club.liberty.asn.au

Myself and a few other Liberty members here in North QLD have also been discussing what to do with our quickly degrading dashes. Because of the high temperatures, and sun almost all year round, ours are probably worse than a lot of others down south.

The Part # for yours is 66040AG081 I believe (I'd confirm with your VIN first, but 99% sure). You could obviously buy a replacement from the dealer, but that'd be $$s.

Overseas Subaru Parts suppliers sell the same factory part for much cheaper. From the supplier below, they are Aus$568 plus about Aus$100 postage.

https://partsouq.com/en/search/search?q=66040AG081

A used dash from a wrecker is also an option of course, but you'd have to ring around to see who has one. But you could be in the same boat in a year or two if they're almost as old as your current one.

I'm not even sure I want a brand new one, knowing I'll be in the same boat again in 5-7 years. So I think getting mine recovered in a better quality material is the way to go. It probably won't match the Subaru pattern that the factory vinyl had, but oh well.

The main reason i have never reupholstered the dash is the passenger airbag. Nobody up here wanted to touch it as it gets tricky with airbags and such. Interested to know what options there are but am not expecting a great deal.

I have been contemplating getting a 2nd hand dash for ages and the couple i have come across quickly degraded so am not keen to spend hundreds on a 2nd hand one again to have the same thing happen. I also dont see subaru aus replacing them with the same item knowing in years to come it will do the same thing and taking responsibility once pits them on an endless cycle unless they rethink the dash materials etc.

Ah, ok. I hadn't looked into reupholstering that closely yet, so I didn't know about the airbag issue.
I don't have anyone locally, but I'll email a few companies and see if they say the same thing (probably will if others also won't touch any with airbags). I actually think reupholstering will cost more than a new one, but if it was going to last a lot longer, then it'd be worth it.

Yeah, out of all the options I'm definitely not getting a second hand one.

Subaru USA is replacing dashboards for free under a safety recall. A Liberty (Legacy) owner posted their recall letter in the US Facebook page recently. But that took owners in a group lawsuit in 2015. There are news articles that mentioned the lawsuit that I found on google. Their reasoning was that the shiny dash is a safety issue. But I don't see Subaru Aus doing that out of kidness (without a lawsuit). So hopefully the US recall will at least mean new dashboards will have a better quality vinyl (so they don't have to do another recall in 6-8 years).

Yeah im so far over mine its not funny. Thinking of putting some old black cloth over it for now and cut it out around yhe airbag best part it its self adhesive haha

I do agree if they redesign the dash to a longer lasting option i would be stoked but dont expect this especially over here .

I dont know what direction i am going to turn towards would love to replace it but as most others am worried itl die very soon after install.

You have a pm

*Threadmining warning*

I know the pain. I tried a product called Stick Dash Fix. 6 months on it's gone quite shiny
But, at least it isn't sticky anymore

I found this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/192967323347
But a single ad isn't very duplicable...

...and as everyone has said, the Aussie sun loves to have a good laugh at the OEM dash materials in a couple of years.

If a new replacement dash was bought, would it be easier for a reupholstering company to have a go at replacing the outer surface and rid it of the OEM finish that is made from baked teenage zit puss?

Since this thread was revived, I ended up getting my dash replaced for free by Subaru. Around 2018 when they did the airbag recall, they did more damage to the already cracking dash. I had heard of people asking them for a replacement, even though the dash was never an official recall. And they approved it