general problems of the 2015 Subaru Outback - part 2

I will be purchasing my 4th battery, this seems to be an issue people are having with this 2015 Outback. I maintain my car and garage store it and I continue to have dead batteries that need to be replaced, I am not leaving any interior or exterior lights on either.

I have to replace my battery 1-2 x year, possibly due to parasitic draw. No lights have been left on, nor anything electrical when the car is shut off. Between batteries, I often have to jump my car to start it. I have been stranded places and I am in constant fear my car will not start.

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.

On 4 occasions the car battery has unexpectedly gone so low that it could not be started. On the second occasion (January 2022) the battery was replaced. On the third occasion (July 14, 2021) the battery was again replaced. On the fourth occasion (July 18, 2021) the battery was completely dead. It was necessary to use a mechanical key to enter the vehicle so that the hood could be raised. The battery has been recharged and a report will be made to the dealer for the second time tomorrow.

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. . Read more...

Excessive battery drain from open back hatch while parked and engine off. Having my back liftgate open while my engine was off for a 30 minute period drained my battery so that I could not start my vehicle. Had not my friends been there to jump me I would have been without transportation miles from home. No warning light was given by the vehicle. Others with this vehicle have had similar issues and it is an easy issue to find complaints about. A service center has not been contacted yet but I plan on speaking with my dealership soon. This problem blindsided me completely.

1. My battery failed, so I replaced it. I didn’t keep the failed one. 2. Problem started while driving w/ a handicapped, elderly passenger in remote rural area at night. Help at least 1/2-hr. Away. No open garages. Frightening. 3. Aaa confirmed. 4. Aaa inspected. 5. My check engine light came on, cruise control stopped working. Pulled over, ck’d manual, nothing noted about battery, no battery warning light. Car started up, drove home very slowly, stopping occasionally. Next morning, car wouldn’t start, called aaa to take to mechanic (charge $150 to check system). There was no previous warning that battery was losing power. Aaa found battery problem. No engine problem. Replaced. No more lights. Very disappointed that much worry could have been avoided.

Cannot remove key after shutting down engine and put in "park". . Read more...

With a relatively new battery, my car would not start. I had the rear lift gate open, but lights turned off, for about an hour while packing for a trip and when I went to start the car it was completely dead and I had to jump it to get it started again. This also happened a few months prior while leaving the tailgate up for about 30 minutes to get some things out of the car. Both times the only lights that were on were the mirror lights when I approached the car.

3 years after the vehicle purchase the oem battery died. Replaced it with a well reviewed local brand. It is almost 3 years since the replacement battery and the Subaru service rep said the battery is dying. I fear there is something wrong with the electrical system which damages the batteries over 3 years. . Read more...

The car is on a battery maintainer 24/7 when not in use and still needs to be jump started periodically. Dealer has replaced battery annually since car was purchased new. Each time claiming a "bigger" battery was installed and this will solve it; and each time it never does. Car is completely unreliable. Contacted Subaru of America multiple times (after the first two batteries were replaced). They claim that the car was never built or advertised to be used on in-town travel and I must waste gas on highway travel at least once a week in addition to always keeping battery on maintainer. Subaru has insisted that this is normal and expected behaviour of a car. Subaru sent a factory-field technician out to inspect the car and "found nothing wrong with the vehicle" and simply advised that an even larger battery be used in addition to all of the other additional steps (keeping on charger/maintainer and weekly highway driving).

My battery has had to be replaced twice because it drains even though the car is used regularly and nothing is left on. I have had to be jumped six or seven times since I purchased the car and towed once to the dealership.

Poor battery life has always been a problem. Windshield crack showed up suddenly very recently, right after we got a class action lawsuit notification. The car has very low milage.

Oil consumption issues. The oil is burning more then it should. Oil light would come after 2 to 3 more after an oil change. The dealership has been notified and is working on ordering new parts for the engine. Replacing the small block of the engine. Had less the 100k miles when this problem accured. Electrical issues. The battery is being drained after the car is turned off. Car would not start in the morning and need to be jumped. Additionally, battery eventually dies and needs to be replaced. Dealership has been notified.

Multiple dead battery issues (approx 10 over 3 year period); no provoking episodes (no left in cold for prolonged time; no lights on.

Battery loses charge and will not start auto. Battery has been replaced twice and the problem continues, although not all the time.

Original owner, purchased new 2015 Subaru Outback limited in early 2015. We have replaced battery four times and have had to jump start the vehicle ~ 25 times since purchase. There is clearly a parasitic electrical drain on the battery that is widely discussed in online forums by fellow owners but not acknowledged by Subaru or its dealers (presumably to mitigate liability risks and avoid repair costs). We have attempted to have local Subaru service dealers address the issue but they give us bs answers like "you don't drive the car enough", "you must have left lights on", or "these newer cars have so many new electrical features that it is typical for batteries to die" . . . . All of which are clearly bs and an attempt to deflect responsibility for a flawed electrical design that consistently drains all batteries. Moreover, part of the flaw is a system that was designed to only recharge the battery under certain higher speed driving conditions . . . Which are rarely achieved when driving shorter distances at lower speeds in city applications. Even when driving the car regularly, multiple times per week the batteries all eventually die well short of their intended life needlessly requiring jump-starting, trickle-charging to top off battery and/or replacement (we are on 4th battery for this vehicle). Subaru should show its "love" by standing behind their products and accepting responsibility to fix design problems that are affecting so many customers.

Consistent battery issues on start up; upon a mechanic looking at battery, the battery is fully charged/ok - but there appears to be possible connection issue? it appears to be a known issue. Is there a fix for this?.

I have had to replace battery sooner than it should have. Also, it seems to be causing an electrical issue with the computer board where all the dashboard warnings are blanking. I have been disconnecting the battery and reconnecting to reset the computer board.

Vehicle is equipped with Subaru's "eye sight" system, which provides pre-collision braking and is involved with lane departure warning. The eye sight system in my car is intermittently inoperative while the car is in motion. Sometimes, the system begins working again, then turns off, turns on, etc. If eye sight is inoperative as the car comes to a full stop, the inoperative warning message usually disappears, but the message returns shortly after the car begins moving again. This has been happening every time the car is in motion for three weeks.

I have had to replace my stock Subaru battery from the dealer now four times. I drive it for work everyday and every so often it will not start up one morning. I do not leave my lights on, dome lights, or any other electrical components. It was stationary and would always happen the next morning, the battery would be drained and the dealership would replace just the battery as their fix. Months later, it would only happen again on a brand new battery from the dealer.

2015 Subaru Outback 3. 6l mileage-58969. All lights flashing on dashboard, then some stop but many stay flashing.

We have owned the vehicle since may 2015 and had a dead battery 4 times with no apparent reason. We have replaced the battery each time. Subaru doesn't seem to admit there is an issue.

This is approximately the 5th time I have had to have my battery jumped within the last two years. No visual drain (no lights left on for example) is suspected. Vehicle had been in use on various trips prior to car not starting. I have key fob and couldn't even open the back hatch to get tools out of car. When car was fairly new, had problem where key fob could not start the car (happened three times) but felt that was an elusive key fob problem. Now I am not sure what problem is but I am suspecting there is some sort of short or system drain on battery that has surfaced. Vehicle was in driveway, parking lot and in parking space on street when these lapses occurred. Reading online about numerous similar problems with dead battery and suspicious electrical drainage of batteries. Most recent problem happened 11/29 and again 12/4. Car was in garage (not used) between 11/29 and 12/4.

Our car has electrical / battery problems. It frequently will not start on its own. We have to jump start the battery about once a month, sometimes more frequently. The primary driver commutes 120 miles at least once a week (60 miles each way), thus we should not have issues with battery drain, but we do. We replaced the battery 1 year ago and the problem still remains. The battery also drains quite quickly, for example, last week we had the back lift gate open for 15 - 20 minutes while we were in and out of the house packing up the car with all the things I needed for a work event. When we were ready to go, the car wouldn't start. This has happened to us multiple times camping in the past. Because we have had so many problems with our car starting, we keep a small battery generator charged and in the car so we can jumpstart our car if needed. Without this device, we would have been stranded in the back country tens of miles away from civilization with no cell service and no ability to get home. We've started keeping all the lights off inside the car to see if that helps, it hasn't, even with no lights on inside the car the battery has drained while packing up our car for a trip. The dealership replaced the battery in 2020 and said that was the problem, they have not looked for "parasitic drain" despite our complaints. There is no warning when this will happen, no lights appear or messages. This has been an ongoing problem that started in 2019 that continues to this day. Our safety has been put at risk multiple times with this problem by potentially leaving us completely stranded in the woods, at night in urban environments, and has prevented us from getting to work on time. I've read on numerous forums that this has been a problem with the cans systems in this model. Please investigate.

A supposed gas cap seal caused 20 icons to flash constantly upon my dash. The car had been sitting in a parking garage for two days prior to the incident.

The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the back-up camera view was blocked by the sunlight. The contact stated that the glare was evident whether the sun roof was opened or closed. The glare prevented the driver to see clearly what was behind the vehicle. The dealer Subaru of san bernardino (645 auto center dr, san bernardino, CA 92408 (877) 501-8065) was made aware of the issue but offered no solution to the issue. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 45,000.

When vehicle is left for two days or more (such as in my garage or at a remote trail head parking lot) the battery completely drains. This has happened three or four times and no lights or anything like that was left turned on. Battery has been checked at auto parts store and no problems and it recharges to a full charge.

Hello, my windshield broke about 6 months after purchasing the vehicle. I don't know how or why. It was just broken one morning when I went out to my car. I figured a rock or something hit it. There was no recall at the time and so I had it replaced with a oem windshield. My second windshield just broke a couple of weeks ago while changing my wipers you can see where the ceramic wiper heater delaminated inside of the windshield. It turned bright red. I have owned alot of cars and never seen a windshield that is so fragile. I have changed many, many wiper blades and I know what a quality windshield is. I set the wiper blade holder down on the windshield gently and it cracked, the crack grew across the windshield in a day or so. Ridiculous. These windshields run about 500 bucks and should be better quality. I also have electrical problems where my car clock will not set. . . Currently. It took them 3 years to figure out the steering retaining pin was broken even though I was complaining about it since I bought the car. The rear gate stopped opening and they had to replace the struts on a 3 year old car. There is something wrong with the front end but my dealer said "wait until it gets worse" can you believe that? thanks,.

I've had my 2015 Outback for 3 years now (2020 now) I have had to replace the battery every year. The first year I believed it was time for a new battery, within 6 months my car died while I was driving into a parking lot. The entire electrical system shut down and I had to manually move it. My mechanic took apart my engine and discovered loose seals that had allowed many parts to rust over including broken brackets and a torque converter. Warranty won't cover any rust but did cover the $84 broken seal. I spent close to $3,000 on repairs and a new battery then. I was initially quoted from the dealership $6k. It has been 11 months and I left my car alone for 3 days and the battery is completely dead once again.

I have had 3 radios replaced in my 2015 Outback, since 12-8-17 problems include , navigation going out, the siriusxm going out, now the replacement unit( both remanufactured) has a �chirp� sound coming out of it when driving down the road on all channels. Very distracting as you look down at the dash to check for warnings, taking your eyes off the road. This replacement unit is less than a week old( replaced on 7-26-18. Subaru customer service contacted 8-1-18. First noticed on 7-29-17.

Battery discharges when not driven frequently. Subaru tech suggested purchasing larger battery as oem is not adequate. Date of event is est.

Battery periodically goes dead overnight.

The car would stall when coasting to a stop light or stop sign a few times and have been back to the dealer and can't replicated the problem. This is a dangerous situation and can cause an unsafe and huge accident with my family. The car would die while in drive and sometimes can't be restarted. It's happening again and afraid to drive the car since the dealer will say nothing is wrong with the car. It looks like it's related to idle being low or the cvt acting up when taking the foot off the gas pedal and try to accelerate from a dead stop or coasting to a stop. This happened a few times during factory warranty window.

The infotainment system freezes up about every other day and this has been happening again for the last month. Rear backup camera stays on at times. Screen freezes and hard knob controls of infotainment system will not work when touch screen is frozen. This is the second module that has been installed due to these issues and problems continue.