2017 Subaru Outback: headlights failing or too dim

Filed Feb 15, 2025 · Lights · IA

Headlight lenses fill up with water on interior of lenses causes headlights to distort lighting and reduced visibility.

Filed Feb 20, 2024 · AL

headlights large amount of water condensation. decreases amount of light and could cause to fail

Filed Nov 1, 2023 · Lights · PA

My 2017 Subaru outback has moisture forming inside the passenger side headlight. Temperature does not appear to be a cause. The concern is freezing and light distortion affecting the night time auto headlight dimmer. There are no apparent cracks and front end has not been in any collision. Issue was noticed at least two months ago. Dealer is talking to manufacturer.

Filed Nov 9, 2021 · Electrical · MT

My battery is constantly dying. I upgraded the battery to a much larger one yet it keeps dying. If the car sits for more than three days it dies. If the car is driven for a very long time then it will stay working for about three days, then die. Today it is dead. It was dead yesterday. I jumped it yesterday, drove it around, restarted it to make sure, drove it around some more and then parked it. Today it is dead. The battery voltage is fine (a bit low, perhaps) at 12.8V, when charging at 14V. If I jump the car in my driveway, run it for a while, it essentially does not charge the battery. It is almost like the car is designed not to actually charge the battery unless you drive it a lot, which seems counter-intuitive. Engine RPMs doesn't seem to affect the charging ability even though it should. I have one after-market device installed: a remote car starter, built and installed by Subaru. Otherwise, this is a stock, 2017 Subaru Outback. All interior lights are switched off, the head lights are left in the Off position, yet the car continually dies. When I do drive it on a daily basis, it usually is fine. However, I did have it die one time while doing a bunch of errands. Basically, drive 10 minutes, stop, run the errand, drive 10 minutes, stop, run the errand, etc. After the fourth or fifth errand the car was dead. As this is a continual problem I have a lithium power pack designed to jump the car, so that provided the rescue I needed. But I should not need this type of rescue!

Filed Sep 9, 2021 · Electrical · CA

I have to jump-start my vehicle several times a week, sometimes multiple times per day. The battery drains dead in minutes, even after an hour long trip. I have about 42,000 miles on my car and I'm on my third battery - about to purchase a fourth battery. I also had to purchase a jump box to store in my car due to being stranded several times with a car that does not operate. I leave all cabin light switches set to the OFF position, I do not use the trunk lift if the car is not running, I do not leave the headlights on, and I drive roughly 4 days per week. This is unacceptable, and dangerous - Subaru brands these cars as adventurous and outdoorsy, but I have been stranded in dangerous snow storm and I'm sure others have as well. There were never any system or dash warnings - it just fails to start without warning.

Filed May 3, 2021 · Electrical · 38,300 miles · MA

Battery failure after 6 months under normal use. No periods of leaving headlights on overnight, etc. Had just driven about 90 minutes, turned car off to run into a shop, returned and car wouldn't even crank. Aaa tested it and the alternator. Alternator was 'good' but battery reported 'fail'.

Filed Apr 17, 2021 · Electrical · 17,000 miles · UT

On multiple occasions, I've arrived at my car after a reasonably short time away - each time overnight, parked in my garage - to find my battery fully drained. I wondered if I had left my lights on, and if that might have caused the problem. I found that the controls for my headlamps were in the off position. Next, I wondered if I had left a door ajar, or an interior light control switch in the on position. I never found a door ajar. I never found an interior light switch on. I take my car into faraway corners of the wilderness on occasion. I cannot risk battery drain when I return to my car after a day or two of adventure. To be safe after these incidents, I removed the lightbulb from the "way back" of my subaru outback. I did this to avoid accidentally draining the battery if I left that light on (easy to go unnoticed). Further, I keep each of the other interior light swich controls in the off position. I changed this from the "on when a door is open" position that I used to keep the switches in, again to ensure that I don't accidentally drain the battery. During my next maintenance visit with my subaru dealer's maintenance team (an oil change, I believe), I discussed the battery failure with the technician. I asked the person if there was some way set a software control so that no light would remain illuminated with the engine turned off for more than some set period of time (for instance, 10 minutes, or a half hour). The technician said there was no way to set that for the car. I regularly check to ensure that I'm not leaving my front seat, or mid-seat lights on since my battery had drained on those occasions. I've always wondered, however, if the problem was some electrical issue with my car, rather than my own potential mistake. More and more, I think it may have been an electrical battery drain issue.

Filed Apr 3, 2021 · Lights · 27,000 miles · CA

The headlights (hid with auto-leveling) are pointed dangerously low. They do not illuminate the road ahead far enough. A driver would have very little time to react, given this limited illumination distance. Subaru dealerships are adamant the headlights are adjusted to specifications. There are many complaints about this issue all over the internet from owners, and the dealerships I've mentioned this issue to have explained they are aware of the complaints, but there is nothing they can do. I am very worried for our safety and for the pedestrians/vehicles we would not see in time to stop. We purchased this vehicle new, and this is not a new issue. I have tried to address it for several years. When the vehicle is accelerating from a stoplight, for example, the headlights are basically fine (given the shift of weight to the rear which has the front of the vehicle aimed a bit higher), but as soon as the vehicle levels out, the issue is very evident. The automatic high beam feature simply does not compensate, as the automatic high beams are not intuitive enough to perfectly activate and stay activated every time (it misreads surrounding street lights, for example, as oncoming headlights very easily.

Filed Sep 11, 2020 · Electrical · 38,000 miles · IL

Multiple battery failures- battery dies repeatedly. Have replaced 4 times already. Last dead battery is today with it having died last week as well. This will be 3rd battery in less than a year.sometimes headlight will dimly flash or there will be a thumping noise that comes from the back, possibly the tailgate. Other times it is dead next day when going to start it after having been driven the previous day. Keys are not kept in car.

Filed Aug 30, 2016 · Lights · 100 miles · NC

Subaru markets their high beam assist (hba) feature as working 'in conjunction with eyesight to automatically switch the headlights between the high and low settings when an oncoming vehicle is detected.' that's not entirely true and that's where the safety issue comes into play. The hba feature turns off high beams at lower speeds no matter if an oncoming car is present and absolutely turns them off at a stop sign. This makes for traveling at low speeds in residential communities dangerous. In our community, for example, it's very hilly and curvy with a lot of wildlife and people who walk/jog so speeds are often below 20 MPH, the speed at which subaru's manual says this feature works. If anything, when there is no oncoming traffic in a residential communities high beams should always be on at night. This allows for the earlier detection of people and animals. In talking to subaru they really didn't care at all that this created a dangerous situation and offered to tell their engineers. Of course, this can be turned off, but only by visiting a dealer and paying them to fix subaru's design flaw. The federal safety agency should require subaru to 1) fix this feature so that it only dims high beams when there is oncoming traffic; and 2) require subaru offer to disable the feature free of charge at any authorized dealer until the problem is fixed.