Having Problems With Subaru Starlink? What Owners Can Do

I have a 2015 WRX and have the crappy Fujitsu10 double din radio. My boring radio doesn't have any of the fancy pants features that the 2016+ models have ... but I also don't have the headaches. I was disappointed when the 2016 came out with the new dash and radio but man...I think I dodged a bullet.

The problem is obvious. They went cheap on processor speed and memory for all the jobs the head unit does. Blaring radio on start can usually be avoided by cranking volume to zero leaving it on.

If we buy another Subaru we may get a base model and take it to a car stereo installer. Rip the whole thing out and start over. We don't like leather anyway so no factory premium sound for us anyway.

CVT frailty is annoying also as are the moronic artificial shifts. They are shooting themselves in the foot not selling manual transmissions. And what happened to the hatchback WRX?

Our system went down on March 28,2019. Shut off car at a business, started up 30 minutes later and all dark. No radio, phone, back up camera, no interior lights, door lock system not working, etc.. At least it runs, so can get to dealer!

We bought our Crosstrek in October and have had multiple problems since then. First on a cold November evening the car was disabled and couldn't be started. Had to be towed to dealer an hour and a half away in cold Vermont. Magically it started for the dealer in the morning. Haven't been able to get an explanation.
Five weeks ago the radio stopped working completely. Then after car was left for two weeks, the battery was dead and had to be charged. When car started so did the radio. Today took it to dealer and they said ok radio is working now and that happens to the battery because there are so many electronics in this car. that can drain the battery when left for a period.Really, it this what I have to expect from now on?

We bought a preowned 2018 Forester loaded 9000 km very happy till last month March 2019 complete unit froze backup cam on driving down hiway radio run for 1st 6 min and shuts off always prox 6 minutes volume unresponsive.
This all started after I plugged in a memory stick with music I’m a electronics tech and agree it’s slow processor and or lack of on board memory.
Wife’s pissed sub dealers says wait awhile.silence is not golden,,!!

I have a 2014 Impreza Hatchback that I love, but the Bluetooth functionality is total crap. I can be on a phone call and it disconnects to Bluetooth and reconnects multiple times while on a call. Often Bluetooth never connects at all. I have been considering buying a new 2019 or 2020 Impreza and am not reconsidering this as I do NOT want to experience more issues like this. Plus it is my understanding that after the warranty is over, Subaru will not cover any updates that require bringing the car into the service center - that's on the consumer. Ugh - very disappointed. I am now thinking of replacing the entire system with Apple Car Play in my 2014 and just keeping it since it's completely paid off!

Subaru outback 2018 starlink / CarPlay I ssues

Way to Vegas
- Car and phone connected
- Turned off car and grabbed phone
- Turned car back on, and phone would not connect. Went to gas station and did the following:

1. On phone —-Go to Settings > General > CarPlay > Tap on Forget This Car
2. Connect your phone via USB to your stereo
3. Pair your phone with your stereo again
4. Subaru. Home settings. Delete your connections...add device. Go to phone Bluetooth and add connection
5. Restart your phone

Work around: since we wanted the gps to continue to work, we did not disconnect the phone while the car was on or off. thus we left it in the car when we would stop on drive to Vegas

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Way back to home
- Car and phone connected
- Stopped in remote area. Turned off car and grabbed phone
- Was out of the car for about 15 min
- Turned car back on and started driving, phone would not connect, STARLINK shows no WiFi connection, no gps, music etc.
- While driving further, (past Baker) my phone shows 4 bars. Car still shows no internet if you try to connect says cannot pair

Work around: had to manually use my phone for gps for 2 hours. We did not want to stop again and reset our phone pairing

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Seems since the upgrade it happens more. I used to be a software tester for 15 years and my guess is someone not testing:
- Turning off the car and pulling off the phone. ( test before opening doors, and after opening doors)
- internet connection : strong link, weak link, and driving changes to the connection. As I mentioned it did not connect to a poor connection, yet further down the road I had 4 bars on my phone. My assumption is the car is failing to always search for a connection as it never showed internet connection
- What is the reset time for the car ? Seems if you leave the car for an hour it resets and it works. The car should be tested to clear its cache when you start it. Or have a reboot option in the dashboard
- Also after the last upgrade we had more issues. Once we paired our phones it was fine. More testing on upgrades and maybe a message to users to pair the phones again. Sort of like phone App updates you have to download and reboot sometimes
- My guess is the software testing is automated which is fine for repeated transactions, or they have inexperienced software testers.
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- when humans will be using software, you need to think dumb, and manually do things that is not in the script and try to break it for defects. Your users should not be the testers
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Other issues:
When we bought the car 1 year ago, the the backup camera went black, and froze . We took it in, and that was resolved with our tech at Honda in Huntington Beach

MySubaru is not working on my Crosstrek, it's very frustrating! We pay for a service and it's not working, that's just wrong :-(

I have a Subaru Legacy with the low end radio (which cannot be upgraded). I've had this car for a year and a half, and I am currently waiting on my fourth radio. While I have no problems with the rest of the car, the radio is garbage. The first thing was that I couldn't link the radio with the phone's GPS and other apps as advertised. Worse the phone will remain synced for only a few days at most (the first couple of radios it wouldn't last a day), requiring the phone to be completely uninstalled and then reinstalled/resynced. This is a real problem when you use your car for work. Twice now the head unit completely fails when the dealer attempts to install an update. This is what happened the last time I asked the dealer to check the unit. The radio and screen have been completely dead for a month while I wait for a replacement.

I've leasing Subarus for years, but this latest experience makes me very hesitant about getting another one. I certainly don't want this one any more.

We don't have the option of Starlink in this part of the world s I guess I should count my blessings..
So how can I connect my 2016 Forester to my iPhone or at least get Waze from my iPhone on the "big" Forester screen

2019 Forester Limited with the gps navigation added as option. Poorly Spent Money.
. . .
Frequent lockup with gps requiring reset is the main compliant followed by inability to find places on search. The processor is slow, slower than gps units I have had on Toyota and Ford products. It is a TomTom and performance is inferior to a TomTom I had added to a 2009 Element (in 2009).
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I'm approaching home after 7000 miles of driving. After entering Canada at Vancouver the sound disappeared . . . from the gps and radio . . . Well that fixed the radio always blaring as I turned on the car.
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I like this car. The new set of safety features are wonderful. I was ripped off with the infotainment system.
...
Two Canadian dealerships were unable to help me.

Interested in this thread.

I am having the same issues with my 2019 Outback Touring 2.5i