2019 Subaru Forester Electrical System

Something drained my battery completely dead (to less than 1V) overnight. The car was locked and the key fob wasn't near the car. In fact I keep it in a Faraday bag. The battery is less than one year old.

My car started on fire while parked and turned off. The fire was electrical and appeared to be caused by issues in the main wiring harness under the console between the driver and passenger seats.

UNKNOWN. There is some sort of battery drain issue causing the battery to die and prevent my car from starting. The battery has been tested independently at two different locations, both of which found the battery was operating properly. My mechanic checked for anything causing any phantom power drain from the battery and could not locate anything. The tow truck operator told me they've been seeing and issue with Subarus where very new cars are having their battery die when there is no reason for it to.

Battery constantly drains and fails to start the car almost from 2019 when I purchased the car. I’ve had to replace the original battery when the car was less than two years old and one year later the new battery has the same problem. No battery is able to hold a charge in this car and it continues to be a problem. Something seems to be draining the battery regularly. So that I won’t be stranded frequently, I needed to purchase a portable battery charger to start the car.

Car battery drained. Have had to call AAA twice. Have now purchased another battery and it failed to auto start when I attempted to cross the intersection.

The contact owned a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving approximately 75 MPH on the interstate, a deer jumped in front causing a crash. All the air bags deployed, and immediately soon after a fire was coming from the hood. The contact and two children in the rear passenger seat were able to exit the vehicle safely. The fire department arrived on the scene and extinguished the fire. There was a police report was filed. There were no injuries or medical reports. The vehicle was consumed by the fire and deemed destroyed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.

The battery drains when the car is not driven for 5 days or more. This newly-engineered battery was necessitated to support the auto-stop-start feature on the car. The battery was replaced on 1-26-2021. On 3-30-2022, the car would not start again after not being driven for 5 1/2 days and had to be jump started. The dealership says the battery is fine but I have to rearrange my life to drive this car every 5 days for 30 minutes. The battery is in the car and can be inspected. There is no fix or workaround available other than driving the car. This battery drain leaves me unsuspecting that my car will not start and I am stranded while I have to wait for hours for roadside assistance. There were no warnings even though I have a paid Starlink subscription that has my email and cell phone on record.

In my Subaru Forester, my battery continues to drain while the car is off and locked. I am unable to start the car in the mornings when I go to work because of this. To get the car to start, I am constantly jumping it. I was not at risk. The problem has not been confirmed by a dealer. The component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance agency. No warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms. The car is a 2019 and only has 33k miles on it.

I purchased a used 2019 Forester in the summer of 2020. By September 2021, I was having electrical issues - the car wouldn't start and the battery died. I had the car taken to a dealership, they replaced the battery and the alternator (they told me that the alternator was defective and broke the battery). I got the car back in October 2021. In December 2021, I had just driven for 2 hours and stopped to get gas. When I got back in, the car wouldn't start - the battery was dead again. This time, the AAA person who came to get me took a look at it and said that he thought it might start if he tightened the bolts for the electrical wires leading to the battery. That seemed to fix it. It's now March 2021. Yesterday, I walked outside to find my car battery dead again! I jumped it, and drove it around to allow the battery to recharge. I went in somewhere for dinner, came back out over an hour later, and it started. Today, it's dead again! This appears to be a consistent problem with Subaru vehicles.

Car is continually draining battery, causing vehicle to fail twice now due to a completely dead battery, once was while parked, once while idling with car in drive on road.

Repeated battery failure issues. Vehicle has had to be jumped anytime the vehicle has sat more than eight hours since approximately 01/18/2022. Vehicle has been taken to an auto shop where battery and alternator test was done. Battery has been determined to be okay, simply in need of a charge. Alternator also okay. No indicator/warning lamp or message was given prior to initial or subsequent failures. Vehicle is driven for extended periods of time each day which allows for the battery to be charged. Battery drain occurs when the vehicle is parked and turned off. Key fob kept away from vehicle, doors securely shut, no lights or accessories left on. Repeated battery failure has resulted in my being stranded until someone is available to jump the vehicle. Safety concerns of being stuck away from my home, in freezing temperatures, and/or alone at night.

There is a software problem which caused the alternator to not charge the battery correctly, causing the battery to go bad prematurely. The battery was just a few months outside of it's warranty, with it needing to be jump started frequently. It was tested at an Autozone then at the Subaru dealership confirming the bad battery. Subaru dealership confirmed the software malfunction that caused the problem. However, the software update needed was never done and was never communicated as a need. I have always taken the car in for all maintenance and this software update should have been done by Subaru. There was no warning signal/message other than the battery dying multiple times.

The car battery in my 2019 Subaru Forester drained completely overnight. The car was stuck in the garage and I could not go anywhere. I had to call for roadside assistance to get the car jumped. The battery power was at 0%. I had driven the car over 1 hour the day before, so it should have had good power stored. It appears to be parasitic power drain that happened overnight. There were no warnings given by the car that the battery power was low. The safety concern is what if I had been in a remote location and this had occurred. That scenario could have produced far more dire results. After the jump, I drove to the Subaru service department and had the battery checked. The Suburu Service Department is denying that any car component is draining the battery. They blamed my situation on ‘human error’, which it was not. There are existing lawsuits against Subaru regarding this same issue.

Battery Failure for the second time since purchase. Yesterday, 2/1/2022, I took my Subaru in due to the battery they replace about 15 months ago went dead two days ago. I was able to jump start to get back home. After sitting in my driveway after getting home two days ago I trie to start my car and again the battery was almost depleted. Not enough energy in the battery to start the car. Summary: Twice within a period of less than three (3) years I have brought my 2019 Subaru Forester in for service due to a dead battery that left me stranded. The battery, both incidents, was able to be jumped started to get home and also into Subaru for service. Both incidents Subaru Service initially said the battery was tested and OK and did not want to replace the battery. First incident: After 2 - 3 days I was back again to service for drained batter and they replaced with new battery. 13 - 15 months later the same exact battery drained and would not start car. Again, service said battery tested OK and would not replace, but my service advisor agreed to replace the batt This is the second time the battery was almost totally depleted and would not start the car. The first battery, that was part of the original purchase, died after owning the new car for about one (1) year. The first incident, I was able to get the car in for service after jumping the battery. The service tech said that the battery tested OK and Subaru would not replace the battery. Two or three days later the battery dies again. This time Subaru put in a replacement battery. Second time same incident, I took into Subaru service and again the tech said the battery tested OK. I then discussed with the Service Rep. and she agreed to mark the battery bad and to have the battery replaced with again another new battery. I asked about the issue of parasitic battery drain, which I learned about searching the web, and I assumed that they tested for this issue, but unsure if this was done.

Battery drains extremely quickly. I replaced with brand new battery and it completely drained overnight. When I tried to start car next morning the Engine clicked repeatedly then the infotainment and dash lights started blinking and acting strangely then went black but the music still played (with a black screen and car off). This is very alarming as it appears to be a major electrical issue that could cause a fire? Or possibly shut down random safety features that I want to use.

Battery 620 CCA. Batter is 28 months old. Inspected by dealer. Dealer determined low battery voltage unknown cause.

> 5 total jump starts and 3 dead batteries requiring battery replacement since purchase 2 years ago. Total mileage currently <10k. Multiple diagnostics from dealer reported to be negative. We have been diligent about assuring no lights left on although this has been cited as a theoretical cause. Most recently, received a jump start at an airport, then driven >90 miles continuously, then was again dead after being parked after only ~<12 hours.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the battery had drained while parked overnight on several occasion. The contact had experienced the failure approximately seven times. The battery would be jumpstarted and the vehicle would operate as needed. The low battery warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who was unable to identify the cause of the failure. The vehicle had not been diagnosed. The dealer replaced the battery on one occasion however, the failure persisted. The contact became aware online that there was an electrical issue with the vehicle that prevented certain electrical functions from going into sleep mode once the vehicle was turned off, causing the battery to become drained. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 600.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the battery would become drained after three days of the vehicle not being driven. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who informed him that the failure was not due to the battery. The contact stated that the vehicle was still being driven however, after being parked for several days the battery had to be recharged before the vehicle could be driven. The vehicle was not repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was contacted or notified about the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 20,000.

8 days ago I replaced the battery on this car as the lights/radio would come on but it would not start. Today the car is totally dead. It will have to be towed to the dealer whenever the towing companies can get around to it. I believe this one of the vehicles like those in the class action lawsuit.

Battery is repeatedly drained while parked, even with taking care to close all doors and turn off interior lights. This has happened 6-7 times in the last 6 weeks. The dealer tells us the car is fine.

Battery died.

For the third time my battery has died. After the second time I had them replace the battery. And now it has died again. In the past week (this being Friday) I had driven almost 400 miles, the previous Friday 70 miles, Saturday slightly over 300 miles, and Tuesday 20 miles. It had not been driven for the past two days. The lights were NOT left on. I have purchased a battery charger, and this time started the car myself, but it should not happen.

Was at the cemetery unloading mulch bags for family gravesite, with rear gate up, for about 30 - 40 minutes total late May 2021. Battery was dead. Had to have someone come and jump start. No problems after that. Had a previous time before that in the cemetery the previous year (2020) where rear gate was up and battery was slow to turn over after 20 minutes.

Dome light left on overnight. Battery was completely drained, not even the doors would unlock. Called a jumpstart service, they could not jumpstart it without getting thicker jumper cables. Store-bought cheap jumper cables would not work. Second jumpstart service worked, I left it running for 1hr before cutting engine and parking for the night. The next morning, battery was dead again. Called tow, took it to dealership, they replaced the battery. One month later, dome light was left on again, battery was completely dead again. Once again, store-bought jumper cables would not work. Jumpstart service came with thicker cables and got it started again. Dome light has not been left on since then.