Battery continues to drain when car is parked/off causing a required jump start and then recharging of the battery. Dealer replaced battery one time in 2019 (with expense to owner) and recommended driving car every couple of days to ensure it does not draw down. This is not normal. Battery continues to drain down. Owner purchased aftermarket AGM battery (May 2021) of higher voltage/capacity to attempt to reduce number of issues yet vehicle continues to exhibit parasitic drain and battery dies after 3-4 days (faster when it's cold). Dealer has looked at car two more times and claims this is normal and need to not leave car for multiple days without starting. There are multiple class action lawsuits claiming this issue so I am registering this VIN as an affected vehicle.
2018 Subaru Forester electrical complaints
Page 3 of 4: complaints 41 to 70 of 71, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start-up. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that rodents had eaten through the engine wiring harness. The contact was informed that the wiring harness was made of a soy-based material that was attractive to rodents. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The contact indicated that 2 weeks prior the windshield wiper fluid spray mechanism was inoperable due to a similar failure with rodents eating the soy-based tubing. The manufacturer was not yet notified. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 27,000.
There is a parasitic drain on the electrical system, including when the vehicle is turned off and nothing is left running. As a result the vehicle will not start. aI replaced the battery and experienced the same problem with a month. This is most problematic when the vehicle has not been used for at least 2 days or it's very cold outside. It's happened at least 10 times in the last 2 years. The most recent incident was yesterday. When I called dealership they denied any electric so issues with the 2018 Forester and want to charge me $75:to check the electrical system even though there's a lawsuit in Canada due to this same exact issue. Everytime this happens aI and my passenger s are put at a safety risk by stranding us because until help arrives.
I'm filing a complaint regarding a battery drain issue in the 2018 Forester Limited. After sitting idle and not being started for 1.5-2 weeks the battery is fully drained. Fully drained is defined as the car won't start with a portable jumper. The power source car needs to be running and connected to the battery of the dead Forester for upwards of 20mins to give it a partial charge prior to the battery dead Forester being able to start. I've been told various reasons from various dealers and cannot get a straight answer. [A] one subaru dealersip said it's normal to have a dead battery in 3days. [B] another subaru dealership said it was because I had a bad battery, but after replacing it the issue still persisted. I have made sure to manually shut off all lights including making sure the running lights are in the off position, not the automatic on/off position. This incident has occurred multiple times when traveling for week at a time and upon returning to the car to try and start it and it won't start. The same dealership [B] claimed that the parasitic draw was because I kept a cigarette lighter car charging adapter plugged in even though the car was off. I have read several other complaints about this issue regarding this car and hope there can be a recall/legal claim filed against subaru for this issue so they resolve it.
Bought vehicle June 2021. Battery failed multiple times. Sometimes it will start with a jump, but on 12/2/21 it was completely dead and required tow to Michael's Subaru dealer in Bellevue, WA. Battery was replaced twice within 6 week period.
Purchased this certified pre-owned, with warranty on 4/30/21. Required jumpstarts for dead battery five + times over the first 4 months, in moderate weather. Dealership confirmed that a new battery was installed at the time of my purchase. The vehicle has been towed to the dealership several times, they can find no issues. They then replaced the battery on 8/4/21 as the 3-month old battery failed testing per fail code JRGKF50-328J0D1. The car required a jump start on 11/21, again on 11/26, and I am currently waiting (12/2/21) for Subaru Roadside assistance, for yet another jump start. The car was last driven (commute home from work) yesterday. External temperatures have not been overly cold - yet. It should be noted that I turn off the radio and heat/air before shutting off the ignition. I have also disconnected my phone from the car's system in order to prevent any further battery drain. This is completely unacceptable. Roadside assistance takes a minimum of 60-90 minutes to respond. I work in Trenton NJ, where it is dangerous to be with a disabled vehicle for possibly hours awaiting service. I've owned over a dozen cars through the years, and have never experienced battery drain issues.
My battery keeps draining for some unknown reason. It's parked in the garage and locked but it is always dead when I need to use it. I need a reliable transportation and I have never had this problem before. I have had 4 - 5 jumps from my insurance company in the last few weeks. And it's dead again today after a jump a few days ago.
I left my car for 19 days while on vacation in my garage and the battery was dead when I returned. I charged the battery after jumping it with our other car. Now, 14 days later, the car would not start again and needed to be jumped. I have read about the battery drain. My care only has 21K miles.
There seems to be a fast battery drain on my car. After using the car and letting it stay parked (with all the interior lights off and checked to make sure everything was completely off) for 36hours, the car would not start. This has happened multiple times. It was not dead winter cold, it was approx 70º or hotter.
Battery was dead when we tried to leave, no reason as the car had been fully turned off. Left myself and my daughter stranded for 90 minutes in the heat without viable cell service, until I was able to find someone with jumper cables. Went to car parts store and bought a new $176 battery- as I wasn’t able to make it the 45 minutes to the dealer. Want reimbursement for battery and repair/explanation so it doesn’t occur again.
With car in park key will not turn to the off position and can not be removed.
Multiple times, I've had the car parked for several days and when I try to start it, the battery is dead. I've had the dealer check the battery twice, and the entire charging system once. They couldn't find a problem. This doesn't happen every time consistently, but it's happened enough that I wanted to report the issue.
Battery keeps dying without daily use. I drove my vehicle less than a week ago, no lights left on, nothing in the charging ports, no doors open, and still the battery didn't have enough power to start. I've had to call AAA and have neighbors jump start my vehicle a few times but when I get my battery tested I'm told that my battery is fine and that I do not need a new one. Something is draining my battery and I don't know what.
I have had numerous times that my car would not start because the battery was dead. I upgraded my battery at purchase because I had the dealer install a remote start. Within a few months my car was completely dead and had to be towed to the dealer, 2.5 hrs away. Subaru replaced the battery with the biggest battery that would fit. The next winter, the same dead battery issues happened. It was suggested that I get a car starter jump pack, to keep on hand, which I used often. Then the battery stopped holding charge for even four days. So they recommended that I get a Trickle charge battery tender, so I did. The dealer thought it might be the remote starter, and replaced that. So far, it has been okay, but it is warmer weather now too. They also recommended that I keep the battery tender plugged in all time, year round, which seems crazy for a new car. I tried several times and ways to download my invoices showing these repairs. All failed.
The battery died. Subaru battery drain related
Battery drains for seemingly no reason. The radio or lights are not left on that would make the car drain while the car off. I had to replace the battery on 5/14/2021.
Battery died and had to be replaced
Would go to start car and it wouldn't start. Multiple days thought I was doing something wrong g leaving something on, got battery checked they said it was ok just low. It kept doing it, went on for like 2-3 months . Finally I had enough and bought a new battery. Since it happened and replaced battery vehicle idles high like 1-2 in park.
Went to start my car and battery was dead. Got a jump from aaa but since none of the eyesight safety features worked, I had the car towed to subaru and they replaced the battery. I was told I'd need to drive it every day to keep the battery charged. That's absurd. To make things worse, remote start will only work for 2 starts. On the 3rd start, it won't start unless you start the car manually. What's the point of having a remote start if you have to start the car manually every 3 days?
While getting a 2 hr dental procedure, there was an unexplained battery drain, leaving the car dead. I paid aaa to give me a roadside emergency jump. I had had no previous issues.
Tl* the contact owns a 2018 subaru forester. The contact stated that after leaving the vehicle parked and undriven for several days, the vehicle failed to start-up. The vehicle had to be jump started. The contact took the vehicle to smith cairns subaru - yonkers (900 central park ave, yonkers, ny 10704, (914) 377-8100) who replaced the battery twice however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 4,000.
Ikey will not come out of the ignition switch after the car is stopped, put in park, brake [peddle depressed.
Windows get locked and I'm not able to use the switch to unlock the windows and either side. Issue was reported. Subaru corrected the issue but it still happens. Once subaru dealer helped via phone conversation to reset but this is a constant issue. I feel trapped in my car and I have to open my door to reach for a ticket while at a parking lot. Can't role down my window at the gas station. This can happen stationary or in motion. This is definitely a safety hazard. Also, while driving the music goes to a high to low volume and vise versa either on it's own or when I hit a bump. Very disturbing and scary at times especially when I'm on the highway.
Forester was parked in under ground parking garage for between one and two weeks. The battery was completely dead, no sound at all when I tried to start it. The only door that was locked was the rear hatch door. Neighbor brought a battery charger and got the forester started. Following that, I drove it to the local subaru dealer and ask them to check and see if anything was draining the battery. They check everything and did not find any problem. The fellow at the service desk said that starting a car is the biggest drain on a battery and if the car isn't driven enough between startups, it tends to bring the battery down. He recommended particular battery charger which he said I could purchase at walmart. Since I only have a little over eleven thousand miles on my forester, and I have never had this situation occur with any of my other automobiles in the past. I do worry about what would happen should I leave my car parked at the airport for a couple weeks and there is no place to plug in a charger. I still love my forester.
There have been several times that the car will not lock due to a type of trip or wiring with the locking system. While the car is turned off and stationary, right before locking the door, there is a clicking sound and the driver's side door light flashes. The driver's side door is closed, even if the electrical system acts like it is trying to close the door. This prevents the car from locking, due to some type of trip in the door sensor. It might be a trip between the karr alarm system and the door sensor installed in the car. I've attempted to repair or resolve this since I bought the car and it is has yet to be repaired.
The airbag system became disarmed and seatbelt warning light came on when smartphone weighing 3lbs was on front passenger seat. This occurred multiple times the passenger front seat sensor is supposed to become armed when a 40lb passenger sits in passenger front seat only. Reading through the owners manual states that both driver and passenger airbags may not deploy which puts driver and passengers at risk for injury.
Outside temperature readings are between 3-7 degrees off. Dealer says that is normal. An I to assume the tire pressure, engine coolant temperature and oil pressure gauges are also off ?
While in reverse, audio control is lost. Alteration to channel or volume or turning off audio is disabled - which can be highly distracting if the setting were left extremely loud since the audio will initialize several seconds after starting and reversing is already in progress at that time.
The eyesight had been manipulated to a warning even when there's no obstruction while driving forward, while backing up it gives a warning that someone or a vehicle is adjacent to my car. These are just a few of the problems I encounter. I have an idea who's behind this. But I cannot prove it. Someone very knowledgeable in computer security within my vicinity. It compromises the safety feature of the car while driving and even backing up in my garage.
It seems that my car has a poorly designed/not-current-limited USB jack, which fails to prevent a phone charging cable with shorted or shorting-intermittently interval power wires from burning up and possibly causing a fire. The details of my burnt-cable event: on tuesday evening oct. 9, 2018, I got into my car in my garage. I then started the car. The USB part of my iphone cable was already in the car's USB port, I believe. While the car was still idling in place, I then plugged the lightening end of the cable into my iphone's port to charge it. I was still idling in place when I heard a sound similar to a plastic bottle popping inward or outward and started to look around in my car for what's going on. I then, within seconds, I believe, started to smell a burning smell. I opened my center console, since that was the most recent thing I had handled, and had ports in it, and I smelled the burning smell more. I quickly pulled out the cable from the USB port and the iphone itself. I went onward with the night's activities, and then later that night, back at the car, inspected the cable and saw that the lightening end (iphone end) was distorted, with a wire protruding, and a brown burnt spot. I believe this could have turned into a fire if I hadn't quickly removed the cable from the USB port.
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