I have had to replace battery sooner than it should have. Also, it seems to be causing an electrical issue with the computer board where all the dashboard warnings are blanking. I have been disconnecting the battery and reconnecting to reset the computer board.
COMPONENT SPOTLIGHT
Subaru Outback electrical problems
2,277 distinct owner reports with an electrical-system component in this snapshot.
Includes the electrical-system component and its detailed subcategories. Related recalls and investigations must also name this component; they are not linked by narrative keyword alone.
26 crash reports35 fire reports7 injury reports
Reports by model year
YearTopic reportsRecallsInvestigations
20265
00202512
00202416
00202317
20202251
40202175
402020258
602019363
302018265
302017391
412016309
412015127
51201432
100201323
120201237
161201167
160201033
180200923
130200834
80200720
80200642
70200528
9220048
10220037
14220024
4020013
3020008
1019998
1019986
2019974
4019961
20Recall and investigation columns show each year’s full history. A report naming several years can appear in more than one row.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
4830–25K
23925–50K
14350–75K
8275–100K
83100–150K
41150K+
1,071 reports with mileage · 1,206 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What owners actually said
2,277 reportsNew battery will not hold a charge. Electrical system drains battery when vehicle is turned off.
After purchasing my 2018 Subaru Outback, I experienced 2 instances where my battery died in the first 2 yrs of ownership. After the second instance, where it had died while I was eating at a restaurant, I contacted the dealership right away. They replaced the battery with a new manufacturer battery saying the previous battery …
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After purchasing my 2018 Subaru Outback, I experienced 2 instances where my battery died in the first 2 yrs of ownership. After the second instance, where it had died while I was eating at a restaurant, I contacted the dealership right away. They replaced the battery with a new manufacturer battery saying the previous battery failed the testing. I paid $176 for a new one. This was in March 2021. While preparing to return from my summer home in the mtns to my permanent home on the coast, I spent at least an hour packing my car and trying to keep the door and hatch openings at a minimum. Well, my car battery was dead while trying to start my car for my trip home. I had previously purchased a portable battery pack at the cost of $100 with me, and was able to get it started. One should not have to go such lengths when traveling as doors and the hatch are almost always being used. My car is going in for service at the dealership for this particular issue, but they are only going to replace the battery of which I have been informed. My car has 35,000+ miles and is only 4 yrs old. I traded in my previous car because it had over 100,000 miles on it. But I never had these kinds of issues with it. Now I am hesitant to travel anywhere unless I have that battery pack as it is deemed not reliable! This is ridiculous!!
My car battery dies prematurely. I am about to have my third battery since buying the car.
1st time battery died when car was not in use at least for three days, back in Jan 2022. was replaced. on 10/11/22, after the car was not in use for 4 days, 8 month old battery was died, had to replace, again. Recently received a Subaru Battery settlement letter of a design defect that cuase battery drain.
•Yes available upon request. My Subaru Outback has issues starting up even with a battery that tests good. The problem started off as intermittent and continues to happen more often. •I bought this car for Ohio winters and I’m worried me and my kids could get stranded with a drained battery. •The dealership did a 90,000 mile tun…
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•Yes available upon request. My Subaru Outback has issues starting up even with a battery that tests good. The problem started off as intermittent and continues to happen more often. •I bought this car for Ohio winters and I’m worried me and my kids could get stranded with a drained battery. •The dealership did a 90,000 mile tune up and said to “wait until it breaks or fails all the way to get it fixed, intermittent problems are too hard to diagnose” •Just my local dealership •The battery light flashes, it started happening very sporadically about six months ago, and has progressed into a pretty common occurrence.
I was stopped at a light in a 3 Lane St. It was approximately 930 at night. The auto start stop feature had turned off the engine and when I removed my foot from the brake to begin moving forward the entire electrical system shut off. I tried switching into park and restarting the car but the car locked the steering wheel at thi…
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I was stopped at a light in a 3 Lane St. It was approximately 930 at night. The auto start stop feature had turned off the engine and when I removed my foot from the brake to begin moving forward the entire electrical system shut off. I tried switching into park and restarting the car but the car locked the steering wheel at this point and killed all of the lights inside and outside of the vehicle. This meant that I was in a car in the middle lane of traffic with no lights and I was not able to turn on the flashers either. I had to use the emergency neutral setting in order to unlock the steering wheel and roll the car to safety. While we were rolling the car I attempted to turn on the vehicle again and it began running. This is the second time that the car shut off when i released my foot from the brake. The first time I was able to shift into park and restart the car.
Our 2020 Outback XT Onyx Edition with 24,000 miles was parked for 9 days at an airport. Union return, the battery was completely dead. We received a jump and drove the car for an hour on the highway, but noticed the electrical systems acting up at parking lot speeds - EyeSight system would disable briefly, power steering would…
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Our 2020 Outback XT Onyx Edition with 24,000 miles was parked for 9 days at an airport. Union return, the battery was completely dead. We received a jump and drove the car for an hour on the highway, but noticed the electrical systems acting up at parking lot speeds - EyeSight system would disable briefly, power steering would get stiff, and ABS would trigger randomly when turning at low RPM. Upon shutting the car off, everything went dark and the battery was still completely dead, leaving us stranded. It needed to get towed back to the dealership, awaiting further diagnostics.
While driving, advance driver assist systems became disabled, car intermittently stopped and resumed responding to accelerator, power steering became inoperative, car eventually lost all power. Gear would not shift out of drive. Emergency brake would not engage. Fortunately, I was able to coast the car to the shoulder of the roa…
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While driving, advance driver assist systems became disabled, car intermittently stopped and resumed responding to accelerator, power steering became inoperative, car eventually lost all power. Gear would not shift out of drive. Emergency brake would not engage. Fortunately, I was able to coast the car to the shoulder of the road. Had to keep foot on brake until roadside assistance arrived. Car was towed to repair shop where battery was replaced. Similar system failures occurred while my wife was driving a couple of weeks prior. She was able to coast car into a parking lot just off the road. In the past month, the dealer has replaced parts that diagnostics said created parasitic drain. The alternator has been replaced and the battery has been replaced twice in the last couple of months. Car had body work performed last week and the car will not start without being jumped. We are going to drive it to the dealer with fingers crossed that the electrical system will not shut the car down while in transit.
I bought the vehicle in April 2019, the battery had to be replaced in February 2021. In September 2022 I starting having the same battery issues where it was constantly dying. I took it in to Subaru and they said the ECM was draining the battery and needed to be replaced which would be $1,000. I looked into the battery issue a…
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I bought the vehicle in April 2019, the battery had to be replaced in February 2021. In September 2022 I starting having the same battery issues where it was constantly dying. I took it in to Subaru and they said the ECM was draining the battery and needed to be replaced which would be $1,000. I looked into the battery issue and Subaru has a class action lawsuit involving batteries prematurely dying. It also says that electrical issues are causing a parasitic pull on the batteries. So replacing the battery doesn't actually solve the problem. The suit settled and is replacing batteries, reimbursing battery costs and extending their warranties. But it does not address the actual electrical issues. Subaru has known of the electrical issues for years that are affecting multiple makes and have refused to acknowledge or address the issue.
Related Official recalls
522V473000 · Electrical System:wiring; Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:engine Control Module (ecu/ecm)
Jul 1, 2022
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2022 Outback vehicles. The engine wiring harness may have been damaged, resulting in a loose electrical connection to the engine control unit (ECU).
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: A loose electrical connection to the ECU may cause an engine stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the engine wiring harness and ECU, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 30, 2022. Owners may contact Subaru's customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRC-22.
Additional source detail variants (2)
Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:engine Control Module (ecu/ecm)
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2022 Outback vehicles. The engine wiring harness may have been damaged, resulting in a loose electrical connection to the engine control unit (ECU).
Consequence: A loose electrical connection to the ECU may cause an engine stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the engine wiring harness and ECU, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 30, 2022. Owners may contact Subaru's customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRC-22.
Electrical System:wiring
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2022 Outback vehicles. The engine wiring harness may have been damaged, resulting in a loose electrical connection to the engine control unit (ECU).
Consequence: A loose electrical connection to the ECU may cause an engine stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the engine wiring harness and ECU, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 30, 2022. Owners may contact Subaru's customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRC-22.
19V297000 · Electrical System:ignition:switch
Apr 11, 2019
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester vehicles, 2008-2011 Impreza vehicles, 2008-2014 WRX vehicles, 2005-2014 Legacy vehicles, 2005-2014 Outback vehicles and 2006-2008 Tribeca vehicles equipped with a mechanical key ignition switch installed as a replacement part. The ball spring inside the switch may break, reducing the strength of the ignition switch. If this occurs, the weight on the key ring and certain road conditions could cause the ignition switch to move out of the run position to the accessory position, turning off the engine.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: The engine turning off unexpectedly can increase the risk of a crash. If a crash occurs under this condition, the air bag may not deploy, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ignition switch, replacing the ignition switch, if necessary, free of charge. The recall began May 10, 2019. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WUF-91.
18V773000 · Electrical System:software; Fuel System, Gasoline
Nov 1, 2018
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2018 Subaru Legacy and Outback vehicles. Due to a software error, the low fuel warning light may not illuminate at the intended remaining fuel level and the miles-to-empty display may incorrectly indicate a positive number despite the tank being empty.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: The inaccurate fuel display may cause a driver to unexpectedly run out of fuel and the vehicle to stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the combination meter software, free of charge. The recall began February 20, 2019. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WTW-82.
Additional source detail variants (2)
Electrical System:software
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2018 Subaru Legacy and Outback vehicles. Due to a software error, the low fuel warning light may not illuminate at the intended remaining fuel level and the miles-to-empty display may incorrectly indicate a positive number despite the tank being empty.
Consequence: The inaccurate fuel display may cause a driver to unexpectedly run out of fuel and the vehicle to stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the combination meter software, free of charge. The recall began February 20, 2019. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WTW-82.
Fuel System, Gasoline
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2018 Subaru Legacy and Outback vehicles. Due to a software error, the low fuel warning light may not illuminate at the intended remaining fuel level and the miles-to-empty display may incorrectly indicate a positive number despite the tank being empty.
Consequence: The inaccurate fuel display may cause a driver to unexpectedly run out of fuel and the vehicle to stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the combination meter software, free of charge. The recall began February 20, 2019. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WTW-82.
16V738000 · Electrical System
Oct 13, 2016
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2007-2009 model year Legacy and Outback vehicles, 2008-2014 Impreza vehicles and 2009-2013 Forester vehicles, all equipped with turbo-charged engines. The relay that controls the secondary air injection pump may fail, causing the pump to continuously operate and overheat.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: If the air injection pump overheats, it may melt and increase the risk of a fire.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the secondary air injection pump relay, free of charge. The recall began December 2016. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is WTM-73.
13V061000 · Electrical System; Equipment
Feb 25, 2013
Subaru is recalling certain model year 2010-2012 Legacy and Outback vehicles equipped with an automatic or CVT transmission and an Audiovox remote engine starter (RES) accessory, certain model year 2012-2013 Impreza vehicles equipped with a CVT transmission and an Audiovox remote engine starter (RES) accessory, and certain model year 2013 XV Crosstrek vehicles equipped with a CVT transmission and an Audiovox remote engine starter (RES) accessory. Additionally included are certain model year 2013 Legacy and Outback vehicles that may have received replacement RES fobs. If the RES fob is dropped, the fob may malfunction and randomly transmit an engine start request without pressing the button.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: The engine may inadvertently start and run for up to fifteen minutes. The engine may continue to start and stop until the fob battery is depleted, or until the vehicle runs out of fuel. If the vehicle is parked in an enclosed area, there is a risk of carbon monoxide build-up which may cause headaches, dizziness or, in extreme cases, unconsciousness and/or asphyxiation.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the RES key fobs, free of charge. The recall began on April 22, 2013. Owners may contact Subaru at 1-800-782-2783 for more information.
Additional source detail variants (2)
Equipment
Subaru is recalling certain model year 2010-2012 Legacy and Outback vehicles equipped with an automatic or CVT transmission and an Audiovox remote engine starter (RES) accessory, certain model year 2012-2013 Impreza vehicles equipped with a CVT transmission and an Audiovox remote engine starter (RES) accessory, and certain model year 2013 XV Crosstrek vehicles equipped with a CVT transmission and an Audiovox remote engine starter (RES) accessory. Additionally included are certain model year 2013 Legacy and Outback vehicles that may have received replacement RES fobs. If the RES fob is dropped, the fob may malfunction and randomly transmit an engine start request without pressing the button.
Consequence: The engine may inadvertently start and run for up to fifteen minutes. The engine may continue to start and stop until the fob battery is depleted, or until the vehicle runs out of fuel. If the vehicle is parked in an enclosed area, there is a risk of carbon monoxide build-up which may cause headaches, dizziness or, in extreme cases, unconsciousness and/or asphyxiation.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the RES key fobs, free of charge. The recall began on April 22, 2013. Owners may contact Subaru at 1-800-782-2783 for more information.
Electrical System
Subaru is recalling certain model year 2010-2012 Legacy and Outback vehicles equipped with an automatic or CVT transmission and an Audiovox remote engine starter (RES) accessory, certain model year 2012-2013 Impreza vehicles equipped with a CVT transmission and an Audiovox remote engine starter (RES) accessory, and certain model year 2013 XV Crosstrek vehicles equipped with a CVT transmission and an Audiovox remote engine starter (RES) accessory. Additionally included are certain model year 2013 Legacy and Outback vehicles that may have received replacement RES fobs. If the RES fob is dropped, the fob may malfunction and randomly transmit an engine start request without pressing the button.
Consequence: The engine may inadvertently start and run for up to fifteen minutes. The engine may continue to start and stop until the fob battery is depleted, or until the vehicle runs out of fuel. If the vehicle is parked in an enclosed area, there is a risk of carbon monoxide build-up which may cause headaches, dizziness or, in extreme cases, unconsciousness and/or asphyxiation.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the RES key fobs, free of charge. The recall began on April 22, 2013. Owners may contact Subaru at 1-800-782-2783 for more information.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
Related NHTSA investigations
0No component-matched exact-year investigations in this snapshot.