My third (and last) Subaru. A Gen-5 Outback that I've only had for 4-weeks. 2.5 years old when I purchased it. Let me down badly on big family roadtrip requiring a number of jump starts and ultimately needing roadside assistance to fit new battery.
Since last service (see receipt). Battery has died again ….
Subaru has been aware of battery and electrical problems for years
The batteries are reportedly not defective but underpowered and cannot handle the required electrical load. Instead, a parasitic drain is caused by the vehicle’s Controller Area Network (CAN) system. This module assists in the communication of the vehicle’s electrical actuators, microcontrollers, and sensors.
My second vehicle is a 2021 Subaru Outback Limited with 7,500 miles. I purchased the vehicle new in May, 2021. When I went to start the a few weeks ago the battery was low or dead and won't not start the car or even turn the engine over. I placed the battery on a charger overnight and the car started the next day. The car is not driven every day, but sits in a garage no more than 3 or 4 days at most before being utilized.
The same type of incident occurred yesterday , but with the headlights flickering and the rapid sound of electrical solenoids rapidly making clicking noises. Once more the car wold not start.
I called the Subaru dealer when I purchased the car and made an appointment to have the vehicle checks and gave a specific and detailed account of what had occurred. I had no faith in driving the vehicle anywhere without first having the problem looked at.
I arrived at the dealer early this morning for my appointment. The first service representative asked what the problem was and again explained the issue. He advised me that "Modern cars have a host of electronics and that I needed to disconnect the battery if I was not going to use the car in three or more days." I advised that was unacceptable, particularly when I or a family member park and travel from a nearby airport for a few days at a time.
I advised that this is a new problem that I just started experiences and that I bought the car new from this dealership two years ago. The service rep stated "I don't want to argue with you, we'll test your car's electrical system."
Two hours later, as I waited in the service area, I was advised by another service rep that the battery in fact failed the test. He then began to calculate a fee to change me for a new battery and labor. I inquired that this should be covered by the three year thirty-six month original warranty. He told me that it was not. I asked that he verify that. He talked with another employee briefly then told me that that warranty did cover it.
He had me sign a form that illustrated a total bill of $476.00 that would be charged to Subaru. This included a new battery, a new "battery pan" and labor. A presume a larger and more powerful battery was installed.
The fact of the matter is that Subaru dealership employees twice attempted to either prevent by service call and electrical test by telling me that I simple needed to "disconnect the batter" each time the car was parked for a few days and later by attempting to charge me for the service.
I later learned of the battery problems that Subaru vehicles had been experiencing.
As a result I have lost a fair amount of faith in Subaru.
Go out to start the car today after having no issues for a few weeks and find the battery dead again. No lights left on, nothing left open. Just DEAD and won't start. Again a tough time getting it started with a jumper.
We drive our Outback every day. Our average commute is 15-20 miles, but we also take the Outback on our regular camping adventures, so it’s seen some heavy mileage in its short time. In March 2023, we took our vehicle in for regular maintenance. The battery passed its test and indicated no issues per the dealership’s multipoint inspection. This morning, about 2.5 months after service, my Outback would not start in our garage. We called to get it jumped, and the roadside assistance serviceman said my car was not the first, second, or even third Subaru he’d jumped this week. Rather, he said that he’d jumped FOUR other “relatively new” Subaru's this week, alone. The battery does not show any signs of corrosion, and nothing was left on within the vehicle to drain the battery. The dealership themselves—upon calling to verify my battery’s health per the last service—said that Subaru’s been battling “parasitic battery drain” in “so many” cars that there’s been a class action lawsuit…for the models spanning the five years before my car was manufactured. I definitely believe that my 2021 Outback has the same problems as its predecessors, but I really hope this is the only time I have to post on here that my battery needed jumped.
The brand new Subaru 2021 Outback battery drains within about 5 days to the point where the car will no longer start. I charge it for a day before using it. It's not a bad alternator and it's not a fixable parasitic drain, ie no lights are staying on inside the car or anything. Ironically we purchased this car so we could drive it into the mountains and leave it at trailheads while we go on extended backpacking trips. But we wouldn't be able to start the car when we returned. We've had the battery tested and there is no problem with it. It's just a bad electrical system design. Too many features trying to run off of the battery while the car is not running. Like wifi, anti theft, automatic software updates, starlink, etc...
I have had this dead battery issue on at least 3 occasions. Each time was when the Outback had not been driven for a few days. I have to have it jumped. This vehicle is a 2021 model and has only 22,000 miles on it. I have not left any interior lights on, doors unshut, etc. This last time, on March 2, we had returned from a 2 month vacation. I had disconnected the battery before we left and re-connected upon return, and it was dead. I put it on a charger and was able to start it and drive it around to let the alternator do its job. The next morning I got into my Outback to run errands, it was totally dead again. Just about 8 hours after the charge! This weekend I tried to charge it back up to no avail. It hasn't started since.
I now have to have it towed to my Subaru dealership for repairs. I recently found out (thank you Google) that this battery depletion issue has been known to Subaru for a number of years, and there might be a class action lawsuit in attempt to rectify this issue!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
My third (and last) Subaru. A Gen-5 Outback that I've only had for 4-weeks. 2.5 years old when I purchased it. Let me down badly on big family roadtrip requiring a number of jump starts and ultimately needing roadside assistance to fit new battery.
- Francis D., Brighton, UK