2/15/21 dead battery vehicle parked in home garage stationary. Battery one month old replaced on 1/21/21 plus upgraded software. Previous battery was still under warranty less than 3 years old. 2/15/21 had to get car towed from home garage. Outback still under warranty and we purchased extended warranty from subaru. Removed bulb from hatch back per service mgr. Automatic starter also unreliable and works intermittently. Factory installed. Vehicle unreliable. Service unable to fix problem. Need to purchase a larger stronger battery for electrical system on own to see if it helps battery problem. Dealer will only give 550 battery.
2016 Subaru Outback electrical complaints
Page 8 of 11: complaints 191 to 220 of 309, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I have now had two complete battery discharges requiring jump starts when the hatch is opened and closed several times without the vehicle being turned on. Over a period of a few hours when I opened and closed the trunk with the automated open/close about 4-5 times the battery completely discharged required jump start. The first time I bought a mew battery figuring it was bad. The second time now I know something is wrong with the vehicle battery/electrical system. The vehicle was stationary both times.
Key gets stuck on ignition switch when I turn car off and put it in park. Key will not release from the steering column. It takes several minutes, some times up to 20 minutes for the key to release from the column. Vehicle needs to be started and turned off several times before key releases. This has been happening for a few weeks now, very frustrating and dangerous as having to start and stop the vehicle has drained the battery twice now and I have had to get the vehicle jump started. Hopefully this does not happen in the middle of no where.....
I am continuing to have an issue with my 2016 subaru outback where it struggles to start almost all the time in cold temperatures and the battery often dies. My subaru dealership "fixed" the issue last year by replacing the battery. Now that cold weather is back, the problem is back. Jumping the battery always solved the problem. Note that even in warm temperatures the start always sounds "rough".
We started drained batteries at 57,000 miles (we are at 61,000 miles now), which was about november 2020. As of today, this is our 4th time having a dead battery. We had a service check from van subaru kansas city, mo in the last month or so. They told us nothing was wrong with the battery, and that we likely weren't driving it enough. We drive it daily, but not for long periods of time, except 2 days a week. We have had to have the battery jumped by our road side service. We will have it jumped monday 2/1/21 and go back to van subaru. We read of a class action lawsuit for this very issue. We believe it is an electrical issue. Each time it happened was in he morning after the car sat in the garage overnight.
Replaced original battery with subaru battery 12/2019. Needed two jump starts after virus travel protocols began (3/2020). Car parked for 3 days (1/28-30/2021) battery won't start engine.
I if the car has not been started at least every 2 days the battery is dead and won't start. You also can't leave the doors open while vacuuming the inside or the battery will die on you. There has been a lot of chatter about this many places calling it a parasitic drain. This has been a known issue with subaru for several years, which never seems to get addressed. This has happened many times since we bought it new.
Steering wheel locks and all lights light up on dash then vehicle completely shuts off. Tried to jump vehicle and vehicle will start but turns off a few seconds later. Subaru advise it was a defective battery. Subaru then replace battery under warranty on 11/05/2020. The battery was not even 1 year old when it was replaced. Today on 01/29/2021 it happened again while driving. Lucky both times I was not traveling at a high rate of speed like on a hey. I was able to pull off on the side street. Now I'm waiting for a tow truck to tow my vehicle to the subaru dealership.
The battery will not hold a charge. I had a new battery installed exactly one year ago and for the last two months the car will not start if it is not driven for more than a day or two. I've had the car jumped multiple times and had the terminals replace last week due to corrosion. And today, foe the third time in two weeks the car will not start. Research on this website and on the internet in general tells me this is a known and ongoing issue with subaru electrical and they need to figure a fix for it asap.
When I tried to start my car the battery was dead. This happened twice last year and I then replaced the battery. This new battery is only 4 months old and yesterday it was dead again. Each time a few days had passed since the car had last been driven. It seems there must be something wrong with the car that is draining the battery. In addition, possibly related to the dead battery there were a couple of times when we found the back hatch wide open. The battery was not dead after this happened.
I have a 2016 subaru outback purchased september 2019 last year replaced the battery, yesterday the car would not strat. Jump it got it to the shop and they showed the battery, & alternator were good. I sreached and seen several complaints the are the same on 2016 to 2020. We need a recall.
2016 outback has had battery problems since it was new, first battery replaced by subaru in late 2017. Now needed third replacement in jan 2021. Subaru will pay 50% which is $120 which is robbery as a new battery is about that much. Subaru says use the car more, plug in a battery minder charger, hi tech cars have power usage even when not being driven, etc. None of my other cars, hundai, honda have this problem. I believe either the outback design has parasitic power drainage, the battery is under powered or there is a flaw in electrical system design.
Our car battery has repeatedly died, without any extended use (I.e., no lights were left on, doors open, etc). We will drive it and then come back out to the car and the battery will be dead. We had the battery checked and were informed it was in excellent condition.
Have had to replace battery 4x in 18 months. Currently have another dead battery three days after replacing. Car cannot sit for more than 4-5 days without losing batter charge. Suggested fix from subaru: put it on a trickle charger. Most recent issue: 1/9/2021.
Purchased jan 2016. Battery died 3 times while on trips & car sat for 2 weeks. Replaced battery dec 2018. Battery died multiple times while on trips when car sat for 2+ weeks. Last time, car sat for 3 weeks. Car was started with jump but didn't hold charge. Replaced battery 3rd time jan 2021.
Purchased vehicle in august of 2015. Have had the battery replaced multiple times as follows: *11/20/2018 (608805) *11/01/2019 (630860) *05/18/2020 (641572) as of 01/05/2021, the vehicle battery is dead again and at moore subaru in richmond, virginia for service. Each time the battery has been dead, it has been parked (driveway or work) and when trying to start the vehicle, it would make a clicking noise. This time (1/5/21) the battery was completely dead (doors wouldn't open, no noises when trying to start). When the battery died in may of 2020, moore subaru had the vehicle for approximately 5 days to see if they could determine the problem. They ultimately found nothing more than a potentially bad battery.
Vehicle battery has unexpectedly gone dead three times since march 2020. This is after a new subaru battery was installed in 2019. I understand this is an ongoing problem with subaru outbacks (2016-2020). My dealership told me it requires software updates which don't seem to working. My vehicle has 16000 miles on it.
Premature battery failure has happened on a number of occasions. Whether at home or after a short trip, the car becomes unable to start without assistance. The vehicle won't start as if it has dead battery but then operators normally for a period of time after a jump start from another vehicle or after being placed on a battery charger.
The battery has gone dead at least 3 times, even after fresh replacement. The first time was due to rear inside light being switched on (according to the subaru service technician). The second time was while out running errands. The third time was after being parked for two days. The battery is less than a year old and should not be drained from power like this.
At about 71,000 miles, there is an intermittent problem with removing the ignition key from the lock. The vehicle is always stationary when this problem is noticed.
Battery drain issue when the vehicle sits for more than three days will have a weak start. Battery will drain if radio is on with car not running in between 15-30 minutes. My second battery is ready for replacement in 4 years. Two year battery life is unacceptable. Attaching picture of when this happened to two subaru outback at the same time. Upon research many subaru owners have this problem
Car repeatedly stopped working because of dead battery. Car was purchased new in 2016. First instance was when lift gate was left open over night in garage, 2 years after purchase. Second instance was when overhead lamp was left on overnight in garage. Third the same as second in a parking lot. Last instance was today when I drove a few miles, parked car for an hour and the battery was dead after that. Lift gate was opened 10 minutes before attempting to start the car. Aaa restarted the car in all four instances.
Battery drains prematurely. The vehicle is 5 years old and is in need of a 3rd battery replacement. The vehicle has been jump started 4 times over the years.
Key will not release from ignition switch when parked after driving. Requires multiple shifting from park to drive and back to park before key will release. Frequency of occurrence is now every other day. Vehicle has 48,500 miles on it currently.
I replaced the initial battery on 10/22/2018 with a battery recommended for this vehicle. 4/17/20 I replaced the battery again. On november 15, 2020 the car battery was completely drained. I purchased a power pack to keep in the car for emergencies. On december 2, 2020 the car battery was completed drained again. Luckily, I was stationary when these incidents happened. After these two incidents, I am taking it to the dealership tomorrow. I travel for work to some remote places and am no longer confident in this car's performance.
We are reporting this today, but this issue has gone on for 2 years. Purchased an outback used from the dealer. Battery continually dies, leaving us stranded at home or away from home. Subaru dealer says the battery test good, and tell us we just need to drive the car more often. This car is driven daily, so that is not the problem. Dealer says they don't know what's wrong with it. After searching for similar issues from other owners, it's evident subaru is covering this up. Unfortunately without subaru willing to fix the issue and not telling us how to fix it we're stuck with the car in its current state.
Car was purchased brand new from dealer. It rained within a couple days and discovered the wipers didn't work. Dealer fixed. Multiple times the battery has died. Dealer no help at all and blames it on battery. Replaced the battery in 2017. Still often have battery die and we always turn off the car entirely and lock it. Once it even died after my family spent all day at the beach and we were stranded.
2016 subaru outback - this started back in march 2020 when we reduced travel due to covid-19. If the car is stationary/parked and not driven or started the battery will go down within 7 to 10 days. At that time the car remote will not open any door or tailgate but the security dash light will still be blinking. The car was parked with the built in subaru alarm set. The car can be opened with the key but the alarm is not triggered as normally would happen. The interior lights do not light when the door is opened. The head lights are turned off on the column control. No lights are remaining on externally or internally when the car is stationary/parked. The car must be charged or battery replaced (already replaced the battery once) before it can be started. After the car had been charged and the door is opened the built in subaru alarm system is triggered - the remote will now work and shuts the alarm off.
This is the second time we've had to replace our 2016 outback battery. It begins with a sluggish start and then eventually, the battery won't turn the engine.
I am the original owner having purchased the vehicle on 10/13/2015. I have had 4 batteries since initial ownership: 1.10/13/2015 2.10/21/2017 (subaru replaced under warranty) 3.4/14/2019 (purchased battery from csaa) 4.10/28/2020 (replaced by csaa) it appears to have a defective electrical system.
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