2020 Subaru Impreza

The electrical system failed and battery then exploded. The vehicle is behind held at a tow yard and has been inspected by allied insurance CPI of tower federal credit union. It is available to be inspected for the time being but will be scrapped soon. Both my safety and the safety of others was at risk- this occurred in a Wendy’s drive through near other vehicles, a building and of course people there in. There’s video footage of the incident taken by Wendy’s staff. The car stopped running as the fire caught- I ( the driver ) had to push the vehicle physically away from the building and cars and got away only one minute before it entirely exploded. Whether or not the problem has been confirmed or reproduced elsewhere is UNKNOWN. The fire was extinguished by firefighters and police did take a report as well. There was absolutely no warning that there was an issue prior - not even a hazard light- the only thing I noticed was my oil temp had begun to increase.

Both rear doors will intermittently not open when unlocked from both the inside or the outside. I am unsure if this is electrical or related to the door components itself. This is a hazard because passengers have been locked in the back of the car, and needed to climb out from the front or needed me to open the door from the outside if it will open—which could be a deadly amount of extra time in an emergency situation where passengers need to quickly exit the vehicle. This issue has been going on over a year, but I did not take it in until two months ago because I rarely had back passengers. That has changed, so I took it in. I have brought the car to the dealership three times for this issue, which is as of now still unresolved, with the following results: 1st visit: They told me child lock was on and turned it off. (I do not believe this, as the doors would occasionally open correctly from the inside—so that would mean child lock is also faulty) 2nd visit: They found weak actuators in both doors and replaced them. 3rd visit: Currently still in the shop for other unrelated issues, but they are having a hard time diagnosing the cause since the doors will open for them—but the lady who checked me in experienced the door sticking with me, and she said she could tell something was wrong.

On 3 separate occasions since I've had my car, it has powered off completely without warning while driving. This is very dangerous could cause a severe accident or death. I called a tow truck on 3 separate occasions (1/27/23; 2/26/24; 2/28/24) to take it to the dealer or car repair business. Then after 20 - 30 minutes, it starts up again like normal. This make of cars made in 2020 have recalls for this same problem except for the model I have. The maker of these cars are not responding to keep their customers safe and continue to lie about the problems these cars are having. They are poorly made and extremely unsafe.

The 2020 Subaru Impreza hatchback was purchased new from a Subaru dealer. Approximately, one year after purchase the vehicle started to exhibit hard starting. That is when the key is turned on the engine did not immediately turn over but there began an increased hesitation overtime before engine would turn over. It demonstrated issues of electrical problems. Finally, on March 24, 2022 the engine failed to turn over and we had to have the car towed to the original Subaru dealer. The tow truck driver attempted to turn the engine on but in his opinion, the starter was not working at all. As of the writing of this report we do not know the exact cause of issue nor do we expect to pay for any repairs or parts since the vehicle is still under warranty.