2016 Subaru Outback Electrical System

THE CAR BATTERY HAS DIED MULTIPLE TIMES IN THE PAST THREE YEARS. THE BATTERY WAS FACTORY REPLACED IN 2019 BECAUSE OF THIS ISSUE AND HAS SINCE NEEDED TO BE JUMPED AT LEAST 3 TIMES. THERE IS ALSO CORROSION ON THE NEW BATTERY ALREADY. WHEN THE BATTERY HAS DIED IT'S EITHER BEEN PARKED IN OUR DRIVEWAY OR HAS LEFT ME STRANDED SOMEWHERE NEEDING A JUMP WHEN IT WOULDN'T START.

BATTERY IS SUFFERING EXCESSIVE DRAIN. LAST REPLACED BATTERY FAILED WITHIN 2 YEARS.

IN EARLY JANUARY, OF 2018, THE VEHICLE WOULDN'T START BECAUSE THE BATTERY WAS DEAD. WE HAD TO HAVE IT JUMP-STARTED. THIS CONTINUED AT LEAST A DOZEN TIMES. ON 5/25/18 WE CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP, AND SCHEDULED AN APPOINTMENT ON 5/29/18 TO HAVE IT ASSESSED. THEY FOUND: ' BATTERY NOT FULLY CHARGED. FOUND SOFTWARE UPDATE FOR BATTERY CHARGING. PERFORMED SOFTWARE UPDATE.' THE PROBLEM CONTINUED...WE MADE ANOTHER APPOINTMENT ON 7/11/18, AND THEY GAVE US A RENTAL VEHICLE WHILE THEY HAD OURS, FOR 8 DAYS. THIS TIME: 'AFTER FINDING A PARASITIC DRAW, AND REPLACING A MODULE, THE BATTERY WAS REPLACED'. WE WERE TOLD THIS WAS BECOMING A COMMON OCCURRENCE WITH SUBARU BATTERIES, BUT THAT SUBARU WASN'T WILLING TO REPLACE THE BATTERY AT THEIR COST. WE CONTINUED TO BE INCONVENIENCED, (STRANDED), UNTIL THE DEALERSHIP RELENTED, AND INSTALLED A NEW BATTERY.

WITH APPROXIMATELY 50,000 MILES ON THE VEHICLE, I HAVE HAD TO REPLACE THE BATTERY TWO TIMES. THIS VEHICLE HAS A PROBLEM WITH ITS DESIGN THAT ALLOWS THE BATTERY TO DRAIN TO A COMPLETELY DEAD AND IRREVERSIBLE STATE EVEN WHEN THE VEHICLE IS DRIVEN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS FOR A MEANINGFUL PERIOD OF TIME EACH DAY. THE FIRST OCCURRENCE WAS IN MAY, 2018 AND THE SECOND OCCURRENCE WAS APRIL, 2021.

THE CAR WILL BE DRIVEN NORMALLY AND THEN WHEN YOU GO TO START IT THE BATTERY IS DEAD. THIS HAS OCCURRED AFTER MULTIPLE YEARS AND MULTIPLE TIMES THE BATTERY HAS BEEN REPLACED MULTIPLE TIMES. THE DEALER HAS REFUSED TO LOOK FOR A PROBLEM SINCE THEY SAY IT IS MY FAULT. I HAVE OPENED A CASE WITH SUBARU IN THE PAST BUT NOW THEY HAVE NOT RESPONDED TO THE LATEST EMAIL CONTACT. DATE BELOW IS DATE I LAST CONTACTED SUBARU.

THE BATTERY HAS A SLOW DRAIN ON IT. I END UP HAVING A DEAD BATTERY ABOUT EVERY 4-6 WEEKS AND NEED TO JUMP THE CAR. I'VE REPLACED THE BATTERY, AND STILL HAPPENS.

MY CAR HAS ELECTRICAL ISSUES WHICH CAUSE THE BATTERY TO DRAIN. IF I DON'T DRIVE MY CAR FOR A FEW DAYS, SOMETIMES IT WON'T START WITHOUT GETTING JUMPED OR CHARGING THE BATTERY DIRECTLY. ONCE THE VEHICLE IS MOVING, EVERYTHING APPEARS TO BE WORKING FINE. IT'S JUST WHEN STARTING THE CAR. MY ISSUES SEEM TO BE RELATED TO THE ISSUES THAT ARE DOCUMENTED IN A CURRENT LAWSUIT AGAINST SUBARU FOR DRAINED BATTERY.

BATTERY WOULD NOT RECHARGE DURING SHORT, FREQUENT TRIPS. BATTERY WOULD NOT RESTART THE CAR. REPLACED.

MY BATTERY KEEPS GOING OUT. I REPLACED A NEW BATTERY AND IT STILL DIES. I TOOK THE NEW BATTERY BACK TO THE RETAILER WHO TESTED THE NEW BATTERY AND SAID IT WAS STILL GOOD. HOWEVER, MY BATTERY STILL GOES OUT 3-4 TIMES A WEEK AND NOW I HAVE TO BUY A PORTABLE BATTERY BOOSTER TO START UP THE CAR ON A ROUTINE BASIS.

KEY WILL NOT COME OUT OF IGNITION CYLINDER INTERMITTENTLY. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE FOR SUBARU UNDER THEIR OWN TSB 16-112-18R.

ALMOST NEW BATTERY FAILED. HAD REPLACED PREVIOUS BATTERY ON SEPT 15, 2020 WITH INTERSTATE BATTERY, AND ON APR. 13, 2021 IN THE MORNING THE BATTERY WAS FOUND DISCHARGED DESPITE NOTHING BEING ON IN CAR OVERNIGHT. THE RED TERMINAL IS CORRODED.

Battery drains - just goes dead. In the past six months it has happened @4 times. Checked twice at my garage and no problem found. Electrical system and battery checked out. After it is jumped it runs rough and not drivable until computer resets and windows have to be reset by hand. No warning lights of low battery.

For the past four years the car has insufficiently charged the battery. On two occasions the car would not start and had to be jumped. At first I attributed it to something I may have done like leaving an interior light on, but after the second incident I found out that other owners of the same car were having similar problems. I called the dealer and they said it might help to install a higher CCA rated battery.I replaced the original battery in 2018 with a higher rated Interstate CCA battery. That battery was also over time not being charged sufficiently and I took it back to the Firestone dealer who installed another Interstate Brand battery replacing it in 2020 under warranty. I called the dealership again and they said there was no reported issues with Subaru Outbacks insufficiently charging and that I just had to drive the car more frequently. So far the car has failed to start on 5 occasions, stranding either myself or my wife, twice in unsafe situations. I now routinely have to charge the battery in my garage about once a month to keep it operational, even after driving the car frequently. On 5/3/2021 I took the car back to the dealer for some service work. I asked again if there was any fix for the charging issue. They tested the battery and recorded that it "came up as deeply discharged". They said there was "No abnormal draw found ---vehicle charging normally."

I PURCHASED MY OUTBACK AS A NEW CAR. I ORDERED IT. I PICKED IT UP IN AUGUST OF 2015. SINCE THEN I HAVE HAD APPROXIMATELY 6-7 BATTERIES. MY MOST CURRENT REPLACEMENT WAS TODAY. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THROUGH MANY BATTERY REPLACEMENTS, IT IS THE CLIMATE WHERE I LIVE, A FAULTY BATTERY, AND POSSIBLY OTHER THINGS. TODAY I MENTIONED TO THE SUBARU SERVICE THAT THIS NEVER HAPPENED WITH MY OTHER CARS (I'VE HAD THREE OTHERS.) THE FIRST REPLACEMENT WAS WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR OF PURCHASE, BUT I'D HAVE TO GO BACK AND VERIFY. I'D HAD TO CALL AAA WHILE IN BLYTHE JUST TO GET TO AN AUTO ZONE FOR A BATTERY BECAUSE THERE ARE NO SUBARU DEALERS IN THE AREA. I HAVE HAD TO GET 1-2 AT A LOCAL GOOD YEAR BECAUSE MY LOCAL SUBARU IS ABOUT A 25-30 MINUTE DRIVE AND DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO GET THERE...AND NEEDED A BATTERY. TODAY I ASKED HOW MANY I HAVE GOTTEN WHILE AT SUBARU. WE COUNTED ABOUT FOUR. A FEW DAYS AGO I TRIED STARTING MY CAR AND IT DIDN'T WANT TO START IMMEDIATELY. (I THINK THE LAST TIME I WAS AT SUBARU THEY SAID IT WAS FINE.) THIS BATTERY LASTED THE LONGEST, ABOUT A YEAR. I'VE HAD SOME LAST LESS THAN THAT. I EVEN BOUGHT A FARADAY POUCH TO SEE IF THAT WOULD HELP. I'M WRITING THIS LATE AT NIGHT WHILE ALL IS IN MY MIND. SO I DON'T HAVE TODAY'S PAPERWORK ON ME, AND I DIDN'T HAPPEN TO GET THE DATES THE MAN AT SUBARU GAVE ME OF WHEN THEY PUT IN A BATTERY. I KNOW THE DESERT HEAT CAN BE HARSH, BUT 6-7 BATTERIES IS UNREASONABLE AND NOT SAFE.

I PURCHASED OUR OUTBACK NEW FROM A DEALERSHIP IN PENNSYLVANIA IN MARCH, 2016. SINCE THAT TIME WE HAVE HAD THE OME AND TWO REPLACEMENT BATTERIES FAIL AND WE ARE NOW ON OUR 4TH BATTERY. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND THE SERVICE MANAGER SAID HE WAS UNAWARE OF ANY REASON THE BATTERIES MAY HAVE FAILED. WE HAD OUR VERY EXPERIENCED SUBARU MECHANIC CHECK IT OUT AND HE COULD NOT FIND A CAUSE. THE CAR IS MOSTLY DRIVEN ON THE HIGHWAY AND HAS 133,000 MILES ON IT.

BATTERY DYING AFTER SHORT DRIVE

BATTERY DRAINS QUICKLY. CHANGING BATTERY DOESN'T HELP.

I HAD TO REPLACE THE BATTERY 3 TIMES SINCE I BOUGHT THE CAR IN 2016 DUE TO IT DRAINING SO LOW IT COULDN'T BE CHARGED. PURCHASED A BATTERY VIA AAA

BATTERY DRAINS UNEXPECTADLY AND SWIFTLY. TURNED OFF MOTOR AND LEFT KEY IN IGNITION WHILE WE SAT OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE. WE WERE STRANDED IN THE DESERT ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION.

BATTERY DOES NOT HOLD A CHARGE. DRAINS IN A DAY JUST SITTING IN MY GARAGE. CAN'T GO ANYWHERE FOR FEAR IT WILL NOT START. PROBLEM SEEMS ELECTRICAL MORE THAN THE BATTERY. THE BATTERY TESTED GOOD AT THE DEALER.

CAR ELECTRICAL SYSTEM GET STALLED WITHOUT ANY REASON AFTER PARKING CAR FOR SOME MINUTES. NOTHING WORKS. I NEEDED TO CALL AAA OR FRIEND FOR HELP (BATTERY JUMP). IT HAS OCCURRED SEVERAL TIMES. SOMETIMES, WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATION, POWER TO WINDOWS HAS FAILED. HOWEVER, COMES BACK AT RANDOM TIMES. I HAVE CHANGED BATTERY SEVERAL TIMES BUT IT DOES NOT SOLVE PROBLEMS.

BATTERY CONTINUES TO GET DRAINED OF POWER FOR NO APPARENT REASON. I HAVE HAD TO GET A JUMP START SEVERAL TIMES EVEN AFTER DRIVING FOR 3 OR MORE HOURS. WHEN I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP, I WAS TOLD THAT THE BATTERY WAS FINE, BUT NEEDED TO BE CHARGED. THEY EXPLAINED THAT THE REASON FOR THE DEAD BATTERY WAS BECAUSE THE CAR WAS NOT STARTED FOR 2 OR MORE DAYS. LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER THIS VISIT TO THE DEALERSHIP, THE BATTERY WAS DEAD AGAIN AFTER A 4 HOUR DRIVE.

BATTERY DRAIN WHICH CAUSED ELECTRICAL AND LIFT GATE TO STOP FUNCTIONING.

Multiple jump starts due to battery dying, even after replacement battery. Car is not reliable, not able to start after not driving it for 2 days.

Battery has died several times over the past few months. The last time (7/3/21) within 48 hours of being fully charged. Subaru replaced the battery several months ago, so it’s a fresh battery. They did not mention the electrical system problems they know about and have known about since 2017.