Simply stated, (and having seen several other complaints about Subaru Outback, with battery discharge problem), I am extremely concerned that this new vehicle has required a jump start twice. The vehicle has simply been parked (for about 7 days). When I went to start it, it wouldn't. The battery had discharged and was completely dead. I reported this to Subaru Customer support. They checked with the dealer and provided me the same answer. "The car needs to be driven daily". I said "What? This is absurd." In my 40+years of driving, I have never ever been told that I needed to drive the car daily, or I could expect the battery to be dead. This is of concern, as I travel and sometimes I park in long term parking because of the length of the trip. I have never needed to think that my car battery would be dead, when I return from a trip. I now need to worry that my vehicle (if not driven daily) could leave me stranded somewhere because the battery will discharge. I am looking to contact NJ Dept of Consumer Affairs to pursue a possible 'lemon law' suit. I am also going to open a complaint with NHTSA. I have also seen some comment about Subaru having a Battery Enhanced ECM Update that is applied by Subaru Service. I will need to ask the Subaru service side about that. Any readers of this post, if you have some information please let me know.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Simply stated, (and having seen several other complaints about Subaru Outback, with battery discharge problem), I am extremely concerned that this new vehicle has required a jump start twice. The vehicle has simply been parked (for about 7 days). When I went to start it, it wouldn't. The battery had discharged and was completely dead. I reported this to Subaru Customer support. They checked with the dealer and provided me the same answer. "The car needs to be driven daily". I said "What? This is absurd." In my 40+years of driving, I have never ever been told that I needed to drive the car daily, or I could expect the battery to be dead. This is of concern, as I travel and sometimes I park in long term parking because of the length of the trip. I have never needed to think that my car battery would be dead, when I return from a trip. I now need to worry that my vehicle (if not driven daily) could leave me stranded somewhere because the battery will discharge. I am looking to contact NJ Dept of Consumer Affairs to pursue a possible 'lemon law' suit. I am also going to open a complaint with NHTSA. I have also seen some comment about Subaru having a Battery Enhanced ECM Update that is applied by Subaru Service. I will need to ask the Subaru service side about that. Any readers of this post, if you have some information please let me know.
- Louis S., Somerset, NJ, US