2020 Subaru Outback: doors won't lock, open or latch

Filed Jul 2, 2024 · Body, Electrical · CA

Rear trunk door won’t lock when closed and open up while driving. It’s unsafe as I have to constantly keep an eye in rear view mirror to see if door popped open by itself. Took to service station and they said it’s tied to battery and it is preventing door to close because trunk door takes power to open. I do not understand how trunk door locking close cannot be independent of battery. It is quite unsafe for vehicle occupants and poses danger to other vehicles driving behind.

Filed Jun 11, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · PA

1.car accelerated on its own—very scary. (Took the car to Cochran Subaru of Monroeville, but they said nothing was found wrong.) 2. The very next day, the real door would not latch and car would not lock. I reported these two issues to 1-800-SUBARU3. My case # is: 220610-163479 3. we did a “software” update bc we received a recall notice—it was completed at Cochran Subaru of Monroeville sometime in the fall of 2021, in March of 2022 while on vacation in Fla, the radio BLARED on its own, then stopped working altogether for a week or so—then just started working again.

Filed Dec 7, 2021 · Electrical · NC

My wife purchased this car last Dec. It was a demo with only 2811 miles (but the odometer showed 3411 when delivered). As we have 2 other autos, the Subaru is used sparingly and mostly on longer trips. The car now has 7100 miles. Since we owned it we noticed that it was often difficult to start and my wife claims that when cornering, it hesitates like it is going to stall. This week she was visiting a client and the car was TOTALLY dead...no electrical activity at all. No door locks, no lights, no seat adjustment, no driver identification....I thought it was a dead FOB so when I went to pick her up I brought the spare FOB. It did not work either. We live in a rural community and if the car is not able to be operated, there is very little in the way of support at night. The car is now at the dealer. BUT I did some research and realized that this is a frequent occurrence and there are 2 law suits in progress. The remedy that Subaru is telling its dealers is to replace the battery...but it is likely that the battery is the cause of the electrical faults. And there are no recalls even though my wife claims a problem when cornering. Please add my wife's name to your investigation. The car is registered in my wife's name, Caroline Schorr. 205 Foxgrape Hollow Road, Beech Mountain, NC 28604. Thank you...

Filed Aug 16, 2021 · Body, Electrical · WA

The Outback had a complete loss of power, cause still not identified. In the process of attempting to get to my portable power unit I discovered a significant safety concern that could result in the death of any rear seat passengers.If there is no electrical power there is NO MEANS OF UNLOCKING THE REAR PASSENGER DOORS. The mechanical door handles do NOT work. I checked the child safety locks and they were not engaged. In the event of an accident/ front end collision that damaged the battery the occupants of the rear seats are trapped. If they needed to vacate the car for any reason they could not. Parents can not get to their children. Please investigate and make Subaru modify the back doos so the mechanical handle will operate when there is nor electrical power.

Filed Aug 3, 2021 · VA

I was trying to open the trunk with the button in the car, it didn’t work, so I pulled the car forward thinking it was the problem, but it wasn’t. I got out of the left the door open and attempted to open it, but it would not. With the keys in my hand, I shut the driver’s side door, and attempted to push the button on the back, but that still didn’t work, even using the key fob. I went back to the driver’s side, only to find that the doors somehow became locked with the car on and the keys in my hands. The doors would not unlock even though I touched the driver’s front and the passenger’s front doors. Using the key fob did not work. Luckily this car has the key in the fob and that’s what I had to use to enter the car. Actually, this is two incidents in one, the trunk would not open and the doors locked with the car running and the keys in my hand. The trunk oddly just spontaneously started to work again after the analogue key was used on the door. Of note, the monitor and Apple CarPlay had been on the fritz all morning and continued. I’m not sure if the electronics caused a problem with trunk opening and the car doors locking while the car was running.

Filed Jul 23, 2020 · Electrical · 765 miles · WA

Our 2020 subaru outback, with fewer than 800 miles, failed to start four times (6/1, 7/1, 7/10, & 7/13). During these incidents, interior and exterior lights flashed, the dashboard produced a clicking sound, the doors would not lock, and the tailgate became inoperative. Roadside assistance successfully jump-started the car each time and took it to two different dealers for diagnostic testing -- one in seattle and one in tacoma. Two roadside assistance service providers said their most frequent service calls requiring a jump-start were for "late model subarus. One service technician said he received more than 100 such requests during the past three months. The tacoma dealer filed am urfca report with subaru headquarters after the third incident. During the fourth incident, the battery failed while the vehicle was at the tacoma dealer, who replaced the battery on july 13, 2020. After recharging the battery, it took a few days of being parked before the battery failed. During this last incident, I intentionally left the vehicle with the dealer over a weekend, which was long enough for the recently charged battery to drain enough to fail to start the car. When I picked up the car, the service advisor told me these cars need to be driven at least 30 minutes per trip to sufficiently recharge the battery. We've owned five subaru outbacks, and have not received this advice before, nor did the dealer's sales representative call this to our attention when we purchased the 2020 outback. Our lifestyle, coupled with the covid-19 virus, only requires one or two trips per month lasting more than 30 minutes. The car sits in the garage for two to three days without being started. We always lock the vehicle, turn off all lights, close the tailgate, and keep the key fob in the house, which is more than 500 feet from the detached garage.