Subaru Outback electrical problems

The contact owns a 2009 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle shut-off with the check engine, traction control and cruise control warning lights illuminated. On several occasions the vehicle would not immediately restart. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer for service. No further information was available. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 81,000. The VIN was not available.

I'm the 2nd owner of a 2016 Outback. I bought it with 28k miles on it in 2017. It now has 33k. However - I drive daily...just not far. There is zero excuse for my battery dying at 30k. I called Subaru - and they initially to me to 'buy the battery (Sunday) and we'll cover it. Upon meeting with Subaru mgnt - looking for my money back.....I'm then told "you're out of warranty last week". Something is very wrong with this electrical system and Subaru dealerships - as Subaru is walking away from it. I got stuck with the new battery bill - but Subaru is stuck with a major problem - one that'll come back to bite them hopefully!!! SHAME ON SUBARU.

Battery is not keeping charge, unable to start vehicle even after daily driving. With an infant, we need something more reliable, being stranded is not an option. Vehicle has not been inspected, upon further review this is a constant problem with lawsuits requesting for a resolution against Subaru. Battery indicator light would turn on and lights would flash when able.

I drove my Outback for 10 minutes. I stopped to run an errand that took 30 minutes. I then tried to start the car and it wouldn't start. All the lights on the dash turned on. I then tried several more times. It still would not start. Then I waited several minutes and it started. I drove it home. I have since tried to start it several times and it has started. The car has slightly less than 20K miles on it. This has never happened before. It was a very hot day - nearly 100 degrees and I was quite panicky that it would not start. I was worried I would be stranded. There was never any indication before that something like this might happen. I am going to call the dealership tomorrow.

Problem has occurred twice when I put my cellphone in the same pocket as my key fob. The car will not start when I press the start button, although the ignition will be on and the dashboard instruments light up. Even if I separate the fob from the phone, it won't start. Holding the keyfob right up to the start button won't allow it to start. The battery in the fob is brand new. On this car, only the fob can start the car. I have had to use the MySubaru app via Starlink (a subscription service) to remote start the car using my cellphone. However, I cannot shift it into gear. I must turn the car off, and then restart the car by pushing the button. It will then start normally. If I did not subscribe to Starlink, I would have been able to start the car at all. The phone/fob proximity problem seems to create a logic fault in the vehicle programming which then prevents you from starting the car using the fob, even if you separate it from the phone.

My vehicle was purchased in September 2014. Approximately the night of March 9, 2017 my daughter apparently turned on a dome light, which remained on the rest of the night. My car had approximately 45k miles on it. The next day I attempted to start the car, nothing happened. The battery was so dead that even connecting to another vehicle for 20 minutes resulted in no change. I purchased a new battery on 3/10/2017. On 7/10/2021 with approximately 100,000 miles I was at an airport for pickup. I turned my car off upon arrival and waited for 30 - 40 minutes with the key in the ignition. I think that resulted in some lights remaining on. When I attempted to start my car to depart the airport it gave an indication of attempting to start but there was not enough power to facilitate the action. I needed to briefly connect my car to another for enough power to start the vehicle, which has run apparently fine since. Now I have to be vigilant to ensure no internal lights are on for more than a few minutes regardless of situation. Recently I read this article, https://www.motorbiscuit.com/dead-batteries-new-subaru-lawsuit-claims-least-five-models-defective-batteries/, which seems to be the situation I am in. It seems that two batteries in a period of 7 years and approximately 102,000 miles seems a bit excessive. A non-technical analysis leads me to think either Subaru is not putting an adequate power supply in at least their Outbacks, maybe other models based on at least the linked article, or something is wrong with the electrical management system resulting in drains on the battery resulting in significantly shorter battery life than found on other vehicles, which results in additional cost to consumers to replace batteries assuming they die at a convenient time and other costs are not incurred.

Bought this car used with low miles in 2019 from a Subaru dealership. We have had intermittent issues dating back to late 2019, where returning to the car find that the battery is dead when we went to start it. It usually happens when the vehicle was left for 4 hours or more, although not always. After reading several reports of the same issue, we are going to try a new, larger battery.

The ignition key becomes stuck in the ignition upon stopping the vehicle and placing the gear shifter into "park" and turning the vehicle off. Intermittently the key is unable to be removed from the ignition even though the vehicle is in the "park" position and turned off. Usually after starting and stopping the vehicle and moving the gear shift a few times the key can be removed from the ignition. This problem does not occur every time the vehicle is driven, but lately it is happening more frequently.