Owners claim battery drain issues left some Subarus dead overnight. The lawsuit allegesfaulty systems kept draining replacement batteries. Plaintiffs report stalled vehicles and repeated roadside jump-starts. Modern cars draw more current at rest than they used to, and some Subaru owners say theirs never stop drawing it. Plenty of automakers field complaints about a single problem model. It’s rarer to see one accused of shipping the same defect across nearly its entire showroom floor. A new class action lawsuit alleges that many of the brand’s best-known vehicles suffer from a persistent battery-draining flaw. Read: Subaru And Toyota Sued Over EVs That Keep Dying Without Warning The complaint was filed May 1 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and names both Subaru of America and Subaru Corporation as defendants. Plaintiffs argue the cars’ electrical systems keep pulling power after the ignition is off, eventually killing the batteries. Affected models listed in the lawsuit include the 2021-2022 Subaru Outback, 2021-2024 Subaru Forester, 2021-2023 Subaru Legacy, 2021-2023 Subaru WRX, 2021-2022 Subaru Ascent, 2019-2023 Subaru Crosstrek, 2019-2024 Crosstrek Hybrid, 2022-2025 Forester Wilderness, and 2019-2023 Subaru Impreza. Battery Drain Complaints According to the lawsuit, owners experienced everything from repeated no-start conditions to vehicles stalling in traffic. One plaintiff allegedly had a 2024 Outback completely shut down while driving, blocking traffic before needing a tow. Others claim dealerships often replaced batteries only for the same problems to return months later. The suit isn’t claiming that Subaru installed weak batteries. Instead, plaintiffs argue the real issue lies in the vehicles’ electronics failing to enter a proper low-power sleep mode after shutdown. That allegedly creates a constant “dark current draw” that slowly drains the battery even while parked. The filing also points to several Subaru technical service bulletins discussing parasitic battery diagnostics. One October 2025 bulletin reportedly warned technicians not to automatically blame the vehicle’s Data Communication Module, noting newer-generation modules did not show “consistent parasitic draw issues.” That detail could become important because it suggests Subaru was actively investigating the issue internally while owners continued reporting dead batteries and repeated jump-starts. It’s no secret that modern cars are more power-hungry than ever before. That comes down to all of the extra features they have baked into the design process. Plenty of those features, like connected services, can function in a nearly always-on state. Clearly, that doesn’t mean that dead batteries are acceptable. At this point, we await Subaru’s response to the case to see where things go from here.
+42 others
