82 complaints reported

2020 Subaru Ascent Electrical System

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
82
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Aug 2024

My car refused to start-pressed the ignition and it sputted, lots of lights went on and off and then the running lights came on and stayed on and ran the rest of the battery out. Had to charge it for hours to get it started again.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Jul 2024
Dec 2023

Car was unresponsive and would not start. It was just purchased certified used on 5/8/2023. On 5/10/2023 AAA replaced the battery and on 5/12/2023 the battery died again as a result the car did not start and was unresponsive. Tailgate was beeping in both situations.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Oct 2023
Nov 2023

We purchased a used 2020 Subaru Accent from a dealership on 11/16/23. Twice since that date the car would not start due to the battery not having enough charge to start it. The dealership that we bought it from stated that prior to the sale date they had a new battery installed.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Nov 2023
Dec 2022

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Ascent. The contact received an email regarding NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V907000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Oct 2022
Nov 2022

Battery would drain to the point where it would need to be jumped to start. I carried a jump starter in the car during the cold months. Finally took car to be inspected and they told me that the problem was my battery and that I needed to replace it with a $465 battery. I’ve been dealing with this issue for 2 years and now I have found out that the car has a defect that drains the battery.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Oct 2020
Oct 2022

My battery electric has been to hay wire from time to time and now my car is flickering all electric and car wont start. Locks wont work.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Oct 2022
Oct 2022

Battery gets drained if the trunk is open longer than an hour. Left the car trunk open during our camping trip while unloading and loading and in both the instance the battery drained and we we had to scramble for help to jump start the car. This happened last time exactly the same way when we were in the campsite as well.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Sep 2022
Oct 2022

Battery died while in idle, unable to restart, constant clicking and beeping. Requires roadside assistance. This is the 3rd time the battery has been dead on this car....First time, shortly after purchase, the dealer replaced the battery, saying it was a battery issue. Second time the car had been parked in the garage, a few months ago, no lights left on. Today, it was idling as I was picking up my kids, it just died. Battery is about a year old. Now all dash lights are just flashing. Will see if there is permanent damage.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Oct 2022
Sep 2022

The battery in my 2020 Subaru ascent died without any warning. The light would go on, back talegate wouldn’t open, nothing would work. I called AAA and they came out to test it. I was told it was completely dead, there were no cells left in it, as if the lights, radio and doors were left open for an extended period of time (I was in the grocery store for 15 minutes, nothing was left in). He was able to jump start it but after some time of charging the battery. The battery is not old. We purchased the car in Dec of 2021 from a dealer.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Jul 2022
Aug 2022

Excessive battery drain for no reason. The vehicle has a random battery drain for no apparent reason. This vehicle has less than 26K miles on it and has needed a charge or jump-start more than 10+ times. We have been able to replicate the problem numerous times, once charged, the battery and alternator pass tests.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2021
Aug 2022

12V Battery for the Car needed to be jump started every morning. Car will not START until we jump start the battery. Security Beeping and all car buttons not working. The problem started since Feb 28, and its been happening almost every morning.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Feb 2022
Aug 2022

During a camping trip the battery died when the tailgate was left open. Second battery incident: Went to go start my car after not driving for 6 days, battery was dead. No lights, doors, or hatch was on or open. After using a trickle charger I recharged the battery and was able to start the car after 4 hours of charging. After the car sat for one day the engine did turn over, but it sounded like it took a bit of extra effort for the starter to get the engine going. Third battery incident: I went to start my car again after it was parked for 5 days and the battery was dead again. I used the trickle charger again and was able to charge the battery to over 80%. The next day I took the car in for a service to investigate why the battery was draining to dead after not driving for days. The service department was unable to determine a cause of the issue. The battery was in good condition and was in the green on the grading scale.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Oct 2022
Jun 2022

Constant dead battery No start

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Jun 2022
Jun 2022

Rear hatch open for more than 10 minutes, the battery is dead. Also, if the radio is left on after the car is turned off the battery is dead.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2022
Jun 2022

Battery randomly failed on 1/5/22. Had it jumped, kept it on for an hour. When I went to start the car on 1/6/22 the battery is dead again. 7,000 miles on the car, no signs of any issue prior to the failure. My safety was at risk because it was freezing outside. I attempted to contact subaru's roadside assistance per their 3 year 36K mile warranty but when calling the automated message said there are significant delays in call times and to submit the issue online. I tried submitting online but the online submittal process was not working. I ended up having it jumped through my insurer, though now I have to figure out how to get a new battery. I saw where Subaru 2020 ascent OEM batteries are part of a class action, so probably going to avoid taking it to the dealer for a replacement.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: May 2022
May 2022

When packing the car for a trip, if any of the doors are left open for a period of 15 minutes to 20 minutes the battery will drain. I am unable to start the car. This has happened three times. I have mentioned this to the dealer who remarked that I am not driving the car enough to keep the battery charged. On one occasion it happened after driving for over three hours (148) miles.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Aug 2021
Apr 2022

BATTERY GOES DEAD AFTER A SERIES OF SHORT TRIPS. HAPPENED ONCE BEFORE. DEALER HAD THE CAR FOR 3 DAYS AND COULD NOT REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM. INTERMITTENT PROBLEM, STRANDING DRIVER IN POTENTIALLY UNSAFE AREAS.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Apr 2022
Jan 2022

We had two wire harness that was burnt twice in a year apart for our 2020 Subaru Ascent Touring. Here are the two parts # and description: Slow Blow Fuse 170A under part #82211XC00A & Wiring Harness R LH USA under Part #81502XC11B were burn. We use Subaru to tow from time to time for our 2021 Airstream Bambi 16RB (dry weight of 2,900 lbs. and GVWR of 3,500 lbs.). On 06/21/21, we noticed the car has no battery and we called roadside assistance to jump the car, but the car battery died again. On 06/22/21, we called roadside assistance to jump the car, this time, we drove to Subaru directly to have the dealer look at the issue. Dealer inspected and replaced a battery for us under warranty. On 06/26/21, the battery was completely dead again. So we have our car jumped and go to the dealer. We have 9,214 miles at this point. After 2 weeks of diagnose, dealer told us the main left wiring harness was burnt due to excessive power draw from the trailer, possibly by the electric tongue jack on the trailer, we were the 2nd exact case happened in the whole nation by that time, they will fix it as a one time courtesy and recommend us to remove the electric tongue jack. Vehicle picked up on 07/27/21, we switched electric tongue jack to manual jack. On 08/05/22, when we drove less than 5 miles out of our house, we noticed our dashboard started to flash all kind of warning message-Transmission, Tire Pressure, Vehicle Dynamic Control and Airbag system, eyesight was disabled. We decided to exit the freeway. Burning smell noticed and the car can't be started. We towed the vehicle to dealer for inspection. Dealer took a week to discover the problem was caused by the same burnt harness. After back and forth for 3+ weeks, dealer refused to cover under warranty despite we did not use the electric tongue jack(the cause dealer identified last year for the burn) the whole year. We are waiting for Subaru of America for update as of 08/31/22 under case #220824-232370 filed on 08/24/22.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: May 2022
Dec 2021

The rear liftgate on our 2020 Subaru Ascent opened on its own during the night of 12/18/21, resulting in a drained battery. The tech dispatched by Subaru roadside assistance stated that there is a software problem resulting in these doors falsly detecting an obstruction and opening the liftgate, which results in a drained battery. The Subaru dealer stated that they could not replicate the problem and did nothing about it. Several days later on 12/23/21, the battery failed again. The tech dispatched by Subaru jumpstarted the car, but noted that the battery was producing only 8 volts of power.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Dec 2021
Dec 2021

Started having electrical and audio glitches ultimately causing the battery to completely drain

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Nov 2021
Dec 2021

This is the second time I've had a dead battery problem with my 2020 Subaru Ascent. The first time was 4/2021 and they replaced the battery. The second time is today - dead battery, could not charge or jump start. Tow truck coming to take it to a Subaru dealer.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Dec 2021
Dec 2021

The care continues to drain power resulting in dead battery. We have had continuous issues since purchasing the vehicle. The Dealer even installed a higher quality battery and due to Subaru admitting tot the problem. However this has not resolved the issue. The vehicle has been inspected multiple times at a factory dealer. We can't be in and out of the care while parked for 45 minutes. Subaru markets the vehicles for camping and recreation vehicles, but the vehicle is useless in these scenarios. Furthermore, there is great potential now in the winter session that we could become stranded in the vehicle. Also note that with a dead battery the rear hatch is in operable. The manual release is not easy to get to.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Dec 2021
Dec 2021

Battery died, currently a class action lawsuit indicating an issue with the manufacturer

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Nov 2021
Nov 2021

I purchased this car new, and it has less or about 20.000mile. I am using it daily. Yesterday suddenly the sound system stop playing. Neither the radio, the CD player, or the car play. Just the sound. Today, the battery died, but all the buttons will flickering and would not stop. My husband had to remove the battery cables so to stop. I also have notice in the past that the frond windows will close in a slower pace than normal. I saw here that there is a class action about this issue. Very disappointed, if this issue will not resolved I am driving my kids daily and I cannot have this happening in the middle of a road or while it is feeezing outside.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Nov 2021
Oct 2021

Battery dead something is happening with the trunk. I think it drained the battery. This is the second time this happened

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 SUBARU ASCENT, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Oct 2021

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Quick Summary

The 2020 Subaru Ascent has 82 Electrical System complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.