Battery problems with Foresters

Have you taken it to your Subaru dealer for warranty service? Have they checked for a parasitic battery drain?

Sounds like a Subasitic battery drain to me. Get it back to the dealership and make them fix it.

I agree with Bob. One theory is that the Subaru logo every decade seeks to relight its missing seventh star, scavenging power from the universe. Only some iterations are affected (fortunately?), so there may be no recall.

My brother had that problem. Battery tested fine several times in dealership testing, but still drained at least once a week. Last month it showed a bad cell, it was replaced by a different dealership, and has been fine every since.

Lots of these in the past few years, alas.

As cars go 100% electronic these problems will proliferate.

I would be looking into the Lemon laws in your state in case Subaru never resolves your problem. In the meantime buy a Good jump start battery pack, not one of the toys.

My Forester Died and came back to life 4 times since I got it brand new 2 years ago ....it's really weird

It may be following a Hindu tradition of reincarnation in a multi-life effort to find either a good battery or a seventh star?

I have same problem with my top of the line 2017 Forester. Battery has died 6 times now. Last I took it to the dealer they said it tested fine and wouldn't replace it, suggesting that I don't drive it enough.

My brother had the same problem. While on vacation in Delaware he took it to a dealership that had not worked on the car before, they tested the battery and found it had at least one bad cell. They replaced the battery, it has not happened again. You might get it tested at a battery shop.

It IS interesting to see 2014 and even 2013 era batteries to be still charging along, but rarely a 2015...and I'm seeing 2016s with new batteries as well. Is it the parasitic drain of the newer iteration or bad batches of batteries? Don't tell me they're now using Chinese lead?!

I have a 2014 Hybrid Crosstrek. No problems until a year ago, now it dies unexpectedly every 3-4 months. This time it sat idle for about 2 days only and woke up to it again this morning. They only manufactured the hybrid for a year, so I was wondering if this had something to do with it but it sounds like it's across models.

Yup. Get a nice new Interstate from COSTCO for only eighty bucks.

My 2017 Forester's battery went dead at 7000 miles and 1-1/2 years. Dealership checked it out and found nothing draining the battery and nothing else wrong. Said I needed to drive it more and on longer trips more. I drove it last week to a doctor at least 10 miles away and drive it almost every day somewhere. It is normal driving in any other car. The dealership says all the new technology drains the batteries on all cars, but my husband owns a loaded Honda Pilot (2014). His battery has never been low. In the Subaru, there is no gage to tell you when the battery is weak. As it is, it is dangerous to use because the windows, doors, and steering wheel lock tight. No way to operate them with only a fob and no key. I call it consumer fraud. I bought the car after careful research, and I would never buy an unreliable car. Of course, that is not advertised. I think it is a good case for a class action suit. To think I was going to let my 15-yr-old granddaughter borrow it! I'm mad about being hoodwinked!

It's the battery. Then again, I don't want to be responsible in ANY way for allowing a 15yr old granddaughter to drive!

2015 Forester: I bought the forester in 11/15/2015 and the battery died in 11/23/2018, twice. I understood from this site that the battery problem is Subaru's problem, will the warranty cover this?

Not sure if battery is covered by 3yr/36k...google it.

As always my advice is to read the warranty!

Too bad it doesn't work with in-laws.

Same problem here. 2017 Forester (23500 miles) with Eyesight, etc. Battery has "died" about 4 times in the past 3 months. I have a battery powered jumper that starts the vehicle easily. Surprisingly, it takes almost no time to charge the battery up by running the motor. Haven't made the trip to the dealer yet.

The late '16 Touring I just bought won't even hold a charge for 5 minutes! Where did they ever get these junk batteries!?

Parasitic battery drain most likely. I have a 2017 Subaru Forestor with 31,000 miles. My battery has drained 3 times in the last week. I took out a 10 mm wrench and disconnected the negative terminal. Next I took my multimeter and check the drainage and it was reading 50 mA. I started to pull fuses and guess what ... it was a slow blow fuse (50A) #8 and a 10A regular fuse. Take one out and it goes to 30 mA. Take both out it goes to 10 mA, which is considered a normal drain when nothing is on. So if you have an hour, you can check each fuse and find the circuit causing the drain. This is telling me that I have a short between those two systems. It is going to the dealership this week.

Good work! Another reason to add to my list of why I haven't bought an F in 35 years as TSG, but almost 2000 Legs and OBs. It's nice that the Indiana plant does a better job than Japan.

I do Subaru Roadside and insurance policy roadside . On avg the Subaru 2015-2018 are the ones I jumpstart most. And most of the time its NOT because of something the driver did instead its just like many of the remarks above it just goes dead. Just an Idea folks but find, barrow or buy a multi meter, get the video phone and document the Volts of the battery before trying to jumpstart the engine, and if the engine starts up the take another reading of the battery. this comes across much better than trying to tell what happened before you got to the dealer. Depending on when I get dispatched to jumpstart a Subby often has an outcome of how dead the battery is. Ive seen it vary from 10.3 volts to 3.0 volts. then after it starts the volts read from 14.3 / 14.7 Then why the dead battery is the answer we all are waiting for. Good luck~

Thanks, B13. I've been trading 2015-2016 Legs and OBs for almost two years, now, and find that almost all need or have just had installed new batteries. But once replaced, I have NEVER had a call-back because the replacement failed. Tells me the OE batteries were junk, eh? We'll see....

when you say new batteries , do you mean OEM or a battery with a larger CCA than what is called for ? I know either way works . Im not convinced yet that replacing a year old or newer battery with another will fix this problem of not starting. Sure it will start but for how long ? Thats the concern and question I hear most. I'll end it here. I hope your right because it would end this on going nagging problem easy.

I've been a fan of Interstate batteries for decades, as there's a distribution center just north of Boston. But COSTCO is now a very low priced ($80) source of these sturdy hunks. No failures yet.

2019 Subaru Impreza, bought it 4 weeks ago. It has died three individual times, and I've had it towed to the dealer twice. They replaced the battery, but it happened again. If it has to go back again I'm threatening lemon law.

Yeah...three strikes and you're out! Wonder if the OE batteries are all bad. If you want to keep the car try an Interstate from COSTCO for only $80 and force the dealer to eat it.

Interstates are great and Optima/Odyssey are even better.

I seriously doubt Lemon laws cover batteries. Wishful thinking.

My 2015 Subaru has been slow to start for a year. Have had it go dead just while parked at the airport for a week after a long drive there. Put in a new costco interstate battery and it starts up faster than I've ever heard it even when it was brand new. I suspect the panasonic oem battery just was junk from the start.

I agree.

2017 Forester has died twice in the last 6 weeks. When I called Subaru, after reading this string and talking to another Subaru owner at work who has had the same issue, I said "It appears this is a pretty common issue," and the service rep said, "Well, I'm not gonna say it's not an issue to be politically correct." So maybe we need a very squeaky wheel out there. When you spend $30K on a new car you really don't expect to be inconvenienced lik this.

Hope it's just bad Chinese lead....

This possibly the real answer! I can understand why 1000s of people have tried trickle chargers OR under advice from friends or dealers changed the battery. Sometime to a bigger capacity, that will take longer to go flat :) Why can't the experts find the problem? The real cause I believe is the Subaru's second computer, the BIU, Body Integrated Unit, this computer stores, "backs up", all settings in the car. Examples, possibly switches, navigation unit, audio system, doors, windows, lights, alarm system, who knows what else, I could find no detailed information. I investigated, in my case, I found removing the "Back Up" fuse in the engine bay would stop a 1200ma continuous Battery drain. The correct Battery drain when the car is asleep after a couple of minutes from switch off, is around 50-70ma, that will NOT flatten your battery. My battery is 5 years old! I had a flat battery several times over a month, car struggled to start. Jump started easily. With that fuse out, NO issues with the battery, perfect. BUT you can't leave the fuse out, all the car smarts except the engine, it has its own computer the ecu,the rest goes a bit crazy, car drives ok AC works everything else goes weird. Your battery drain will probably be caused by some device in the car not in it's normal state. In my case the CD player was in some strange mode. You need a slightly technical person to monitor battery drain current and investigate further. Alternatively check the operation of everything in the car, turn it on and off move windows up and down check lights, all audio, navigation, one of those things is probably the cause. NOT YOUR BATTERY. Subaru and dealers should have identified this issue years ago, the cost in PR and to users has been HUGE.

supplied subaru batteries are not of sufficient capacity to cope with the parasitic drain for longer than a few days . Higher capacity batteries of a good brand make this much less of a problem . More electroncs fitted to newer models make this a common problem . It is not just a problem seen in Subarus . Subaru oe batteries do appear to be very poor .

Since I switched to an Optima battery in my 15 Forester my wife no longer complains about a weak battery.

Keith, it IS the OE battery, as good replacements DO solve the problem.

I guess you did not understand my comments, I estimate 50+% of the issues mentioned in this battery thread are IBU component management errors resulting in a battery drain greater than 50ma. (50ma won't flatten your battery in a couple of days) I think a lot of battery resellers use this forum to improve sales. I hope some people might get my point.

This is follow up to the battery problems I was having on 2017 Forrester (~25,000 miles). I finally took it in to the dealer. Diagnosis: bad battery. They replaced it fully under warranty. ZERO problems since.

I bought a brand new 2017 Forrester in May 2017. In July, the voltage was low. Called the Subaru dealership and they said they needed to update the software. Battery was fine until yesterday (March 28, 2019) when my car wouldn’t start. Brought it to the dealership again and replaced the battery. They said the battery was bad and a fuse blew. It concerns me that so many people are also having issues :/

Bad batch of Chinese lead?

I bought a 2017 Forester in February 2017. This past February (2019) the battery was stone cold dead, thankfully in my garage, when I tried to turn it on. I had driven it no less than 2 days before. I found online that it was a known problem that the factory-installed batteries (Panasonic, I believe) were dying like this. (NOTE: This is my 3rd Forester since 1998, as I had a 1998 model from 1998 to 2007, and a 2007 model from 2007 to 2017. I had NEVER had a battery die or need replacement in those cars at all.) So, on 2/17/19 I purchased the BEST available battery I could find in my town--AutoCraft Platinum AGM Battery, Group Size 34, 740 CCA. Today, after driving the car yesterday morning, to my son's bus stop and back, it was almost "dead" and the engine would not turn over. A few of the noises/lights that accompany it's turning on DID start up the first time I hit the "on" button (with my foot on the brake), then less the 2nd time, and NOTHING the 3rd time. So, THIS time, the battery was drained to almost nothing, but NOT completely dead as it was in February. Thankfully, our other car was also in the garage and I was able to use it to jump start my Forester. I first tried the "portable jump start kit," after charging its battery in the house for several hours, but it was only powerful enough to start the electronics in my Forester, but not turn the engine over. Then, I used the jumper cables & the other car to start mine, and it worked immediately. I may have left one of the overhead map lights on, because it seemed to be in the "on" position (pushed in) when I was trying to start the car to begin with this morning--but I am not absolutely sure I did leave it on, as my son was in the car with me and he might have accidentally somehow popped it on this morning. Anyway, I was grateful to see the comments above, about pulling fuses to see what might be draining power as the car sits still. I'm very grateful that both times this has happened have been when it was sitting overnight in my garage. I too am concerned that it's an issue, a BIG issue, that Subaru isn't wanting to get involved with yet because it seems like just a "nuisance" issue to them. But since Subarus are touted as being for those who want to take them off-road and not necessarily where there is a lot of drive-by, good-samaritan traffic, they NEED to figure this out. And, as others above have said, this issue is only going to get BIGGER, as more and more cars are created with electrical drains on their systems overall. I sure hope we don't all have to go forward with any kind of class-action suit or lemon-law situation. I just want my 3rd Forester to be as reliable as my first two proved themselves to be!

Preemptive strike for another '17 Forester: Yes, it's just a bad battery. As well, AGMs tend to need more "tending", so I'd just go with a nice $80 Interstate from COSTCO.

Hello everyone, I just found my 2017 Subaru's battery could not start my car that I bought in December 2017. It was just 10 mins parking after 40 mile highway driving!

Another routine incident....

I have had this problem of an unexpected dead battery on both my 2014 and now 2016 Foresters just sitting for a few to several days (a week not being started seems to be long enough to kill the battery so it won't start the car. ) They are both fully loaded Tourings with EyeSight, etc. Sometimes the dash lights go On at attempted ignition, sometimes the car is totally Black Dead and doors won't open, no lights, and certainly no cranking. The battery was replaced with another Subaru (people here say Panasonic makes them) 6 months in and still these problems on long sitting. So the first thing I did was buy a $60 jump start kit that has a 12V UPS type battery and huge capacitor in it to provide over 500 CCA. If you keep that puppy charged after every use and every month, it will start your car in a couple extra minutes setting it up. I store it in the compartment above the spare tire, its compact. Plus you can help friends start their dead cars without any jumper cables, moving vehicles (one dead), sparks or danger. Whether it's closed circuits causing a high drain like Keith suggests or a bad (batch or manufacturer or Chinese lead) battery, it looks like informed consumers are going to want to do some of their own leg work (recording voltage drop on sitting unstarted for days as GuruB13G6 suggests or testing fuses as Keith suggests) if they want Subaru to Fix or Pay For their problem. Until this moves up higher on Subaru's list of problems they have to address, no dealership tech is going to take this initiative to figure out your problem. Call Subaru Customer Relations, get them involved with your dealer. Realize it could take them a few days to check out all this (you won't have your car, expect a loaner or rental Subaru pays for - SCR!) But get that jump starter, because even if you think it's fixed it might not be...

To Ron, I put the jump pack in the back seat; we can get the driver's door open mechanically and reach back to the back door to open it; I used to also keep the pack in the back but one day the hatch wouldn't open; it is powered by the battery and there is no handle to manually lift the hatch....

Geez, guys...just get to COSTCO and grab a nice Interstate for $80 and be done with it.

@TheSubaruGuruBoston that is basically what the Subaru mechanic told me to do while his manager wasn't listening. I'm still concerned about what is draining the battery but it's a start.

My 2017 Subaru Forester was purchased in March 2017, and I'm also experiencing the same battery problems twice in 9 days. The first time the battery died on 4/11/19, I had driven the car over 35 miles prior to letting it sit parked in a garage for just an hour when it wouldn't start. After jump starting the battery, I took it to O'Reilly's to have the battery tested, they said the battery was fine. It happened again on 4/20/19. I had just driven the car 70 miles that morning, and 5 hours later the battery was dead. It jump started just fine. However, I bought a brand new Subaru, because dependability is key to me. I believe there is something creating a short in the system. It has less than 30,000 miles on it, so it should be under warranty. I believe welguisz knew what he was talking about regarding a short between systems, since he took the time to use a multimeter and start pulling fuses to check out the system. I hope our Subaru dealer in Oklahoma can help me out. Thank you all for posting this information.

There may be a conflation of issues here, in that ALL 2-4 yr old OE batteries in Indiana production Legacys and Outbacks are failing. The remedy I've used is to simply replace them with a solid aftermarket battery: I like the $80 Interstates sourced at COSTCO. NEVER has a client returned with a problem. The Japanese-produced Imps and Foresters perhaps have wiring issues that cause drainage issues, so I'm a bit leery to suggest that problems therein will automatically be solved by replacing the battery, of course. As a rule Japanese-produced Imps and Fors have many more QA problems due to forced labor overtime problems. Since I don't like, recommend, purchase...nor service these iterations I can't comment reliably on their LACK thereof, as I, too, can only collect anecdotal info. We;ll see what happens after 2020....

I took my 2017 Forester to the dealer in Oklahoma. He stated I had a bad battery and replaced it, so maybe there was a problem with the factory batteries. After all, I had driven it for 2 years with 0 problems until this month. I'll see if I have any more problems after the battery was replaced. I believe Ryan at Bob Moore Subaru in Edmond, OK, is doing his best to make sure I'm treated right.

Good.

We have had our 2019 Forster for a week. Didn’t drive it for 2 days and poof... dead battery. Checked it and it was at 6.27 volts. Jumped our nice new car with my jumper battery and it was charging @ 14.2 volts. Went on to go to dinner at a place about 18 miles away. Re-started fine after dinner. Came home and put the car cover back onto the Forester. I’ll see how it does tomorrow, but I assure you that the dealer will get a visit tomorrow.

1. You need AGM. No if, ands or buts. 2. You're taking battery advice from someone that says AGMs need to be tended. That's incorrect. 3. Interstate is the same as Advanced Auto, Autozone, and some Pepboys, some Wal-marts. Interstate pays extra for white and green plastic.They're all from the same line. Same guy who makes an AZ battery on monday, makes an AAP one on Tuesday, then an Interstate on Weds... Etc. Different day, different sticker. I work in the industry. Battery misinformation is all over. P.S. an $80 costco battery is going to die at best, and at worst brick your computer. You need an AGM battery. If you want to flash your brass ring, grab the top of the line AGM batteries, Optima (ONLY YELLOW) is what you want. Red optimas are for starting muscle cars, older tractors and trucks, etc. Things that don't have the electronics of modern cars. Yes, YELLOW is more expensive but it's designed for a different purpose. Red will end up drained and dead. Here's the old AGM video they showed us at work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL9hArPnWYM If you have any questions about batteries let me know I'll try and get back to you.

Another pre-emptive strike: The $80 Interstate batteries at COSTCO are indeed nice and robust. I've been using them for years now, with NO duds. AGMs are simply not necessary in these simple automotive apps. Save your money. "Glass Mats" are nice if you have to install a battery sideways or upside down, but that's about it.

Keith is right. Replacing the battery is just treating the symptom. I’ve been designing OEM ECU’s for 20 years. Seeing 2A current draw in sleep mode is ridiculous. Subaru needs to fix This.

I think he said 1.2A, not 2. Regardless, still too high. My personal sample poor includes purchasing and reselling a few dozen 2015-2016 OBs and Legs in the past three years, wherein HALF or more required new batteries before resale. Since replaced with decent Interstates (again, cheap at COSTCO), NOT ONE client has called to require more attention. Will they ALL fail again from shorter than normal lifespans? I doubt it. Local dealer says they just replace batteries...and it works. I have two 2017s now in my tiny inventory, and may preemptively replace their batteries just to be a nice guy and not have to respond to a client in need later.

Don't be the doctor that puts his patients on meds to lessen the pain. Troubleshoot the problem and fix it at its root. My father bought a 2018 Forester less than a year ago and a 2A trickle charger won't keep up with it. He lives in another state so not easy for me to check it out, when I do I'll post more info.

Non-sequitor.

Putting a 3rd battery in our 16 Outback in less than a year. 1st had severely corroded terminals and slow cranking. Current one dropped from 700 CCA down to 50 in 6 months. Subaru OEM batteries are INFERIOR with out a doubt.

I had the same issue with my 2017 Forester, just replaced the original Panasonic battery with Interstate from Costco and the car cranks good now, my independent mechanic told me that the original battery's CCA is very poor for the 2.5L engine. we shall see the result in the future.

Ta dah!

Living in Sweden I bought a Forester XS (150hp CVT) 2013. First battery, Panasonic died after 7 months; got it replaced to a 60Ah. Which lasted 4 years. but the car was driven every other day. Last year 2018, also this battery died - having begun to drive less so another battery (good swedish quality) 65Ah. That one died just before summer. I can find a continous drainage roughly 0,6 A............... My guess is that if you drive often the battery can stand it, but let the car rest say somewhat less than a week then the drainage takes it´s toll. More powerful batteries can withstand a longer time but eventually they die too.

I have a 2017 WRX which I bought used at 20,000 miles nearly a year ago. I went to Florida for two weeks in August and came back and started the car up no problem. Car now has under 36,000 miles and I drive over an hour to work every weekday. For the last week I've consistently had a dead battery by lunchtime. I brought it to Autozone last Friday after driving home and they reported the OE battery and alternator were fine. I tested the draw and the worst I saw was 120ma after the dome lights and everything turned off, after a few minutes the drain dropped to 0ma presumable when the car "went to sleep". That weekend I put a trickle charger on it and got it to 100%. I sat with the radio on and the door open for 5 minutes and the car still started no problem. This morning the car started up no problem. Got to work at 8am, returned at 1pm, dead. It seems like there's some intermittent drain at play here but so far I'm stumped. I'm now checking to see if the car is still under the 3 year warranty. Will look into in further and report back when I have a solution. I hate to throw a new battery at it if it tests fine :(

What was the battery test? Voltage or an actual load test? I would install a new Optima battery and be done with it. My Forester battery was failing by 2 years of age.

Hi F_O_R, How many times do we have to answer the same question?! REPLACE THE BATTERY!

Hello Everyone, FYI the original Panasonic battery tested fine for its standard but the argument is the CCA is too low for the heavy electric demand from the car. As far as throwing away a new battery, I also felt bad but what can you do if it doesn't serve the purpose? I gave its away to Costco for 15 bucks. lol

I´ll comment several posts concerning my batteryproblem - Forester (mine XS CVBT 2013) - having got replies in my mail. There is no such thing as a battery problem. I´ve replaced 1)the orginal Panasonic 2)a new "Banner" (reviewed&tested as the best) 60Ah 3)replaced this one with a Banner 65Ah (last year) 4)replaced that one with another Banner 65Ah the other week. Last replacing probably not really necessary but the old one was difficult to diagnose (done by a pro with the most up to date equipment). Then I have measured what happened to the new one: day 1: 12,72 - day 2 12,65 - day 3 12,65 - day 4 12.58 - day 5 12,53 - day 6 12,44 - day 7 12,42; then I had to use the car. The course is downhill........ Car not used. But - the latest battery could withstand the discharging better than the previous one which lasted only 4 days. Conclusion: there is and has been since I bought this car (which I do like very much) - a drainage. I´ve measured from 20mA to 200mA. Has nothing to do with the battery per se - of course a stronger battery can withstand the leakage better. End of month I hope I qualified car electrician will find out what´s going on. From my own measuring I´ve found that the middle cable on the contraption that connects to bat + (a "T resembling bridge"), situated below said contraption seems to be the one with the biggest continual drainage (380 mA).

Since replacing the OE battery on ALL my resold Indiana-factory Legs and OBs has been a reliable solution for my clients, I wonder if there's something going on wrt to parasitic defects in the Japanese Imp/CT/F production?

Hi guys, Ron again about forester draining battery (long post up there). After going through 2 OEM SUBARU batteries (that's all the Subaru warranty will cover) with nothing ever found by dealerships, I followed the advice on here and got a Costco Interstate battery (#3, fitment 35,original specs). Everything was fine for 3 months, then I came to the car BLACK DEAD (nothing works) a few days ago. With no addl load battery read 3.45 volts - yikes! Since I was going on a 2hr trip, and the alternator works fine (14.72V, tested many times in 3 years) after jumping it with my battery pack ($60 jump starter) I drove it fine, restarted fine, holding 12.7V (just after turning off sat) to 12.42V after 1-5 days of non use (typical for the way I drive the car) . Going to dealership in 2 days about this, they can properly load test or and do their parasitic drain check, etc. If the battery needs to be replaced that will be the FOURTH battery in 3 years, 2 different brands. Sso as many are pointing out, while the OEM battery may be crap, this is not a battery issue, the batteries dying is a symptom of some rather intermittent severe drain issue. Putting in that super special AGM battery just means it will last longer before it, too, dies... However - I have an issue I wonder if anyone else can contribute experience about. The rear hatch closing /latching motor (for the last couple of inches, not putting the hatch down), or the latch itself. I have noticed that if the motor closes the last couple of inches - and the OEM rear tray isn't back from the edge of the rear compartment, that it will close - and the door open indicator light will go Off, but there may not be the final CLICK that it is locked. Anyone else notice this? The OEM rear compartment tray mine came with seems to cause this issue, unless it is well back from the very edge (1cm back, as opposed to at the edge or slightly over.) Since I became aware of this at battery change #2 (3rd battery) I have been very careful about this, but since it doesn't trigger the Door Open light at the top of the instrument cluster, this can only be noted by attentive listening every single time the batch closes. My theory now is that there's a circuit open (very rarely) with the lock not fully engaged and this is what is intermittently nuking the battery. Car going back to dealer about this in a couple days, we'll see.

Reminds me that since I bought the car I have had problems with the rear hatch! Often I literally have to bang it in order to get it closed. So indeed there might be something rotten! I will tell the car electrician I hope to meet next week, putting the car to it´s annual service! Creative thinking on your part thanks!

I have same problem with my 2017 Forester XT Touring. Battery has died ~6 times now. I think I'm on my third battery, but dealer uses same Subaru battery, and suggests that I don't drive it enough. Roadside assistance guys consistently tell me that Subaru batteries suck, and that a decent battery wouldn't have this problem.

Yup. Nice Interstates at COSTCO for $80 work repeatedly for my 2015-2018 OB/Leg menagerie. Ern TSG/B

I would like to talk to "RON" to find out if and how his problem solved. In brief. Have Subaru Forester 2018. No problem for 28 months. After 3 weeks sitting dead battery. AAA said battery dead and sold me super-duper battery. Three weeks later battery dead. AAA got old battery working. Had dealer check for problem. Found none. Said no problem with hatch switch. They said I probably left a door open or light on. FOR TWO YEARS NO PROBLEM! Got a JumpStart from Costco. AAA guy told me about it. The plan is that the JumpStart will get car running, if stuck on the road, then drive home. Decided I'll have to find the problem myself. Great youtube on parasitic battery drain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdIKNnwEjIs If I catch problem and there is enough power in battery will use my Ammeter (10 amp max) and pull fuses one at a time to pin down circuit. Lots of beware in Youtube video. Are you there RON?

Hey Guru and all, this is my certified Subaru Dealer-Customer Relations reply about this issue - OMG! Since my 2016 Forester intermittently died a couple more times since my last post (I would stop checking battery level daily since it was fine and then - POOF - dead...) and it had been to the dealer on the Big Island 3 times about this issue and they found nothing wrong (except for definitely unrevivable battery, I am on my 3rd - and yes that lady who works in a battery plant is right, Interstate and Wal-Mart and many other batteries are identical.) I was just out of my 3yr warranty period (@35k miles) so decided to contact Subaru Customer Dealer Relations (800-782-2783) and was able to talk them into covering a thorough exploration of this problem UNDER WARRANTY (technically, out of warranty.) I got a great rep (sup) to work with and he agreed to foot the bill. I took my car in, got a loaner - good thing because they had it FIVE WEEKS and found ZERO ZIP ZED ZILCH NOTHING that could be causing these drained battery issues -!!!! My dealer was working with the HI state rep for Subaru (Servco Hawaii, it's a little different here than the mainland where I think dealers work directly with Subaru) to find out what tests, what order, what possible technical service bulletins (ahem, you 2017 subists should definitely check for a Trevino service bulletin about a firmware update for your alernator charging pattern), or anything else. Battery test, parasitic battery drain, the rear latch mechanism (described in a previous post) were all done in the first few days. Pulled ALL the modules (many many little brains in our smart cars) and tested them and the car with and without. I did not get a good accounting of exactly what all they did in 5 weeks, but it ran up a SEVENTEEN HUNDRED and EIGHTY FIVE dollar bill (are you Fing kidding me?!?) which Subaru duly sent my dealer a check for. However, it was only my insistence to have the car back (after five weeks ) that stopped the tests, they still had a million more to go it sounds like. In the mean time, I got a Duracell battery maintainer (from Costco, $45) that will charge, keep charged, and restore a heavily discharged battery, so with that for problems before I have to use the car with a low battery, or the jump start battery pack for that critical realization - OH s--- AGAIN?!, I feel like it's at least 'safe' to rely on my otherwise Great Subaru! Since no one (here, dealers, new batteries, home and prof techs) is finding the exact problem, I am led to conclude this problem may be an unavoidable consequence of having such "Smart" cars, maybe that we don't drive quite often enough. My personal theory is that this is a software (firmware in the various modules, ECMs, BIUs, etc) problem that is not accounting for a full, final shutdown of electrical systems after the car is turned off - when certain activities occur in a certain order. (Except the functions that always remain awake, like theft, fob proximity, memory, clock, a few others.) For instance, if the car has sat (asleep) and I open a door, and then I open the hatch, the software may not go to the loop that shuts down the electrical system, but leaves it on alert mode. I don't mean ACC or On, I think everyone knows these cars go through an electrical shut down process that can take a couple hours after normal driving and the car is Off. It's not a simple parasitic drain caused by a bad part, I think it's a bad software routine with a few open loops that leaves the cars Awake instead of going through its final shut down from the last drive. And this can happen many days after the car was last driven, I'm in and out of my car between drives for all kinds of things. Just my theory... So, it sounded like my rep could be into a second round to complete the tests. Right now I'm still enjoying driving My Subaru too much to think of giving it up like that (a Hyundai is no comparison)! Sorry I don't have an answer. I will definitely come here and post one if I do! I'm learning to live with its OK if things aren't perfect, and even have serious defects and cause problems. Even our otherwise pretty astonishing Subarus... Aloha - Ron

Fascinating. I've three 2016-2017 Leg/OBs in my tiny menagerie...all with OE batteries. We just had a twin-pack of storms dumping 8" of heavy snow, so I'm off to COSTCO this morning to grab three or four more Interstates, as I've ALWAYS solved drainage or poor charge issues with this era Subies with a battery swap. Post here your longterm resolution, as I'm wondering if I'll ever get one that's not resolved easily. Ern TSG/B

I own a 2018 Forester w/ Eyesite etc., my 5th Subie, and I have never had a battery problem until this one. Reading this thread from top to bottom it appears as though there are two problems, one, a parasitic drain and two, OE batteries that are not up to snuff. A good battery should last at least 5 years or more and it is not the CCA's that determine how long a battery can sit and retain a charge, it's the Reserve Capacity Rating. CCA's, Cold Cranking Amps, refers to the amps available to start the car, the RC rating is expressed in minutes and is the length of time a good battery will maintain 25 amps and a voltage of at least 1.75 volts per cell. I'm personally a fan of NAPA's Legend batteries made by East Penn. They consistently receive high ratings in consumer magazines. With that being said, even the best battery will go dead if the drain is great enough and this appears to be Subaru's problem and they need to address it. Changing batteries may temporarily help the problem but it is not the answer and should not have to be done in a new vehicle. s

Absolutely correct assessment, mate! So, get yourself a good jump starter and multitester. This week in our Costco they have the battery conditioner I mentioned up there for $37 ($12 off darn!) With the conditioner /maintainer as needed, I believe I will keep this interstate battery for some years, several jump starts and just hope I don't find it so dead I can't restart the car (until after the conditioner revives it, takes a couple days @4A.) Yes, Subaru should be taking care of this...

I am also having trouble with my 2017 Forester,the battery has died many times and the dealership always has an excuse as to why and it’s normally my fault. I’m pretty sure when it’s not under warranty they will find the problem and charge me a fortune.

AGAIN: Go buy a nice $85 Interstate at COSTCO and be happy. Clean the clamps well when you install. Ern TSG/B

I have a 2016 Forester and today I’m getting my fourth battery. Yesterday, I listened to the radio for 20 minutes without running the vehicle, which drained the battery once again. This is so frustrating. Next vehicle won’t be a Subaru.

Subaru batteries?

I have the same problem with a 2013 forester. It died had it was in the garage on the charger for about 4 hours went to unhook it and heard a strange buzzing noise from underneath the back of the car. Almost sounded like a small compressor running of maybe a fuel pump??? Any way it was late so I unhooked the battery and will check it out I the morning. Just not sure what to be looking for?

I don't think you'll find anything, but a priming fuel pump is a good guess.

@Knucklebuster20 There is a EVAP self test that runs about 6 hours after the car is turned off. It's definitely unnerving to come into the garage in the middle of the night to hear it running. https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/noise-from-rear-right-wheel-when-turned- off.222857/

Kicked out of bed again? So sorry....

My brand new 2020 Forester (owned for less than two weeks) has died TWICE already. Any advice for how to get the dealer to fix this? Is there a type of new battery I should insist on getting installed? Or how do I get them to check for parasitic drain? Thanks!

I dont have any specific tips/tricks/answers to offer but just wanted to give a shout out to all who posted here and gave me some info to make the best decision for me as to how to deal with my newly acquired 2017 Forester. It has the OEM battery in it, and after reading all the posts, I'm going to go with either a mid-priced Interstate or Legend and then get a good battery charger that I can keep in the car. Side note: I've not yet parted with the amazing 2002 Acura MDX that's been nickle and diming me with age-related stuff and now I'm thinking maybe not to be in a hurry to do so! Thanks all for the info!

my advice is if you have a 2020 Subaru that has died already twice, take it back to the dealer and claim the lemon law and make them give you your money back. We have had our 2017 Subaru Forester 2.5 for about 10 months now and it has not started 6 times, Have had 2 interstate batteries, both died. Now have a higher amperage Subaru battery and that has died twice. So this is the 3rd battery in less than 10 months! Subaru needs to fix this problem cause all their commercials saying Subarus are reliable are nothing but lies! and False advertising! Best wishes to everyone and I am praying for an answer!

It can be tough to get past 2-3 weeks storage without sufficient parasitic drain to prevent starting. NONE of my clients who've purchased 2016-2019 OBs from me in the past couple of years have EVER required a replacement battery. The COSTCO Interstate standard 550cca (#25) has been sufficient. For deep winter or longer parked intevals maybe their #34 (800cca for +$10 is a good investment. It fits perfectly in Legs/OBs.

Asking-for-a-friend: I scanned these answers but didn’t see my issue, so sorry if this is a repeat. My friend’s Forrester just had 3yr dealer check up, and was told the battery failed. It will cost $400 or so for special battery because car turns off at every stoplight. If she has this feature disconnected, could she get by with just a Walmart battery?

Re Forester battery: see my response above.

Thanks @ernest!! Let me understand. 1. If none of your Outback customers ever needed a new battery, my friend’s Forrester battery may not actually need replacement. 2. If she gets a second opinion and it is bad, she can get a good replacement at Costco. I’m assuming she should have the feature disconnected. She is a Costco member, so thanks for the battery model number!

Re Forester battery #2: no. ALL OE Subaru batteries are crap, barely lasting three years. Same OE size is Group 25 (from 2010), or Group 34 for high capacity (Canada, etc), which is only +$10, so a relative bargain, as it's an 800CCA babe!