Subaru Repair: Parking Lights wont go off, subaru legacy outback, outback wagon

Question
Frank,

Hi.  My wife and I have a 1999 Subaru Legacy Outback Wagon - Anniversary Edition with manual transmission and appx. 92,000 miles on it.

The other night my wife and I were on our way to a child education class for our first child (due in January).  Anyway, when we arrived at the hospital I noticed that the parking lots did not go off when I turned off the lights and got out of the car.  I waited a few minutes to see if they would go out, and, of course, they didn't.  So I turned the turn switch on the steering column on and off several times, thinking the switch was stuck, and they still remained on.  After about 10 minutes I decided to just pull the fuse for the parking lights so that the battery wouldn't run down while we were in our class.  Any ideas on what that might be? (I'm guessing the switch in the steering column tree is stuck)  Have you found this to be a common problem?  Any recommendations on the cheapest way to fix it?  I'm fairly handy around a car and feel very comfortable doing things like oil changes, brake pad replacements, replacing the shocks, water pump, alternator, etc...  However, I'm not real knowledgable when it comes to testing switches and solenoids and the like.

Any suggestions, recommendations you can make would be greatly appreciated.  My wife normally drives the car so I don't know how long it has gone on; however, I suspect the other night was the first time as I think my wife would have found the car's battery dead when she came out to her car if it had started doing this prior to the other night.

Thanks in advance. Look forward to your thoughts.  Feel free to email with any questions.

warm regards,

Mark  

Answer
Hello Mark,

     On top of the steering column, in the center you will see a little toggle switch. This switch allows the parking lights to be turned on without the key on. I hope this helps.

                  Thanks,
                    Frank