NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
Electrical System complaints
14 reportsClear category filterMileage unknown · Jun 4, 2026
Electrical SystemEngineUnknown Or Other
The cam carriers for my vehicle are leaking oil. This is an incredible common, seemingly almost guaranteed, issue with these vehicles from Subaru at the 75-90k mile mark. The carrier are dripping oil, so worse than seeping, but not pouring. This runs the risk of the engine bleeding oil fast and running dry without checking oil l…
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The cam carriers for my vehicle are leaking oil. This is an incredible common, seemingly almost guaranteed, issue with these vehicles from Subaru at the 75-90k mile mark. The carrier are dripping oil, so worse than seeping, but not pouring. This runs the risk of the engine bleeding oil fast and running dry without checking oil levels every week or so and carrying extra emergency oil. This is a huge safety risk and given the proliferation of this issue across subaru vehicles and the CVT it needs to be addressed by SOA. There are no warning lights for this issue and this would not have been caught if I hadn't gone to the dealership for a general car inspection as I suspected something may be wrong. The problem has been reproduced at other shops/dealerships and is a very common almost guaranteed issue with these vehicles.
NHTSA ODI #11742031
Mileage unknown · Apr 22, 2026
Electrical SystemEngineFuel/propulsion System
fuel pump cut off intermeeting mager loss off power tech at subaru refuse to repair car has 72000 miles on well manetane
NHTSA ODI #11733161
Mileage unknown · Feb 4, 2026
Electrical SystemSteeringSuspension
I'm driving down the road and unexpectedly the power steering completely goes out and the car is almost impossible to steer. When I shut the car off it usually resets sometimes for only a couple seconds, sometimes longer before the power steering fails again. It has happened in the middle of multiple turns, highways driving, cit…
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I'm driving down the road and unexpectedly the power steering completely goes out and the car is almost impossible to steer. When I shut the car off it usually resets sometimes for only a couple seconds, sometimes longer before the power steering fails again. It has happened in the middle of multiple turns, highways driving, city driving and is very dangerous. If you look online it is a very common issue amongst other Subaru models with the same steering system, as well as the wrx but not for my year. If you look online you will see multiple people complaining about it. Messaged Subaru and they said they weren't concerned with the safety issue, they were only concerned about it not being covered under warranty anymore. I did take it to a Subaru dealership and they even said it was very common and didn't even really look at the car to diagnose and its around 3000 to repair. This is going to cause an accident at some point if not in my car someone else's. It doesn't matter either what speeds you are going if it happens. It has happened multiple different days so I'm only putting today in since it happened today as well.
NHTSA ODI #11715651
Mileage unknown · May 1, 2023
Electrical System
There is a current drain (approximately 135mA) by the built-in telematics system (DCM) even when the car is completely powered off. The drain will drop battery voltage levels beyond recharge/repair. Dead batteries can leave people stranded in unsafe areas or make them susceptible to potentially dangerous situations such as bein…
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There is a current drain (approximately 135mA) by the built-in telematics system (DCM) even when the car is completely powered off. The drain will drop battery voltage levels beyond recharge/repair. Dead batteries can leave people stranded in unsafe areas or make them susceptible to potentially dangerous situations such as being approached by bad actors. The vehicle has been inspected by me, who confirmed the current draw through a multimeter and pulling fuses 1-by-1. It has been confirmed by multiple people online with similar symptoms: https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/dark-current-drain.550299/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Subaru_Outback/comments/zzh5d3/drained_battery_and_dcm_fuse/ http://www.subarucomplaints.com/battery-drain/ No warnings, messages, or symptoms. Just kept waking up to dead batteries.
NHTSA ODI #11519850
Mileage unknown · Nov 10, 2022
Electrical SystemEngine
at random, the vehicle will shut down for a second and start back up without pressing the start button. usually occurs while using carplay but has occurred without using the stereo. will happen back to back and cause the steering wheel to lock up at highway speeds, taking control of the vehicle away from me (driver). steering wh…
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at random, the vehicle will shut down for a second and start back up without pressing the start button. usually occurs while using carplay but has occurred without using the stereo. will happen back to back and cause the steering wheel to lock up at highway speeds, taking control of the vehicle away from me (driver). steering wheel has locked up several times when the car shuts off while driving. vehicle was taken to dealership for diagnostics and they were unable to pinpoint an issue.
NHTSA ODI #11493131
Mileage unknown · Nov 3, 2022
Electrical SystemUnknown Or Other
The battery in my 2019 Subaru WRX failed after buying it brand new from the dealer, after less than 2 years of owning the vehicle. Almost one year later, my car now won't start if I leave it off for more than 24 hrs. In 2019 I left the car powered off for over a week and it started right up no hesitation. This is a huge problem …
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The battery in my 2019 Subaru WRX failed after buying it brand new from the dealer, after less than 2 years of owning the vehicle. Almost one year later, my car now won't start if I leave it off for more than 24 hrs. In 2019 I left the car powered off for over a week and it started right up no hesitation. This is a huge problem now as I work remotely and don't need to drive my car every day however I do need my brand new car to reliably START even if I haven't driven it for a day or so! I took it to the dealership and they state their battery diagnostics and the alternator both pass, and no software updates pertaining to an issue of this nature was available. I'm going back tomorrow for a tech to run "extended electrical diags" on it but I've read about this issue affecting SO MANY OTHERS that there is now a lawsuit about it! Wanted y'all to know I'm experiencing this as well. https://www.torquenews.com/1084/subaru-battery-drain-lawsuit-new-claims-now-include-forester-wrx-and-legacy/amp
NHTSA ODI #11492032
Mileage unknown · Sep 24, 2022
Electrical System
This vehicle has less than 20,000 miles on it and I’ve had the battery drain on me 3 different times from just leaving a door open with the car off while doing general maintenance things. The car lacks a feature to shut off the dome lights and I thought that was what the problem stemmed from. Each time the car died on me the doo…
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This vehicle has less than 20,000 miles on it and I’ve had the battery drain on me 3 different times from just leaving a door open with the car off while doing general maintenance things. The car lacks a feature to shut off the dome lights and I thought that was what the problem stemmed from. Each time the car died on me the door was open for no more than 20 minutes or so. Once I saw there’s a class action lawsuit against them for issues related to this I knew this issue is the same one. No battery should be going dead from a light being on for 20 minutes with nothing else running.
NHTSA ODI #11486196
Mileage unknown · Sep 18, 2022
Electrical System
Battery cannot hold a charge even after jumping the car. Once jumped, the car will drive but when the engine is turned off, it cannot turn back on without a jump.
NHTSA ODI #11485126
Mileage unknown · Aug 22, 2022
Electrical SystemUnknown Or Other
The STARLINK 7-inch Multimedia Plus unit gets locked-up, sometime not responsive to touch, skips around to different songs, in a phantom way scans different radio stations, disconnects phone calls.
NHTSA ODI #11480522
25,000 miles · Aug 2, 2022
Electrical System
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru WRX. The contact stated that she was unable to start the vehicle. The contact stated that the battery warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that her father was able to jumpstart the vehicle. The contact stated the following morning she experienced the failure for a second time. The cont…
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The contact owns a 2019 Subaru WRX. The contact stated that she was unable to start the vehicle. The contact stated that the battery warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that her father was able to jumpstart the vehicle. The contact stated the following morning she experienced the failure for a second time. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 25,000.
NHTSA ODI #11477130
Official recalls
2Jul 21, 2022
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2015-2021 WRX vehicles. The backup light switch may corrode and become inoperative, which can result in the backup lights not illuminating and the rearview camera image not displaying when the vehicle is in reverse.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: Inoperative backup lights and an inoperative rearview camera can reduce vehicle visibility and driver awareness, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the backup light switch, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 16, 2022. Owners may contact Subaru's customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRE-22.
Jul 29, 2021
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Ascent, 2018 Forester, 2018-2020 Impreza, Legacy, Outback, 2018-2019 BRZ, WRX, and Toyota 86 vehicles. The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the low-pressure fuel pump, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 24, 2021. Subaru and Toyota owners may call customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRG-21.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗