Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11444264

This page summarizes an official U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration owner complaint. Use the verification links below to confirm the record directly with NHTSA.

Vehicle

2020 SUBARU OUTBACK

Manufacturer

Subaru of America, Inc.

Components

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER

Dates

Incident: 12/12/2021
Filed: 12/18/2021

Owner complaint summary

Battery drains when car sits idle for more than a week. No lights were accidentally left on. Had to jump start the car four times in less than a week. Subaru dealership attempted to tell me the battery was fine but the service advisor noted it was starting up sluggishly. Service did a full charge. Subaru's own website recommends driving the car at least a couple times a month, which is what I've done, but the battery still drains within two weeks. The Subaru dealership further told me that the battery has a memory and "learned" my driving habits (I purchased the car prior to the pandemic) and that is why the battery is not keeping a charge since I'm not driving it as often as they think I should. They also told me that I should disconnect the battery if I have to leave the car at an airport, for example if I go on vacation. That is absurd. The service advisor further told me that the warranty would likely not cover the battery replacement because they believe I'm not driving the car enough. I am concerned that the battery not holding a strong and sufficient charge will cause the car to not be able to restart at a traffic stop if I have not remembered to disengage the fuel-saving feature. While I carry a jump starting kit, I would need to get out in the road and try to hurriedly jump the car. There are several reports online with a parasitic drain where the computer does not go into a sleep mode when the car is off.

This is an owner complaint filed with NHTSA (ODI #11444264). It is not automatically an official recall, investigation outcome, or manufacturer admission unless the complaint text itself describes one.

Official record ID (ODI): 11444264. This page is the human-readable source link used across afterwarranty. The raw JSON link proxies NHTSA's public API for machine verification; prefer this page when reading the complaint.