Subaru Outback electrical problems

This incident occurred on Friday July 29, 2022 @ 5pm. I was pulling into a parking space while my foot was on the brake I proceeded to put the car in park when the car suddenly lunged forward into the concrete patio of the Market/Store. I was in disbelief at what just happened. I would happily make my car available for inspection. I want to find out what is wrong with the car. I believe this could happen again and I am fearful for my life and the lives of others. I was so lucky that the table and chairs were roped off that evening for some reason. People could have been sitting or walking there at the time of this incident. This incident has not been reproduced or confirmed by the dealer or independent service center. I brought the car to the Subaru dealer for them to do a diagnostic test and any other things needed to give me some answers & repairs. I was told no issues were found. They also told me they would like to have my car for a week so they could drive it & do more test. I asked for a loaner and they said they could not do that. I can’t afford to rent a car for a week. And I feel they will come back to me with the same answer of not being able to find an issue. I have had this car for almost 3 years and I park by putting my foot on the brake and then shift into park. There was a malfunction! What it was I don’t know. But I do know something went very wrong with the vehicle. There was never any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to this failure.

Normal vehicle start. While leaving shopping mall parking lot, vehicle suddenly shut down; no electrical, no accelerator, no power steering, no engine. Was able to steer vehicle to safe location out of traffic path. Waited approximately 10 minutes, tried vehicle again, and it started / drove normally. Vehicle inspected afterward by dealer, who found no issues, and returned vehicle with no repairs made. Driver is 86 year old widow, who is terrified of being stranded in an unreliable car.

The car is a 2019 Subaru Outback, purchased certified pre-owned in the summer of 2020 from North Park Subaru, San Pedro Ave., San Antonio TX.On 17 July 2022, the vehicle began shuddering, rolling backwards, and the transmission would not go into any gear position after starting it. The only way to keep the car from continuing to roll backwards was to remove the key from the ignition. At that point the vehicle stopped. Afterwards we tried to start it again, the car would go through the same sequence of events. We called a tow truck to have it dropped off at North Park Subaru, San Pedro St., San Antonio TX. It was determined by Subaru technicians the Electronic Control Module (ECM) needed to be reset. That was completed and symptoms could not be mimicked at the dealership. So, the vehicle was returned to us on 20 Jul 2022. On 21 Jul 2022, it malfunctioned again and repeated the symptoms; shuddering, rolling backwards, not going into gear, etc. It was returned to the same Subaru dealership and a few days later we received text messages to test drive it because technicians could not mimic ongoing issues during their test drives. We refused to retrieve our vehicle due to its unsafe condition and filed a complaint with Subaru of America Inc. on 27 Jul 2022.

Vehicle was about 1 year old and had about 2300 miles when I started having issues with the battery being dead and having to jump start the vehicle after it sat a few days. I contacted the dealership and the battery took it in. After about 4 hours they said the battery was "low" and they recharged it and said everything was fine. They said I didn't drive it enough so it was my fault the battery would not start the vehicle. That was 5/10/22. On 8/26/22 the battery was dead and I had to jump it again. There have been no warning lights.

The battery does not hold power and we have been stranded in a remote location more than once. I am nervous about going anywhere on my own, especially at night. The dealer has been totally unresponsive and told us this is normal and we should just buy a portable charger. We do now take a charger everywhere we go but this seems unacceptable for a new (and not inexpensive) car. It seems this is a problem with the 2019 outback. The date below is the last time this happened but it has been an ongoing issue since we bought the vehicle

Hello, Since February, we have replaced our battery 3 times. Eventually we discovered from a mechanic that the car had a parasitic draw that will drain the battery if the car is not driven every day. We put the battery on a trickle charger every night just in case. Two days ago, the car would not start after sitting in a parking lot for two hours. The AAA guy's first question was "is that a 2015 or 16?". When asked why, he responded "This happens all the time because the computer keeps self-checking and it drains the battery." So now we have a car that could leave us stranded at any time, and based on the number of lawsuits against Subaru for electrical drainage of batteries of their vehicles from 2015-2020, we have a terminal issue that Subaru is well aware of but refuses to acknowledge. This is unacceptable. Doesn't this qualify as gross negligence under some consumer law? Maybe instead of producing commercials with dogs driving their cars, they stand by their customers and fix their mistakes.

At about 35,000 miles the car would not start. Had the battery checked and was told it was fine. Subaru garage could not find a parasitic drain. Replaced the battery and the car still would not start reliably. Took the car back to the Subaru garage and they had it for 5 days and at first said the DCM needed to be replaced then they back tracked and said the car was fine and they could not find anything wrong with it. Subaru garage told me to contact Subaru and they would give me a $500.00 "gift card" and I could bring it back and they could put in an AGM battery and a battery tender. The car would not start a total of approximately 8-10 times unless it was kept on a trickle charger. I did not want to have to rely on plugging my car in all the time. We sold the car because we could not have an unreliable vehicle.

My battery has been replaced three times by the dealer. Initially days after buying the vehicle and twice since then. After letting the vehicle sit for 3-7 days the battery is not able to start the vehicle. Each time I have taken it to the dealer for repair. The first time in 2020 it was just a battery replacement. Then in 2021 it was a relay and battery replacement. In 2022 it was a module and then another battery replacement. All without a comprehensive explanation from the dealer or service advisor.

The entire electrical system stopped working while parked in garage probably because the battery completely drained. Since the car was parked, there should have been no mechanical or electrical activity. Because this car depends so much on electronic control almost nothing can be operated. Locked doors cannot be opened (the car automatically locks all doors while in motion except the driver door), the tailgate cannot be opened and, of course, the engine will not start.