2008 Subaru Legacy Electrical Problems

There is a parasitic drain on my car battery. I have replaced the alternator and battery twice, and the car can’t hold a charge.

NHTSA ID

11430867

Incident

Aug 28, 2021

RED AIRBAG INDICATOR IN INSTRUMENT CLUSTER BEGUN COMING ON/OFF ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK THEN BECAME CONSTANT. OBSERVED PASSENGER AIRBAG INDICATOR HAD NO LIGHTS ON(NO ILLUMINATION AT ALL) SEARCHED FORUMS AND FOUND MULTIPLE SIMILAR CASES WITH NO RESOLVE FROM THE DEALERSHIP. AS A MECHANIC MYSELF I BEGAN MY OWN DIAGNOSIS, CAUSE: REMOVED OVERHEAD CONTROL PANEL AND PERFORMED ELECTRICAL TESTING ON PASSENGER AIRBAG CIRCUIT. FOUND OPEN CIRCUITS BETWEEN COMPONENT CONTACTS. CORRECTION: RETINNED CONTACTS AND ADDED SOLDER. HAVEN'T HAD AN AIRBAG LIGHT SINCE THE REPAIR.. I HAVE HEARD THE DEALER WANTS 300+$ TO REPAIR. THIS IS SUCH A COMMON AND SERIOUS ISSUE THAT IT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED FOR A RECALL... I HAVE SEEN AND PERFORMED FAR MORE TRIVIAL RECALLS. THAT SAID; IF YOU TAKE YOUR CAR TO A DECENT SUBARU OR INDEPENDENT SHOP THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO DIAGNOSE THIS AND FIX IT FOR ALOT LESS THAN THE DEALER

NHTSA ID

11298303

Incident

Apr 22, 2018

Mileage

109,345 mi

VEHICLE DIES. I KNOW THERE IS A RECALL OUT THERE FOR THIS REASON BUT I'M TOLD THAT MY CAR IS NOT PART OF THIS RECALL BUT MY CAR IS DOING EXACTLY WHAT THE RECAL IS TALKING ABOUT

NHTSA ID

11232581

Incident

Jul 14, 2019

Mileage

1,540,000 mi

HAD THE RECALL FOR BRAKES DONE & RECALL FOR AIR BAG, & CATALYTIC CONVERTER. NEVER RECIEVED POST CARD FOR ELECTRICL RECALL , HAD ALL KINDS OF WORK DONE & THE ENGINE LIGHT, CRUISE CONTROL,ETC WILL NOT TURN OFF. WHY HAVENT I RECIEVED RECALL NOTICE SO THAT I CAN BRING IT TO SUBARU DEALER, THANK YOU [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).' *PM

NHTSA ID

11183796

Incident

Oct 5, 2018

Mileage

145,000 mi

WHEN THE REAR WINDOW DEFROST IS TURNED ON THE RADIO NO LONGER WORKS. I BELIEVE THIS TO BE A SAFETY CONCERN IN THE EVENT OF TRYING TO HEAR IMPORTANT BROADCASTS IN POOR WEATHER. THIS IS A WELL KNOWN ISSUE, BUT HAS BEEN POORLY ADDRESSED BY SUBARU. THIS AFFECTS MANY MODELS IN THIS YEAR RANGE. LEAVING THE CONSUMER TO PAY TO REPLACE A POORLY MADE PART TO REPEATEDLY OCCUR EVEN AFTER REPLACEMENT IN SOME CASES.

NHTSA ID

11170679

Incident

Jan 10, 2019

Mileage

109,000 mi

ALL OF MY DASH LIGHTS ARE ON (STATIONARY & IN MOTION) CRUISE CONTROL LIGHTS BLINKS CONSISTENTLY (STATIONARY & IN MOTION), MY CAR CRUISE CONTROL ALSO FEELS LIKE IT GOES ON AND OFF CONSTANTLY (IN MOTION), AND MY CRUISE CONTROLS ON MY STEERING DO NOT WORK (STATIONARY & IN MOTION) . ALSO MY RADIO IS CONSISTENTLY GOING ON/OFF, CHANGING STATIONS, VOLUME CONTROLS GO IN/OUT (STATIONARY & IN MOTION). ALSO MY REVIEW MIRROR DISPLAYS THE WRONG DIRECTION ON THE COMPASS, AND THE AUTO DIM AND COMPASS FEATURE IT'S SELF GOES ON/OFF CONSISTENTLY (STATIONARY & IN MOTION). UNDER THE HOOD WILL SMOKE AFTER I'VE DRIVEN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, OR GONE UP STEEP HILLS.I READ ONLINE WHERE OTHER PEOPLE ARE HAVING THESE ISSUES WITH THEIR SUBARU LEGACY'S AND OUTBACKS AS WELL. NOTE: THESE ISSUES HAPPEN CONSISTENTLY WITHOUT REGARD TO THE TYPE OF ROAD ON WITH THE EXCEPTION OF UNDER THE HOOD SMOKING. THAT ONLY HAPPENS AS DESCRIBED ABOVE.

NHTSA ID

11099062

Incident

May 31, 2018

Mileage

95,000 mi

AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD COMES ON INTERMITTENTLY , BUT NOW STAYS ON THE MAJORITY OF THE TIME. TOOK CAR TO DEALER FOR PASSENGER AIRBAG RECALL AND THEY TOLD ME THE AIRBAG LIGHT ON THE DASH IS FAULT CODE 26. MANY OTHER SUBARU OWNERS REPORTING THIS EXACT SAME ISSUE, WHICH IS RELATED TO FAULTY SOLDERING OF COMPONENTS IN THE OVERHEAD MAP LIGHT CONSOLE. AS THIS IS A CRITICAL SAFETY ISSUE (PASSENGER AIRBAG MAY NOT DEPLOY IN AN ACCIDENT), SUBARU SHOULD ISSUE A RECALL TO REPAIR OR REPLACE THE FAULTY COMPONENT(S). BEWARE- SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE.

NHTSA ID

10875808

Incident

Jun 1, 2015

Mileage

98,000 mi

AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD COMES ON INTERMITTENTLY WHEN STARTING THE VEHICLE (FAULT CODE 26 - PASSENGER AIR BAG INDICATOR FAILURE) MANY OTHER SUBARU OWNERS REPORTING THIS EXACT SAME ISSUE, WHICH IS RELATED TO FAULTY SOLDERING OF COMPONENTS IN THE OVERHEAD MAP LIGHT CONSOLE. AS THIS IS A CRITICAL SAFETY ISSUE (PASSENGER AIRBAG MAY NOT DEPLOY IN AN ACCIDENT), SUBARU SHOULD ISSUE A RECALL TO REPAIR OR REPLACE THE FAULTY COMPONENT(S).

NHTSA ID

10865325

Incident

Nov 15, 2015

Mileage

89,000 mi

I BROUGHT MY CAR TO THE LOCAL REPAIR SHOP WHEN MY AIRBAG LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD WAS COMING ON INTERMITTENTLY. UNFORTUNATELY I HAD TO TAKE THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR THEM TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. WHEN I CALLED BERTERA SUBARU I MADE THE FIRST APPOINTMENT THEY HAD AVAILABLE, WHICH WAS TWO WEEKS FROM WHEN I WAS CALLING. I DROPPED MY CAR OFF ON MY SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT ON JULY 10TH AT 10:30 AM. BERTERA INFORMED ME THAT MY CAR SHOULD BE READY FOR THE END OF THE DAY. AT 4:00 PM BERTERA CALLED TO TELL ME THAT THEY WERE UNABLE TO TAKE A LOOK AT MY CAR AND WOULD NOT GET TO IT FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. DISAPPOINTED WITH THE CUSTOMER SERVICE, AND STILL WONDERING WHAT WAS WRONG WITH MY AIR BAG I HAD TO MAKE ANOTHER APPOINTMENT FOR MONDAY JULY 13TH. ON MONDAY BERTERA INFORMED ME THAT MY CAR WAS "CLEARED OF ALL RECALLS" YET MY AIRBAG SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED FOR $384 AND IF I DIDN'T REPLACE IT I WILL STILL HAVE TO PAY $120 FOR THE DIAGNOSIS AND THAT IT IS A SAFETY HAZARD TO CONTINUE DRIVING BECAUSE IF I GOT IN AN ACCIDENT THE AIRBAGS WOULD NOT DEPLOY. I INSTANTLY LOOKED ONLINE WHERE I SAW HUNDREDS OF COMPLAINTS FROM SUBARU OWNERS WITH AIRBAG PROBLEMS. WHEN I RECEIVED THE COPY OF MY SERVICE THE AIRBAG LIGHT ERROR WAS CODE 26. THERE WAS POWER AND GROUND ON INPUT SIDE, BUT THE INDICATOR "INTERNALLY SHORTED". SINCE THE AIRBAG DOES NOT WORK WHEN THE LIGHT ISN'T WORKING PROPERLY THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. I URGE THE NHTSA TO LET ALL POTENTIALLY AFFECTED OWNERS KNOW ABOUT IT. PLEASE CONSIDER THIS COMPLAINT TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE SUBARU AND ADD THIS TO THE EXISTING PROBLEM OF TAKATA DEFECTIVE INFLATER AND PROPELLANT DEVICES AIRBAG RECALLS. THIS "INTERNAL SHORTCUT" IS ALSO CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEFECT IN AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).? *JB

NHTSA ID

10734347

Incident

Jul 13, 2015

Mileage

74,500 mi