On the plastic bulkhead. What is the ledge there for? Anyone discover a unique use for it? Not terribly accessible behind the rear seats. At first I thought it might be a hole for cooling the battery but that is under the passenger side rear seat on a US model. So I saw it again as I was cleaning the car the other day and thought I'd ask.
Turns out is it for an umbrella after all, although I have something else stuffed in there. Sec 3-5 of the manual, p 330
I read mine even before I had the car. (The dealer I bought my 2001 Subaru Forester was amazed I brought a emergency kit to get my car home from the dealer, 180 miles)
I store a long golf umbrella behind the rear seats and don't use that spare umbrella storage slot. I do have a smaller umbrella easily accessible from the driver's seat so if I have to go back to the rear passenger door to get the big umbrella for the passengers the small umbrella will cover me. Said on Dec 28th at 74F with rain expected for the next four days. Just as in the last week. Thanks for the many replies. I suspected as much but it had been since I got the car that I read the f'ing manual.
In addition to an umbrella, we also were able to put our snow scraper/brush on that ledge behind the rear seat. More convenient than is the bins under the cargo floor!
Ah the bins. I have 4 practice golf clubs in the rearmost one and a set of 6 balls so, if I'm ever so inclined, I can fool around in the practice area without having to bring my full bag. The other bin is filled with emergency supplies, jumper cables, tire changing equipment (an old shower curtain to kneel on in the rain and a good 24" handle and socket to remove the wheel nuts), some flares and a high visibility vest. Buried under the Weathertech mat in the rear cargo area are some cloth grocery bags and some cloth wine carrying bags folded flat. We seldom have snow or ice here so I put the snow removal items in only as needed. 70+f yesterday, a "chilly" 55F today.
