2020 Subaru Ascent: won't start

17 of the 325 complaints about the 2020 Subaru Ascent describe won't start.

owner complaints: 17
of this car's complaints: 5%
typical mileage: 6,000
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 61 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Won't start by model year

2023
2
2022
1
2021
2
2020
17
2019
28

What owners say

Filed Dec 12, 2025 · AK

Vehicle: 2020 Subaru Ascent Issue: Cold weather software glitch If you are operating an Ascent or possibly other Subarus with the CVT in temperatures below -20F be certain to have either a small wrench or the appropriate size socket to loosen the ground clamp on the battery ground cable with you so you can employ what I call the magic Windows fix wherin one completely de-powers the system and reboots it. With all the ridiculous interconnections, if the CVT temperature sensor thinks the tranny is too cold the cars operating system looses it mind and goes completely bonkers. Subaru obviously did no cold weather testing. We have had 2 failures in cold weather. It only happens at temperatures well below the-20F range. The first case happened last year while driving after being stopped for a couple of hours. Everything seemed normal and then suddenly several warning lights came on and all of the safety systems and the eyesight system shut down. The car ran and drove, but none of the associated systems would work. No traction control. No cruise control. Several other systems. The only solution was to disconnect the battery and get this rolling computer to reboot. This was a temporary fix as the condition repeated itself although the car was driveable but with none of the safety systems operational. This year we were out in cold weather, -25 to -32. We went to a place to have lunch and when I went to restart the car the app failed to do so. So I put on all my gear and went out to start it manually. It would not start and all the warning lights were on and the radiator fan was running full tilt at -25F with the car off. I tried twice to get it going by pulling the battery cable to get it to reboot. Evidently when this happens you must leave the battery disconnected long enough (about 5 minutes) for all the capacitors in the electronics to drain. Once restarted, the car drove normally but we did not shut it down for any reason for the rest of the day.

Filed Nov 30, 2023 · Electrical · IA

We purchased a used 2020 Subaru Accent from a dealership on 11/16/23. Twice since that date the car would not start due to the battery not having enough charge to start it. The dealership that we bought it from stated that prior to the sale date they had a new battery installed.

Filed May 12, 2023 · Electrical · CA

Car was unresponsive and would not start. It was just purchased certified used on 5/8/2023. On 5/10/2023 AAA replaced the battery and on 5/12/2023 the battery died again as a result the car did not start and was unresponsive. Tailgate was beeping in both situations.

Filed Oct 13, 2022 · Electrical · CA

My battery electric has been to hay wire from time to time and now my car is flickering all electric and car wont start. Locks wont work.

Filed May 13, 2022 · NJ

My car did not start and the anti-theft light came on the dashboard (the one with the car and lock symbol). I know battery issues have been a known problem with my subaru model and i bought the car in oct 2019 so it's been less than 3 years. The battery should not be dying this quickly. I had to get a jump start to get the car on. After a few hours, i tried starting it again and it did not work. I was told I'd need to get my battery replaced.

Filed Apr 6, 2022 · Electrical · NC

Constant dead battery No start

Filed Mar 8, 2022 · Electrical · CA

12V Battery for the Car needed to be jump started every morning. Car will not START until we jump start the battery. Security Beeping and all car buttons not working. The problem started since Feb 28, and its been happening almost every morning.

Filed Jul 5, 2021 · Electrical · OR

While parked, for no reason, the battery discharged to the point the car would not start and I could not open the tail gate. The car had been driven for 2 hours the day before. The car was parked at a campground with the tail gate open for a few hours but the other doors were not open. In the evening I closed the tail gate. The next morning about 10:00 am I tried to drive off and the battery was dead and other electronic devises would not work (door locks, electric tailgate etc.) This could have been very serious as I had a hard time locating help to jump start the car. If I had needed to drive for an emergency as if my wife had a medical issue the car's malfunction would have been very serious! This problem has been reported on the internet for Subaru Ascents and I feel it is a safety defect and Subaru should be required to fix it. I do not trust this car. It is a 2020 Ascent with about 10,000 miles.

Filed Apr 16, 2021 · Electrical · 13,000 miles · NY

The battery on my 2020 ascent dies unexpectantly and frequently. It's happened six times since I bought it. Three times on each of the batteries it's had. Periodically the car just won't start.

Filed Mar 16, 2021 · Electrical · 8,300 miles · MD

Tried starting my car on march 5 and would not start. Tried to jump start but it did not work. Had it towed to the dealer and was told battery is dead. Dealer could not explain why battery died. Dealer replaced old battery with the same oem battery. This is a temporary fix and I told them I'm not confident this will not happen again.

Filed Feb 13, 2021 · Electrical · 7,300 miles · CA

Vehicle has been starting normally with no problems since purchase. Parked vehicle in garage on 2/12/2021 at 6:30pm. While starting the vehicle the next morning (2/13/2021) at 8:30am, it started slowly. Drove for 20 minutes and turned vehicle off. Attempted to restart vehicle 15 minutes later and it would not start (just buzzed). Called aaa for a jump start. Was informed the battery was at 10.2v and there was no problem with the alternator. Jump start was successful.

Filed Dec 22, 2020 · Electrical · 6,000 miles · PA

My subaru ascent 2020 is just 4 mos old and is currenlty at 6kmiles odometer reading. Speaker system stopeed working twice already. Amplifier getting hot even when the car is not used. Last night the car wont start and and all the light inside and out just flickered for a few minutes then died. Had to call roadside assistance to have it jump started. So yeah a 4 month ikd car with battery and electrical issues already.