2016 SUBARU OUTBACK Complaints

Battery drains on its own after about a week of light use (driving <10 miles daily)

Summary of Electrical system issues: 1.pertaining to battery draining and 2. eyesight randomly goes out and other dash board lights flash and later goes away. As well as, 3. Windows that can not completely close at times. Details: I purchased 2016 Subaru outback - 4 cylinder in 2019 with 64,000 miles. By 2020, the car experienced random dashboard lights indicator flashing that would resolve itself (*the flashing light) in a few days. One issue was the eye sight would randomly inactivate while driving and resolve after turning off car for a half day or a day. However it happens often. Dealer Car repair shop said it could not duplicate. Besides the dash board lights issues; the passenger front window and moonroof would not go up to completely close at random times. Rendering the windows useless to use. These issues continued on and off from purchase thru to-date. The biggest issue came in 2021 & 2022, when the battery would drain. A jump of the battery seem to resolve the problem. Auto store would jump battery and show CCA and CA and Alternator output proficient for the battery. On random times the battery would have the same draining issue. I am not convinced it is a battery issue for these incidents. I believe it is related to an electrical issue for all of these issues. Risk: The components installed and advertised by the Subaru brand influenced me to purchase the vehicle over other vehicles because of its safety records and longevity of the vehicle. This is clearly a false and fraudulent marketing. The Subaru has failed to provide my confidence as a consumer of its safety record. I am extremely uncomfortable driving the vehicle more than 30 miles locally because of fear it will breakdown or I will be stranded. Even locally, I have had to purchase a AAA membership at an extra expense to ensure some means of assistance. Recently, within 2 days I have had ti use my membership for a drained battery. I am now seeing many Subaru owners make similar complaints.

Vehicle only has 42,000 miles and I'm already on my 2nd replacement battery. Continuous battery drain by the Controller Area Network (CAN) causes premature/sudden battery failure. My battery is already groaning on morning starts and the temps are only in the 40s. Subaru needs to correct the problem, not just help pay for replacement batteries. There's no telling where you'll be when the battery dies.

•Yes available upon request. My Subaru Outback has issues starting up even with a battery that tests good. The problem started off as intermittent and continues to happen more often. •I bought this car for Ohio winters and I’m worried me and my kids could get stranded with a drained battery. •The dealership did a 90,000 mile tune up and said to “wait until it breaks or fails all the way to get it fixed, intermittent problems are too hard to diagnose” •Just my local dealership •The battery light flashes, it started happening very sporadically about six months ago, and has progressed into a pretty common occurrence.

I have had two incidents where my battery has died. The first time it happened I had the keys in the ignition, the car was off, while I was talking on my phone. Weird, but I was told not to do that any more. Since than I have made sure the keys were out of the ignition when sitting in the car with the ignition off. We brought a new battery then. The second happened yesterday 10-14-22. I had gone to a business to pick up items. We loaded my car. No keys in the ignition, the car was off. The door and truck were opened for maybe 10 minutes. I get back in the car to start and it’s dead, does not even try to turn over.

Chronic issue with the vehicle draining batteries. I’ve gone through 4 new batteries in the time I’ve owned the vehicle and find that they die in what’s sometimes only a few months after purchase. No lights or other electronic accessories in the Outback are ever left on and we’re careful to keep doors closed when we’re not actively shuffling people or cargo in or out of the vehicle. I just experienced another episode of the battery dying when we returned from vacation to a dead car in the airport parking deck, despite only 15k miles on this battery and all lights being confirmed to have been correctly turned off before our departure. I’m concerned for the safety of my family when the vehicle can’t be trusted to regularly start and the battery could die in situations where my family’s safety could be put in jeopardy.

My battery failed to turn over one day and at the beginning there was a battery icon lit up in the dash, but later did not show up again. I received a jump from another person. The next morning my battery did work but not my radio. Now my radio will work at times and other times, not. I have not taken my car to a dealer or Calle them.

I had a two-year-old battery that kept dying or starting very weakly, intermittently. I had this battery replaced by the dealer 09-16-22 at my expense. This new battery died overnight on 10-01-22, in just two weeks. No lights were left on, the car was locked, the rear hatch was fully closed. I was left stranded far from my home and I had to hitch a ride to buy a jump-starter. I tested the alternator and it is working correctly to charge the battery. I contacted the dealer and they denied that the car model had any electrical problem and said that there were no class action suits or recalls related to this problem. They advised that I bring the car in for a diagnostic test (at my expense). There appears to be a large parasitic electrical drain that is draining the car's battery when the car is off.

Since we've owned the car it has gone through 3 batteries and the blind site and lane assist go on and off all the time. Windows lock. Dealership said there is nothing wrong with the car. My mother is 80 and we have kept the car in the garage most of the time unless it's a grocery trip. She has called my uncle twice this year to boost her because the car wouldn't start. We keep the car on a slow trickle charge and it doesn't make a difference. How are we suppose to sell this?

I have replaced the battery 3 times in 6 years. I see there is a class action lawsuit that I want to join or receive compensation.