UNDERSTANDING YOUR SUBARU’S WARNING LIGHTS

Are you the sort of driver whose adrenalin kicks in when any warning light appears on the dashboard? Even if it’s simply an illuminated icon to remind you to visit a petrol station soon, because you’ve only got 40 miles worth of fuel left in the tank? Or are you more likely to ignore all the indicators until the car is actually making hideous wheezing or grinding sounds? (We hope not.)

The icons displayed on the instrument panel of your car are intended to alert you to a variety of different situations – to keep your car in perfect working order and you and your passengers safe. So it pays to understand what they all mean.

Warning: increasingly sophisticated technology at work

The increasingly sophisticated electronic systems and often-brightly-lit dashboards of most new cars can be surprising to some. And that’s quite understandable…

The increasingly sophisticated electronic systems and often-brightly-lit dashboards of most new cars can be surprising to some. And that’s quite understandable…

The sheer reliability of a Subaru makes it a supremely trusty workhorse. So perhaps you haven’t changed your vehicle recently. When you do take a test drive in a new Subaru, however, the difference in illumination levels will immediately strike you.

But what are the various warning lights that can activate on your Subaru’s dashboard? It’s important to know exactly what they’re alerting you to – well in advance of any troublesome situation.

Keeping you safe at all times

The colourful array of icons and indicators on the Subaru instrument panel The colourful array of icons and indicators on the Subaru instrument panel is specifically designed to help you keep your car in good working order and to ensure your safety at all times.

The different illuminated symbols can sometimes be confusing, especially if you’re a new Subaru driver, so we’ve put together this guide for you.

It’s very important that you familiarise yourself with the Subaru warning lights you’re most likely to see, because some can indicate a very serious situation. This would be the case if a malfunction is detected in the airbag system, for example.

From the moment you switch your car’s ignition on, multiple invisible systems swing into action to constantly monitor the safety, capability and performance of your Subaru.

At any given point in your journey, if something isn’t working as it should be, you’ll be alerted.

What do your car dashboard warning lights mean?

Sometimes, you’ll see a symbol light up to simply indicate that a system such as Adaptive Cruise Control, for example, is in operation.

A number of icons illuminate to advise you about everyday necessities – if you’re running low on windscreen washer fluid or you need to check the tyre pressures, for example.

Other warning lights are designed to inform you about a potential problem with one of your vehicle’s integral technologies or features.

For the purpose of this guide, we’ve categorised our warning lights according to the severity of the alert:

• Green is an information alert. It means there’s something you should be aware of, but your vehicle can still be driven – there’s no immediate danger to you, your passengers or other road users.
• Amber is an advisory alert. It means the system has detected an issue of a slightly more serious nature, which may need dealer intervention – but you can still drive your car.
• Red is a major warning. It means swift rectification of a problem is required – you should speak to your local Subaru dealership before continuing with your journey.

The most common warning lights on a car

Here, we’ve compiled a comprehensive guide to some of the warning lights you might see on your Subaru instrument panel:

Please be aware that different models may have different features and the warning lights listed below may not be applicable to your vehicle.