2020 Subaru Outback

ON MARCH 1, 2021 VEHICLE HAD 4992 MILES ON IT AND VEHICLE WOULD NOT START. HAD TO CALL ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE AND HAVE VEHICLE JUMPED. TOOK TO DEALER, THEY SAID BATTERY, ALTERNATOR AND STARTER, TESTED GOOD. ON MARCH 17TH, VEHICLE HAD TO BE JUMP STARTED. ON MARCH 18TH, VEHICLE HAD TO BE JUMP STARTED TWICE IN THE SAME DAY. ON MARCH 19TH, VEHICLE HAD TO BE JUMP STARTED AND TAKEN TO DEALER. VEHICLE NOW HAS 5192 MILES. ON MARCH 19, 2021, A CASE WAS OPENED WITH SUBARU OF AMERICA.

MY OUTBACK WAS BOUGHT NEW LESS THAN 6 MONTHS AGO AND NOW THE CAR BATTERY WILL NOT HOLD A CHARGE. MY CAR ONLY HAS ABOUT 3,000 MILES ON IT, IT'S USED MOSTLY FOR CITY DRIVING. ONE MORNING MY CAR WAS COMPLETELY DEAD IN OUR DRIVEWAY, NOTHING WOULD TURN ON, SO WE JUMPED THE CAR BATTERY AND IT WORKED FINE THE REST OF THE DAY. WHEN THE CAR TURNED ON, NO LIGHTS WERE ON TO INDICATE THAT THE BATTERY HAD BEEN DRAINED DUE TO LIGHTS BEING KEPT ON. THE NEXT MORNING THE CAR WAS COMPLETELY DEAD AGAIN. WE JUMPED THE CAR AGAIN, BUT AFTER NOT BEING USED FOR SEVERAL HOURS THE CAR BATTERY WAS AGAIN COMPLETELY DEAD. WE ARE TAKING IT TO THE DEALERSHIP BUT IT APPEARS THERE IS ALREADY A LAWSUIT AGAINST SUBARU FOR THE SAME THING HAPPENING IN OTHER 2016-2020 OUTBACKS.

I PURCHASED A NEW 2020 OUTBACK ONYX XT IN FALL 2019. IT GENERALLY HAD NO ISSUES AND RAN FINE WITH NORMAL DRIVING (EG DRIVING TO WORK AND ERRANDS EVERY DAY OR TWO). FALL OF 2020 (CAR AROUND 10,000 MILES) THE CAR RANDOMLY WAS FULLY DEAD (COULDN'T UNLOCK DOORS OR START THE ENGINE) ONE MORNING AFTER HAVING BEEN DRIVEN NORMALLY ONE OR TWO DAYS BEFORE. I JUMP STARTED THE CAR, DROVE IT FOR AN HOUR, AND THE BATTERY SEEMINGLY DID NOT CHARGE - THE CAR DIED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CAR WAS TURNED OFF AND IT COULD NOT BE LOCKED/UNLOCKED/STARTED/ETC. THE CAR WAS JUMP STARTED AGAIN AND BROUGHT TO THE DEALER WHO DIAGNOSED A FAULTY BATTERY UNIT WHICH WAS REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. THE CAR THEN WORKED NORMALLY UNTIL EARLY 2021, WHEN THE ISSUE REPEATED ITSELF - FOR NO APPARENT REASON, THE CAR DIED, AFTER HAVING WORKED FINE THE DAY OR TWO BEFORE (I.E. IT WASN'T LEFT UNDRIVEN FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME). IT WAS JUMP STARTED, BROUGHT INTO THE DEALER, AND SAME DIAGNOSIS/FIX - BATTERY REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. ONE WEEK LATER, THE ISSUE REPEATED ITSELF. THE CAR WAS BROUGHT IN AND THE DEALER DID MORE DIAGNOSES AND FOUND THAT THERE WAS AN INTERIOR LIGHT SWITCH THAT WAS IN AN ON POSITION (ALTHOUGH THE LIGHT ITSELF WAS OFF) - THEY TRIED TO REPLICATE THE ISSUE WITH LEAVING THE LIGHT ON CAUSING THE CAR TO DIE OVERNIGHT. THEY REPLACED THE BATTERY AGAIN UNDER WARRANTY. MOST RECENTLY, AROUND ONE WEEK LATER - MARCH 1 2021 - THIS ISSUE REPEATED FOR A FOURTH TIME. I WAS SPECIFICALLY CAREFUL THAT NO LIGHT SWITCHES WERE EVER LEFT ON AND THE CAR HAD WORKED FINE THE DAY PRIOR TO IT HAVING BEEN UNABLE TO START, AND AM AWAITING INSTRUCTIONS FROM SUBARU FOR NEXT STEPS. CLEARLY IT IS NOT SIMPLY A "BAD BATTERY" AS THE DEALER HAS BEEN UNABLE TO FIX THE CAR (WHICH IS UNDER WARRANTY) AND MAKE IT USEABLE FOR NORMAL DRIVING.

I PURCHASED MY 2020 OUTBACK IN MAY 2020. IN FEBRUARY 2021, I HAD ABOUT 5400 MILES ON THE CAR WHEN THE BATTERY SEEMED TO DIE. ADMITTEDLY THE TEMPERATURES WERE COLD AND THE CAR WAS OUTSIDE FOR 48 HOURS WITHOUT BEING DRIVEN. I WAS UNABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY JUMPSTART THE CAR WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO DO SO ONE WEEK LATER. THE TEMPERATURE THAT DAY WAS IN THE UPPER 20S. I TRIED AGAIN 3 DAYS LATER WHEN THE TEMPERATURE WAS ABOUT 40. I SUCCESSFULLY JUMPSTARTED IT THAT DAY AND I LET IT IDLE FOR 20 MINUTES. THE NEXT MORNING, IT WOULD NOT START AGAIN SO I HAD TO JUMPSTART IT ONCE AGAIN. THIS TIME I IDLED IT FOR 20 MINUTES IN THE MORNING AND 20 MINUTES IN THE AFTERNOON (IT STARTED WITHOUT A JUMP IN THE AFTERNOON). THE NEXT MORNING IT ONCE AGAIN REQUIRED JUMPSTARTING. I LET IT IDLE FOR 20 MINUTES IN THE MORNING AND ANOTHER 20 MINUTES IN THE AFTERNOON (ONCE AGAIN JUMPSTARTING IN THE AFTERNOON WAS NOT NECESSARY). FINALLY, IT STARTED ON ITS OWN THE NEXT MORNING AND I DROVE IT TO THE DEALER WHO SAID EVERYTHING WITH THE BATTERY AND THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM WAS FINE. THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF ANY ELECTRICAL PROBLEM. I AM NOT CONVINCED ABOUT THIS IN LIGHT OF PROBLEMS WITH 2017-2019 OUTBACK BATTERY FAILURES.