2016 SUBARU OUTBACK Complaints

ABOUT 4 WEEKS AGO WE STARTED HAVING TROUBLE REMOVING OUR KEY FROM THE IGNITION AFTER DRIVING AND PUTTING THE SHIFTER IN PARK. OUR 2015 OUTBACK HAS JUST OVER 58,000 MILES. THE KEY WON'T TURN TO THE FINAL "CLICK" FOR REMOVAL. THAT LEAVES THE CAR IN A MODE WHERE THE BATTERY IS STILL ENGAGED AS THE RADIO IS STILL ON. THE STEERING WHEEL DOES NOT GO INTO A LOCKED POSITION, IT CAN BE TURNED EITHER DIRECTION WITHOUT RESISTANCE. I HAVE TO START THE CAR AGAIN AND SHIFT IT INTO DRIVE AND TRY TURNING THE CAR OFF AGAIN. SOMETIMES I ONLY HAVE TO DO THAT ONCE BUT THERE HAVE BEEN MANY TIMES WHEN IT TAKES 20-30 ATTEMPTS TO BE ABLE TO REMOVE THE KEY. I'M USUALLY ON A FAIRLY FLAT SURFACE. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF I WAS DRIVING FORWARD OR REVERSE BEFORE STOPPING. SUBARU RELEASED A SERVICE BULLETIN # 16-112-18R ISSUED 03/15/18 AND REVISED 11/06/18 THAT DESCRIBES THE PROBLEM AND THE SOLUTION BUT SUBARU SAYS IT IS NOT A RECALL ISSUE. THEY ADMIT IT'S A FAULTY PARTS PROBLEM BUT WON'T FIX IT IN A RECALL. ACCORDING TO THE SERVICE BULLETIN I SHOULD REPLACE "SHIFT LEVER COMPLETE". SOME OWNERS WHO HAD THIS DONE SAID IT'S OVER $500 TO REPAIR, DEPENDING ON THE DEALERSHIP.

BATTERY DIES UNEXPECTEDLY WITHIN A FEW MINUTES OF THE VEHICLE OFF AND IN ACCESSORY MODE ONLY (I.E. CAR OFF, RADIO OR LIGHTS ON). VEHICLE WILL NOT START WITHOUT JUMP FROM BATTERY PACK OR ANOTHER VEHICLE. CAR WILL NOT EVEN CRANK BUT WILL ONLY MAKE A CLICKING NOISE. OCCASIONALLY, ENGINE TIMING WILL BE AFFECTED AFTER JUMP AND MISFIRES WILL OCCUR CAUSING VEHICLE TO RUN VERY ROUGH UNTIL RESTARTED, AT WHICH POINT ELECTRICAL SYSTEM SEEMS TO RESET ITSELF. TO DATE, DEALER HAS FOUND NO DIRECT CAUSE FOR THE PROBLEM (I.E. NO PARASITIC DRAWS) BUT HAS REPLACED THE BATTERY (WHICH ARE UNDER WARRANTY) MULTIPLE TIMES. PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED NUMEROUS TIMES SINCE IT WAS PURCHASED IN LATE 2015.

MY 2016 SUBARU OUTBACK ALL OF SUDDEN HAD WARNING LIGHTS SUCH AS: BRAKE, ABS, AND STABILITY TRACTION CONTROL POPPED UP ON THE DASHBOARD WHEN THE CAR WAS IN PARK ANS WHEN I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND WILL NOT GO AWAY. IT HAS MADE MY STEERING WHEEL REALLY HARD TO TURN.

SINCE PURCHASING VEHICLE ON 6/16/2016 WE HAVE HAD A RECURRING PROBLEM WITH DRIVERS SIDE WINDOW ENGAGING THE AUTO-REVERSING (ANTI-ENTRAPMENT) FEATURE CAUSING AN INABILITY TO CLOSE WINDOW. WE HAVE MENTIONED THIS ISSUE TO DEALERSHIP NUMEROUS TIMES SOMETIMES DOCUMENTED, SOMETIMES NOT. THEY RESET SWITCH, ONLY FOR THE PROBLEM TO RETURN. ON OUR LAST VISIT6/31/2020 WE WERE TOLD THERE WAS A TSB (12-272-19R) BUT WE WOULD BE CHARGED $276.22 FOR THE REPAIR. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND SHOULD BE COVERED. WE ALSO PURCHASED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR $2547.00 GOOD UNTIL 6/16/2026 OR 126000 MILES AND WERE TURNED DOWN ON COVERAGE FROM THEM AS WELL.

THE BATTERY PREMATURELY DIES, TYPICALLY AFTER USING THE RADIO OR OTHER ACCESSORIES FOR ONLY A SHORT WHILE (10 MINUTES) WITHOUT THE ENGINE RUNNING. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO MY VEHICLE 2 TIMES IN THE LAST 4 MONTHS. IN BOTH CASES, THE BATTERY HAS BEEN TESTED AND SHOWN TO BE FINE.

THE BATTERY IN THE CAR HAS FAILED 4 TIMES IN 4 YEARS. SUBARU CANNOT FIND THE REASON FOR THE FAILURE. THIS IS NOT NORMAL AND APPEARS TO BE DEFECT IN THE CAR. I AM NOT GETTING ANY ANSWERS FROM SUBARU ON WHY IS THIS HAPPENING.THE CAR WAS PARKED AT HOME OVER NIGHT THE OTHER 2 TIMES JUST AFTER ARRIVING AT OUR CAMP SITE. WE STOP THE CAR AND THEN SHORTLY ATTEMPT TO RESTART THE CAR AND NOTHING HAPPENS. EACH TIME THE CAR HAS BEEN DRIVEN HUNDRED OF MILES. EACH CAMPING TIME WE WERE HUNDREDS OF MILES FROM HOME AND WITHOUT CELL PHONE SERVICE. I HAVE REPORTS FROM SUBARU AND AUTO ZONE ON REPLACING THE BATTERIES.

I'VE HAD TO REPLACE THE BATTERY TWICE IN TWO YEARS. NORMAL OPERATION DRAINS BATTERY PREMATURELY.

THE CAR IS STATIONARY WHEN THIS HAPPENS. THE IGNITION KEY GETS STUCK IN THE IGNITION AFTER TURNING THE CAR OFF. BESIDES BEING ANNOYING, THIS PREVENTS THE CAR FROM BEING LOCKED THUS INTRODUCES A THEFT RISK. EVENTUALLY, WE ARE ABLE TO REMOVE THE KEY BUT THERE IS NO CONSISTENT METHOD OF DOING SO. IT'S A MATTER OF TIME AND MESSING WITH TURNING THE CAR ON AND OFF, MOVING THE SHIFTER, JIGGLING THE KEY, OR MOVING THE STEERING WHEEL BEFORE IT COMES OUT. GOOGLE INDICATES THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH SUBARUS SO I DON'T KNOW WHY THERE IS NOT A RECALL. THIS HAPPENS SPORADICALLY AND HAS BEEN ONGOING FOR THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS.

THIS MORNING 7/21/2020 MY BATTERY FAILED FOR THE 4TH TIME IN A LITTLE OVER 4 YEARS. DEAD, COMPLETELY DRAINED ACCORDING TO AAA. FIRST THE ORIGINAL SUBARU BATTERY, THEN A BETTER DELCO REPLACED THAT, THEN ANOTHER BETTER DELCO, NOW ANOTHER. ONLY 27,000 PLUS MILES. I HAVE NEEDED TO HAVE THIS BATTERY JUMPED ONCE BEFORE AND THE PREVIOUS BATTERIES WERE JUMPED A TOTAL OF 5 TIMES. THE NHTSA WEBSITE HAS NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT BATTERY FAILURE FOR THIS MAKE/MODEL AND OTHER SUBARU OUTBACKS BUT NO RECALLS. WHY NOT? THIS IS ALSO A SAFETY ISSUE! I AM TOLD THAT "SOMETHING" IN THE ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS IS DRAWING DOWN THE BATTERY BUT IT CANNOT BE FOUND. THERE IS A FLAW SOMEWHERE. NOTHING WAS LEFT ON. SUBARU OF AMERICA HAS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS. REALLY

THIS MORNING 7/21/2020 MY BATTERY FAILED FOR THE 4TH TIME IN 4 YEARS. I PURCHASED THE CAR NEW ON 2/29/2016-YES LEAP YEAR. EACH TIME THE BATTERY WAS TOTALLY DRAINED. THE ORIGINAL SUBARU BATTERY WAS REPLACED WITH A BETTER DELCO BATTERY, AND THEN ANOTHER BETTER DELCO BATTER 18 MONTHS AGO AND NOW TODAY! STILL WAITING AT THE GARAGE. MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS ON THE NHTSA WEBSITE BUT NO RECALLS! SOMETHING IS DRAWING THE BATTERY DOWN WHICH TO ME IS A SAFETY ISSUE. WHEN DO ENOUGH COMPLAINTS WARRANT A RECALL? THIS IS ABSURD. EACH TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED MY SUBARU WAS IN AN UNDERGROUND GARAGE.