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First and probably last Subaru..

22K views 83 replies 51 participants last post by  GeorgeF 
#1 ·
I was very excited to buy my first Subaru and had very high hopes for it it currently has 14 thousand miles it's a 2018 which I got at the end of 2018. I bought it new and honestly I'm very disappointed. Today it is at the dealership the battery has died a few times over the last few weeks AAA came twice finally just replaced the battery. The air conditioning stopped blowing cold and the passenger window would not work from the driver's side after the battery was replaced both of these simultaneously started. I cannot believe that a three-year-old car with less than 14,000 miles the air conditioning would stop working. The dealer claimed it needed to have Freon added to it which to me says there must be some sort of leak he assured me they did a leak test and there was none. Anyway he's filling it with freon and claims it must have happened originally at the dealer they didn't properly put the freon in. Well I know for sure there must be some sort of a leak air conditioning just doesn't stop working but okay I'll accept that of course it'll be out of warranty when I find out there is a leak. So my brand new Subaru I don't trust it to start in the morning due to having a dead battery three times I don't trust it to have cool air I worry moving forward since I'm going out of warranty shortly what else am I going to find out. I thought this would be the last car I would buy and considered replacing my partners 2008 Altima coupe with a Subaru her car seems to be more reliable than mine. Anyone experience problems with their 2018 that I should look for now while it's still under warranty. My battery Farb also looks like it's sinking in some spots I probably haven't tried 80% of the features of the car I haven't taken it off road yet once I planned on going to the beach life just got in the way. Can anyone give me a rundown of things I should check before it's out of warranty I appreciate it
 
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#2 ·
Note there is apparently a lawsuit over Subaru battery issues.
 
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#3 ·
I'd say your A/C problem is very unusual, there's been nothing reported in the Gen 5 forum that I can recall - most Subarus go well past 100k before needing anything like that. Battery - well, that's known, but not considered such a big deal when you can simply have Subaru reimburse you for an aftermarket brand of your choice. Besides, that's a wear item and not very expensive. Given your very low mileage, it's possible you're also pretty hard on the battery with infrequent use and/or lots of short trips, so you might consider a battery tender if that's the case.
 
#4 ·
Mine is on its third battery. Failure of the first battery. The dealer would not replace, However, SOA reimbursed me for my aftermarket battery purchase. Then Autozone Duralast which was then replaced under Autozone warranty. This repeated battery failure leads me to believe there is something wrong with Subaru's electrical systems. BTW, I also had the ECM charging update done.
 
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#8 ·
maybe im alone in my thinking but i bought my '18 knowing the battery was going to be a POS. so i purchased a cigarette lighter amp meter and noticed how bad it was within a month or so of ownership. didnt ask SOA to reimburse me, didnt bitch to the dealer- ordered a group 24 Exide battery from home depot for $94 and replaced it within 4 months of ownership. i was in a similar mindset as the OP, didnt want to be stranded with a **** battery so i resolved the issue myself.

with 45k on my '18 i do not have the AC issue... but the battery being a known issue i replaced myself and reset the windows too, no issues.
 
#12 ·
maybe im alone in my thinking but i bought my '18 knowing the battery was going to be a POS. so i purchased a cigarette lighter amp meter and noticed how bad it was within a month or so of ownership. didnt ask SOA to reimburse me, didnt bitch to the dealer- ordered a group 24 Exide battery from home depot for $94 and replaced it within 4 months of ownership. i was in a similar mindset as the OP, didnt want to be stranded with a **** battery so i resolved the issue myself.

with 45k on my '18 i do not have the AC issue... but the battery being a known issue i replaced myself and reset the windows too, no issues.
What is a "cigarette lighter amp meter" please? I've seen ones that measure voltage but I'm not seeing how you could measure current?



(Someday students are going to be writing ancient history research reports and are going to come across this and say to each other "What is a cigarette? What's a lighter? Why does it need its amps measured?" Other student: "Oh I know: Cigarettes were those expensive sticks you'd put in your mouth and light on fire! While driving!" First kid: "The car had this built into it??? WHY would anyone do that?")
 
#9 ·
With my upgrade to Gen5 this year, I noticed right away the battery was not going to hold up. It went dead when I was trying to run through the menu options to set the car up the way I want. It has been ok since then (a couple of weeks), even though it sits most of the time during our stay at home orders. I don’t think that Autozone batteries are the best quality anymore, from what I’ve read. The first time my battery is found dead, I’ll just upgrade myself. I may even go with an Optima battery if they make one suitable. I’ll have to do research when the time comes, but I remember reading that a battery with higher CCA would solve the problem.
 
#10 ·
sorry you are having a bad experience. The weak battery is a known issue. The battery died once on my wife's 19, but it tests good and has worked since I charged it up. The window switch needs to be reset after discounting the battery, so that's not really an issue.
Most people will get a replacement under warranty if they have battery issue and then replace with a better battery afterwards. This is what I do with all my cars that have issues. The problem has more to do with emmisions leading manufactures to not run the alternator all the time so you need to drive longer to recharge.
The AC is odd, but often vehicles need recharges.


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#75 ·
sorry you are having a bad experience. The weak battery is a known issue. The battery died once on my wife's 19, but it tests good and has worked since I charged it up. The window switch needs to be reset after discounting the battery, so that's not really an issue.
Most people will get a replacement under warranty if they have battery issue and then replace with a better battery afterwards. This is what I do with all my cars that have issues. The problem has more to do with emmisions leading manufactures to not run the alternator all the time so you need to drive longer to recharge.
The AC is odd, but often vehicles need recharges.


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I’ll bet thats the bingo - it makes sense that if you’re trying to maximize efficiency you minimize load, and reducing the battery size is an effective way to do it - both weight and replacement charging duration. I’ll make a point of upgrading my battery when that time comes.

It’s also worth pointing out that 7,000 miles a year (2018 OB with 14k miles) shows that your car’s not being driven much. If you just drive to the store 3 miles away and back once a week you’re not replacing the draw on the battery your car pulls from the battery just sitting there 99% of the time and the engine startup load. Take it for at least an hour drive once a month and you may find your battery issues go away.
 
#13 ·
I've had very few OEM batteries make it past the 36 month period. Seems that the hotter and/or colder the climate you live in, the shorter the battery life. Hot days kills batteries, and cold weather buries them. Subaru sources many of their batteries from Johnson Controls, who makes OEM batteries for many car brands, as well as many aftermarkets.

My only gripe is they should probably put a stronger (more CCAs) battery, with a higher reserve in highly loaded models. When you have power everything, heated seats, and lots of electronics, a larger battery may hold up better over time.

For the record, mine made it nearly 4 years, before I replaced it with a Optima Red, and gained 220 or so CCAs.
 
#15 ·
Will the Optima Red tolerate deep discharging? I'm interested in people's battery choices. I used to be a big Interstate fan, but now I'm not so sure anymore.


Though I think the '18 has some cutoff circuitry to disable things when the voltage gets too low and/or when a dome light is left on for an excessively long time. If someone here knows about this particular feature (or lack of) please comment.
 
#16 ·
I agree with you totally. Most of the items you mentioned can be fixed. Now what i want to know is why Subaru can't fix them. After 80k miles on my company Ford F250 I have had zero issues. If you leave the lights on and the door open it can figure out that the battery is getting low and turn it off. It will always start..

I replaced my battery when new when I realized it may leave me stranded.

This one is the most expensive I could find but cheaper than a tow. Best CCA I have seen but I will bet there are others on the forum that have done better. But hey, you have paddle shifters.
Automotive battery Auto part Technology Machine Electronics
 
#20 ·
I agree with you totally. Most of the items you mentioned can be fixed. Now what i want to know is why Subaru can't fix them. After 80k miles on my company Ford F250 I have had zero issues. If you leave the lights on and the door open it can figure out that the battery is getting low and turn it off. It will always start..

I replaced my battery when new when I realized it may leave me stranded.

This one is the most expensive I could find but cheaper than a tow. Best CCA I have seen but I will bet there are others on the forum that have done better. But hey, you have paddle shifters. View attachment 484135
I know to some degree there is a protection thing going on in my '18: If I leave the door open, eventually all the lighting shuts off and I don't come back to a dead car. I accidentally discovered this feature. 8) I don't know if it is just timing the cabin lighting and decides "15 minutes is enough" and shuts off, verses "the batt voltage is 11.0" and shuts off. Probably the time based system since that's cheap and easy.
 
#17 · (Edited)
The battery problems seem to be unrelated, but Subaru definitely has some engineering flaws like (1) interior lights that will not turn off after a present time, which includes leaving a door open and (2) an all electric lift gate that draws power when left open unintentionally or while camping. I have a friend with a new 2020 Ascent. The dealer told him that his key fob was draining the battery because his wife leaves the keys on a hook in the mudroom attached to the garage. My daughter uses the lights in the back seat to read. I cannot recall how many times I secured the house at night and noticed the interior lights on in the garage. I had to jump our 2019 Outback when my wife left the lift gate open.
 
#18 ·
Everything mechanical can, and at some point, will have a problem. Your frustation is understandable after a few dead batteries. You didn’t mention, does the car sit for long periods of time and/or is only used for short drives? It doesn’t matter too much as a car should be able to sit for a week or two and still start, but as this is a known weak point, there are easy ways to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

However, if you bought the car for what it is capable of and like the way it drives, then take a look at the good advice in this thread – reset the window according to the owner’s manual it’s not a fault – and let the dealer repair the A/C under warranty (that's what the warranty is there for), and then enjoy the car for the reasons you purchased it. If you still aren’t happy, there are plenty of other manufactures more than willing to sell you their cars.

Before that, I’d suggest you look at the other forum boards for the different makes. Every manufacture* has dealers with service departments, and they aren’t there to provide $29.95 oil changes.

Forums like this tend to bring out the fan-boys and fan-girls or the folks with problems looking for answers. The other 98% of owners don’t visit, and dealers tend to be the same way. Spend a day in a service department – doesn’t matter the brand – and you’ll think all the cars are crap, until you realize only cars that go back to a dealer are ones with problems. A large percentage of cars never see a dealership again.

Of course, if you just came here to vent, and maybe make sure no one ever buys a Subaru again, never mind 😉

TL;DR: Worry less, enjoy the car more - think about all of the things it does well and keep washing your hands!


*Tesla doesn’t have any traditional dealers, but they do have centers for service work
 
#22 ·
I currently own a Ford that I'm working my way out of lol.

Bought a 2014 Taurus cause it was cheap and my Nissan was on it's last leg. It has less than 60,000 miles and numerous interior features don't work. The pedal adjustment doesn't work, ambient lighting changes colors when it feels like it, the bluetooth audio has a constant buzzing noise, when I select to go back on my music with the bluebooth it gets 5 seconds into the song and then skips 2 songs forward. I also had a CEL a week ago that came and went. The rear camera is getting more grainy by the day and apparently it is not uncommon to need a full replacement around this mileage.

It was cheap for a reason, admittedly I should've done research, but carfax showed it was clean. It'll do but I'm trading it once the world quits ending.
 
#24 ·
I had a 2012 Ford Edge and many of these things plus more made the switch to my Outback an easy decision. For all the electrical gremlins it is most likely the APIM Mine had to be replaced under warranty thankfully and my back-up camera had to be replaced as well. I brought mine used but the MSRP was 40K plus which I just can't believe after having my Outback.
 
#44 ·
They seem like minor issues. Hyundai and VW had massive issues with their engines a few years ago leading to the entire engine having to be swapped out. Some dealers had over 10 cars each waiting for new engines.

My mates BMW recently self ignited in the engine bay and he had to put it out himself and had kids in the car. BMW refused to help him and asked him to pay for the fault trace (which turns out was a plastic cover that ignited, which was a design fault). Toyota have a massive issue with 2016/17 Diesel engines leading to massive repair bills around $5k a pop. Class action is ongoing.

I bought a new VW in 2012 asked the dealership if I need to worry about the gearbox and the timing chain tensioner. They told me that they hadn’t heard anything. Sure enough, 7 years later they both had to be replaced and where the first parts to fail at 40k miles. The dealer did it free of charge out of warranty, which was very nice of them to do.

My point is that I wouldn’t stress over batteries and resetting windows. Anything below $500 in repair costs is a minor fault and shouldn’t be a concern.

You can get a trickle charger if you don’t drive a lot.
 
#45 ·
Sorry to hear you are having issues with your 18 OB. I have just over 12 months ownership on my 19 OB; have had ZERO problems. Everything still works and there has been no need to visit the dealer for warranty. Did the head unit update for it a couple months ago. The hints on this forum made it seamless. When I bought my Premium I delibrately avoided the problem features. No navigation, no keyless start, no power rear gate.

This is my first OB. Previously I ran Ford Crown Vic's. The most recent one had about 110K on it. The one before had 255K. Both are still running. Those CV with auto air will likely have a problem with in-dash electric vent doors around 100K. Nothing else except wear parts (brakes, shocks, water pump, etc.)

I expect the 2.5 multiport engine in the 19 OB to run out to 150K or more without much trouble.
 
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