2005 Subaru Outback electrical system problems

28 owner complaints filed with NHTSA name the electrical system on the 2005 Subaru Outback — 10% of all complaints for this model year.

Electrical System complaints

10%

share of all complaints

111,406 mi

median reported incident mileage

0 / 0

crash / fire reports

What owners report

“Parasitic Battery Drain: When the vehicle is in use, the CAN system in the car relies on an electrical current to be operated as intended. When the vehicle is not being driven, the CAN system should enter a sleep mode in which it stops drawing significant electrical current. However, vehicle does…”
filed Oct 7, 2021
“The wiring of the rear hatch door electrical components is faulty and the wires between the car roof and the hatch break over time, due to normal hatch functions (e.g. Opening/closing). Depending on which wires break, rear-windshield wipers, license plate lights, back-up lights fail, causing a…”
filed Mar 15, 2019

Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.

This bulletin announces the new procedure and Warranty Fail Code for FirstTime air conditioning (A/C) performance concerns possibly resulting from an undetected A/C refrigerant leak.
10-105-25R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 26, 2026
This bulletin contains information to help when attempting to complete the STARLINK Telematics subscription process, an Error Code 202 and / or 204 may occur preventing the process from completing successfully
15-219-18R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 16, 2026