At only 17.6k miles, the battery in my 2019 subaru ascent was completely drained overnight, for no logical reason. I called subaru roadside assistance to give me a jump and I let it run for 33 minutes then took it for a 10 min drive. The battery was dead again the next morning. Vehicle was stationary overnight and until the 10 min drive. During this time the tailgate would persistently beep, trying to open.
2019 Subaru Ascent electrical complaints
Page 5 of 6: complaints 101 to 130 of 160, newest first, as owners wrote them.
On 4 occassions the liftgate of this SUV was left up for 45 minutes to 1.5 hours while the vehicle was turned off and stationary. On each time the battery discharged to a point the car would not start. Fortunately we had cell service and could summond help, but this could occur where there is no cell service and leave us completely stranded. After the first 3 timnes which happened in rapid succession I took the subaru ascent to the dealer and was told the battery had a weak cell and they replaced it without charge. The repair invoice is attached. But they never told me that leaving the liftgate up more than 30 minutes would cause this problem and leave me stranded. Then when the proble occurred again I went online and discovered this is a widely-known defect in the subaru ascent and other subaru models that has stranded thousands of owners. Owners take their suvs on camping or fishing trips and tailgating at events where they leave the liftgate up without realizing the car is unlikely to start when they want to leave. But subaru is refusing to consider a fix and recall these suvs. I have never heard of another vehicle with this defect or problem. Many owners are spending $250 or more for after-market batteries that are much stronger than the weak batteries that subaru provides. While this does not correct the problem and such owners can still be stranded, at least with a stronger battery the chances it will start are much better. Supposedly there is a class action lawsuit filed in new jersey against subaru over this issue, but that will only reward the attorneys involved with millions of dollars and probably net me $20 in 5 years. Please consider forcing subaru to find a solution to this problem and recall and fix all subaru ascents still on the road.
The vehicle has had a dead battery on at least two occasions in the past year including this morning (12/04/2020), and the vehicle is still less than two years old, and only has approximately 10,000 miles.
Car died and would not start at one year old, diagnosed as faulty battery 11/2019; almost exactly one year later at md office would not start and lights flickered and no control, would not start again! ; now sitting in parking lot waiting tow; believe fault is related to battery drain in one year and electrical drain; left stranded with two kids getting covid tested with a brand new 2 year old car with 20,000 miles only!!!!!!!
We bought a used 2019 subaru ascent touring (ca. 18,000 miles) in july of this year. The dealership replaced the battery when we bought it. Since then, this new battery has died five times on us, the first time on september 4 2020 and most recently on november 28. It has always died while the vehicle was stationary. After it died the third time on november 22, we brought it into the local subaru dealership. They held the car for two nights and were unable find anything wrong with it. It is currently at the dealership again.
Battery drains and unexpectedly. Happened twice while liftgate was up; happed 3x for no obvious reason.
At 9119 miles on my vehicle I had to continually jump start the vehicle in order to start the engine. The dealership replaced the battery once for this same issue at 680 miles.
After having my vehicle for less than two months and under 680 miles I had to continually jump start the battery in order to start the vehicle. I called my local dealership and was informed there was an electrical sync issue with the batteries in the new ascent. They replaced the battery and told me they fixed the sync issue.
Battery dies regularly - dealer has replaced the battery three times already. No lights are on, no clear reason why the battery slowly and consistently drains over time. The vehicle was stationary, but child and pet have been locked inside, and it has happened in remote locations. Also, with electrical parking brake, it can't be released for towing when the battery dies. Stranded in the woods with a kid trapped in the car and no means of jumping it is very dangerous.
I have about 7000 miles and my battery has been dieing and needing a jump start. I took it to the dealer in april and no issues were reported by the dealership. The problem happened 2 days back and again I had to jumpstart and drove the vehicle for 5 minutes. But the car would again not start 30 minutes later and needed yet another jump start. I have a follow up appointment with the dealer and the battery problem seems to be common in many subarus as assessed by online forums.
Battery frequently dies overnight. I'll get in the car the next morning to take my kids to school and go to work and battery is dead for no reason. No lights left on or doors open. Vehicle is stationary. This has happened at least 6 times over 2 years.
I bought the car in oct 2018. From that time until to end of 2019 I had a couple of cases of battery discharge that I did not take seriously thinking that it was me left lights on overnight or kind of. 12/29/2019 the car did not start at a grocery shop. I had to call uber for my family and spend 3 hours in the cold car in freezing temperature waiting for the roadside assist service. Eventually the car was towed to the dealership. They did not find anything wrong with the electrical system but changed the battery. After that I bought a jump starter that I had to use it many times during 2020. In oct 2020 when I found out that the battery was dead in the morning just another time I got the car to the dealership again. Thay tested everything and said that the car and the battery are ok. I find the situation unacceptable. It's not a minor. Just imagine that you can find yourself in the middle of nowhere with kids on board out of reach of cellular network in a dead car. If the temperature is freezing you are in a serious trouble. Recently I've found out that it's not my car only. A friend of mine owns outback 2017 that has a similar problem. The internet is full of stories about dead batteries in outbacks and assents. It's sad that subaru doesn't acknowledge the problem. They must investigate and open a recall to fix it.
Hatch left open over night, parked in garage. Next morning found battery was drained and unable to start engine.
Tl* the contact owns a 2019 subaru ascent. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked inside of the garage, the vehicle failed to start. The contact asked her son to jump start the vehicle. The contac's son jumped the battery and the vehicle resume normal operation. The contact stated that the failure occurred twice prior to the vehicle being diagnosed at white bear subaru. The contact started the vehicle and drove to white bear subaru (3505 highway 61 n, vadnais heights, mn 55110) where the vehicle was diagnosed and it was determined that the battery was defective. The battery was replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 11,000.
The battery has repeatedly been drained to the point where the car will not start. The cause appears to be leaving the tailgate open with the engine off for an extended period of time, even if I turn off the small cargo light and some light ti avoid battery drain while the tailgate is open. This has happened at least 4 times and required me to jump start the car. The dealership replaced the battery after one of these incidents and told me the battery had been severely depleted, necessitating replacement. The most recent time this happened, after I jump started the car the check engine light stayed on as did all warning lights for the eyesight safety systems the x mode traction control system, and the eyesight system did not function. It has been fortunate that every time this has happened I've been at home where I could jump start the car. If this happens on a trip we would be stranded.
Our car is about a year old and the car battery has now died 3 times. It started when camping when opening and shutting the lift gate for unloading. We don't keep the back end open to prevent chipmunks getting into the car for food, so it was not left open and the lights drained it. We have had to purchase jumper cables and a battery charger so we don't get stranded again in the mountains or our driveway. We took it to the dealership and they said nothing was wrong with the battery and they saw no drain on it. Maybe they will come jump our car when we need it next.
Battery keeps going dead. Happens while stationary. Has happened 3 times for unknpwn reason. I checks fine.
Air conditioner broke. One day it worked, the next day it didn't. Had to take it to subaru and they said some type of tubing slipped or broke. They fixed it and said it was a common occurrence there.
My ascent has a little over 16,000 miles on it and was purchased feb. 2019. The battery died just sitting in my driveway after not being driven for 4 days. No lights were left on and tail gate was not open. Had to jump start it and take it to subaru. Battery was defective. Luckily this happened at home and not 2 days later when I was supposed to be driving to the airport for a flight.
Parked the car. The rear liftgate would not open with fob or from dashboard. Two quick beeps but no movement. We decided to just grab our items from the inside and left. When we returned to the car about an hour later, the car would unlock but the rear liftgate still didn't work. We loaded up the car and started the car but battery was dead. After charging up the battery, all the major safety car features have been disabled and the engine light is on with many other lights showing up. The car is drivable but obviously doesn't feel right or safe. I just called subaru to make an appointment. I explained the problem. They originally scheduled an appointment for 2 weeks later but I managed to get an appointment for next day. I'm concerned about the safety of the car especially with the number of other owners with electrical problems specifically related to the tailgate.
The vehicle only had 6,228 miles on the odometer and the battery died. It was purchased in april 2019 and battery died in july 2020.
As my vehicle was parked on my driveways after maybe a day or two without driving it, my battery was dead. I jumped started it and it worked, but as they went by the battery kept dying. I decided to take it to the dealer. They said my battery tested bad and because the car only has 18k miles, it was still under warranty. Ok, so I went on with my day. A couple of weeks went by and the battery died again. Brand new battery. I took it back to the dealer and they tell me they couldnt do anything about it. To let it die again and tow it back to the dealer. So I did! A week after my brand new battery had tested 'good', it had to be towed back to the dealership. Today they called me stating a cell in the battery tested bad so they are going to replace it. How could that be possible? Something is withdrawing charge off the battery and they cant figure it out. They are going to keep the car overnight to see if they notice any discharge from the battery. But com'on. I have gotten my transmission replaced at 5k miles, multiple tires have blown out on the highway, the fuel pump recall a couple of months ago and now this issue. Do not buy a subaru please!!!!
I have a 2019 subaru ascent. On july 2, my husband was driving on a rural road when out of nowhere the car started vibrating and rattling and his speed went from 60 MPH down to 30 MPH in a matter of seconds and the car started flashing information on the dash. And the car shut off. He got off the road and called aaa. It was an hour and a half before they got there. Nothing and nobody was around and he had to beg the tow truck driver to let him and our elderly dog ride to the nearest subaru dealership which was about 50 miles away. I was already at the beach at emerald isle nc and had to go pick him up at parkway subaru in jacksonville nc. This was on july 2,2020. Today, july 11, we still don't have my car back. I am thankful that parkway dealership loaned us a car to get back to raleigh where we live and bout our car, at southern states subaru. Parkway has told us various things that could be the problem. For for several days they had to guess as the subaru headquarters it was 'down'. As of now parkway still has my car and I have their loaner subaru outback. This was a very dangerous situation and could have caused a crashed as well as left my 65 year old husband and dog stranded on the side of a very rural road. This is totally unacceptable and what I thought was a very reliable subaru ascent has greatly disappointed. Please help!!
Found my battery dead and my rear trunk door open. I had closed it and parked my car in my garage the evening of the 4th. I went to my garage today and discovered this. This is the second time this has occurred. After searching the web, I know that there is a problem with the electrical system that will cause the battery to go dead if the rear latch doesn't properly latch or the door is left open for a specified amount of time. This is very frustrating. Last time, I had to cancel a dr's appointment when I discovered it. Today, I was just going to my garage for another purpose so didn't need to drive anywhere.
Got into the car at home in the garage and the car would not start due to a dead battery. It was fortunate that the battery died at home. This could have been extremely stressful if this had occurred while we were out of town and not close to a subaru dealer. After subaru replaced the battery, it died again on april 4, 2020, also at home while the car was in the garage. At that time, the dealer simply recharged the battery and performed deep diagnostics which did not indicate any systemic electrical issue. I have attached a log of issues which point to other electrical system issues that subaru has acknowledged are known issues but subaru has not or will not fix the root electrical causes of these issues via a recall. This battery issue has been documented on other subaru models in prior years. Please be aware that the file I have attached is a log of all problems I have had with the car since purchasing it. Most of them are related to the electrical system (of which the battery is part of) so focus on those too if appropriate.
If not started for several days it seems sluggish to start. A 10 day period this month of not starting resulted in inability to start. I called subaru starlink and was sent a tow truck driver to give me a "jump"., which worked. I was told by tow truck driver that the alternator seemed to be function---by the diagnostics on his battery jump starter. Then he reported he has had to jump numerous newer subaru vehicles. Later that day, with the vehicle parked in my garage, I briefly-- several minutes, a high pitched whine/electric like, coming from the passenger rear corner near wheel wheel wher the fuel intake is located. That sound stopped shortly later. I have started my subaru daily or every day to ensure it will start. I suspect some electrical item may be draining the battery--- which already seems undersized for all the newer electrical items in newer vehicles. Could tha fuel system be at fault? I had heard about a fuel pump recall/issue. I am not trusting this vehicle to start---as expected. This is a safety issue.
Keeping the rear gate open, or even just opening and closing the rear gate while the car is parked, drains the battery rapidly. This can leave drivers stranded in unsafe locations. Based on discussions with other ascent owners, this problem is widespread. This began happening almost immediately after we bought the ascent and happens regularly and frequently. Subaru of america appears to be in denial that this is a problem and there are lawyers gathering information on a class action lawsuit..
Lift gate not working. Getting stuck close and draining the battery. At only 17000 miles we have had to replace the battery twice. When trying to start the car will make a vibration sound and all lights will come on but the lift gate is suspended close and the vehicle won't start. This has happened overnight. And when the battery is jumped and the vehicle will start, the lift gate will still not open.
After 4 months of ownership, in april 19 the battery died while at a camping trip. Fellow campers tried to boost the battery to no avail. I had limited cell support. Road side assistance came and towed the ascent to the dealership. They found high current drawn from the awd system but said that beside a completely dead battery everything was normal. They provide the same battery type. In march 2020 the car wouldn't start. Contacted subaru roadside assistance, jumped the car. In june 2020 white getting ready for a camping trip, after packing the car, which involve leaving the rear hatch open and door constantly opens and closed the car wouldn't start. Using a portable backup battery I was able to jump the car and go on my trip. While camping I kept the engine running while I was unloading the car. Did he same when I loaded the car back.
Premature battery failure. Twice since purchase, the battery has failed to start the car and had to be jump started. Both times the temperatures were moderate and the car had been driven at least 20 miles before being parked.
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