Newer cars have a lot of features that draw power. My wife’s Audi is always doing some type of system check.
Starting a car with everything on is harder on batteries. Did you leave an interior light on?
Both of my sons had their newish batteries replaced this year. They let it set in the garage for two weeks while at school. They “needed” their cars on-campus. I told them to drive it around for 30 minutes at least once a week.
You could always trickle charge it if it’s going to sit.
There are a lot of variables, but it is often normal for a new battery to be very low after 3 weeks of not driving. The bigger issue is that the same issue happened again after charging by driving. Possible explanations include not driving it for long enough to charge up much, bad battery, bad alternator, or something in car drawing more than normal from battery when off. My area has many places that will test battery and often alternator for free.
Batteries aren’t without a defective rate. I’ve seen plenty of batteries go bad before their warranty period expired. Or it could be any of the other issues mentioned, such as a bad alternator, short, parasitic drain, etc.
They towed it to the dealership. Hoping to get it back tomorrow. I was/am scheduled for a road trip at 6 the morning after. My old Volvo sits in the garage for 3-4 months at times and starts up like a charm. Tow truck driver said it is likely some sensor acting up draining the battery.
Good luck and be careful, especially with the road trip coming up. If the dealer has to order a part, there can be a delay there if it is not locally available, and there are parts shortages too.
All the very best!
Curious as to why a 2019 has a battery that is less than a year old. Was there a problem that caused the original battery to be replaced early?
Got the car back. Correlation was causation in this case. They think when they serviced the car, something got accidentally connected draining the battery. Not sure if they checked thoroughly. I will find it out tomorrow morning when I start the car.
Lots of stuff hits the battery these days: remote start from your phone requires an active connection to wireless, for example. Your car could be trying to connect to every bluetooth device that walks past in case it’s a match. Just about everything is computerized, and many of those devices keep a trickle going to save settings and revive quickly upon start.
@dietz199 My brother had this happen to his 2020 Ascent. What was the cause in the case of your Subaru?
It’s DD’s Subaru. Purchased new, August 2020. A few months ago she went to start the car and it was just dead. AAA jump started…she drove it…dead again the next day.
Deal installed a new battery. Couple of theories…one, the battery is simply underpowered for the amount of drain required while the vehicle is off. Two, Subaru has a problem with it’s systems…lots of chatter if you check on ‘Subaru batteries dying’. Her Forester is excluded from the ongoing lawsuit. The dealer ‘found no problems’.
Pretty much the same story. They just remote start theirs a couple times a week and let it idle for a bit when they aren’t using it much. That fixed it after the theater of the second battery replacement. (Sure, two defective batteries could be possible, except they died the same way and one was original from the factory while the other came from a pallet of parts at a MN dealership. Not buying it.)
Not sure how old the car is, but have they considered whether the car is covered by their state’s “lemon laws”? They might be able to force a buyback of the car or get a replacement vehicle.
Trust me: it was on my mind with my recent problems, and I am sure it was on the mind of the dealer.
DD couldn’t buy her vehicle in 2022 for what she paid in 2020. She drove a hard bargain :). Supply is also very limited.
I would suggest checking your state’s lemon laws to see if it applies to DD’s car. In a pro-consumer state like CA, I could sense the dealer was a bit worried (but, in fairness, it is also very reputable). However, it is a real risk for automobile manufacturers and their delaers, so they tend to bend over backwards to fix problems like this.
If Subaru, which is generally excellent, has systemic problems like this, they know what the risk is under applicable lemon laws.
What is happening to your DD’s car is TOTALLY unacceptable, and Subaru needs to fix it immediately.
The state “lemon law” is separate from any existing litigation against Subaru. Each state is different, but it may be worth DD/your time to research how it could play out for her.
Here’s something to consider for starters to help guide you: Lemon Law for New Cars | Nolo
ETA: The Subaru dealer needs to take the time to do the isolation test to figure out the problem. I doubt that a Forester needs a heavy-duty battery, and it’s probably a parasitic draw. That takes a lot of time to diagnose (my car was in the shop the second time for 7 days, but the dealer got me a rental car…wasn’t too bothered). Again, I emphasize that your state’s lemon law is completely separate from litigation. At worst, DD might go to arbitration, but I think if you research DD’s rights enough and go to the dealer (documenting in WRITING all your communications) and that you are considering your remedies under the applicable lemon law, the dealer will spend the time. Since the car is almost assuredly under warranty, it should be at no cost to DD, and they should give her the rental car so they can take days to fix it.
We have one and my husband bought one for my daughter’s car at school. She rolled her eyes but after her car sat over winter break she couldn’t start it and the battery jumper thing worked great. She has helped out friends with it several times as well.