2019 Subaru Outback

The automatic liftgate fails to latch and requires extra steps that most car owner would not know to temporarily resolve the issue. My situation has been difficult to replicate. The liftgate will open but not close. It will also close but not open. It will also latch but not securely. This evening, the hatch opened but failed to close. It also latched but found out at 55mph that it was not properly secured when my dog leaned against it. It did not open but the light turned on like a door was opened. This has been a known issue with many other Subaru owners as well. The answer always seems to hold the button for 10 seconds to reset but this does not work every time.

Summary: I have a 2019 Subaru Outback 3.6r with approximately 30k miles. It spent most of it's life in Texas, a low-corrosion state. When I was camping in Colorado, it started leaking fuel for extended periods from the tank area on the passenger side just in front of the rear wheel. The left a strong gas odor/fire danger as it leaked for many hours. I can supplies photos and video. The leak appeared rather suddenly, and is worse when the vehicle tank was just filled. It leaves large puddles of fuel on the ground. Failed system: fuel storage. It is available for inspection upon request. Safety: this issue resulted in a large fuel spill/gasoline vapor cloud, and the leak continues for hours. there is no crash damage/etc. to the vehicle. I have not taken the issue to a dealer yet. Should I get the car looked at by them? It is easy to reproduce by filling the tank normally at a gas station, the leak is worse when the tank is full. There are no warning lights/etc. The fuel gauge on the dashboard has also become intermittent after the leaking started. Sometimes it shows the fuel level, sometimes it shows empty (the tank is not empty). Note the image showing conflicting information on mileage to empty vs the needle fuel gauge level - the tank is appx 3/4 full in that image, neither fuel gauge is correct or agrees with each other.

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.

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

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 windshield now has three cracks d/t small rocks hitting the windshield at far distances from other vehicles. When I originally purchased this vehicle, the windshield was cracked requiring a replacement before purchase. This is a new windshield 2 years old from that initial replacement. The dealer has not confirmed an issue with their windshields. No warnings were provided to watch out for this by the dealer. The first crack occurred 4 months after purchase. The most recent one occurred today.

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.

The windshield on the Outback do not hold up. I have replaced my windshield 2 times. About to replace for a 3 time. All within 13 months. All Subaru windshields. I’m a cautious driver and do not drive close to others. A rock has hit the windshield but it automatically cracks over 8 inches. Not repairable. I’ve never had this problem with my other vehicles.