mechanic and car battery

Battery Defects in 2016–2020 Subaru Vehicles

By: Andrea Plata

Subaru owners have complained for years about battery problems with their vehicles. All too often, Subaru owners have found that they take their vehicles in over-and-over again for battery problems; but that the authorized dealerships are unable to finally resolve the problems. Recently, a class action lawsuit has been brought against Subaru for issues relating to the 2016-2020 Subaru Outback and Subaru Ascent models. The lawsuit is alleging that the vehicles have a battery drain issue and do not have the capacity to power the electrical systems when turned off. 

What is an Automobile Class Action Lawsuit? 

A class action lawsuit is a lawsuit brought by a group of plaintiffs who have suffered similar damages or injuries. Automobile class action lawsuits are typically brought when a group of plaintiffs is claiming that a specific auto part has either design or manufacturing defects. The term defect is used to describe a condition of a consumer product that does not meet a consumer’s reasonable expectation. 

In re Subaru Battery Drain Products Liability Litigation

Several individual suits were consolidated and brought as, In re Subaru Battery Drain Products Liability Litigation. Plaintiffs allege that the vehicle models have an uncommonly short battery life and that this leads to drivers facing serious issues on the road. Subaru owners have complained that the short battery life has resulted in them becoming stranded on the side of the road and forced to purchase battery chargers or alternative transportation. 

Plaintiffs claim that Subaru was aware of the battery drain issues in the Outback and Ascent models starting in 2017 and that the company concealed the known defect to consumers. Subaru has issued new batteries under their product warranty in the past although consumers are alleging that the replacement batteries also suffer from the same battery drain. 

One Plaintiff in the Class Action lawsuit described the issues as follows: “Defendant attempts to remedy the Defect by simply replacing the battery. But Defendant does so with batteries that have the same Defect, and thus, fails to fix the problem. This makes it substantially certain that the Defect will occur again, and many Class Members have in fact had their batteries replaced multiple times.”  Another owner of a 2018 Subaru Outback described the frustration with the constantly failing batteries, “This is the third time I have had to deal with a dead battery for the car. I don’t drive it often, and the car runs absolutely fine when the battery is actually working, but the battery dies on its own which leads me to believe that it’s somehow draining on its own.”  

How We Can Help

The California Lemon Law is one of the strongest in the United States and provides robust protections when automakers do not stand behind their warranties and are unable to quickly fix vehicles.  If your Subaru has given you repeated headaches, please call CCA today for a free consultation: (833) LEMON-FIRM. We will get you the compensation you deserve – and at no cost to you! 

About the Author
Sepehr Daghighian is a partner with CCA that is well-versed in all aspects of lemon-law litigation. A 2005 graduate of Loyola Law School, Mr. Daghighian has been practicing litigation throughout the state of California for over 13-years. In this time, Mr. Daghighian has advocated on behalf of California consumers in hundreds of lemon law cases throughout our great state. Mr. Daghighian has also successfully tried numerous such cases to verdict in both Federal and State Court.