This car, a 2018 Subaru Outback, has had a dead battery for the third time in a month. The first time the car was left in an airport parking lot for ten days. A service call got us a jump start and when we drove to the dealer, they were too busy to help us and told us to return after the weekend. The car was dead again a day later, and we purchased and used a portable jump starter. The dealer gave us a full charge and recommended that we never leave the car undriven for more than 2 days! WHAT craziness is this?! This morning the car was dead again... silly us, we haven’t driven it for three days.

We are a couple in our 80’s and though not infirm, we must have a car we can depend on. This car is unreliable and has the potential to leave people in life threatening situations. We are so very disappointed in what seemed a carefully chosen vehicle for our senior years.

Had to buy a new battery for my car. The dealer is not being fair. I've had to take the car in many times, they test the battery and say they don't know what's draining the battery, but after 24 hours my battery always dies. It died while they were working on it and still they never offered a solution or anything. This has happened about 8 times over the course of a the first year of owning a brand new car. They replaced the battery in the first 6 months which did absolutely nothing.

I was told to get a bigger battery with more CCA which I did today and hopefully that fixes it. If not, I will be contacting Corporate once again. I shouldn't have to buy a new battery when my car is still under warranty. Everything will be turned off in the car and it still dies. Sometimes when I try to start it when it's dead, I hear my rear hatch open itself. This isn't only due to cold weather, I drove 35 minutes to work, parked in a temp controlled garage, 8 hours later it was completely dead.

I had to buy jumper cables ($12) which I leave in my car, and since I am sometimes alone and not near other vehicles I also had to get a jump starter for $80 so I don't get stranded. So far this issue has cost me a total of nearly $250 and the dealers continue to be stumped. When will the matter get looked into? I am not going to let this slide.. I didn't spend nearly 50k on a fully loaded Subaru Outback just to be yanked around by clueless dealer personnel.

My 2018 Subaru Outback began to have electrical/battery problems in November. If the tailgate remained open more than 20 minutes, the car needed a jump start. This also occurred with varying times with the doors, interior lights, etc. After my dealer couldn't replace the battery even though the car is under warranty (30,000 miles) because after jumping it, it showed okay, and could offer no other solution, I purchased a jump starter as a necessary accessory for this car. I also found Subaru Roadside Assistance was good.

After the last refusal to replace the battery, which shows it cures the problem by others on here, I kept notes and after the latest "dead" battery I again called SRA, this time to my home. The tech said it's just a crappy battery, so Subaru had a bunch of them go through, and he had jump started 18 of them in November. In no case would Subaru replace the battery. I had left the tailgate open, but this time I had him check the battery BEFORE he jumped it. It showed "low" and as usual started after the jump.

This time I made an appointment with my dealer, who again said as long as it showed a good battery on the test, he could do nothing, but if not he would gladly replace it. This time I got there a half-hour early and raised the tailgate. I told the tech it wouldn't start and to check the battery, which failed the test. I got a new battery with everything re-set on the car and happily drove off. If he had refused to give me a battery I planned to either get a loaner or rent something, leave the car and tell them to call me when they had solved the problem. That wasn't necessary, thankfully.

I hope this helps someone else get this fixed the way it should have been taken care of long ago. I'm really disappointed that Subaru is not doing the right thing by replacing these batteries - the car has electrical problems and they know it. I think it actually is a safety issue along with being very annoying and inconvenient.

Here I am in the UK with the same sort of battery problem. Parked outside for 2 days, definitely no lights or anything else left on, and battery went absolutely flat. Unable to open the door with fob or by keyless - just nothing - so I had to use the key. The car is often left for longer than that and never had a problem before. It is only a little over 1 year old. I have now looked at lots of postings about this problem and it must be a Subaru fault - not the battery. Funny thing was that a few days ago, just after we locked the doors, we heard a short buzzing from what seemed to be the rear of the car. Never heard it before!

I have a rescue starter battery, similar to the ones that the AA have, and used it successfully to start the car. I will be carrying it with me from now on!!!!

Update from Jan 25, 2020: Boot (trunk for you all in the USA) light switch faulty and therefore sometimes is permanently ON. It seems to use about 1 amp when measured (seems high), but explains flat battery after a couple of days!

If the car sits unused for four days, the battery is drained so car will not start. I replaced the battery on my own dime. I put in an Interstate battery. The problem still exists. The problem will never happen if the vehicle is run every 1 or 2 days. I have disconnected the new battery and let the car sit for a month. I reconnected the battery after the month and the car started with no trouble. Therefore the battery is good but is being drained rather rapidly when the car is not being used. This has happened numerous times since the first time it happened in Oct, 2019.

I am aware of a class action lawsuit against Subaru regarding this problem. However when I called the dealer I WAS TOLD THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF ANY PROBLEMS WITH THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM THAT WOULD CAUSE A SERIOUS DRRAIN ON THE BATTERY WHEN THE CAR WAS OFF.

We have 2017 Outback 3.6 CVT ETC.

GREAT CARS, BUT MT WIFE HAD HER Battery replaced today on the 2017 right at 3 years into it and repeated episodes of dead battery including the first year. I’ve had several instances in my 18 month old of the dead battery problem, most recently after not driving for 3 weeks thanks to the pandemic.

Subaru has a battery problem. I will eventually replace it with a better battery with more reserve Amos, etc.

I don’t want to have more of the same problem, one which seems to be very common.

I have a 2018 Subaru Outback 3.6R Touring with 17,773 miles on it. On 6 Apr 2020, I attempted to start the car but could't because the battery was dead, luckily this happen in my garage. I jump started it and took it for a +/- 70 mile ride to recharge the battery. For the next several weeks it started fine. However, on May 4th it happened again, at home (lucky me), it didn't start/dead battery. I could go back to the dealer but I would get another sub-par battery, in my opinion not worth it.

My conclusion, I strongly believe the battery in my car is simply a sub-par battery to get new owners like me going just for a little while, in my case, 19 months. Not cool!

I have now experienced a dead battery 6 times in my 2018 Outback. Each time nothing was left on in the vehicle and it is parked inside a temperature controlled garage. The first time, the hatch opened during the night by itself (keys were nowhere near the vehicle as I live on the top floor of a high rise). Subsequent times it has occurred when the car hasn’t been driven between 2-7 days. Dealer replaced the battery after the 4th time with the same size battery. It has happened twice since then. I’ve complained to the service department repeatedly that this is an issue and a simple Google search will pull up multiple complaints about it. I have been told repeatedly that the battery may die if it isn’t driven enough. This is a ridiculous response. You should be able to go for 2-7 days without worrying that your battery will be dead! There is even a class action investigation now about it. https://chimicles.com/2018-subaru-outback-dead-battery-class-action-investigation/

Wife returned to car after lunch to find rear hatch open and battery dead. This is incident #6 like this (but the first time the hatch has opened itself. After the second time I bought a TackLife jump start battery for $80 and have used it to "save myself" four times and counting. Dealership says our days of short runs don't keep the battery charged. I make a point of making a 20 minute run each day so that's not it. This car, and judging from the many similar complaints...this model in general has some electrical problem. They should come with a jump battery kit

My plan for this car.... 1. ALWAYS carry a fully charged jump battery. The TackLife I got is easy to use and works great! 2. Keep the jump battery in the front or 2nd row...with battery dead the hatch won't open 3. Start keeping a log...where, when, what driving conditions preceded event, etc., etc. 4. Call the dealer and complain every time this happens. 5. Another forum mentioned how to start a case with Subaru.....do that. 6. At every service visit, demand that Subaru reimburse me for the Jump Batt which is now part of the car. 7. Warn potential buyers....Great Car....except for this one completely random GOTCHA!

The car has less than 5,000 miles on it and the battery has failed 6 times!. Mainly it seems to happen when the liftgate opens in the middle of the night. The dealer "can find nothing wrong" with the system and suggest that it has something to do with how I'm carrying my key fob. . So far I have tried 1. Not carrying key fob in pockets after coming in the house 2. Buying a rubber key fob "surround" 3. Purchasing a $120.00 Battery Charger from Amazon, which has saved me the last 5 times from having to get towed or waiting for roadside assistance. 4. Bought an RFID signal blocking pouch to put the key fob in. Last time failed was 2 weeks ago. Keeping fingers crossed that this last time will take care of it, but man, a lot of hassle to go through for a brand new $36,000 car!.

Also, the radio/GPS/Phone unit has failed on this car, currently waiting for replacement head unit. These two issues have apparently been going on for years with Outbacks and if I had researched them first, may never have purchased this car!.

I traded in a problem free 5 year old Nissan Pathfinder and am having regrets!

Battery has died twice. Last time down to one volt. Dealership (Camelback Subaru) would not replace battery because it still showed that it was charged.

Was told by "battery expert" if the charge is "1" or less, the battery will not take a full charge again. They WILL NOT replace it because it took a half charge.

Was told by dealership that these new cars need to be driven 18 miles often in order to keep the battery charged.

My car is dead. There is no solution.

There is obviously some electrical system that is draining the battery when the car is turned off.

The 1st time when the Subaru tech came out to recharge the battery, I was his 12th customer that morning. I drove it to dealership over 18 miles and it got a partial charge.

I purchased a trickle charger to give it a little boost.

I AM SCARED to drive it because it could die at anytime!