2020 SUBARU ASCENT Complaints

Battery gets drained if the trunk is open longer than an hour. Left the car trunk open during our camping trip while unloading and loading and in both the instance the battery drained and we we had to scramble for help to jump start the car. This happened last time exactly the same way when we were in the campsite as well.

While parked, I adjusted the rear view mirror to my driving position. I heard a cracking noise and saw a crack go about three inches down from the rear view mirror on the windshield. Over night it spread from the mirror all the way down to the base of the windshield. I inspected the windshield for impact damage and found none.

The manufacturer has failed or is unable to remedy this safety recall for the vehicle in a timely manner. Subaru of America has failed to repair after (1) year. The consumer has/will incur costs to make vehicle available during the limited times for CVT recall issues. The consumer has/will incur negative depreciation in resale value of the vehicle due to CVT issues. Subaru of America has not actively made the recall a priority. The vehicle has had (3) oil changes/services at a Subaru dealer since the recall was announced and zero times Subaru has remedy the CVT.

The battery in my 2020 Subaru ascent died without any warning. The light would go on, back talegate wouldn’t open, nothing would work. I called AAA and they came out to test it. I was told it was completely dead, there were no cells left in it, as if the lights, radio and doors were left open for an extended period of time (I was in the grocery store for 15 minutes, nothing was left in). He was able to jump start it but after some time of charging the battery. The battery is not old. We purchased the car in Dec of 2021 from a dealer.

2020 Subaru Ascent Premium.. Rear lift gate at times will not open electronically, and sounds an “alarm” locking the mechanism which prevents it from being opened. The alarm and lockout does not stop until the battery is disconnected. The first time this occurred was at a Subaru Dealership, the second time was at a location where it was necessary for me to go home to my shop to get the battery disconnected.

The car's braking system has a severe shudder at times, as well as a loud noise, and seems hesitant with stopping abilities. The dealership confirmed the issues, turned the rotors within the first year of ownership. Problem did not improve. The front brakes and rotors were replaced at 24000 miles. Within a couple months problem was occurring again. Dealership said they couldn't duplicate the issues. Had it back in again at 50000 miles (3 years old) and said they need replaced again on front, and now the rear as well.

Since purchasing our 2020 Subaru Ascent, the transmission slips, resulting in a lengthy wait time until it revs to the next gear, and then there is a palpable "jolt" as the transmission appears to move into the next gear. In addition, when I press the gas pedal to accelerate, there is a definite hesitation before the car actually accelerates. Previously, we had brought the car in to the Subaru dealership for service regarding this issue, but Subaru indicated that there has not been a problem and they did not open the transmission to look at it. We are also concerned about transmission-related problems given the recent recall of the 2020 Subaru Ascent. We know this has a CVT transmission but in this case we know that this problem is not normal. (We have family members and friends with CVT transmissions.) We are bringing the 2020 Subaru Ascent in again this week, pointedly indicating these concerns with the transmission. Please advise.

Since last NOV 2021, I have had this Ascent into the shop several times due to a 'chirping' or 'speaking' sound that comes from the underside of the middle o/t vehicle. I have come to find out through the service department that the primary differential has a batch of defective parts, and the entire differential needs to be rebuilt (21 parts total are being replaced). It has taken about 3 months to get parts in. The squeak was an annoyance. HOWEVER the situation got SIGNIFICANTLY worse when the wheels would not synchronize when turning - which should be unheard of because there are supposed to be sophisticated traction controls and such in place to prevent that very condition.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Ascent. The contact stated that while her fiancé was driving 65 MPH, the contact was seated in the passenger’s side seat and noticed a crack on the driver’s side windshield, starting from the rearview mirror. The contact took the vehicle to a local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 26,000.

We had two wire harness that was burnt twice in a year apart for our 2020 Subaru Ascent Touring. Here are the two parts # and description: Slow Blow Fuse 170A under part #82211XC00A & Wiring Harness R LH USA under Part #81502XC11B were burn. We use Subaru to tow from time to time for our 2021 Airstream Bambi 16RB (dry weight of 2,900 lbs. and GVWR of 3,500 lbs.). On 06/21/21, we noticed the car has no battery and we called roadside assistance to jump the car, but the car battery died again. On 06/22/21, we called roadside assistance to jump the car, this time, we drove to Subaru directly to have the dealer look at the issue. Dealer inspected and replaced a battery for us under warranty. On 06/26/21, the battery was completely dead again. So we have our car jumped and go to the dealer. We have 9,214 miles at this point. After 2 weeks of diagnose, dealer told us the main left wiring harness was burnt due to excessive power draw from the trailer, possibly by the electric tongue jack on the trailer, we were the 2nd exact case happened in the whole nation by that time, they will fix it as a one time courtesy and recommend us to remove the electric tongue jack. Vehicle picked up on 07/27/21, we switched electric tongue jack to manual jack. On 08/05/22, when we drove less than 5 miles out of our house, we noticed our dashboard started to flash all kind of warning message-Transmission, Tire Pressure, Vehicle Dynamic Control and Airbag system, eyesight was disabled. We decided to exit the freeway. Burning smell noticed and the car can't be started. We towed the vehicle to dealer for inspection. Dealer took a week to discover the problem was caused by the same burnt harness. After back and forth for 3+ weeks, dealer refused to cover under warranty despite we did not use the electric tongue jack(the cause dealer identified last year for the burn) the whole year. We are waiting for Subaru of America for update as of 08/31/22 under case #220824-232370 filed on 08/24/22.