I own a 2017 Outback purchased new in 2016. I love this car EXCEPT for the never ending battery issues. My battery has died and needed to be replaced every year for the past 5 years. It's been to the dealer over and over. DCM was replaced, new batteries die within a year, I'm told I don't drive enough NO, this is not my issue, it's a SUBARU issue. I'm aware of the class action lawsuit that was settled last year and had my battery replaced for free at the dealership 4/23, well that battery died this morning. This is my 3rd Subie, sadly it will be my last.

This has been occurring every 24 to 30 months. Battery goes dead, have to jump start car.

Will occur if car is not run for a week, or if the tailgate is left open for an hour, or door open for an hour once battery is 24 months old or older. Will occur every week if car not driven. Have to leave a battery maintainer on the car when ever left alone longer that 5 days.

Have replaced batteries 2019, 2021, 2023 last battery replaced at dealer was an AGM type and not the standard 30 month battery.

Still plan on keeping the car, just have to keep battery maintainer on car if known to be unused more that 4 days.

Does anyone have information on any technical bulletin regarding this problem?

This is the third time battery has died. First time was in May, 2020. Dealership refused to replace battery under warranty and put a quick charge on it and sent me on my way. In September 2020 battery went dead again. I stopped in to complain to the store manager about battery issues. This time the dealership did replace the battery for free. On October 6,2023 battery was dead. AAA jump start dealership said to bring it out and they would look at it or could just replace the battery for $200. I opted to go elsewhere and buy a Diehard battery. That was on a Friday. Today is Monday and the new battery is dead. I am thoroughly disgusted with Subaru and this battery drain issue. Get your act together and solve this. It should not be up to a complaint forum to do you work.

Today, May 1, 2023, my 2017 Outback battery dies yet again! This has been a recurring problem starting about 6 months after I bought the car brand-new in July 2016. After contacting the Subaru corporate offices, my car went thru numerous testing over several months at Sheehy Subaru dealership in Springfield VA. Report was always "Didn't find anything". Then Feb 2019, Subaru replaced the battery. Since then and until today, the car ran perfectly - no issues. But I attributed that to change in where I got the car serviced.

Today, without any warnings such as slow cranking, the battery was dead as door nail. A jump start got me going. again.

The battery had a Subaru brand label that said "30 month replacement guarantee . 85-month prorated warranty.

So, I called the dealership about the warranty. Well it was over 30 months. What about the 85 month pro-rated replacement? Sure, that replacement cost would be $250.00! I thought I mis-heard. Nope. He repeated 250 dollars.

My battery was dead in the first year of ownership (2018) and I replaced the battery that was sold with the vehicle with a AAA battery. AAA told me Subaru batteries were bad, but I was not aware that this was so common that there have been law suits. November 2021, my AAA battery was drained and the car dead. AAA successfully jumped it and cleaned and tested the battery which was still good. Next morning, the battery was dead again. I jumped it myself with the aid of my neighbor and had it serviced at the Subaru dealership that same day.

Subaru Service "checked the computer", tested the battery (again) and found nothing wrong, cleaned the connections again, and charged me $150 for their time. At no point did they indicate that this has been a common problem with the model. I had to leave the car overnight and pick it up on a Sunday due to my own logistics, so I had no opportunity to review my vehicle before payment. Service support has been going downhill at the Akron Ohio location for the last two years and is so bad now that I am looking for a more reliable service provider. Although the car has started the last 2 days, the dealership did not check the "low tire" light on my dashboard as I had asked, and changed my radio station without returning it to the one I use.

I called the dealership to register my complaint, but had to leave a voice mail. 24 hours later, still no return call and I did not receive a customer satisfaction survey request. I am suspicious that no inspection had been conducted and certainly feel I should NOT have been charged for "not finding anything." I do not trust the dealership any more.

I have now bought two new batteries for my 2017 Subaru Outback. The first time I bought a new was about 1.5 years after I bought it. At that point, I did not know about the battery problem, so I bought a new one from Les Schwab and they took the original battery. This was out of pocket at $180. One year later the same problem happened. I never got a warning sign that the battery was low or actually shot. I had to get a new battery from Les Schwab. This time it was under warranty, but it is not right that they have to take the cost on this.

The dealership was not willing to give me a new battery due to the original was not there anymore!!!!!! That is not RIGHT!!! I did not know about this problem when I bought a new battery, so I did not save the old one. It looks like I will have to buy a new battery every year and hoping I am not up in the mountains without cell connection when the battery dies again!

Had to get the car jumped a number of times and this delayed travel. Finally I took it in and they said the battery had to be changed and did so and charged me. The problem was still there and the said I needed to change the battery again and they did as it was still under warranty. I still have the problem and something is draining the battery siting in the garage. I have been keeping the keys to the car covered in Al foil because I think the FOB is talking to the car and draining the battery. The second battery has failed too.

Second time we have had the battery drain while camping thing happened while camping, despite the fact that we did not use lights (including dome lights) or other radio (etc) at all. The car was parked for 3 days with no lights or radio used, but with power tailgate opened at times for access to camping equipment. We see from internet that a design flaw results in battery drain when the tailgate is open, even though there is no dome light on. Apparently Subaru (and its dealers) refuse to acknowledge the issue, and there is a class action suit underway.