DrD123

Got them in and installed (the Stabilus 5B-882188) - install was a piece of cake, and the trunk is back to working as new - when you pop the lock, it lifts maybe 1cm or so (so you can see it's open) then after you open it a little, it opens the rest of the way on its own. One note - when you go to take one of the old ones off, make sure you put the hood all the way up, or it falls right down

You are describing more or less what mine does - when you pop the trunk, it just stays closed (doesn't lift up a little) and you are definitely doing all the work to lift it up, and if you let go anywhere except all the way up, it clunks back closed. When the struts were in good condition, it would pop open a bit, then lifting it up was easier and it would stay open. Mine have been pretty dead for a while, I just finally got around to doing something about it! Tracking info shows the package is out for delivery this morning, so either today or tomorrow I'll get them installed and see!

Thanks - I'll give them a try!

Has anyone replaced these with something other than OEM? the Subaru ones are $20-ish a piece, but can get aftermarket for under $10 on rockauto (from Strongarm, AMS Automotive, Stabilus, FCS, and Tuff Support) but I don't recognize any of those vendors in terms of if they are good/bad. Mine are pretty much dead, and I figured why not change them out. (the hood struts are still a-ok, though)

Was not offered by Subaru for the 5th gen

If the stickers, etc. were still there, I would not have rolled over on this one - pretty much out of spite I would have demanded they put the filters you had in there back, since you paid specifically to have those when you purchased them, and put the stickers there to warn folks. Of course they would have tossed them, so given how long and frustrating it was, I would offer an "out" of having them waive the cost of crap you neither ordered nor wanted, and which you had warning signs on there specifically for them not to do. I had issues after my short block was replaced where the car was stuck in limp mode for no apparent reason, and they were working on fixing it - they treated me well, giving me a loaner the entire time, but after weeks of them looking in to it, I find out that the tech who had replaced the short block was deployed with the reserves, so they were waiting for them to return - the discussion I had with them about that was that this was quite clearly not a "me" problem, and they made it right, but you have to push (just be nice about it) which is really frustrating sometimes.

New tires (Pirelli PZero All Season Plus) and new air filters... nothing exciting. Next up will be an alignment (tire wear was very uniform, so not worried about it, just something I do every time we replace tires on a car)

If you ordered the TYC headlights from Rockauto, that's exactly what you should get - if one is the wrong kind, just reach out and they'll swap it out - they've always been really good about that when I've had to return things that weren't right.

SubaruOnlineParts is selling a set of OEM 13-14 lights for $495 (+shipping) https://www.subaruonlineparts.com/part-ymm/2012-subaru-legacy-head-light.html

sent a PM about the headlights

It sure does - lost a good friend to it - it's very hard to watch and has to be absolutely brutal to go through since in many cases (certainly for my friend) the brain keeps clicking on per normal while you lose use of various muscles - he lost use of his arms first, then it went on from there. It's fatal once it impacts the diaphragm. I believe the statistics are 80% dead by 5 years.

neither were installed in mine - wonder what they are for?

When I look on parts.subaru.com, I find 64140AJ07BVH (superseding 64140AJ07AVH) for the left and 64140AJ06AVH for the right - when I check "what this fits" for both of them, it only fits the 11/12 Legacy GT, so I am guessing it has the silver stitching since that showed up in 2011.

I have 26 left (drivers side) and 19 right (passenger side)

Well, to be fair, you found 4 leaks if you have oil in all 4 plug tubes I would check the pcv valve - make sure it's moving freely (or better, since it's cheap and takes some effort to get it out, just go ahead and replace it. If the old one doesn't rattle back and forth when you shake it, it was stuck and that could be the issue. If the pcv valve is original, at 178k miles, it's likely gummed up.

Oil in the spark plug tubes just means the gasket where the tube meets the valve cover is leaking. Only solution is to replace the gaskets (you pull the valve cover and then replace the two spark plug tube seals and the valve cover gasket - it's a little awkward because it's a subaru and the valve covers are on the sides of the engine, but not hard. If the oil were messing with a cylinder, you'd have a misfire (flashing CEL and a P030x where x is the cylinder misfiring)

So when I look at the parts diagrams for the 2012, they show 2 gaskets for the assembly - the one that the bolts go through (which is the same for all of the years of the LGT) then another one that goes on top of the filter assembly where the ring would press down on it - it's only shown for the 2012, but I don't know if it's really there or not, because there is a parts drawing for 2011-2012 which shows it not there, then one for 2012 only that shows it's there... if I enter my vin in parts.subaru.com it doesn't get rid of that drawing, and there's no vin range on the figures... my car also has a 2011 build date (9/11) so I'd think it would be more like the 2011... it looks like they redesigned the lock ring for one that has the gasket from 2012 on and one that didn't for up to 2012... I imagine maybe that's the build date? This is the gasket I am wondering about:

So the gaskets were ok?

So here's what I am planning to get... should be the right filter, then the gasket on top of the filter assembly, the one that seals to the tank, then a couple of little bits that hold the fuel pump in place. This is feeling like a christmas shutdown sort of activity, so not for a few months.

Krylon has another version which is called "UV resistant" - I wonder if this would work better? (or at least last longer!) https://www.amazon.com/Krylon-K01305-Coatings-11-Ounce-UV-Resistant/dp/B00397STRW/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1IPYQ901N11PL&keywords=clear+coat+uv&qid=1666142553&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIyLjYyIiwicXNhIjoiMS45NSIsInFzcCI6IjEuOTYifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=clear+coat+uv%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-2

So for those that have done this, should I just replace the filter (looks to be p/n 42072AJ070) or should I add on some of the other little bits (maybe the spacer that goes on top of the fuel pump, the packing between the bracket and the fuel pump, and the holder bracket thingy for the fuel pump? Their each like $5 so I am leaning towards getting them on the off chance the holder breaks when taking apart the assembly or the packing is stuck inside the old filter) I imagine I need to replace the gasket on top of the fuel filter assembly too...

That is pretty cool - I guess you learn something new every day! (I know what I am going to go look at this morning!)

Well, P0000 is a generic "no fault codes detected" code, but P0302 is a misfire on cylinder 2, so that's worth chasing down. The clutch shouldn't stall the car out when decelerating (obviously, if the clutch is in when you get too slow the car gets mad and bucks/stalls) but it shouldn't throw a misfire code when it actually stalls. Is the CEL flashing at any point? (that would indicate the engine is misfiring)

So the little fabric belt with the D-ring attaches under the plastic fastener to the trim at the opening of the trunk, then the bottom of the net has a hook that goes there. the top fastener is replaced with a double-hook sort of fastener that a loop of from the net goes over, then the other two sides go to the push fasteners on the side of the trunk. I don't remember if I had one of the screw in center fasteners break, but on both sides, I have a regular push fastener on the bottom and the screw in center one on the top (I installed it back in 2011, so it was a while ago) - here's a picture of the right side (same as you posted of your trunk) so you can see where everything goes. You can put stuff inside the net, as well as use the net to hold things in the corners of the trunk. If it's in the way, you just take the net off the two hooks and it's out of the way - I like them!