— A Subaru 3G battery drain class action lawsuit alleges six vehicle models were left defective when 3G wireless service was phased out beginning in 2022.
According to the battery drain lawsuit, Subaru vehicles lost several features when 3G wireless service was phased out.
Those services include, "Automatic Collision Notification, SOS Emergency Assistance, Stolen Vehicle Recovery, Bluetooth Hands-Free Calling, and Remote Features such as unlocking and locking the vehicles."
The lawsuit alleges those features stopped functioning in February 2022.
The Subaru battery drain lawsuit involves these vehicles.
- 2016-2019 Subaru Forester
- 2016-2019 Subaru Legacy
- 2016-2019 Subaru Outback
- 2016-2019 Subaru Impreza
- 2016-2019 Subaru Crosstrek
- 2016-2019 Subaru WRX
The plaintiffs contend the batteries drain because the vehicles constantly try to connect to the 3G networks.
Subaru allegedly knew years ago that 3G wireless would eventually be phased out just like 2G service had been. But Subaru allegedly did nothing to prepare for the changes.
The plaintiffs assert as early as 2015, Subaru began employing 4G LTE connectivity in its vehicles while at the same time continuing to sell 3G-only vehicles.
According to the class action, Subaru offered a complimentary upgrade for any vehicle with an active STARLINK Safety and Security subscription. This upgrade would allegedly allow continued access to the STARLINK Safety and Security features.
The lawsuit alleges if a vehicle owner did not update their vehicle before the 3G connectivity was phased out, the STARLINK subscription was cancelled and any use of features requiring 3G would stop working.
But the class action alleges Subaru’s complimentary upgrade with regard to STARLINK features did not fix the problem because it affected only about 110,000 Subaru vehicles.
The plaintiffs claim this "left a population of approximately 710,000 vehicles with a chance of experiencing various issues due to the loss of 3G connectivity."
The Subaru battery drain class action lawsuit was filed by these plaintiffs.
- James Garrett / Michigan / 2019 Subaru Legacy
- Christopher Roach / New York / 2019 Subaru Outback
- Demaris Martz / California / 2017 Subaru Outback
- Marcum Martz / California / 2017 Subaru Outback
- Kimberly Rohrberg / Washington / 2019 Subaru Legacy
- Taylor Paddock / Florida / 2019 Subaru Outback
- Robert Donnelly / New York / 2016 Subaru Outback
The Subaru 3G battery drain class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey: Garrett, et al., v. Subaru of America, Inc., et al.
The plaintiffs are represented by Dilworth Paxson LLP, Wexler Boley & Elgersma LLP, and Wallace Miller.
