Tell HN: 3G sunsetting is remotely killing every Subaru Outback battery
I have a 2016 Subaru Forester with a seemingly parasitic drain issue. Every time I go to start the car, it&#x27;s like rolling the dice whether it has enough battery power to fully start. I have a portable jump starter that I&#x27;ve had to use at least 20 times or so in the last couple of years. This has been happening even well before the 3G sunset period, so that is not the only source of the battery drain problem, for which there is a class action lawsuit: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.subarubatterysettlement.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.subarubatterysettlement.com&#x2F;</a>.<p>Everything I&#x27;ve read online about the issue points to the STARLINK system, and the common wisdom in this thread and elsewhere is to pull the DCM fuse. Unfortunately, my Forester has no such fuse, so I&#x27;m at a loss what to do with my car.<p>It&#x27;s so frustrating, because my wife has a Subaru Crosstrek of the same year that has never had a battery problem, even with the OEM battery. She has a base model without any additional &quot;upgraded&quot; electronics, so that&#x27;s the likely culprit in my case. I&#x27;m currently on my third or fourth higher CCA battery and had to jump it again a few days ago.<p>I haven&#x27;t taken my car to the dealer for the parasitic drain issue, but previously tried to get dealership service for an unrelated entertainment system issue related to USB media playback freezing up the entertainment system. That fix was unsuccessful, and I have no faith in Subaru mechanics being able to diagnose and fix a potentially more nebulous battery drain issue. It doesn&#x27;t help that the dealership is now 45 minutes away, so I&#x27;m not interested in wasting even more time on a hit and miss solution.<p>Ironically, I bought Subaru because reliability was my number one concern when purchasing a vehicle, and I&#x27;m not sure I would do that again.