With my 2010 Subaru Outback being almost 14 years old (but with only 72,000 miles), I thought it was time to upgrade so I bit the bullet and sold it to another person.
With the new car prices being crazy, I am looking for a 2017 or 2018 Subaru Outback with around 65,000 miles.
I came across this 2017 Subaru Outback at Matt Slap Subaru (Delaware) and wanted to share my feelings on certain Subaru’s with “vampire” drain where the battery is silently drained while not in use for few days.
The car looks very good with fairly low miles for its age. Although the maintenance record was lacking (only 8 service records), I wanted to make an offer on it but I stopped when I read the Carfax detailed service report.
I counted four instances of battery related issues.
I checked the factory maintenance schedule for the 2017 Subaru Outback model to confirm that battery and electrical inspection are not officially listed. So battery tests and replacements were “probably” done when the owner of the vehicle complained about it.
Now, I am not a mechanic, but my 2010 Subaru Outback experienced this very exact problem later in its life, and I got around that problem by installing a larger (and more expensive) Optima battery and driving it every day (as suggested by a Subaru technician). I certainly do not want to repeat that experience that again so I will be passing on this car.
I do want to emphasize that I have absolutely no relationship with Matt Slap Subaru dealership and it seems to have a lots of positive feedback so take what I say with a grain of salt.
Reference Links
- 2017 Subaru Outback Factory Maintenance Schedule (Cars101.com)
- Repeated Dead battery Issue Finally Resolved (Reddit)
- 2017 Subaru Outback Battery – Mike Shaw Subaru
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