Subaru Hit With A New Lawsuit Over An Outback And Ascent Dead Battery Issue

I am so grateful for the number of people speaking out about this problem. I have experienced the same intermittent dead battery occurrences. I have a 2017 Outback with 60k miles. I live in a rural area and use a service truck for daily work so the 4 mile errand running 3x a week in the Subaru is typical. There are 90 complaints posted on this one website since April 2020 for this exact problem. Hello??

The same problem with the battery affects 2014 Outback 3.6 models.

My 2019 Outback has the same battery problem. I am a senior dealing with things on my own and stranded when this happens. In 2020 it occurred several times and now in 2021 it happens frequently and once I almost missed a surgical appt. when waiting 2 hours for the Subaru Roadside Assistance. There is definitely a systemic drain on the battery that should be accountable by Subaru manufacturing. I want a refund! I just can't deal with it anymore!

My husband and I have also had the same dead battery problems with our 2017 Subaru Outback. We got it in June of 2018, and we are on our 4th battery. We go about 3 or 4 mos and then it won't start again . Totally unreliable. We have towed it 2x to Subaru and they gave gone all over the car. Parasitic draw test was done. Everything was fine
I am now going to open a claim with Subaru America Anybody have any other suggestion.?
Love to hear them.

I have a 2021 Outback that I purchased 11 months ago in November 2020. Over the last five days, the car would not start in the morning due to a drained battery. Had to jump start each time. Just barely started this morning. Took it to the dealer and was told that the battery would not "recharge." They said they would replace it with a "better" battery. When I asked if it was the same model as the dead battery, they said it was a "better" battery. They also told me that I needed to drive the car more often. I usually drive it 3-4 times a week. I told them that I bought the car less than a year ago and that if the dealer knew of the battery drainage problem, then it should have been disclosed at the time of purchase. Clearly, based on the comments, Subaru has been aware of the problem for years, but apparently, it must be cheaper for SOA to keep paying for cheap replacement batteries than to fix the problem. I want to join the lawsuit. Would like to get contact information. The dealer also told me to not use the headlights on "auto." I have considered buying a better quality battery but because I have the 2021 "start-stop" engine, my choices may be limited. My husband has had similar problems with his 2015 Subaru Crosstrek. He's had to replace the battery several times, but until I read these comments, we did not know this was occurring with other Suburu owners. I believe that Subaru has an obligation to give notice to owners of how to prevent the problem. Trying to find information in the owners manual is impossible. It is the size of a city phone book, and certainly not intuitive to use.

2020 Subaru Outback, and just had to replace the battery after twice failing within 5 days and being fully charged the night before it failed. How can I join the lawsuit?
[email protected]

I have a 2019 Outback 3.6R Touring. I have had zero issues, though did have to jump it once because I left the dome light on for three days. But I already had a lithium jumpstarter.

I live in apartments and my car is a distance from my apartment with lots of concrete in between.

That said I am planning for my parking cameras to add a trickle charger and shore power outlet (havent figured out where) which will keep the camera batteries powered and top up the battery when sitting.

I have let my car sit for days at a time without issue as well, longest was about a week without driving it. That said I read stories of people here leaving their cars parked for weeks at a time and not expecting issues. Even older cars with little to no parasitic draw would see battery degradation if the sit that long. If youre not charging the battery regularly, it actually damages the battery and causes it to fail. Battery maintainers help with this if you dont have super regular use. They are also useful to run certain modes to desulfate and equalize the battery. Sulfation is a situation where sulfates form on the lead and inhibit charge and discharge of the batter. Equalization is when one cell is holding less charge than the other cells, and due to how batteries work, that becomes the limiting factor for all the other cells.

Now Subaru does use small batteries for the size of engine. I do plan to replace my battery after next summer (summer 2022) when it will be 3 years since I bought it.

Replacing my battery for the second time in my 2019 Subaru Outback purchased new May of 2019. First dead battery and replacement purchased a year after purchase and second dead battery and purchase of new battery December 31, 2021. Now just a little over a year after the first replacement. December 31 2021 Found myself stranded in the snow in the mountains after a brief stop to let the family out to take pictures. We Sat for over 2 hours while 2 different roadside services tried to find a tow truck to come to our aid. No one wanted to come to the mountains. One of these road services is the Subaru roadside service I pay them for. Finally another car with jumper cables helped us out. Luckily I was in a local parking lot the first time.. sadly After reading these comments and knowing our Subaru dealer repair is useless as this is my third Subaru and probably my last now. I Just went and bought another battery. Guess this means every year I just prepare myself to have to buy a new $200 battery so I can trust my cars safety.

Same here. Bought 2020 Subaru Forester new in Aug 2020.
Have had dead battery at least 12 times. Very dangerous, frustrating and inconvenient. If you are camping and simply unload the back, the car will be dead from the hatch being open less than an hour as you unload. Pull over to look at your mail. Car dies in a few minutes.
I have to carry a portable jumper unit in the car. Dealership keeps says "everything looks good".
I have had 50 years of cars of every brand. This is the most unreliable car ever. I am just sick- bought it new to last for 10 years or more. As a 67 yo woman who works/camps/travels in very remote places, I cannot have this. Heartsick. Everyone please report your problem to NHTSA and Subaru of America.

have replaced 2 batteries on my 2017 outback both were leaking

I have a 2017 Outback which kills batteries if not driven for 3-4days. Thelen of Bay City, MI says it’s not a problem. They suck!

Have a 2017 Subaru’s outback car. Ive had to change out the battery every year or less since we have had it. The car has only 30000 miles on it. We don’t drive very much anymore but is a pain in the butt to keep changing the battery. Hav had many cars in my 80+ years and this is a first.

2017 Outback battery dead at 18 months, replaced by AAA no problems since. 2019 Outback battery dead at 35,000, replaced with larger non-Subaru battery. Dead within 2 weeks and now has needed jumping 6-8 times. Dealer kept it for 6 days, says nothing is wrong. Says maybe lights left on, key fob, tailgate up, etc etc. Vehicle not driven enough. It’s “normal” for the battery to die if not driven every 3 days, etc. Offers battery tender for free and suggests contacting SOA to get voucher for service so they can replace with a stronger battery. A car that won’t start is of no value…likely going to purchase something else. We have owned 3 Subaru’s but never again…frustrating.

For some reason I can't post my answer to Arlene. I'm going to try it one more time . There is no submit button . Not sure what I'm doing wrong . Final try .Arlene your car sounds just like mine. I will tell you that I was ready to invoke the Lemon Law this winter. They knew I had the records and they knew how often I was getting stuck in the middle of nowhere with a Forester that would not start. They kept it a week this time and put yet another new battery in. They mentioned something about a recall on the car radio was perhaps the problem providing a constant drain. I do not know if that trivial detail was correct but so far I have gone two full months without the car dying. I'm sure the radio recall update did not fix such a serious problem but I'm secretly hoping maybe it did. So if you have not had your radio software package updated maybe that will help? It's inexcusable that so many owners are having this problem. There's clearly something very wrong with many of the Subarus.

I am late to the party here. I have a 2016 outback. I am on my second battery. it was having problems starting the other day. I took it to the dealer and they said that everything checked out. I did some analysis and discovered that there is a flaw in their charging algorithm. Typically, alternators output voltage is around 14 volts. The Outback only supplies about 12-13 volts under most circumstances. If you engage any additional peripherial functions like headlights, the voltage will increase to 14 volts. Subaru knows about this but not sure that they can fix it. Since the output voltage is only 12-13 volts, the battery deteriorates with time. I have found that driving with my parking lights on, increases the voltage to 14 and keeps the battery charged. A battery tender is another option. Remember that every time you start the car, lowers the battery starting capacity. This is also compounded by phantom currents. I contend that if the alternator put out 14 volts all of the time, we would not have these problems. I did confirm some of this with the service tech.