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.
Electrical power failures Subaru Outback 2020 on 5 different occasions in the past 10 months our new 2020 Subaru Outback has failed to start and we have been stranded. There was no electrical power. Every time: 'the car had been driven regularly, including on the prior day. 'when we tried to start the car, the battery was dead. We had never left lights on, doors open etc. 'the car jump started easily and then would behave normally for weeks or months. Episode 1 5.15.20 local dealership tested and found no problems episode 2 5.22.20 local dealership replaced battery episode 3 1.11.21 to 1.19.21 local dealer had car for 8 days. They worked with Subaru national headquarters engineers. No problems found. No loaner car provided episode 4. 3.21.21 jump started. Subaru contacted. I kept the car waiting advice from Subaru. Car went well for 2 days episode 5 3.23.21 died again. Subaru contacted. I kept the car waiting advice from Subaru. Have not restarted. I want the car replaced.
Vehicle has had multiple documented incidents of the infotainment system crashing or going dark and being unresponsive. Today during another episode the vehicles adaptive cruise control could not be turned off. The vehicle would not come out of cruise and continued to drive at speed. Placed vehicle in neutral while on the highway to restart the engine and electrical system. The entirety of electrical controls were unresponsive. The infotainment crashing and becoming inoperable are a relatively common experience, but this is the first time we experienced loss of vehicle control.
On March 1, 2021 vehicle had 4992 miles on it and vehicle would not start. Had to call roadside assistance and have vehicle jumped. Took to dealer, they said battery, alternator and starter, tested good. On March 17th, vehicle had to be jump started. On March 18th, vehicle had to be jump started twice in the same day. On March 19th, vehicle had to be jump started and taken to dealer. Vehicle now has 5192 miles. On March 19, 2021, a case was opened with Subaru of America.
My car has 6700 miles and the battery completely died. After having it jump started by csaa, I drove it to Subaru. The service manager acknowledged that Subaru was having electrical problems with their cars.
- Palo Alto, CA, USA
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Battery dies. The car is little over 1 year old, the battery died and it had to be towed September 2020, dealer charged it up, the battery died again in January 2021 and dealer replaced with a new battery. The control panel has gone "black" several times no status shows.
I attempted to start the car in the morning and the battery was too weak. I charged the battery and let the car run 15 minutes. Four days later, when I attempted to start the car, the battery was too weak again. I found reference to this as an issue possibly known to Subaru of America with recommendation to report to NHTSA.
Battery goes dead when don't drive it weekly. Purchased new from dealer in June 2020. Have had aaa out twice to jump the battery. Have been told by aaa and dealership to drive the car or start it and let it run for 30 minutes every couple of days to keep battery charged because electronics drain the battery. Car was in garage.
My Outback was bought new less than 6 months ago and now the car battery will not hold a charge. My car only has about 3,000 miles on it, it's used mostly for city driving. One morning my car was completely dead in our driveway, nothing would turn on, so we jumped the car battery and it worked fine the rest of the day. When the car turned on, no lights were on to indicate that the battery had been drained due to lights being kept on. The next morning the car was completely dead again. We jumped the car again, but after not being used for several hours the car battery was again completely dead. We are taking it to the dealership but it appears there is already a lawsuit against Subaru for the same thing happening in other 2016-2020 Outbacks.
I purchased a new 2020 Outback onyx xt in fall 2019. It generally had no issues and ran fine with normal driving (eg driving to work and errands every day or two). Fall of 2020 (car around 10,000 miles) the car randomly was fully dead (couldn't unlock doors or start the engine) one morning after having been driven normally one or two days before. I jump started the car, drove it for an hour, and the battery seemingly did not charge - the car died immediately after the car was turned off and it could not be locked/unlocked/started/etc. The car was jump started again and brought to the dealer who diagnosed a faulty battery unit which was replaced under warranty. The car then worked normally until early 2021, when the issue repeated itself - for no apparent reason, the car died, after having worked fine the day or two before (I.e. it wasn't left undriven for an extended period of time). It was jump started, brought into the dealer, and same diagnosis/fix - battery replaced under warranty. One week later, the issue repeated itself. The car was brought in and the dealer did more diagnoses and found that there was an interior light switch that was in an on position (although the light itself was off) - they tried to replicate the issue with leaving the light on causing the car to die overnight. They replaced the battery again under warranty. Most recently, around one week later - March 1 2021 - this issue repeated for a fourth time. I was specifically careful that no light switches were ever left on and the car had worked fine the day prior to it having been unable to start, and am awaiting instructions from Subaru for next steps. Clearly it is not simply a "bad battery" as the dealer has been unable to fix the car (which is under warranty) and make it useable for normal driving.
I purchased my 2020 Outback in May 2020. In February 2021, I had about 5400 miles on the car when the battery seemed to die. Admittedly the temperatures were cold and the car was outside for 48 hours without being driven. I was unable to successfully jumpstart the car when I attempted to do so one week later. The temperature that day was in the upper 20S. I tried again 3 days later when the temperature was about 40. I successfully jumpstarted it that day and I let it idle for 20 minutes. The next morning, it would not start again so I had to jumpstart it once again. This time I idled it for 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon (it started without a jump in the afternoon). The next morning it once again required jumpstarting. I let it idle for 20 minutes in the morning and another 20 minutes in the afternoon (once again jumpstarting in the afternoon was not necessary). Finally, it started on its own the next morning and I drove it to the dealer who said everything with the battery and the electrical system was fine. There was no evidence of any electrical problem. I am not convinced about this in light of problems with 2017-2019 Outback battery failures.
Car had been running fine since purchased new in Aug 2020. I had a normal 6 month service appointment for Monday Feb 8, 2021. On Sunday Feb 7, 2021 car wouldn't start. I called roadside assistance and they came to my home and used a battery starter to jump start the car. I let the car run for 30 minutes to charge the battery. The next day the car started fine so I went to the dealership for the scheduled service appointment. I asked them to check the battery because the car had to be jump started the day before. When the service was complete I was told that the battery checked out fine. Refer to item #5 on attached service report. I drove the car home. On Wednesday Feb 10, 2021 I tried to start the car but it wouldn't start. Roadside assistance came to my home and jump started the car. I drove the car to the dealership to have the service department look for a problem. The drive to the dealership took about 45 minutes. When I got to the dealership I turned the car off and, with the service advisor standing next to the car, tried to start the car. The car wouldn't start. I've since look inline for similar complaints and have found that lawsuits have been filed against Subaru regarding similar complaints. See page #1 of attached magazine article.
Car will not start. Battery is dead. We drove it Monday and it was fine. We did not use lights and made sure everything was off. Today, it would not start. Battery was dead!
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the doors failed to open with the key fob. The contact noticed that the battery was drained. The contact called don miller Subaru West (5822 odana rd, madison, wi 53719; (608) 442-3200) and was informed to start the vehicle more frequently so that the battery would recharge. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 2,000. The VIN was invalid.
I've had recurring issues with my battery dying. I've reported previous issues on here to show that it is recurring. I don't drive that often because I'm working remotely right now but drove 90 miles in a single trip on Friday, Jan. 22. on Saturday, Jan. 23 my vehicle wouldn't start because the battery was dead. I now carry a battery jumper because of previous issues so I jumped the vehicle and drove about 50 miles. On Sunday, the vehicle started fine so I drove my 90 mile return trip. The vehicle was not used much but I made sure it would start each day and took a short trip in the middle of the week. Yesterday, February 2, the battery was dead again. Instead of jumping it, I'm going to have it towed to the dealership so they can troubleshoot. They have troubleshooted it twice before and have not been able to find the source of the battery drain. All interior lights are in the off position and I have not used anything but the driver's door which I made sure is closed and locked upon exiting. I have a claim going with Subaru consume affairs. This week the lows will be in the negative numbers and I don't think I should have to stand outside and jump my own vehicle in that weather because of a faulty batter/alternator/lemon vehicle.
The battery died with only about 6500 miles on the car. The car was last driven 48 hour ago. Nothing was left on. The vehicle was in a warm garage since it was last driven.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Zionsville, IN, USA