This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Batter is dead after 10 months, 7500 miles. Seems as if there is something faulty with the electrical system that is pulling power off of the battery when the car is off. I've gone out to the car 5 times now over the past few months to a dead battery. Progressively it's gotten worse with two of the times being just this week. This is consistent with what I'm reading about previous year models as well. Seems like they have an electrical bug that they're not addressing year over year.
Battery was replaced after 5,549 miles. Vehicle was parked for 4-5 days prior to 07/08/2020 and need to be jumped dealer could not find problem. Vehicle was again parked for 4-5 days prior to 10/09/2020 again the battery was dead & was unable to use fob to unlock car etc, jumped started contacted Subaru about problem
I just purchased a 2020 Subaru Outback ltd and while driving the entire infocenter went blank, and all safety features was disengaged. The screen remained blank for approx 10 seconds before rebooting. I called suabru America and was informned that there is a clitch in the program that they have been attempting to fix unsuccessfully. I bought this car due to its safety features. Shouldn't I have been informed of this potential computer crash that affects the safety of myself and my passengers, which includes my 85 year old mother?
Car windshield had ice obscuring part of the eyesight system on startup. Warning indicators lit up informing me that the eyesight system was disabled. Concurrent with this fault, the failure of the eyesight system would not allow me to release the electronic parking brake leaving me stranded in the snow.
The battery is nearly always dead at startup and I have to jump it with a battery starter. The dealer had said there is nothing wrong with the battery on multiple occasions, yet I have to jump the car in grocery store parking lots. The car only has 5300 miles on it, as we don't drive that much.
- Brooklyn, NY, USA
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I have had repeated problems with my battery dying. It started slowly, at the beginning of the pandemic, I didn't drive for a couple of weeks. When the service guy came out to jump it, he said that I should can drive it at least once a week. I've been doing that and I'd only occasionally had to jump it. Now with 10 months of ownership and under 6,000 miles, I have to jump it every day. When I took it in, dealership said battery and alternator were fine. If battery is fine, must be electrical. Either way, very unhappy with this defect in my new car.
I was driving to the dealer because I had difficulty starting the vehicle because of a low battery. I stopped at a stop light in a busy intersection, and the auto stop-start system shut off the engine. When the light changed to green, I pressed the accelerator and the engine did not restart. I was left with no power, in an unsafe situation, with cars and trucks having to swerve around me. I received roadside assistance to jump-start the vehicle and they drove it to the dealer. I have since learned that the battery had completely failed and will be replaced under warranty. We don't yet know if there are any other electrical issues that contributed to the battery failure.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2020 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS SHIFTED OUT OF PARK INTO GEAR, THE DRIVER'S AND PASSENGER'S SIDE REAR DOORS LOCKED WHILE THE REAR HATCH UNLOCKED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WITH THE REAR HATCH UNLOCKED THE DOME LIGHT MADE IT VERY DIFFICULT TO SEE WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT. W&L SUBARU (535 POINT TOWNSHIP DR, NORTHUMBERLAND, PA 17857 (570) 473-3432) WAS UNABLE TO FIX THE VEHICLE. THE REAR HATCH MECHANISM WAS REPLACED HOWEVER, THE FAILURE PERSISTED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 8,900. Consumer stated Subaru would purchase the vehicle because of all the electrical problems.
My Outback was 2 months old with ~7900 miles on it when it failed to start due to a dead battery. I had last driven the car 2 days prior. I attempted to jump with my other car & could not. Roadside assistance was able to jump start the car. Roadside assistance said it was his 20th Subaru of the day! given the class-action lawsuit and the ongoing issues of undersized batteries, I elected to install a larger battery in the car.
I have had the car for only three months, and the engine has failed to start >5 times, while stationary. I have had to get several jump starts, and the battery will run again for a few days or weeks before seeming to die again. I took the car to an autoshop and they said the battery seemed fine to them, but the car continues to have failures with starting the engine. I have had safety features dysfunction while I was driving, and one of them led to an accident while driving on the highway. I have been stranded a few times, and lost hours from my job.
I have owned my 2020 Subaru Outback for only 2 months. My car will now not start. After jumping the vehicle/ charging the battery, it will start again and then shut back off. There appears to be an electrical issue that is causing my battery to drain very rapidly. Changing the battery does not fix the problem. Fixing the electrical issue is the only solution. Subaru has this problem with Outbacks and ascents from 2017 to 2020 and needs to issue a recall.
I have less than 100 miles on my 2020 Subaru Outback and am having serious battery issues. I had driven the vehicle on a Friday and then went to start it on the following Monday and the battery was dead. I called out the Subaru starlink roadside assistance to get the battery jump-started, which they did and I let the car run for an additional ten or so minutes to help it to continue recharging. That evening I attempted to start the vehicle to park in the garage for the evening and the battery was dead, again. I need to get the battery restarted, again, but I am worried that this will continue happening (chronic). Do I take it 50 miles to the nearest dealership to replace the battery, only to have the replacement battery do the same thing" or do I replace the battery with another vendor"
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that upon approaching his driveway, the contact had depressed the brake pedal and completely stopped his vehicle. The stop start feature activated automatically and the contact exited the vehicle to check his mailbox. Upon retrieving his mail, the contact turned around to enter his vehicle and the vehicle was gone. Upon looking for his vehicle, the contact discovered that the vehicle had independently driven 280 feet and had collided into a tree. The air bags deployed upon impact. The sheriff's department was notified but no police report was filed due to the accident happening on private property. No injuries were reported as a result of the failure. Due to the accident, the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it remained in their possession. The dealer nor the manufacturer have yet to be notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 294.
08/02/2020 Sunday morning at 4133 miles our brand new 2020 Subaru Outback that we had for 1 month, would not start from the church parking lot. We had a company jump start us, drove around for an hour and then went home. We parked it at home Sunday afternoon where it stayed until 2 days later. 8/04/2020 Tuesday morning at 8am I went to start it to take my cat to the vet and it would not start. We had to use a a ride service because of time constraints. 8/5/2020 Wednesday we had the same company come back out and jump start us again. We drove straight to the dealership service. We refused to leave with the car until they did something. They found a parasitic draw replaced the battery. I doubt the underlining issue has been resolved. They replaced a brand new battery at just 4,155 miles on a brand new 2020 Subaru Outback.
My radar detector rereads battery voltage and when U was driving down the highway, I noticed the battery voltage dropped from 14.4V to 12V when ever the accelerator pedal was depressed. Turning on the headlights, wipers or heater while depressing the accelerator will cause to voltage to go back to 14.4V. I do have videos showing this issue. I noticed a lot of people on line that do a lot of city driving are complaining about dead batteries. My results shows that the charging system has an issue, since the battery voltage should never go to 12V with the engine running. The video was taken with my celll phone with the extension of.mov and therefore I can't upload it using this app.
Battery died and did not respond to a jump. Had been driven maybe 2 or 3 days a week for short distances (20 miles rt) due to quarantine. Dealership has not been helpful in resolving the issue, despite the warranty on the battery.
Our 2020 Subaru Outback, with fewer than 800 miles, failed to start four times (6/1, 7/1, 7/10, & 7/13). During these incidents, interior and exterior lights flashed, the dashboard produced a clicking sound, the doors would not lock, and the tailgate became inoperative. Roadside assistance successfully jump-started the car each time and took it to two different dealers for diagnostic testing -- one in seattle and one in Tacoma. Two roadside assistance service providers said their most frequent service calls requiring a jump-start were for "late model Subaru. One service technician said he received more than 100 such requests during the past three months. The Tacoma dealer filed am urfca report with Subaru headquarters after the third incident. During the fourth incident, the battery failed while the vehicle was at the Tacoma dealer, who replaced the battery on July 13, 2020. After recharging the battery, it took a few days of being parked before the battery failed. During this last incident, I intentionally left the vehicle with the dealer over a weekend, which was long enough for the recently charged battery to drain enough to fail to start the car. When I picked up the car, the service advisor told me these cars need to be driven at least 30 minutes per trip to sufficiently recharge the battery. We've owned five Subaru Outbacks, and have not received this advice before, nor did the dealer's sales representative call this to our attention when we purchased the 2020 Outback. Our lifestyle, coupled with the covid-19 virus, only requires one or two trips per month lasting more than 30 minutes. The car sits in the garage for two to three days without being started. We always lock the vehicle, turn off all lights, close the tailgate, and keep the key fob in the house, which is more than 500 feet from the detached garage.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Arlington, VA, USA