Problems with 2016 Subaru Outback ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Once parking the vehicle and placing it in park, the key stays locked in the ignition. this isn't related to the steering wheel being locked in place, the key is stuck. shifting in/out of park needs to happen multiple times. looking into this online, there are multiple reports of this happening. this is a safety issue because we are unable to get out of the car with our kids because the key is stuck in the ignition.

My outback has around 42,000 miles on it. i am having trouble getting the key to come out of the ignition after putting it in park. so far about half the time i turn the car off i need to shift it into reverse and then jam it back into park in order for it to unlock the key from the ignition.

Ignition key gets stuck everytime and i have to jam it into park to ge it out

Repeated and unpredictable battery failure with no apparent cause, i.e. dome lights or other accessories not powered "on"., doors or rear cargo hatch not open. dealer analysis of electrical system found no issues however replaced battery. last occurrence 10/19/2019 in the home garage.for reliability it was necessary to purchase a portable booster charger costing $100.00. there has been 8 such occurrences since the purchase (new) in 2016. please advise.

Car is in park and engine is off and can not get key out of ignition. i then have to start car and move vehicle and hopes that when i stop car again i can get the key out. this is a safey issue as i can not leave car with key in ignition in public place. if i do at the house, then the car then drains the battery and car dies.car is only 3 year old!!! i'm not to happy with this. needs to be fix, this should be a recall!!!!! but i don't see one yet! i read other people are having the same issue.

Sometimes the key will not come out of ignition when put in park. freezes up. won't allow power lift gate to open either. seems to be related to tsb 16 112 18r, which in practice seems dangerous, as having to leave the key in the ignition even for a short amount of time with kids is risky. this needs to be a safety recall.

Problem in shifter gate so that key will not release from ignition after placing in park and turning off the engine.

Parasitic battery drain. battery drains and does not allow proper functioning of rear hatch. replaced battery after 2 years. having problem with new batter after only 2 months. vehicle has parasitic drain that reduces the battery charge over time.

I having problem getting my key out of the ignition from my suburu outback 2016, almost everytime i stopped an engine this problem occur.

Ignition key gets stuck in the ignition and won't come out. even after trying to turn the steering wheel which isn't locked. this happens when turning the car off.

Car won't start the next morning even after charging for 30 min via continuous driving/parasitic drain on battery

I cannot remove my key from the ignition or open the rear hatch when in park. the neutral safety interlock system does not recognize that the transmission is in park. the front console shows the car in park and the transmission is in park. however the key is stuck. i have to move the selector in and out of park using random patterns before the sensor/switch recognizes that the car is in park. started at 40k miles. my son felt that he had to restart the car to clear the issue and drained the battery, leaving him stranded.

With car stationary, engine off and car in park, keyed ignition will not turn to lock position or release key. this has happened repeatedly for two weeks, often more than once a day, from 3/10/2019 and continuing through yesterday, the last time the car was driven.

Electronic parking brake engaged automatically due to switch assembly module failure while car was in motion at between 25-30mph. car stopped instantly, passengers thrown forward, all-power died. cars in rear stopped short. failed to restart after initial attempts (10 min). weather clear, about 45 degrees f. 2.5 year old car, ~40,000 miles.

I was driving in the city and it just turned off on me. very quickly too. no time to pull over. just died in middle of the road. i was not using the eye sight and it was a clear day. but the dash said eye sight off. i tried to turn the car back on but it said i have to put in park first. so i put in park and it started back up no problem and worked all the way home. this is dangerous. i could of been rear ended.

Driving 75 mph on freeway with a little over quarter tank of gas on gas gauge and system info on car said 110 miles left till empty tank. car slowed very quickly and engine died. pulled over on freeway in the middle of desert. tow truck service took 3 1/2 hours to arrive. tow truck driver said car ran out of gas and put 5 gallons and then car started.

Problem: 360 cca batteries installed in new cars are not enough and they cause problems. my first indication was a year ago when i went to the store, was in there 10-15 minutes, and when i came out the car did not start. a friend came 2 hours later to jump it but tried it first and it started right up. second problem was on a trip to dc in november '18. nor'easter came through and we got stuck on the interstate in the mountains for a few hours. car was stopped, not running. went to get dinner then to car to go on again. would not start. were stranded for 3 more hours, as the weather and mountain drive made it impossible to get help. we were eventually able to find someone to jump it. over next few months, odd things happened like the radio not working sporatically, slow starts, and the key not coming out of ignition occasionally. took it to the dealer, they recommend a $853 new shift mechanism, but in the discussion he happened to mention the 360cca battery not being enough for the car. my suspicions tell me to get a new battery and see how things go. got battery- 640cca, a week ago and no problems at all now. it's not right that the dealers know about the battery not being enough, and when you bring the car in they try to get you to pay for large dollar fix-it's and avoid talking about the battery issue. i don't know how many years and makes of subarus have these, but prob at least a few years. they need to recall and put in better battery, at least a $500cca. i have read car guru blog that makes it obvious that at least hundreds of people have stories of being stranded. for a long time or in a bad place. my battery cost me $173 and they should refund that to me.

Repeated parasitic battery drain. battery tests fine by autozone and dealer, but car will die over a few hours or a few days. sometimes even 10 minutes. apparently issue with make/model as many complaints.

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 subaru outback. while driving approximately 45 mph on a local roadway, the eyesight pre-collision brake assist suddenly activated and caused the vehicle to completely stop. the brakes released shortly after the failure. the dealer (subaru of dayton, 995 miamisburg centerville rd, washington township, oh 45459, 1-(888) 431-9557) was notified of the failure. the service center manager indicated that the failure was escalated to the manufacturer. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was waiting for a follow-up response. the vin was not available. the approximate failure mileage was 54,000. *tt consumer stated car was taken into the dealer and so incident since. updated 12/20/18*jb

The keys become stuck in the ignition when attempting to park the car. unable to remove. also unable to turn off the car fully. sometimes reparking multiple times helps.

The ignition key does not release whe the ignition is turned off and the car is put in park.

Dead battery. three times my car has failed to start and the battery when tested with a load tester says,"bad battery". after boosting and running for a few minutes it tests "ok" and the alternator and starter test ok. upon the 3rd time it malfunction i had it taken to the //dealer on a roll deck. the dealer can not find the problem and just charges the battery and says it is ok. "it is not ok when it happens @ 25,00 km. and 32,000 km and 40,000 km. the battery has less cranking amps then my riding lawnmower, but the dealer says that is what subaru recommends . what can i do to get them to treat the cause, not the symptoms? each time it happened i was lucky to be close to help.

Key i unable to be removed from ignition intermittently at an increasing rate. driver has to repeatedly put the car in drive and then park to try to remedy the issue to be able to turn off the car and remove the key.

Battery dies if car is not driven weekly. steering column replaced twice and steering rack once.

I have learned because my wifes car is also a 2016 subaru that soy based materials have been used in wiring and hoses of my outback creating a dangerous situation since rodents and squirrels are attracted to this product and will chew on them the manufacturer has not provided a replacement to the soy products so this is a long term safety concern that needs to be rectified. we have already incurred dangerous and costly damage to one subaru and are concerned it will happen again to one or both of our cars.

I was unable to remove the key from the ignition switch with the car stopped and the car was in "park" position. the car remained in the "accessory" ignition position (electrical accessories remained on) because the key would not go to the ignition lock position. i was therefore unable to lock the car steering or leave the vehicle unattended unless i had a separate set of keys with me. even with another set of keys, the car's electrical system remained on and the car would easily be stolen or driven by an unauthorized user. i took the car to a subaru dealer and they repaired the car under warranty after a few days waiting for replacement parts. the dealer told me this is a known defect with subaru of america.

Vehicle starting becomes slower for about 1 week and then it will not start at all. i then got a boost from a service garage in the first instance and drove the car to my selling dealer 40 km. away. they did all the testing, battery, alternator and it did not show any codes. they only did diagnostic work and no actual repairs and gave me the print out just in case it happened while we were on our 5 month vacation in florida. this happened at 25,000 km on the odometer in september of 2017. it is now january 15, 2018 and i am in florida. the car has 33,000 km. on it the exact same thing happened, with a slow to turn over for about 1 week and then failure to start. i tested the battery with a load tester and it tested as "bad" on the guage. we then boosted it to start and tested the voltage from the alternator which was 14 volts and the battery tested 12 volts. after a few minutes of run time we turned it off and it failed to start again. after boosting again i drove it less than 1 mile to my house and let it run while i called the roadside assist and got the phone number of the nearest subaru dealer, who informed me that roadside assist would bring it to the dealership and they would test it. if the battery was bad then they would replace it. after 15 minutes i returned to my car in the driveway and turned it off. i then attempted to start it several times and every time it started correctly. my wife then drove it 15 km. to get groceries and it restarted every time that she left the stores. i then did another load test on the battery and the needle never wavered from the green area of the guage. it leaves you wondering when you will be stranded in the wilderness or the side of an interstate highway. thank you for any help that you may offer.

Car battery dies cold weather. no warning. obvious defect either battery or electrical drainage. i not only owner with problem. on line many complaints with battery dying and leaving one stranded cold weather. subaru and dealer know of defect will not warranty problem. twice stuck when car parked on street and garage. wouldn't start.

I had difficulty several times removing the key from the ignition. the last time this happened, i was able to remove the key, but the car died. i called the dealer and they gave me the local towing company. napleton subaru kept the car for two days and could not find anything wrong with it. i have been afraid to drive the car on the highway, or go too far from home.

Intermittently all the lights in the dash will go out for approximately two seconds, then come back on. during this period of time, i have nothing on the dash, no speedometer, turn signals, eyesight, radio, etc. to me this is a safety hazard. it happens, so fast that i do not have time to see if my headlights outside of the vehicle are functioning correctly or not, so that i am being seen by other motorists. it has happened on two occasions when i hit a pothole. my dealership has not been able to re-create this problem. i feel it is a short in the dash. it is always when i am driving, but it never lasts more than 2-3 seconds and the dealer tells me to "bring it in while it's happening". this happens every few weeks and has happened since i purchased the vehicle.

The original equipment battery for the vehicle has been insufficient to meet the demands that the "bells and whistles" put on the reserve power in the battery. as such, this puts the driver at risk that the vehicle will not start the vehicle. either standards should be established for reserve battery capacity, based on electrical demand, or better indication provided on available charge. i.e., much like that provided by other devices that have an indication of remaining battery charge. this vulnerability was shared with subaru soon after i purchased the car, new, and has been reported to both subaru and their dealership on multiple occasions. i should have upgraded the original battery on my own from the start, but only became aware of the deficiency of the original equipment until recently. the fact that subaru would allow any operator to drive one of their cars under these circumstances is reprehensible, let alone someone that they say is a "valued and appreciated customer."

We purchased a 2016 subaru outback 3.6, fully-loaded with every bell and whistle regarding safety, comfort, and convenience in the middle of december 2015. the subaru starlink infotainment system's technology froze causing the clock to freeze at 10:37am as well as the navigation system (no voice commands either.) the multi-touch interface not only lost functionality across the board, but it affected the message display between the tach and speedometer, as well as the touch screen options disappearing from the screen, the map would not display, you would press the audio button and after about 30 seconds, the audio screen would automatically enter split-screen mode with the navigation system. when trying to exit split-screen, the system would not respond. if i shut the radio off by the button, the system would not shut down. the radio would say, "audio off - touch here to go to source screen", however the system wouldn't shut down. the system would stay on split screen with the map, only the map would disappear. i videotaped what was happening, called starlink, subaru of america, and the dealer, who has been awesome so far, and was told they know of one other vehicle with this situation. subaru of america said to shut the vehicle off and "reboot" the system to see if that would help because it did in another instance, although not totally correcting the problem and only addressing the gps freeze. there are a couple of tsbs (technical service bulletins) on the radio, however none applied to the symptoms being displayed by my vehicle. waiting on subaru of america to address this and a roof rail issue. dealer believes there will be many more of these complaints about the subaru starlink infotainment system's technology. regarding the roof rails, they do not sit flush to the roof. dealer replaced left side already and still happening, so subaru has to address it now.

I purchased a new 2016 subaru outback on october 6, 2015. the tire pressure monitoring system activated on january 25, 2016, even though all tires had 35 psi in them as recommended. since that day, the system has activated 17 times, again every time the tires had the correct pressure in them. the subaru dealer has had the vehicle in the service department five times for a total of 14 days. even though there was a sincere effort at first to locate the problem, i am now being told that this is a normal condition for my vehicle and there is nothing else that can be done to repair this vehicle safety warning system--that i must accept it as it is. this is very frustrating to me since the vehicle has only 2,200 miles on it. the system makes a beeping noise, then a screen comes on the dash with an exclamation sign and a tpms symbol, then another screen comes on that says check owner's manual. this usually happens in the morning as i am backing out of my garage and my vehicle is entering the street in front of my house. according to the manual, if there really was a low tire pressure, the light would stay on until the tire was brought up to proper pressure. my message finally goes away and does not act like the manual says a low tire would indicate.

This issue is a safety enhancement request affecting top of the line subaru outback 2016 limited/premium models equipped with keyless ignition systems. this issue is similar to that reported in nhtsa id number:10881286. issue: it is possible for a driver to inadvertently turn off the engine (we are only human) using the start/stop button when the vehicle is in drive, park or neutral. if vehicle is on a slope, the vehicle will roll forwards or backwards on it's own. this presents a serious risk of grave bodily harm to people in the path of the unattended moving vehicle. this already happened with my vehicle, luckily it happened inside my garage on a very slight slope and my closed garage door stopped the vehicle. if my children had been behind the vehicle, removing their school bags, they would have been pinned to the garage door by a 3500 lb vehicle. unacceptable. i repaired the slight damage body work on the vehicle at the dealer but that is irrelevant compared to the safety risk presented by this "works as designed" behavior of the car. possible workaround: 1. subaru needs to change this behavior and eliminate the risk by automatically engaging the electric "park brake" that is already installed in this model vehicle, when the engine is turned off. 2. disable engine stop until transmission is set to park. the current audible warning is insufficient. my 15 year old vehicle did not allow the key to be removed from the ignition slot until park lever was engaged to prevent this exact problem. *tr

My car required 2 repairs 5 weeks apart of the wiring bundle controlling the fog lights and low oil level sensor due to a critter chewing the bundle while it was parked. i now have bounce laundry sheets stuffed around the engine compartment at the suggestion of the dealer; they see this often from cars out of the mountains.