What did you do to your Non-Kombi VW or other car today?

[KIWI]

Repaired the OS number plate light on the Forester.......
Light has been intermittent , on/off for a while now so I thought I'd get to the bottom gf the issue.
Turned out that a small plastic section of the T10 wedge globe socket had snapped off, eccentrically loading the globe in its housing, so contact wasn't good.
Looked at replacement options.....sheeeeeet ! ..... a replacement harness, (it's only 2' long), was going to cost $210.00 for OEM. 
A few Chinese knock-off options on the 'net but not really a fan, so on with the thinking cap.
Disassembled the rear tailgate trim to get access to the globe holders and clipped off the damaged unit. A trip to Jaycar where a new T10 fitting cost all of $4.50 and back home. Out with the Dremel - I LOVE my Dremel !! - and I pared back the moulded sections of the original globe holder,( it's all in one piece), ground out a 15 mm hole for the new T10 socket and installed the replacement. A couple of heat shrink solder joiners and the harness is complete again. 
Re-assembled the tailgate trim and paid myself in beer....
Job done.

Is the Forester like the Outback where the tailgate switch and number plate lamps are on the same harness hence the high cost?
PR

[Oldman]

Is the Forester like the Outback where the tailgate switch and number plate lamps are on the same harness hence the high cost?
PR

Yup.....
Still seems excessive given the harness is basically two short runs of cable, two moulded plastic sockets, the tailgate switch and a sealing bung.
Could've gone to a wrecker I guess but it still would have been considerably more than $4.50 and a couple of solder/heat shrink joiners.
.....and I don't mind a challenge 

[Chris Taylor]

Yup.....
Still seems excessive given the harness is basically two short runs of cable, two moulded plastic sockets, the tailgate switch and a sealing bung.
Could've gone to a wrecker I guess but it still would have been considerably more than $4.50 and a couple of solder/heat shrink joiners.
.....and I don't mind a challenge 

Lol life is like that ,one big challenge  as soon as you conquer one another takes it's  place.keeps the brain working.

[KIWI]

Yup.....
Still seems excessive given the harness is basically two short runs of cable, two moulded plastic sockets, the tailgate switch and a sealing bung.
Could've gone to a wrecker I guess but it still would have been considerably more than $4.50 and a couple of solder/heat shrink joiners.
.....and I don't mind a challenge 

Outback tailgate switch worked only occasionally.
I reckon my cost to fix was the about the same as yours but a simpler solution - half a can of WD-40 Contact cleaner instead of USD130 for a new one.
PR.

[Oldman]

Wish my fix had been that easy !!

[ruby6689]

Repaired the OS number plate light on the Forester.......

Re-assembled the tailgate trim and paid myself in beer....
Job done.

Well done and a great $ saving for thinking outside the box.

[Ninga]

Good stuff Mark. I particularly like your payment method.