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2016 Subaru Outback electrical complaints

Page 10 of 11: complaints 251 to 280 of 309, newest first, as owners wrote them.

See the summary of 2016 Subaru Outback electrical problems: which part fails, at what mileage and related recalls.

Filed Jun 22, 2020 · Electrical, Transmission · 13,270 miles · NY

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 subaru outback. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle. Aaa was contacted and the vehicle was jump started. The contact stated that the failure recurred 4 times. The vehicle was taken to competition subaru of smithtown located at 601 middle country rd, st james, ny 11780 where the battery was replaced. The failure recurred and the vehicle was taken back to the same dealer and the battery was replaced. The failure recurred and the contact was informed of an unknown voluntary manufacturer recall to replace the exhaust and catalytic converter however, the part was not available. The contact was provided a loaner vehicle. The contact was informed a week later to return the loaner and retrieve his vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 13,270.

Filed Jun 19, 2020 · Electrical · 59,000 miles · CA

Battery runs out for no apparent reason, especially when not driven far or frequently. First battery replaced by dealership before 2 years, after 3 incidents. Second battery just began the same problems, it is only 2 years old. Possible that problems have been minimal because pre-covid the car was mostly driven on highway, allowing alternator to re-charge the battery nearly daily. But if the car sits for 4 days it can run out of battery. This caused a missed surgery appointment.

Filed Jun 8, 2020 · Electrical · 33,000 miles · WA

After approx. Two weeks of inactivity, battery was completely dead. Required a jump start. Took to auto shop; battery and alternator both tested as "good". Car started normally during daily use for several days. Then, after 7 days of inactivity, battery was completely dead again. Car stored on street parking. Weather typical for spring months in washington state (I.e. Intermittent rain; temps of 40-60 degrees). Online search reveals several sites where numerous customers report experiencing the same faulty electrical issues. Example: https://www.cargurus.com/cars/discussion-t58701_ds833514 or https://www.torquenews.com/1084/subaru-hit-new-lawsuit-over-outback-wagon-dead-battery-issue.

Filed Jun 2, 2020 · Electrical · 62,000 miles · KY

Key sticks in ignition when parked and turning off the vehicle. Key turns, but not to the point where it reaches the position of removal. It often takes several starts and turn off's to achieve removal of the key. Often requires very firm forces of the shift lever in the park position to achieve release of the key.

Filed May 24, 2020 · Electrical · 50,000 miles · IL

The battery of the vehicle(subaru outback 2016 3.6 r) failed several times. The battery drains very quickly. Especially when the car ran for several short trips, the battery was suddenly dead. The battery has been dead 10 times from 2016 to 2020.

Filed May 21, 2020 · Electrical · 25,890 miles · TX

Key is constantly stuck in the ignition due to a faulty sensor not recognizing the vehicle is in park.

Filed May 9, 2020 · Electrical · 28,000 miles · NY

Battery died after driving 10 miles and parking for an hour. Couldn't move shift lever or release electronic parking brake. Someone finally jumped the car for me y and I immediately bought a new battery (battery $151.19 and jumper cables 26.99 at pepboys, dbpower jumpstarter 74.59 at amazon). 3 months later the same thing happened after being in the garage overnight. No lights were left on or any obvious source of electrical drain. I could have been stranded somewhere.

Filed May 6, 2020 · Electrical · 26,000 miles · NJ

Experienced repeated dead battery after not using the car for a week. First I thought I was leaving lights on or a door open, so I would call roadside assistance to get a jump, but the problem started getting worse. On the third year of ownership, after one or two days of not using the car, the battery was completely dead. Getting late to work and meetings just became unsustainable. The car is always garage kept. I always make sure to turn off everything. I previously owned a toyota corolla from 1998 and for the 12 years of ownership only experienced a dead battery once.

Filed May 5, 2020 · Electrical · TX

Car was purchased brand new in march 2016. Battery died august 12, 2017 during a trip from houston, texas to nebraska while sitting/eating at a sonic drive-in in edmond, oklahoma. Manufacturer reimbursed me for replacement battery cost which I purchased from walmart while on an out-of-town trip. Since it was saturday afternoon the closest dealership service department was closed. The replaced battery then died in february 2020 and I replaced it myself with an agm style battery.

Filed Apr 29, 2020 · Electrical · 33,500 miles · PA

The battery on our 2016 subaru outback keeps discharging and car won't start. It is in the garage. Drove it to the store yesterday. Bought a new battery 4 months ago, has happened 5 times in 6 months.

Filed Apr 27, 2020 · Electrical · 32,159 miles · MT

Irregular battery and electric issues. When car was 3-1/2 years old we drove 2 highway hours for a meeting. After the meeting (while still in the parking lot) the car was dead. We jumped it were driving toward a nearby subaru dealership. The car acted irregular on the highway. It had limited power and was lurching. We limped into the subaru dealership about 20 miles away. They couldn't find or diagnose an issue. But, eventually re-charged the battery and it held. At age 4, the car died in my driveway. We jumped it and the charge held. The driver side controls can no longer open the front passenger side window.

Filed Apr 26, 2020 · Electrical · 64,000 miles · OH

Battery fails regularly causing complete stop. Electric system to windows, especially passenger window, fails without any known reason

Filed Apr 26, 2020 · Electrical · 50,000 miles · VA

Since vehicle was purchased, the vehicle's battery does not remain charged if the car is not started for a period longer than two days. The vehicle is only four years old with 50,000 miles and the battery has been replaced three times. This has caused the vehicle owner to be stranded while away from home, which could have LED to unsafe conditions.

Filed Apr 25, 2020 · Electrical · 30,932 miles · VA

Repeated drained battery from multiple short drives

Filed Apr 24, 2020 · Electrical · 17,359 miles · CA

About a year ago, my outback occasionally would not start, especially after I returned from a trip. My car's battery was dead. However, my wife's car would start right up. I took my car to the dealer and they installed a software update and a new battery. Less than a year later, the car would not start and the battery was dead again. I had not driven the car in about 5 days because of another problem with the ignition (I could not turn the key in the ignition). I returned the car to the dealer. After the dealer inspected the car, I was told they could not find a problem and they gave the car a clean bill of health. Something is wrong--is it the electrical system? My car was in our driveway.

Filed Apr 18, 2020 · Electrical · 17,359 miles · CA

Parked on a city street and private driveway on numerous occasions, and occurring more frequently, I was unable to remove the key from the ignition; and sometimes the key would not turn in the ignition. Dealer repaired at a cost of $535.38 on feb 28, 2020. Since the repair, I have driven the car very infrequently. On april, 13, 2020, I put the key in the ignition and it would not turn.

Filed Apr 16, 2020 · Electrical · 50,000 miles · TX

Battery runs down often. I've had the battery checked multiple times and no problem with the alternator either. I know it will run down during loading or unloading that lasts more than 30 minutes, so I manage that situation. But it is starting to run down more often while parked. This has left me stranded multiple times over the last 6 months.

Filed Mar 17, 2020 · Electrical · 80,000 miles · IL

Intermittently unable to remove keys from ignition, as though the electrical system is not detecting the car is in park. Work-around is usually to pump brakes, move from drive back to park, sometimes restarting ignition and then trying again. Sometimes this requires several attempts. Found service bulletin #16-112-18r, but subaru is not covering costs of repair if vehicle is out of warranty. Based on the number of vehicles impacted, this should truly be a recall.

Filed Feb 11, 2020 · Electrical, Steering · 25,500 miles · KS

Difficulty turning the cars ignition into the off position to remove key. Key stocks in ignition and car stays turned on in accessory mode. Often takes up to 6 times restarting and stopping to get key to release. Dealer claims it is the computer relay that isn't recognizing that the car has been put into park. This is when the car is stopped.... This has been going on since approximately may of 2019 to current. At first it was only occasionally but reached the point where it happened 9 times out of 10.

Filed Jan 14, 2020 · Electrical · 15,000 miles · MT

Once parking the vehicle and placing it in park, the key stays locked in the ignition. This isn't related to the steering wheel being locked in place, the key is stuck. Shifting in/out of park needs to happen multiple times. Looking into this online, there are multiple reports of this happening. This is a safety issue because we are unable to get out of the car with our kids because the key is stuck in the ignition.

Filed Jan 2, 2020 · Electrical · MD

My outback has around 42,000 miles on it. I am having trouble getting the key to come out of the ignition after putting it in park. So far about half the time I turn the car off I need to shift it into reverse and then jam it back into park in order for it to unlock the key from the ignition.

Filed Dec 16, 2019 · Electrical, Steering · MA

Ignition key gets stuck everytime and I have to jam it into park to ge it out

Filed Nov 19, 2019 · Electrical · WI

I cannot turn the key in the ignition to release the key after I've put the car in park the first time. It can take up to several minutes of attempts to turn the key to various point (lights on/accessories on/engine on), different brake positions, shifting to other gears and back to park. This seems to happen more frequently in the winter. This has been going on for several months at a time since I bought the car new in 2016.

Filed Oct 20, 2019 · Electrical · 8,000 miles · CA

Repeated and unpredictable battery failure with no apparent cause, I.e. Dome lights or other accessories not powered "on"., doors or rear cargo hatch not open. Dealer analysis of electrical system found no issues however replaced battery. Last occurrence 10/19/2019 in the home garage.for reliability it was necessary to purchase a portable booster charger costing $100.00. There has been 8 such occurrences since the purchase (new) in 2016. Please advise.

Filed Aug 31, 2019 · Electrical · MA

Car is in park and engine is off and can not get key out of ignition. I then have to start car and move vehicle and hopes that when I stop car again I can get the key out. This is a safey issue as I can not leave car with key in ignition in public place. If I do at the house, then the car then drains the battery and car dies.car is only 3 year old!!! I'm not to happy with this. Needs to be fix, this should be a recall!!!!! But I don't see one yet! I read other people are having the same issue.

Filed Aug 5, 2019 · Electrical · 104,740 miles · WI

Intermittent problem where the key could not be removed from the ignition making it unsafe to leave the car in a public area. (the door cannot be locked with the key in the ignition). Required replacement of the shifter assembly. The repair notes indicated there is a related tsb, so the defect is known, but no recalls have been issued.

Filed Aug 5, 2019 · Electrical · 38,000 miles · CA

Dead battery at 38,000 miles. No indicator lights of any existing problem. Left stranded and out $150 for new battery. Saw many forums related to this same problem. Subaru owes it to the car owners to admit and fix and no charge this problem. Drove at lunch time and when I was returning back to work it would not start. Car was parked in parking lot. Nothing left on. When turning ignition on the dashboard lights all came on as well as radio and windows worked up and down but no start. Had co-worker come and jump start and it started right away.

Filed Aug 2, 2019 · Electrical · 17,000 miles · TN

Sometimes the key will not come out of ignition when put in park. Freezes up. Won't allow power lift gate to open either. Seems to be related to tsb 16 112 18r, which in practice seems dangerous, as having to leave the key in the ignition even for a short amount of time with kids is risky. This needs to be a safety recall.

Filed Jul 29, 2019 · Electrical · 60,000 miles · WI

When I stop my 2016 outback after driving it my key will not come out of the ignition. It does this intermittently and is acting like I am not putting the car all the way in park. I am forced to leave my key in the ignition at times and the car will be very easy to steal. After reading the subaru forums it appears to be the shifter linkage failing and not going into park all the way. Some dealers started to replace the key switch at first then they realized it was the shifter linkage assembly itself. It seems to need replacing and can't be adjusted. Subaru knows about this issue as I just talked to subaru of america to see if they have recalled it yet.

Filed Jul 16, 2019 · Electrical · 10 miles · AR

On multiple occasions while parked for only a few hours. The battery voltage has dropped to a level that required the vehicle to be jump started. The vehicle has no aftermarket devices.

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