2019 SUBARU OUTBACK Complaints

Car battery loses charge often due to parasitic DCM wire. Have been stranded often with my children despite buying new batteries. Battery, Alternator, everything tests fine. But there is an electrical issue. The radio and other electronics go on the fritz a week or two before each time the car needs a jump. it’s unreliable and unsafe.

There is a parasitic battery drain happening from somewhere in my Subaru Outback. I purchased a battery approximately 6 months ago because my previous one died. Today this one died. Nothing such as leaving lights on or anything else on my part precipitated this. It has not been inspected yet by the dealer. This seems to be a common thing based on research and needs to be a recall.

Battery failed to start vehicle. Jumped with another battery, checked that the charging system was operating. The next morning it would not start. Changed battery with a new one slightly larger, no problems. Found out later that there are so many functions that drain the smaller battery. I did not want to be on the road and unable to restart the vehicle. Others have had the same issues, there is a class action lawsuit with a settlement. Filed the required forms and was denied because I did not have a Subaru dealer replace the battery.

Battery drain. The vehicle battery will be dead after 2 days. I've needed charges over 15 times in 6 months. The battery was replaced twice and dealer said there was no parasitic drain when car is off, but offered no solution for fixing the car. I'm still having to call roadside services for a charge off and on. It's highly inconvenient and could be dangerous to not have any reliance on the battery. The car has less than 10,000 miles. I have been gypped into buying this car that isn't working properly. When will Subaru take these vehicles back or provide a solution for dealers to implement?

At roughly 57k miles, the infotainment system in my Subaru outback started flashing rapidly, thinking something was touching the top right corner of the screen. It changes the radio stations interrupts phone calls by transferring them off of the Bluetooth system, affects the navigation system by stopping the map, and eventually locks itself up and because unusable. Not only is this distracting to the driver, but it questions the integrity of all of the computer systems in the vehicle, including the Subaru EYESIGHT.

The head unit of the vehicle is experiencing delamination which is causing "phantom inputs" where the screen registers touches on without any user input. This causes constant audio sound effects to be played which causes driver distraction. The only way to resolve this is to turn off the head unit completely. The delamination also causes "bubbles" to appear on the touch screen interface which renders the backup camera near inoperable due to the video from the backup camera being obstructed; this effect is further compounded in sunny conditions since the "bubbles" exacerbate the glare. Subaru is aware of the problem and has issued a warranty for the 2018 model year vehicles as outlined in Service Bulletin 15-263-20. However, Subaru has failed to correct the problem in subsequent model years.

Power Rear lift gate does not work on a consistent basis. It will work normally for several days, then without warning, not work. Will not work with remote or interior opening mechanism. Only the manual release in the rear will unlatch the rear gate, which is quite heavy to lift and not designed to be done so in a manual fashion. Unable to duplicate issue at Subaru dealer. Obviously, this is a know issue after reviewing similar complaints here.

"Infotainment" touch screen in front dashboard delaminating. What can be described as bubbles or splotches, sponaneously appear, and cause system to constantly register touches. Depending on location of "bubble(s)" highly dangerous and scary as system can randomly navigate, call, play music, etc. as if possessed by a ghost. Back up camera affected too. Anything which is attached to display can seemingly randomly switch, turn off, turn on, etc. Seems to be worse in hot weather. Can not turn off 'infotainment" panel/screen because system turns itself back on (as if registering the touch by a user).

Pressed the button on the electronic liftgate to have it raise. Half way through raising, it beeped 3 times and started closing. Had 3 dogs in the back of the vehicle and the lift gate started to close on one of them. I put my left arm underneath to stop it from closing where the lift gate put a lot of pressure on my forearm. The lift gate stopped and I was able to push it back up. Injury seems to be minor but will have it checked. Feels like it impacted the nerves going to the thumb and pointing finger. This is not the first time we had lift gate issues and have multiple videos demonstrating the problems at hand. This is the first time it actually caused injury.

The infotainment center is consistently cycling through radio stations and apps. Driving down the road you see this consistent blinking as it cycles through. Cannot not turn the unit off. Tentative date is November 2023 for the unit to be replaced. 10 months from start of problem that has gotten progressively worse.