2021 SUBARU OUTBACK Electrical System Problems

While slowly backing out of a parking space, the vehicle suddenly accelerated on it's own - I do not recall pressing on the accelerator but the engine surged and the vehicle rapidly reversed and struck 4 other parked cars. It felt as if the accelerator became stuck and would not respond to braking. No warning light or dashboard alerts appeared. Subaru eyesight and adaptive cruise control were not engaged at the time. There was no known obstruction under the petals. This felt like a serious malfunction and could have caused serious injury. I am reporting this in case it is part of a wider issue affecting this model and because i see that there are multiple complaints to you about sudden unintended acceleration, especially during low speed maneuvers like backing out a parking space.

Thermo Control Valve. Check engine light on. Eyesight Adaptive Cruise Control Automatic Emergency Braking Blind Spot Warning Forward Collision Warning Lane Departure Warning Lane Keeping Assistance X mode Dealership would not honor repair even though there is recall it does not cover vin 63400 miles Vehicle inspected by manufacturer code P2682 Check engine light is on and eyesight warning

Battery keeps draining if car isn't driven for a few days battery is drained to point of it being dead, cannot get into car, will not start, leaves you stranded. This is the fourth time this year, dealer checks it out tells me nothing is wrong. I have read many problems with parasitic battery drain with subaru's even that the alternator is programed not to fully charge the battery to save gas. getting tired of the issue to the point where I am thinking of selling the car and finding something that will not leave me stranded. This time when I checked the battery voltage it was 5.80 volts and .29 amps.

The auto restart does not work and requires a car restart to fix. The latest software update caused this is to happen.

Parasitic Draw on battery: Original battery was dead after sitting 5 days; Bought new AMG and it has also died after 4 days sitting.

ON thursday night at about [XXX] i was driving in the carpool lane going north.in the [XXX] , with full tank of gas ; suddenly i felt and here a noise, and the vehicle (2021outback base) start losing power, at the point that totally stop. call 911, and few minutes after the hway patrol came and push us out of the freeway, there was not any shoulder to be safe out. when the police officer try to turn it on the vehicle star but no power was available even when the vehicle was on.. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Battery drains quickly and renders the car inoperable. Possibly due to Controller Area Network (CAN) not entering sleep mode when vehicle is not being used resulting in a parasitic battery drain.

The car flashed “eye sight off” before flickering and shutting off while I was braking at a stop light. I tried putting my car into park and then turning it off and restarting it but it would not turn back on. I tried this a few more times but I was in the middle lane of a heavily trafficked street. The steering wheel was locked and I was not able to immediately remove it from the road and maybe an hour later it was able to be shifted into neutral and moved out of the street. However, it would still not turn on and when I did open my power gate, the gate would not secure closed. I took it to the dealership that I purchased it at and where it is also regularly serviced (with the last service date only over one week ago,) and they were not able to determine what happened but instead mentioned that my car had no internal data of any errors occurring and that the car was able to be started when they serviced it. I took a picture of the dash as it was flashing with all of the error codes and submitted that to the tech that was working on my car, but they asked me if I’d had someone “clear my codes” which is not something I’m familiar with or even capable of doing- I don’t even know anyone that would be capable of doing that for me. The whole ordeal cost me a day of work and now my peace of mind as I am unsure of if this may happen again and now I am worried it may happen while my kids are in the car. I’ve had similar issues with my center console messing up but nothing as urgent as my whole car shutting down and my steering wheel locking in the middle of traffic.

The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to jumpstart the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed with battery failure. The contact was informed that the battery needed to be replaced. The battery was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The dealer was contacted, but the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 57,000.

Mileage: 57,000

The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the starter motor was making an abnormal clicking sound. The contact stated that after several attempts the vehicle was started. Additionally, the contact stated that at times the instrument cluster was blank. The contact stated that he purchased a battery charger and recharged the battery; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that once he had fully charged the battery the vehicle was started; however, sometimes the vehicle failed to shut off and the battery terminals had to be disconnected. The contact drove the vehicle to a local dealer who diagnosed that the OE battery was not sufficiently powerful to start the vehicle and provide power all the electrical functions. The dealer installed a new battery with more amperage and new cables. The vehicle was repaired. The contact was informed by the dealer that the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.

Mileage: 34,000

As I was approaching a T intersection and preparing to stop at the stop sign, I started to apply my brakes when all of a sudden my car accelerated and lunged forward almost into the path of oncoming traffic on the intersecting road. As I had originally started to apply my brake, it felt as if the brake dropped slightly under my foot but, as the car lunged forward, I immediately jammed on the brake so I am not 100% sure about that dropping sensation. It all happened within a matter of seconds. Anyway, jamming on the brakes stopped the forward momentum and the car stopped before actually entering the path of an oncoming car. If I had started to brake any closer to the intersection, I may not have had time to stop the car in time to avoid a broadside collision with the oncoming car. I have owned this car about a year and a half and this is the first time anything like this has happened. There was no warning lamps, messages etc at the time or prior to the incident. After the incident, my husband checked online and saw that others have described a similar experience with their Subarus and, apparently, there is an ongoing lawsuit involving this problem. This just happened last evening so I have not yet taken my car to the dealer to be inspected but plan to do so soon.

My vehicle is equipped with EYESIGHT. I was driving to my home after work at night and suddenly the infotainment system screen went blank; including Braking Assist, Adaptive Cruise control, Lane assist, Emergency Braking etc including Navigation, also the HVAC shut off and EYESIGHT that controls these as well, shut off. It was suffocating in the car due to no A/C and thusf I tried to pull over at a remote text-stop place and tried restarting the car but in vain. All screens were dark, no warm air, I couldn’t see what direction I was driving to, as well as I solely relied on navigation. I brought this car for it’s safety features and warmth in this cold temperature in UPSTATE NY and this happened. I waited for 20 mins, charged my phone for only 4-5% with a fellow citizen who was waiting there as well and checked online just to see a lot of people reported the same issue with 2021 Subarus with EYESIGHT. And there is NO way one can fix it. I tried contacting the dealer but in vain. I am afraid that if this would happen again, I wouldn’t be in a situation to face this scary experience.

I have experienced premature rear brake wear and excessive tire wear. Issues with infotainment system and pre-collision braking system. (1) Regarding Tires: Performed all dealer recommended tire rotations and aligned vehicle when recommended. Needed new tires at 31,169 miles. Tires showed excessive inside wear. Bought new tires from a 3rd party shop and had alignment done with hunter alignment system. Showed rear right camber at -2.0. Subaru recommends -1.8 to 0.3. Rear camber is not adjustable on this model. Took vehicle back to dealer for brake job and they said camber was fine...there is a spec for a reason. Did not want to attempt to bring it in spec with aftermarket kits (i.e. adjustable cam bolt) or fix under warranty. (2) Regarding Brakes: Needed new brakes at 31,169 miles. Not covered under warranty and not what I would consider typical wear based on my driving style and my past experience with Subaru vehicles. If this is an expected side affect of the EBD system I would highly recommend Subaru consider ways of improving brake life on their vehicles. (3) I have the Onyx XT trim with navigation. Infotainment system is constantly glitchy. Examples include booting with blank black screen, failing to load, excessive lag while operating system or will freeze and beep repeatedly while buffing a menu selection. Also, had my car battery replaced under warranty within the first two years due to a bad battery. (4) Issues with ADAS system, specifically pre-collision breaking. This system is extremely sensitive and will over-react / take control in certain situations where I didn't need it to even when I was in the process of braking. Have had this system activate on the highway at high speeds while switching lanes on the highway or when having a vehicle merge quickly into my lane in front of me. Constantly, have to turn off this system which is a chore as this system is defaulted to always being on. Do not feel safe driving with this system on.

Eyesight driver assist went out rendering safety features inoperable. Touch screen also blanked out so unable to adjust a/c, navigation,radio etc. Car had been on long distance all hiway drive and at 7 hours systems failed. Weather was in the 60s, overcast and it was in the afternoon. Pulled into rest stop and turned engine off then restarted but still failed. Drove 2 more hours and next rest stop systems came back after letting car sit off for 10+ minutes.

The 2021 Outback XT which we purchased new on April 15, 2021, would not start on September 15, 2023. My spouse had a medical appointment that morning. On September 18, 2023, the vehicle would not start again. My spouse had a medical appointment that morning as well. This same problem occurred several months earlier. On the morning of May16, 2023 I called the dealership's service department for a service appointment. This was the first such incident and caught me totally by surprise. Here is a direct quote from the Service's Manager's May 19, 2023 email. " The tester/charger determined that your battery was healthy, had a good state of charge and accepted a good rate of charge and also held the charge. The battery has no fault, the drain was the issue determining replacement of your battery was unnecessary and not warrantable." The dealership service department manager went on to state "it (battery)required 3 hours and 45 minutes of charging". Following the May 16, 2023 service appointment the vehicle performed as expected until the morning of September 15, 2023. On September 19, the vehicle was again taken to the dealership for servicing. During this visit, a "new battery" was installed by the service department because they determined the existing battery failed their test. The service rep stated the “new” battery will fix the problem. Also, the service rep stated, when asked, that the Electronic Control Module was updated but the Data Communications Module was not replaced. Additionally, the rep stated, when asked, the “new” battery did not carry the normal warranty because it was installed under the vehicle’s existing 3-year warranty which expires on April 15 2024. This limited battery warranty makes no sense. Since the May 16, 2023 incident, we experienced emotional tension every time we have driven the vehicle, dreading it would not start when we needed the vehicle the most. We are 70+ and believed that we were purchasing a safe vehicle.

On Sunday, August 20, 2023 I was pulling into a parking spot in front of an Anytime Fitness at a local strip mall. As I applied the brake, the motor raced and accelerated driving me into a pillar outside of the fitness center. I was in shock, not understanding what had happened. Had I chosen to park one stall to the right, the car would have gone through the window of the business instead of the pillar. Considerable damage was done to the pillar and to my 2021 Subaru Outback, but I was not injured, and no one else was injured. I had the brakes checked at my vehicle service center and was told the brakes were functioning as they should be. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. No warning was provided by the vehicle. The crash occurred in two seconds.

The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact was unable to start the vehicle. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact jump started the vehicle; however, approximately 5-7 days later, the failure recurred. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 48,000.

Mileage: 48,000

Car would not start this morning. It’s driven every day, so it had not been sitting. Last service was 3/23 (today is 6/2/23), and the battery passed dealership inspection with no issues. Roadside serviceman stated this was the fourth “relatively new” Subaru he’d had to jump this week. Jumping the battery fixed the issue (for now), but the Subaru dealership, themselves, advised submitting a claim for potential “parasitic battery drain.” However, the current class action suit only covers 2015-2020 Subarus, and mine is a 2021 Outback.

This vehicle has 3 major issues that the dealership has not been able to resolve and are as follows: 1) Battery---is not able to hold charge. In early 2022, dealership replaced a new battery, however, the problem still exists. Battery size does not have the charge capacity REQUIRED to start the vehicle even less than 1 week of parking during warm weather months. 2) Heating System---has a defect, specially on driver side of the system. With seat and steering heating on, the vents on driver side emit uncontrollable hot air that forces the driver to shut the driver side heating system. During winter this is unreasonable! Did inform the dealership of this issue and were unable to resolve the problem as I understand was inherent with the design. This problem is likely to cause fire if electrical wires are exposed to the heat. 3)Tires---are supposed to be inflated with nitrogen, and this innovation is to maintain the tire pressures for most weather conditions. However, all of my five tires are unable to maintain the pressures. Did bring it to the attention of dealership at each service. However the problem still persists. Possible problem can be any of the following individually or in combination: a) Seal between the tire and rim is inadequate. b) Slow leakage in tire valves or c) Tires are of poor quality permitting air to escape from the body of the tires.

When there is an alert for “low windshield” washer fluid. I receive multiple audible alerts from the car while driving. The alert will go away and then come back. I think the fluid level sloshes while driving, going above and then below the sensor repeatedly. The multiple alerts are distracting and cause alarm fatigue. I think one alert per driving session would suffice.

Tried to start outback and nothing, no clicking for battery dying, just nothing. Tried again and again, no noise in engine at all. Waited 2 minutes longer and it finally turned over and started.

Issues with both driver and passenger windows. There are times when windows don’t close all the way or just go back down. Wind and rain while driving is very unpleasant. This has been addressed 3 times at dealership and still we have issues.

Infotainment screen goes blank. It has been addressed at dealership but still happens.

Traveling toll road /fwy at approx 70mph at rush hour and lost all power with Check engine light , emergency brake, lurching engine, all flashing at the same time!!! Coasted through 4 fwy lanes to offramp and service station- extreme danger!!! How was there no pile up with me going from 70-10 to coasting on a busy 15 Northbound fwy at 7:30 am?????? Was in toll lane and crossed toll 3 foot sticks to exit at first available exit. 2 cars followed me off as they were concerned for my safety Towed to shop where they put in new thermo valve, gasket intake manifold, Pipe ay- fuel and gasket egr pipe 56000miles, 2 year old car 3 replaced windshields in last 6 months They said they've done 10 cars with this problem in the last year???? Insurance covered windshields , service center at Subaru inspected car

Vehicle was on highway in stop and go traffic when brake was applied. Auto stop-start feature engaged which turned engine off. On release of brake the auto stop-start feature failed to restart vehicle. Engine tried and failed to turn over and all console lights flashed on and off continuously. Ignition was turned off and attempted to restart car unsuccessfully. Four way hazard light button was activated and showed on dashboard as on. However, hazard lights on outside of vehicle were not on causing cars behind to not realize car was immobilized. Hazard lights malfunctioning on an immobilized vehicle on the highway is extremely unsafe.

Battery had been drained multiple times that required a jump start over the past four months. Also a new battery was purchased. No warnings we're presented before the issue occurred. The latest incident was today.

Battery of the vehicle continues to drain itself at seemingly random times. All sources that could possibly drain the battery while vehicle is not running have been turned off (dome light, tailgate light, exterior lights set to minimum time, etc...). Several times, this drainage has resulted in the car having to be jumped, so driver can get home. Car has been taken to dealer. Dealer indicates battery is fine. Took home, a few days later, battery is dead. Car does seem to struggle to turn over at times when trying to start. Lately this has been noticed while driving the car, and it engine was restarting while shutting down at stoplight (shutdown as part of limiting emmissions); had to turn the automatic shut-down feature off. Contacted local dealer again, was told that nothing can be done if battery is tested and it tests fine. We have resorted to carrying a recharging pack with the car to ensure that our kids don't get stranded with a dead battery.

My 2021 outback has now died on me 5 times now leaving me strand at different places.

My car battery dies prematurely. I am about to have my third battery since buying the car.

Vehicle infotainment system refused to start up without long delay (20 seconds or so) preventing various safety systems from initializing. This has been a recurring problem with this vehicle for two years.

I purchased the car new in January 2021. During the first several months there were no issues. After that, the "Infotainment" system which controls the sound, nav, hvac, etc. systems would suddenly go black and those functions would stop working. It would seem to reboot as a computer does when you restart it. That was distracting but mostly just annoying, lasting less than 30 seconds. I will call that a "soft reboot." That happened many times over the next few months. On two occasions, the screen would black out and not only those systems would cease to function, it would shut down cruise control and Eyesight. Call that a "hard reboot." This was very dangerous. In traffic at 70-75 mph when the cruise control suddenly stops working, the car decelerates immediately and quickly. There are no warning signs or messages; it just goes black and shuts down those systems. Cars following would quickly be within a dangerous proximity. Not a safety issue but a hard reboot also wipes clear some settings including the nav destinations. During that period I spoke with service managers at two Subaru dealerships who said that it was a common problem and Subaru had issued a "patch" that was supposed to fix it. I live approximately an hour from the nearest dealership and had some difficulty finding a time to take it in for the upload. Finally I took it in to Scenic Subaru in Mt. Airy, NC on September 9, 2022 to get the update, with around 22,500 miles into a 36,000 mile warranty. I left the dealership at approximately 4 p.m. headed for Winston Salem, NC, approximately an hour drive. Within 5 miles from the dealership it did a soft reboot. That happened two more times. I called the dealership to advise them but it was too late to return. Then, still within an hour from the dealership, it did a hard reboot, shutting down everything as I described above. It functioned properly until it did a soft reboot today, 220 miles after the update.

Battery failed in first 6 months of owning the car. Battery was replaced at Gilman Subaru Selma Texas. Battery and relay at North Park Body shop during the repair for hail damage. The car was at this shop from April 20th 2022 until the middle of July 2022. The day the car was picked up the electronic door locks did not work. The car was taken to North Park Subaru to diagnosis and repair a faulty body control module. They have had the car since August 8th. After it was taken back to North Star Collision to try to remedy the issue. North Star Subaru would not honor a warranty claiming outsider influence. On August 15th I was informed that the battery malfunctioned for 3rd time. With exception of about a week and a half since April 20th. I have not had use of my vehicle.

Battery repeatedly drains with short drives or if car is parked for 72 hours such that the vehicle will not start.

Wind shield very very weak cracks very easy I have had for 1.5 years, I am on my 6th windshield, if any thing hits the edge of the windshield it totally cracks. Also having battery issues. on my third battery care has 47 k miles.

The headlights on this vehicle are obnoxiously bright! I get flashed by oncoming drivers constantly at night. I even get flashed by pickup trucks. I'm not sure if it's the main headlamps or the fog lights. It does seem like the fog lights have really poor beam control. When driving on a country road at night I can tell the fog lights are lighting up the tops of trees by toggling them on and off. I passed an oncoming car just like mine a while back and I could finally understand why I get flashed all the time. They ARE really blinding. I tried to bring it up with Subaru of America and the guy on the phone literally laughed at me and just told me to not use the fog lights. They don't seem to care at all about all the safety issues the current generation Outback has. Very unprofessional. Subaru doesn't appear to welcome feedback at all.

The infotainment system is so buggy and slow it's dangerously distracting. It crashes all the time and takes a few minutes to reboot which is not good when you're using navigation. The volume randomly will go to 100% and the only way to fix it is to restart the car. I've had it happen maybe 10 times. It's very startling and it's painful to the ears. The most dangerous problem with the infotainment system, however, is how inconsistently slow it is. When you tap to open the HVAC menu, for example, it can take 1-45 seconds to open. That means you have to keep your eyes off the road waiting for a response. If you don't, the menu disappears right away. Then when you're waiting for a response, the driver monitor starts beeping loudly and flashes "Stay Alert". Even Subaru's own safety systems think the response time is unacceptable. I called Subaru about the issue but their primary purpose just seems to be deflecting complaints and and gaslighting. We've been expecting fixes for years and it never comes. Either Subaru doesn't know how to fix it or they don't want to. The system falls under the 3/36 warranty which means that by the time the find a fix, most of the cars won't be covered.

Battery has died 3x in 7500miles of driving Subaru states battery is fine.

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 engine block of our car caught fire while it was parked and turned off. It melted the engine and hood of the car, totaling it. Thankfully, we were not in the vehicle when the incident occurred, so no one was injured. At the time of the incident, our car was parked outside our apartment building under a low-hanging tree, which was burned in the fire. Had a neighbor not noticed and called 911, the fire may have spread to the nearby apartment building and caused much more severe damage than what was already done to the car. We had no warning prior to the incident. To our knowledge, the car was in perfect condition. We had bought it brand new 16 months prior and had taken it in for its scheduled maintenance 3 times. We are unaware if the vehicle has been inspected yet or if they've discovered the origin of the problem. All we know is that the insurance company and firefighters confirmed it wasn't arson, as the fire was contained to the engine block and front end of the car, and they also confirmed we were not at fault. Vehicle caught fire while it was parked and turned off.

Battery is draining for no apparent reason. As stated in several class action law suits, defects in these vehicles ( Subaru Outback 2015-2020) cause the batteries to drain, replacement batteries also drain. The Subaru Outback battery drains because of the Controller area network (CAN). When the vehicle is shut off, the CAN system should enter sleep mode so only a limited amount of electrical current is used. However, Subaru software errors prevent the CAN from entering sleep mode when vehicle is turned off. This software error will drain the original battery and every replacement battery installed in an Outback. Once the battery is drained, I am stranded. Reference law suits Daley v. Subaru and Tomasian v. Subaru. Subaru needs to fix all Subarus that are affected by this battery drainage issue. I have been experiencing this problem since we bought the car. First time, I thought I left something on, subsequent drainage issues I know that nothing has been left on. I now keep a trickle charge unit on the battery while in the garage at all times.

Windshield has needed constant repair due to either small debris or even in one instance, self-cracking. On-board unit is constantly turning off.

On multiple occasions I have had the infotainment system (the touchscreen) either freeze, go completely blank, or reset itself while driving. Most often this has happened while using Apple Car Play but that's not always the case. When this occurs, I also get a message that EyeSight is not available. While this has not caused me to have an accident the potential is there. I have had the screen go blank while using navigation in an unfamiliar area, I've had it go blank while driving down the highway. It's very distracting and you can easily miss your exit or worse. Subaru has no fix for this other than updating the software approximately every 6 months in hopes it will solve things. To me this is totally unacceptable.

vehicle about 14 months old, I purchased new Tried to start vehicle battery dead, no lights or other acc. had been left on. two weeks later battery would not start car, I jump started car according to directions in owners manual. After jump start several check engine lights came on, cruise control did not work. lane control and "EYESIGHT" failure warning light was on. Subaru dealer replaced battery under warranty

I believe there is a software defect associated with the infotainment system. The system also includes car information such as car data, audio/radio, navigation as well as other items related to modern car's functionality. The issue is when a mobile is plugged into one of the two from USB port, the infotainment will randomly reboot itself. When this happens the screen turns black/bland while rebooting occurs. This can happen even while the vehicle is in motion possibly causing severe distraction resulting a safety issue. (Imaging driving down the highway and your car reboots without warning.) Reboot takes about two minutes during this time the vehicle is drill drivable but is very disconcerting to the driver. This issue is also a major topic with online forums such as www.subaruoutback.org under the Gen 6: 2020-Future section. https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/2020-outback-software-gigathread.517684/page-340#post-6235066 Attempts to reach the dealership has not proven to be resolvable.

Car won't start. Battery drained after in garage overnight. The lights weren't left on and keys far from car. This same thing happened after leaving car with blinkers on for a very short period.

Battery dead after leaving in garage for a day. Happened three times and I brought it to dealer, and they charged battery and said it passed Subaru test procedure and that nothing they can do. No lights on and key is in house closet area. Battery still drains if left in garage for a day without driving. I bought a portable charger for $150.

Purchased vehicle 1/2021. Currently has 8500 miles. For the past few months the dash/navigation system intermittently shuts down. Lose everything including speed/cruise/gps/radio. After a few seconds will reboot. I have called the dealer twice regarding this issue - was told to press "defrost" button 5 times and bring to the service department. This was done and they sent the info to Subaru - have not heard anything from Subaru regarding this complaint which was done over 2 months ago

Purchased new Outback SUV in March of 2021. Currently has 4488 miles on odometer. Center console infotainment center randomly reboots at times without warning. System reboots after several seconds, but until system is restored, any function active at the time controlled from that console is unavailable (radio, navigation, etc.). Dealer has not yet inspected the car for this problem at this time. I have not been able to cause the system to reboot at will, it appears to be totally random.

2021 outback purchased Feb 2021. Within 2 weeks the touch screen, which controls the cruise control, heating, all eyesight controls went blank. This causes cruise control at highway speed to quit, causing sudden deceleration at highways speeds. Sometime the screen reboots, most times it requires driver to pull car over to reset. This also controls GPS and Heating/Air. There have been times when I have working canines in the car and loss of air conditioner in summer months has been extremely problematic requiring pulling car off road to open windows to ventilate. Multiple trips to dealer, and open case with SOA results in no resolution, as there apparently is no fix. Recently 11/1/21 instructed when this happens to push my front defroster button five times after reboot to record codes. How distracting while driving is this? Feel like this is severely underreported as owners frustrated. Receiving dealer instruction to look at touchscreen while driving causes the cars alert function to activate saying “keep eyes on road”. Why are they advising this unsafe action? Recent software updates as late as last week of October installed and does not fix issue, verified by dealer service manager. Multiple incidents, recorded on my phone video, last incident occurred 7/12/2021.

The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the home screen on the center console would go blank without warning. Once while driving 65 MPH with the cruise control activated, the center console went blank and the cruise control deactivated with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that vehicle abruptly slowed down due to the failure and the 360-camera feature failed to operate as needed. The dealer was notified and acknowledged the failure; however, they informed the contact that there was no remedy for the defect. An independent mechanic was also notified and provided the contact similar information as the dealer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 11,000.

Mileage: 11,000

Your form would not allow me to chcek all applicable issues. I believe the computer system and brakes are the major issues. The start/stop system engaged when I was turning in the middle of an intersection. When driving at cruising speeds (foot on the gas pedal), the car suddenly felt as if the brake was being engaged. The forward and rear collision warning signals do not work. The blind spot warning does not work. There is grinding coming from the undercarriage at times (random), while my foot is on the gas. The car bucks for no reason. The battery is draining (less than 2,000 miles on the car). Sometimes I have to turn the ignition twice in the morning. I turn everything off when I get out of the car. My safety and safety of others is definitely at risk. What I didn't realize until recently is that prior to accepting the vehicle, the salesman must have turned the start/system off, because when I went for a test drive, the start/stop did not engage once and I drove in city traffic with multiple stops. Immediately upon diving off lot, the car stopped and I had issues. The salesman told me I had to get used to the start/sytem. This is a dangerous situation. My car is currently being looked at by the dealer.

There are multiple issues at hand. The radio system continues to randomly power off and or not work and often times the entire eyesight system crashes and shuts off when driving at highway speeds disabling the cruise control. The screen has already been replaced once but the issue is still there.

Bought a new 2021 Subaru Outback in July 2021. In the first 1600 miles of driving the battery has died three times. Twice I found it wouldn't start after having parked it for a few days and once it wouldn't start the next day after driving it (it was driven the previous day at 6pm and wouldn't start at 9am the next day). There seems to be something that drains the battery when the vehicle is off. One time it may have been my fault for leaving an interior light on, but how could an interior light drain the battery in just a few hours? I've had roadside assistance jump start the car each time it wouldn't start and each time the technician said anecdotally that Subaru Outbacks and Foresters were the most common car he is seeing get jumped. That last time it wouldn't start, I double checked to make sure I had not left any interior lights on and I had not. This is definitely an issue with the car - some system draining the battery.

I am having battery drainage issue with my vehicle. If it sets more than 4 days the car will not start. I see there is a class action law suit on Outback vehicles. This car has 9,000 miles on it and this has happened 3 times.

Battery drain and car won't start. Called roadside service for a Jumpstart and on 5 other occasions, even after driving for 1.5 hours, the car won't start. Sometimes after driving and turning car off for 1/2 hour to visit a store, it won't start. Othertimes it will. Car only has 6000 miles on it. I have had to buy a battery jump starter so I can at least get rolling again. I have a call into Subaru service but they could not get me in for over a week. So I have to deal with the possibility of being stranded until Subaru can diagnose. I live in the country so bring stranded will be a big deal. I should have bought the Volvo.

Drove car and parked for 15 minutes. When I tried to start it again it would not turn over. Battery was completely dead and could not be jump started. Car is a 2021 model with only 11K miles on it. There was no prior warning of a low battery. It left me stuck in an isolated parking lot. Probably not a major safety issue but apparently a known issue for late model Subaru Outback’s so I wanted to add the 2021 model to the affected list.

The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact’s wife was driving 40 MPH and noticed that the center console display screen went blank and rebooted independently after a few minutes. However, the failure reoccurred and affected several safety features on the vehicle including the HVAC controls, Bluetooth connectivity, and navigation on the vehicle. The contact took the vehicle to a local dealer who inspected the vehicle and duplicated of the failure the but could not determine the cause of the failure. The dealer was able to install a software monitor to replicate the failure so the contact could notify the failure to the dealer. The contact took the vehicle back to the local dealer where the dealer replaced the center module in an attempt to repair the vehicle however, the failure still occurred. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,800.

Mileage: 1,800

My problem is an intermittent one. The infotainment display goes blank and reboots. When this happens I have lost Rear Automatic Braking, the Eyesight System, cruise control, the backup camera display and driver monitoring along with other non-safety related systems (radio, environment control). The dealer has not been able to reproduce, but has gotten error codes to send to Subaru of America (SoA) along with print out of error messages received via the My Subaru website. The vehicle has been to the shop 6 times in the first 9,000 miles. There has been no inspection of the car by SoA, just dealer service. There is no warnings until the issue occurs. SoA has been notified via Certified Letter and has been unresponsive as to a fix since 7/19/2021.

Record of Subaru Outback electrical issues 2021 April 25 purchased. May 5 ca.No startSalesman came to home and jump started. June 28-29No start, Recharged and had no further electrical issues until--- July 27No start. Briefly left vehicle. On return wouldn't start, dash lights crazy blinking.Jump box started it. July 28 Left it all morning at Subaru service for eval; result: "no problems were detected." Aug.5No start. Parked at friends for 3 hr. On return wouldn't start, dash lights crazy blinking. Jump box restart. Aug. 7No start. Left ignition on for 3 hr testing new solar panel.Purchase Solar panel, proves useless, ignition drained battery.Trickle charged for several hours, starts. Aug. 9 No start. Battery dead. Trickle charged for several hours, starts. Conclusion: Subaru Outbacks are: (1) inherently unreliable, (2) Subaru has known about this problem for several years, and (3) Subaru is dishonest in not admitting to and fixing the problem.

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.

I purchased this vehicle in May 2021 and since then have had four incidents where the battery was not able to start the vehicle. The first two incidents were when I was camping, so there was some heavy, battery only electrical system use, e.g. opening/closing the hatchback, turning on lights, etc.

We bought this car new about 3 weeks ago and tried to drive it this morning to find it completely dead. It was last driven about 60 hours ago. It has just over 1,000 miles on it. There was no warning lamp that came on when we last drove the car. I was able to jump the car and have it on a trickle charger now but this is completely unacceptable for a brand new vehicle. I've reached out to the dealer but have not heard back.

My Subaru battery was completely dead after only having it for 3 months and 700 miles on odometer. I was left stranded due to not being able to start vehicle. Vehicle was towed to dealer. Dealer took 2 day to diagnose that the battery was bad and they replaced battery. Dealer claims the passenger map light was left on. This light was not left on unless the tow truck driver left the light on. It was night time when the vehicle was towed and when the vehicle was jump started the light was not on.

The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the battery had fully drained and was recharged two times. There was no warning light illuminated. The third time the vehicle was towed to an unknown mechanic and was diagnosed with needing the battery to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Subaru was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 832.

Mileage: 932

AFTER 5000 MILES MY BATTERY HAS BEEN DRAINED AND IS CURRENTLY DEAD. I WAS TOLD I MUST LOCK IT EVERY TIME I AM NOT DRIVING TO ENSURE BATTERY LIFE IS EXTENDED. EVEN WITH DOING THIS BATTERY IS STILL DEAD AFTER BARELY 5000 MILES.

Mileage: 5,000

I BOUGHT THIS 2021 SUBARU OUTBACK IN JAN 2, 2021. IN MID FEB, I DROVE THE OUTBACK TO LAKE TAHOE. ON MY WAY, I WENT TO COSTCO GAS STATION FOR GAS AFTER 1 HOUR HIGHWAY DRIVING. THE CAR WAS JUST DEAD AFTER REFUELING. I CALLED ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE NOT KNOWING WHAT HAPPENED. THE CAR WAS JUMPSTARTED. I WAS ABLE TO CONTINUE MY TRIP AND BACK HOME. AFTER I WAS BACK HOME, I DROVE THE CAR TO THE DEALER THAT SOLD THE CAR. I WAS TOLD IT WAS BATTERY PROBLEM AND A NEW BATTERY WAS INSTALLED. A FEW WEEKS LATER, MY CAR COULDN'T START IN MY GARAGE ON A SATURDAY MORNING. I HAD TO JUMPSTART THE CAR USING A HANDHELD BATTERY MYSELF. I WENT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG. I THINK SUBARU OUTBACK HAS A DEFECT IN ELECTRIC SYSTEM THAT DRAIN THE BATTERY.

Mileage: 1,200

VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED LESS THAN 5 MONTHS AGO, HAS LESS THAN 1000 MILES AND THE BATTERY HAS DIED. CAR IS USED REGULARLY, AS A FAMILY CAR, TO RUN ERRANDS IN OUR NEIGHBORGHOOD. BATTERY DOES NOT HOLD A CHARGE. IT WILL CHARGE WITH A BATTERY TENDER, BUT WILL THEN DRAIN QUICKLY.

WE BOUGHT THE CAR NEW AND 3 MONTHS INTO OWNERSHIP IT WON'T START DUE TO BATTERY ISSUES. NOTHING IMPROPER OR IRREGULAR WAS DONE WITH THE CAR. IT JUST DOESN'T FUNCTION BY DEFAULT.

Mileage: 550

MULTIPLE TIMES ISSUE WITH BATTERY NOT PROVIDING SUFFICIENT CHARGE TO START THE CAR RESULTING IN INCONVENIENCE, STRESS AND MENTAL AGONY. FROM A SAFETY PERSPECTIVE THE CAR WAS NOT PERFORMING AS PER COMMITTED STANDARDS AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS HAVE GOTTEN AFFECTED. ALSO THE BATTERY WAS LEAKING ACID FUMES CAUSING HEALTH RELATED HAZARDS. THIS DESPITE KEEPING THE CAR RUNNING IN IDLE MULTIPLE TIMES. FURTHER WHEN GIVEN TO TINDOL SUBARU THEY DID NOT RECTIFY THE PROBLEM BUT BLAMED ME FOR NOT RUNNING THE CAR ENOUGH WHICH IS A LIE AND FALSE. THEY SIMPLY KEPT THE CAR FOR 2 DAYS AND RETURNED IT TO ME!! I HAVE HAD CAR COLD CRANKED 5 TO 6 TIMES IN 2 MONTHS TILL BATTERY WAS EVENTUALLY REPLACED.

Mileage: 750

PURCHASED THE CAR 7 DAYS AGO. DROVE APPROXIMATELY 50 MILES SO FAR. WENT OUT TO START THE CAR THIS MORNING AND THE BATTERY WAS DEAD. NO LIGHTS HAD BEEN LEFT ON. CAR NEEDED TO BE JUMPED.

Mileage: 210

I BOUGHT A NEW CAR IN DECEMBER 2020. ONE DAY IN JAN 2021, I NOTICED THAT THE BATTERY HAD DIED. I JUMP STARTED IT AND THEN IN FEBRUARY 2021, I HAD TO JUMPSTART IT 3 TIMES. AT LEAST THE LAST INSTANCE, I WAS CAREFUL TO CHECK NO INTERIOR LIGHTS WERE ON, AND IT STILL HAPPENED. I WENT TO THE DEALER AND THEY REPLACED THE BATTERY. I HOPE THAT FIXES IT.

Mileage: 2,500