2020 Subaru Crosstrek

I own a 2020 Subaru Crosstrek. While driving on the freeway in heavy traffic, I had to make a hard stop due to traffic ahead. When the vehicle came to a complete stop, the engine automatically shut off as part of the vehicle’s auto start-stop system. When I released the brake to proceed with traffic, the vehicle attempted to restart, but displayed a “Disabled” message and the auto start-stop system became disabled. I had to turn the vehicle completely off and restart it manually while stopped in active freeway traffic. This created a significant safety concern because the malfunction occurred on the freeway while surrounded by moving traffic. If the engine had failed to restart, the vehicle could have remained stopped in an active traffic lane, potentially increasing the risk of being struck by another vehicle or creating a traffic hazard. There were no warning lamps or other symptoms before the incident. The first indication of a problem was the “Disabled” message immediately after the vehicle attempted to restart following the automatic engine shutoff. I subsequently took the vehicle to a Subaru dealer for inspection. The dealer found a starter cancel code 06, described as “starting failure is detected when the system restarts the engine.” The dealer determined that the starter motor was bad and recommended replacement of the starter motor and fuel pump relay. The dealer has therefore confirmed a problem with the starting system associated with the auto start-stop restart function. The vehicle and affected components are available for inspection upon request. The recommended repair cost from the dealer was $1,266.45. The recommended repair has not yet been completed.

While driving 2020 Crosstrek Hybrid, the dashboard lights suddenly flashed and then engine stalled, leaving me with no brakes and no steering. I rolled through straight through an intersection with four stop signs and I could not stop. Luckily no one was driving or walking at the time. I couldn't start car, even with a jump start. I bought a new Interstate battery with higher specs. Three days later the same thing happened, the car stalled while driving just about to park. The dashboard lights also flashed and I saw Hybrid System this time. Car was towed to the dealer and there was a huge amount of corrosion with the electrical system underneath the car. Previously, four times this winter the car batter was completely dead after being parked in a garage and twice in a parking lot. I was told by a mechanic who gave me a jump start that there's a parasitic drain somewhere.

My 2020 Subaru Crosstrek experienced a sudden loss of motive power and stalled due to a blown ignition fuse. Diagnostic code P1604 (Startability Malfunction) was stored. Inspection by Wayne Subaru (Invoice #25340) confirmed the Cylinder 3 ignition coil had shorted and physically melted. This is the exact failure mode described in Subaru Safety Recall WRE-21 (NHTSA Campaign 21V825000), which currently only covers 2018–2019 models. My vehicle experienced a thermal event and a stall despite being a 2020 model. The dealer replaced only the melted coil and did NOT update the ECM software. This leaves the vehicle at risk of a repeat stall in traffic, as the underlying software defect that causes coils to overheat remains unaddressed in the 2020 model year and the remaining coils may already be at risk.

Beginning one year after buying this used 2020 Subaru Crosstrek base trim the starter failed and battery fully died after failing to start from a stop. The engine was OFF due to the auto-stop system and failed upon lifting my foot from the brake on a slight incline, causing a constant warning beep and a starter system failure message on the dash display. Immediately after failing to start the brake pressure significantly dropped causing my car to roll into the front of the car behind it. The car was stranded in the road and required a jump start. Since this event the issue has occurred twice more on two brand new batteries on no incline, and I now fully disable the auto-stop feature before driving to avoid an accident. The car starts properly with no battery damage if started from the full ignition off position, even if auto-stop originally stopped the engine, pointing to a failure of the auto-stop system specifically. Importantly, I have also personally seen this exact failure occur to a separate 2020 Subaru Crosstrek, with the sport trim.

The contact's significant other owns a 2020 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated while his significant other was driving from a complete stop, several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times. The dealer replaced the battery, the fuel cap, and cleared the warning lights; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was being diagnosed. The vehicle was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 51,000.

This vehicle is a plug-in-hybrid. It should not be able to move while plugged in. Problem is attempting to move the vehicle when the charge cable is still attached and the vehicle is on an incline. Subaru does not display a warning message - instead it displays "check engine" and an ambiguous symbol (a red steering wheel). Subaru disables the power to wheels that would have enabled the driver to close the gap to the charging station. Instead the vehicle rolls away from the charging station, breaking power plug at the vehicle port. Even placing the car in Park does not prevent damage, the car will roll down hill until the Parking gear latches. I have now broken my power plug 3 times. I am a professional electrical engineer. This should not be able to happen Subaru should prevent the car from being able to move if the cable is still attached, and instead display a message that the cable is still attached. With the "check engine" message, I engaged my OBD diagnostics and it could not find a "check engine" flag. At this point, I put the car in gear, and even through Subaru disables power, the car then passively rolls down the driveway, breaking the cable at the power port. Instead of the ambiguous "red steering wheel" icon - Subaru needs to lock the car in Park and display a real message. When you finally turn the ignition off - Subaru displays a huge "Goodbye" message on the auxiliary display. I say finally because if you do restart the ignition with the cable attatched - you will not be able to turn off the ignition - only after exiting the vehicle, disconnecting the plug will you be able to turn off the vehicle. Not being able to turn off the ignition should not be permitted. Numerous errors in the control logic.

Car is a Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid Car was connected to its electrical charge cable The connector is a type SAE J1772 When the connector is connected to the car, the ignition is supposed to be disabled, and the car is not supposed to be able to be removed from Park. Neither safety system was operable. When the car was moved, it broke the connector, exposing the bare pins. Hazard - potential exposure to electrocution or fire There is a small orange indicator on the display when the cable is connected. It should be RED, and it should inhibit the operation of the car.

If car sits unused for 2 or 3 days, the battery will have slowly drained down to the point where the car won't start. It seems that the car's internal electronics drains the battery down, even if the car isn't being operated. Even if the car is being operated, the battery is only charged up to about half of a full charge which contributes to the battery drain problem. The dealer says that the car should be started up every day to keep this problem from occurring, but that doesn't seem reasonable, and is practical if the car needs to be parked a few days at the airport.

MY CAR WOULDN'T START AFTER STOPPING TO VISIT A FRIEND. THE FRIEND WATCHED UNDER THE HOOD WHEN I PRESSED THE START BUTTON. HE SAW SPARKS FROM UNDER THE HOOD. I HAD DRIVEN OVER 27 MILES THAT DAY BEFORE THIS HAPPENED. THE DEALER SAID IT WAS BECAUSE I MADE TOO MANY SHORT TRIPS. THEY OFFERED TO INSTALL A BATTERY CHARGER WHICH I DON'T FEEL SHOULD BE NECESSARY ON A BRAND NEW CAR.