Relating to this thread
https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...935/m/6490059815/p/1

I have had 3 battery replacements at the dealer in my bought new 2017 Forester. That's 3 batteries in 8-9 years. All declared bad and warranty replaced by the dealer. The most recent has failed in only 1.5 years.

Then I learn about this
https://www.subarubatterysettlement.com/

I think Subaru is blowing smoke up you know where. I did not know of the settlement. The car history fits the issue.
Subaru, this time, charged the battery and talked me into an onboard trickle charger. At my expense.
They also said I need to drive more so the car charges itself. Regular short commutes are not enough.
I said that is very contrary to being a commuter car. I very often drive 2-10 mile commutes 3-5 times a week.
On Christmas day I drove at least 50+ miles. Then a short commute Friday. Sunday the car would not start. Sunday was colder, about freezing. Tuesday, it did start and I went straight to the dealer.
I think the dealer can't or won't fix the underlying problem. And I got a butt full of smoke.

Any comments?

I had the same problem with my 2020 WRX. Early in the cycle, they hadn't found the problem, so I got a similar answer to you along with free batteries. After the second dead battery, about two years ago, they found a bulletin with the solution. The parasitic drain was coming from the card that runs all of the internet connected features. They didn't have a corrected part available yet, but there was a kit that replaced the card without any features. I didn't use any of those features, so I had them remove the card. The car was fine after that - it could sit for a week while I traveled and start strong.

There’s some truth to what they told you.

short drives kills car batteries.
my daughter's car (2020 subie impreza) needed a new battery in year 4. my 15 legacy in year 2.
my alfa in year 3.

these days, i just bought battery tenders and hook the cars up once a month when i know it's not going anywhere for 12+ hours to give them a good charge.

I have a 2023 Jeep Compass and it has two(2) batteries. The smaller battery handles the automatic stop start feature and is notorious for draining the larger standard size battery.

I bought the Certified Pre-Owned Compass last August and within three days, had the larger main battery replaced because battery tests showed it FAILED. It was replaced free of charge. The Compass still has a factory warranty, Certified Pre-Owned comes with a warranty and I purchased an extended warranty good until 2031. I have no idea how the dealer handled the claim but it cost nothing to replace the battery.

Thing is, with the Jeep Compass, I've read MANY people recommend replacing both batteries if one FAILS. But the dealer only replaced my main battery and said the smaller battery tested good. Even provided me with a diagnostic printout.

I'm 72, retired and seldom drive as much as I once did. Certainly not every day. Maybe a couple-few times a week and even on the Jeep, short trips and infrequent driving is said to kill batteries.

So I bought this Battery (AGM Battery) Minder and the Compass is hooked up to it at all times when home ...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005...t_b_fed_asin_title_1

Ran a quick connect from the battery and attached to the grill ...

it's not just short trips but all the electronics in modern vehicles, the BCM, ECM, and other components like vehicle alarms, motion detectors, all draw power constantly.

Combine that with very short trips like a few miles a day and it's a recipe for shorter battery life. Add in Florida heat, Michigan cold and your battery won't last.

Add a radar detector or video cam that's plugged in and powered and it might be enough to push it over the edge. I know that not turning off the radar detector in my truck increased the draw enough that recovery after starting for a short drive wasn't enough to keep up and it would go through a battery in two years.

Turned it off and took it out and that problem stopped.

a good battery tender on it, especially if it sits for a bit isnt' a bad idea, be sure to get the extension to run the connector outside like on the Jeep pictured and it's a simple connection.

Just don't take it to the airport when you go on a 7 day vacation.

Both batteries should be replaced at the same time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5muryiBYs8

When the battery is charged. Remove the positive battery cable, put a volt meter between the positive cable and the positive on the battery, 1 lead on each with voltmeter set to dc amps. See how much the draw really is then call the dealer.

^^^Do it again after 10 minutes as some electronics take awhile to shut down.

Not a good way with the newer stuff. use a milliamp clamp. leave the battery connected and watch the modules power down. Unhooking the battery resets everything, you don't know if they power down on their own.

My Grand Cherokee has a known issue with the cars keyless start system. The car is trying to pick up the signal from the key fob when the key fob is stored inside your home but close to the car.
Kills the battery. Solution is to shut down keyless start or move the key fob to an interior room.
When I take a trip and leave it at the airport, I use the Jeep app on my phone to remote start the car mid trip to keep a good charge on the battery.

Yeah we got the notice about the class action. Have a 2016 Outback. Currently on battery original +3. This is my only real complaint about the car. Dismissed round 1 two living in the battery hell of Las Vegas. Rounds 2-3 yeah there is an issue that I don't understand but I suck it up and replace as needed. Think it's a design flaw as battery also corrodes quicker than any other car I have owned.

Concerning vehicles with two batteries like in my Jeep mentioned and pictured above ... it's NOT a good idea to disable the stop / start feature. My research indicates that the smaller aux battery only charges when the stop / start feature is enabled. So if always disabled by the switch on the dash (Jeep), the smaller battery will run down and then a message will appear on the dash to service the stop / start system as was indicated in the video oldbill123 shared.

At that point, the smaller battery will start drawing "juice" from the larger battery in order to charge the smaller battery ... and eventually both will go bad.

So bottom line is that it's better for battery health to learn to live with the stop / start feature than disable it out of habit when driving the vehicle.

I do disable the feature but only at very select times. Times such as pulling into my drive and knowing I will shift from drive to park and don't want the stop / start working for the couple of seconds it takes to park the vehicle. Speaking of parking, I also (if I remember to) disable the feature when I pull into a parking lot for shopping at a store. Same as pulling into the drive, don't want the stop / start feature kicking in for the second or two it takes to park the vehicle. All other times, I've learned to live with the feature during normal driving to keep the batteries as healthy as possible.

All these auto-opening sliding doors and liftgates eats batteries too, each time you hit that button it’s using battery power.

Wife's 2019 Suby Outback had multiple instances of playing dead at the most inopportune times. Once when returning to the parking garage at PDX airport from overseas. Key turn... zip, nada. The dealer (Wilsonville Suby) was great about it.. picked car up, loaner, etc. Replaced battery twice, then oddly it's worked perfectly the past two years. Point is, they knew there was a problem all along.

My wife's 2019 Subaru Outback has around 38,000 miles on it with the original battery. The car will often sit for a week at a time without being driven since we use our jeep a lot. I do check it every 3 or 4 months and top it off with distilled water as needed.

2018 Outback here. Still on the original battery.

Regarding batteries, it's worth noting that while CCA is important (and basically the ONLY thing anyone ever mentions when selecting a replacement!), due to all the electronics in modern vehicles, Reserve Capacity (AH) is just as, if not more important. Typically there are numerous of loads that continue to run on battery power AFTER you shut the engine off. Obviously Reserve Capacity is important as those loads are draining the battery when the charging system is not maintaining/charging the battery. The issue when comparing replacement batteries is that not all manufacturers calculate this rating the same, as it is load dependent. Another issue is that some manufacturers and/or retailers also make this rating hard to find.

I drive Volvo's, and in the case of my '09 S60, none of the replacement batteries specified for my vehicle (excluding the Genuine Volvo Battery) met both the CCA and Reserve AH of the existing battery. IMO (and Experience!), the East Penn/Deka Batteries are FAR superior to those manufactured by all other manufacturers. Batteries+Bulbs stores stock the Duracell branded version, and generally the Batteries+ guys know what they're talking about when it comes to batteries. The guys at Batteries+ worked a few calculations with me to confirm the best replacement and we decided to go with the battery that had the higher Reserve AH even though it has slightly less CCA than the OEM battery. Just something to consider...