Something has happened whereby the battery now goes dead if the tailgate is open with the engine Off for about three hours. I was able to determine which fuse in the block is wired to the tailgate and I told Subaru customer service rep on the phone that I was going to unplug that fuse whenever I need to leave the tailgate up with the car parked. I also said I may remove the fuse once the tailgate is down as well. I would normally disconnect the power lift fuse permanently and operate it manually but that may strip the gears controlling the tailgate motor controller. Besides, the car really should not start unless it knows the gate is down.

(And then THIS SITE OF YOURS puts up a screen insert message that I can add another complaint after clicking DONE so now I cannot see what I have written. Did your programmers go to the same school as the Subaru weenies or are both groups natural hackers?)

The naïve Subaru consumer service rep on the phone kept saying they do not recommend removing the fuse. As if she knows what a fuse is and what it does. Think about it. If it's so dangerous to operate the vehicle with the fuse removed, what happens if the fuse were to blow or become intermittent while the vehicle is being driven. She just kept repeating the "we do not recommend" rhetoric over and over again until I countered with Subaru should not be selling poorly designed and poorly functioning cars, so touché. She knew little to nothing about fencing (get it?).

I've told Subaru that no one in our family will ever buy another new or used Subaru again; even after our having them for over 35 years. Btw, this version dead battery is different than the one that used to exist. Subaru has definitely done something software wise because there are now new alert messages that never existed before. Anyone who thinks a software weeny is going to successfully drive my car for me must be on crack. I installed a trickle charger plug at the front of the car which I plug in at night to alleviate the previous overnight battery going dead problem. And btw, do not suggest that it is (or was) a bad battery problem. When the Subaru service manager said that, I mentioned I was willing to bet any amount of money because I am retired and need the dough. All of sudden, he was no longer so sure. After testing the battery himself, he admitted the battery was fine. In fairness, he is honest and competent! They just cannot spend the time it takes to find these sorts of problems. The quality must be built-in and they never have time to fully test all the software. That’s not just Subaru!

THE CAR HAS HAD BATTERY PROBLEMS SINCE WE BOUGHT IT NEW. TE FIRST BATTERY LASTED ONE YEAR, THE NEXT BATTERY LASTED 14 MONTHS, THE THIRD BATTERY WAS UNDER ONE YEAR, THE FOURTH BATTERY WAS ONE YEAR AND TODAY WAS JUST THREE MONTHS. THE FIRST TWO WERE UNDER WARRANTY THE OTHERS I HAD TO BUY AS THERE WERE NO SUBARU DEALERS WITHIN A 100 MILES WHEN THEY WENT DEAD. TODAY THE BATTERY TESTED GOOD AFTER IT WAS CHARGED AT SAM'S CLUB WHERE THE LAST TWO BATTERIES WERE PURCHASED. THE VOLT/OHM METER SHOWS THE CAR IS DRAWING MORE CURRENT THAN IT SHOULD WHILE SLEEPING. I WAS ADVISED BY THE LOCAL CHEVY DEALER IT WAS THE "CAM" COMPUTER WAS NOT ENTERING SLEEP MODE AND WAS DRAINING THE BATTERY. THEY STATED IT WOULD REQUIRE REPROGRAMING OR NEW MODULE AND IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THIS YEAR AND MODEL SUBARU. I WAS TOLD TO TAKE IT TO MY DEALER IN FLAGSTAFF AZ 185 MILES FROM MY WINTER HOME IN LAUGHLIN, NV.