say drove it, I mean around the block only), was lessening. So, not a wheel bearing. Could it be an engine mount. Nope.

My initial thought was that a rock had somehow become lodged in the brake caliper. But I couldn’t see anything … but it took my old man, and in all my years testing cars I’d never heard this before, to tell me to reverse the thing as that can sometimes flick the rock back out. But it didn’t. Not on the first attempt anyway. But I kept at it and eventually the rock flicked out and the screeching stopped.

I climbed back under the XV and had a look at the passenger’s side front wheel, having a good look at the disc and sure enough there’s a faint line in the disc where the rock has done its work. A quick drive this morning has revealed no lasting damage with the car and brakes working fine.

Now, after its period of inactivity it’s in need of a good wash and a long drive into the country. One will happen this Saturday and the other on Sunday when we head out to Bathurst to run the cobwebs out of the thing.

So, apologies to all for the absence in updates and we’ll return to our regularly scheduled service from now on.