10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
3,369 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2020 Subaru Outback:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

Get free help with your lemon!
close ad

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #44

Oct 112020

Outback

  • 900 miles
Car windshield had ice obscuring part of the eyesight system on startup. Warning indicators lit up informing me that the eyesight system was disabled. Concurrent with this fault, the failure of the eyesight system would not allow me to release the electronic parking brake leaving me stranded in the snow.

- Fraser, CO, USA

problem #43

Oct 112020

Outback

  • 5,330 miles
The battery is nearly always dead at startup and I have to jump it with a battery starter. The dealer had said there is nothing wrong with the battery on multiple occasions, yet I have to jump the car in grocery store parking lots. The car only has 5300 miles on it, as we don't drive that much.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #42

Oct 092020

Outback

  • 3,900 miles
I have had repeated problems with my battery dying. It started slowly, at the beginning of the pandemic, I didn't drive for a couple of weeks. When the service guy came out to jump it, he said that I should can drive it at least once a week. I've been doing that and I'd only occasionally had to jump it. Now with 10 months of ownership and under 6,000 miles, I have to jump it every day. When I took it in, dealership said battery and alternator were fine. If battery is fine, must be electrical. Either way, very unhappy with this defect in my new car.

- Arlington, VA, USA

problem #41

Oct 062020

Outback

  • 536 miles
Car in garage overnight and all day. Went to start car and battery was completely dead. No lights were left on.

- Williamsville, NY, USA

problem #40

Sep 292020

Outback

  • 5,000 miles
I was driving to the dealer because I had difficulty starting the vehicle because of a low battery. I stopped at a stop light in a busy intersection, and the auto stop-start system shut off the engine. When the light changed to green, I pressed the accelerator and the engine did not restart. I was left with no power, in an unsafe situation, with cars and trucks having to swerve around me. I received roadside assistance to jump-start the vehicle and they drove it to the dealer. I have since learned that the battery had completely failed and will be replaced under warranty. We don't yet know if there are any other electrical issues that contributed to the battery failure.

- Herndon, VA, USA

problem #39

Aug 012020

Outback 4-cyl

  • 8,900 miles
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2020 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS SHIFTED OUT OF PARK INTO GEAR, THE DRIVER'S AND PASSENGER'S SIDE REAR DOORS LOCKED WHILE THE REAR HATCH UNLOCKED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WITH THE REAR HATCH UNLOCKED THE DOME LIGHT MADE IT VERY DIFFICULT TO SEE WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT. W&L SUBARU (535 POINT TOWNSHIP DR, NORTHUMBERLAND, PA 17857 (570) 473-3432) WAS UNABLE TO FIX THE VEHICLE. THE REAR HATCH MECHANISM WAS REPLACED HOWEVER, THE FAILURE PERSISTED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 8,900. Consumer stated Subaru would purchase the vehicle because of all the electrical problems.

- Mifflinville, PA, USA

problem #38

Mar 012020

Outback

  • 3,000 miles
Vehicle dies and has to be jumped every time we start it. Has been ongoing issue since 3/2020, and has been getting progressively worse.

- Wasilla, AK, USA

problem #37

Sep 062020

Outback

  • 7,900 miles
My Outback was 2 months old with ~7900 miles on it when it failed to start due to a dead battery. I had last driven the car 2 days prior. I attempted to jump with my other car & could not. Roadside assistance was able to jump start the car. Roadside assistance said it was his 20th Subaru of the day! given the class-action lawsuit and the ongoing issues of undersized batteries, I elected to install a larger battery in the car.

- Seattle, WA, USA

problem #36

Jun 162020

Outback

  • 1,000 miles
I have had the car for only three months, and the engine has failed to start >5 times, while stationary. I have had to get several jump starts, and the battery will run again for a few days or weeks before seeming to die again. I took the car to an autoshop and they said the battery seemed fine to them, but the car continues to have failures with starting the engine. I have had safety features dysfunction while I was driving, and one of them led to an accident while driving on the highway. I have been stranded a few times, and lost hours from my job.

- Paradise Valley, AZ, USA

problem #35

Aug 292020

Outback

  • 2,100 miles
I have owned my 2020 Subaru Outback for only 2 months. My car will now not start. After jumping the vehicle/ charging the battery, it will start again and then shut back off. There appears to be an electrical issue that is causing my battery to drain very rapidly. Changing the battery does not fix the problem. Fixing the electrical issue is the only solution. Subaru has this problem with Outbacks and ascents from 2017 to 2020 and needs to issue a recall.

- Falls Church, VA, USA

problem #34

Aug 242020

Outback

  • 84 miles
I have less than 100 miles on my 2020 Subaru Outback and am having serious battery issues. I had driven the vehicle on a Friday and then went to start it on the following Monday and the battery was dead. I called out the Subaru starlink roadside assistance to get the battery jump-started, which they did and I let the car run for an additional ten or so minutes to help it to continue recharging. That evening I attempted to start the vehicle to park in the garage for the evening and the battery was dead, again. I need to get the battery restarted, again, but I am worried that this will continue happening (chronic). Do I take it 50 miles to the nearest dealership to replace the battery, only to have the replacement battery do the same thing" or do I replace the battery with another vendor"

- Apple Valley, CA, USA

problem #33

Aug 222020

Outback

  • 294 miles
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that upon approaching his driveway, the contact had depressed the brake pedal and completely stopped his vehicle. The stop start feature activated automatically and the contact exited the vehicle to check his mailbox. Upon retrieving his mail, the contact turned around to enter his vehicle and the vehicle was gone. Upon looking for his vehicle, the contact discovered that the vehicle had independently driven 280 feet and had collided into a tree. The air bags deployed upon impact. The sheriff's department was notified but no police report was filed due to the accident happening on private property. No injuries were reported as a result of the failure. Due to the accident, the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it remained in their possession. The dealer nor the manufacturer have yet to be notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 294.

- Hardy, VA, USA

problem #32

Aug 022020

Outback

  • 4,133 miles
08/02/2020 Sunday morning at 4133 miles our brand new 2020 Subaru Outback that we had for 1 month, would not start from the church parking lot. We had a company jump start us, drove around for an hour and then went home. We parked it at home Sunday afternoon where it stayed until 2 days later. 8/04/2020 Tuesday morning at 8am I went to start it to take my cat to the vet and it would not start. We had to use a a ride service because of time constraints. 8/5/2020 Wednesday we had the same company come back out and jump start us again. We drove straight to the dealership service. We refused to leave with the car until they did something. They found a parasitic draw replaced the battery. I doubt the underlining issue has been resolved. They replaced a brand new battery at just 4,155 miles on a brand new 2020 Subaru Outback.

- Renton, WA, USA

problem #31

Aug 072020

Outback

  • 7,500 miles
My radar detector rereads battery voltage and when U was driving down the highway, I noticed the battery voltage dropped from 14.4V to 12V when ever the accelerator pedal was depressed. Turning on the headlights, wipers or heater while depressing the accelerator will cause to voltage to go back to 14.4V. I do have videos showing this issue. I noticed a lot of people on line that do a lot of city driving are complaining about dead batteries. My results shows that the charging system has an issue, since the battery voltage should never go to 12V with the engine running. The video was taken with my celll phone with the extension of.mov and therefore I can't upload it using this app.

- Rindge, NH, USA

problem #30

Aug 042020

Outback

  • 179 miles
Electrical issues, flickering interior and exterior lights, unable to unlock/ lock doors. Car won't start, dead battery

- Vernon Hills, IL, USA

problem #29

Aug 032020

Outback

  • miles
Battery died and did not respond to a jump. Had been driven maybe 2 or 3 days a week for short distances (20 miles rt) due to quarantine. Dealership has not been helpful in resolving the issue, despite the warranty on the battery.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #28

Jul 132020

Outback

  • 765 miles
Our 2020 Subaru Outback, with fewer than 800 miles, failed to start four times (6/1, 7/1, 7/10, & 7/13). During these incidents, interior and exterior lights flashed, the dashboard produced a clicking sound, the doors would not lock, and the tailgate became inoperative. Roadside assistance successfully jump-started the car each time and took it to two different dealers for diagnostic testing -- one in seattle and one in Tacoma. Two roadside assistance service providers said their most frequent service calls requiring a jump-start were for "late model Subaru. One service technician said he received more than 100 such requests during the past three months. The Tacoma dealer filed am urfca report with Subaru headquarters after the third incident. During the fourth incident, the battery failed while the vehicle was at the Tacoma dealer, who replaced the battery on July 13, 2020. After recharging the battery, it took a few days of being parked before the battery failed. During this last incident, I intentionally left the vehicle with the dealer over a weekend, which was long enough for the recently charged battery to drain enough to fail to start the car. When I picked up the car, the service advisor told me these cars need to be driven at least 30 minutes per trip to sufficiently recharge the battery. We've owned five Subaru Outbacks, and have not received this advice before, nor did the dealer's sales representative call this to our attention when we purchased the 2020 Outback. Our lifestyle, coupled with the covid-19 virus, only requires one or two trips per month lasting more than 30 minutes. The car sits in the garage for two to three days without being started. We always lock the vehicle, turn off all lights, close the tailgate, and keep the key fob in the house, which is more than 500 feet from the detached garage.

- Tacoma, WA, USA

problem #27

Jun 292020

Outback

  • 75 miles
We bought this car. 06/25/2020 and in the first four days the car needed to be jumped three times. The dealership had us bring it in and gave us a new battery. So far everything is working well.this happened in the mornings after sitting the night

- Columbus, NJ, USA

problem #26

Jul 202020

Outback

  • 900 miles
After owning my 2020 Subaru Outback for just over a month with 1700 miles on it I've had to jump start my car now 6 times. I work 7 miles from home and drive a lot of short trips. I see Subaru has a electrical issue with the battery going dead with my name concern I work for a dealer that has the Subaru dealer and I will call them tomorrow to find out what they will do besides just replace my battery. Today I had to jump to drive to work. Jump to go out at lunch. Jump to leave work and when I got home I tried to restart and it didn't start again so I know what I will be doing in the morning.

- Belleville, NY, USA

problem #25

Jul 032020

Outback 4-cyl

  • 9,580 miles
After not being used for 10 days the battery was completely drained on July 3, 2020. Towed to the dealer on July 5 problem could not be diagnosed, charged battery returned car July 9, 2020. Car sat not used until July 18 and same dead battery issued recurred.

- Waterloo, NY, USA

Read the next 20 complaints »