The complaint for this class action alleges that certain Subaru Outbacks and Ascents have an electrical system defect that causes their batteries to fail unexpectedly. The failure, the complaint says, leaves victims stranded and in need of roadside assistance, jump starts, and repeated battery replacements.
The Nationwide Class for this action is all persons in the US who bought or leased a Class Vehicle, other than for resale. There is a also an Oregon Subclass, for persons in Oregon. These are the Class Vehicles:
2016-2019 Subaru Outbacks
2019-2020 Subaru Ascents
Plaintiff Dustin Dalen bought a new Subaru Outback in Salem, Oregon. According to the complaint, Dalen had seen representations that Subaru vehicles were reliable, and that most Outbacks were still operating after ten years. The vehicle came with a New Vehicle Limited Warranty, and Dalen bought an extended five-year, 75,000 warranty.
On April 3, 2018, Dalen’s wife took their children to a park in the vehicle. When it was time to leave, she was unable to start the vehicle again. Dalen had to drive to the park to give the Outback a jump start. At that time, the vehicle had only around 12,000 miles on it.
The vehicle failed a second time when he drove to Seattle, Washington on a business trip, on the night before he was scheduled to return home. He claims he had to take an Uber to a store to get charger and extension cables, so that he’d be able to jump start the vehicle the next morning and drive home.
The battery was found to have low voltage during a regular oil change on February 15, 2020. The dealership replaced the battery under warranty. At the time, the vehicle had under 36,000 miles on it.
The complaint alleges, “Based on the nature of the Defect, Mr. Dalen is likely to suffer more battery failures.” Also, it says, the vehicle’s value has decreased because of the defect.
According to the complaint, Subaru has known about the battery defect for a long time but has failed to come up with a fix for the problem. The complaint says that “because Subaru replaces the batteries with the same batteries, the battery-drain problem recurs. Replacing the battery is thus a temporary fix only. The new battery is prone to failure from the same Defect. Thus Subaru does not fix the Defect.”
The complaint alleges, “The Defect arises from Subaru’s decision to install batteries with insufficient capacity to power the [vehicles’] electrical components when the vehicle is turned off.” The vehicles thus need “a repair to the vehicle that reduces the demand on the battery” or the problem will simply recur.
Among the complaint’s allegations are breaches of warranties and fraudulent concealment.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Automobile
Most Recent Case Event
Subaru Outbacks, Ascents Repeated Battery Failure Complaint
April 16, 2020
The complaint for this class action alleges that certain Subaru Outbacks and Ascents have an electrical system defect that causes their batteries to fail unexpectedly. The failure, the complaint says, leaves victims stranded and in need of roadside assistance, jump starts, and repeated battery replacements.
Subaru Outbacks, Ascents Repeated Battery Failure ComplaintCase Event History
Subaru Outbacks, Ascents Repeated Battery Failure Complaint
April 16, 2020
The complaint for this class action alleges that certain Subaru Outbacks and Ascents have an electrical system defect that causes their batteries to fail unexpectedly. The failure, the complaint says, leaves victims stranded and in need of roadside assistance, jump starts, and repeated battery replacements.
Subaru Outbacks, Ascents Repeated Battery Failure Complaint