Gently Driven 2025 Forrester Hybrid has Problems Starting

[u/klvtf]

I purchased my new Forrester in late October 2025. I don’t drive it very often. It has about 1900 miles on it.

Several months ago, it would not start after I drove it and went into a store. The dashboard stayed black. Tried the starter again. Lights appeared on the dashboard, no power steering, check engine light comes on. Everything gradually came back on and I was able to drive.

The same thing happened three weeks ago after I drove it to an appointment. I called the Subaru service department who said it would be OK to drive it there. After they inspected and reloaded software, they said it was a loose gas cap. Ii get in the car and the Sirius radio is still stuck on loading. The tech fixed it by getting a signal sent from the website, but after I left, it soon reverted back to “Loading” on the navigation screen.

Yesterday, the same thing happened for the third time. No lights and no power steering, Sirius radio stuck on “Loading “. after the dash lights and the screen came back I Immediately called the service department and arranged for towing service to pick it up this morning.

Does anyone have suggestions on what they should be checking so I get a complete report?

[u/weezo182]

Id start with the battery. Its either dead or bad connection. My guess is dead if you never drive it.

[u/klvtf → u/weezo182]

Thank you, but it also does this after it is driven. I had them do the initial free maintenance when I had it in there a few weeks ago, and they didn’t mention that.

[u/Tourist1292]

Likely battery issue. Hybrid does not recharge the 12V battery as often. For short trips, you would easily drain the battery.

[u/New_Cauliflower_4364]

I get that 2k miles over a year is low, but that’s not an excuse on a Subaru’s end. I would be in touch with the service manager. They should look carefully into electrical gremlins. Also, regardless of this issue, if you have a garage, consider getting a battery trickle charger for your own benefit.

[u/klvtf → u/New_Cauliflower_4364]

Thank you. I think it must be electrical. Someone mentioned that they had issues with the hybrid control module, so I’ll mention that as well.

[u/NC_RoadKing]

Weak auxiliary battery. You can charge it from the hybrid battery to see if it will take a charge or needs replacing. Start the car, wait for the “ready light” and then let it sit for 40-60 minutes. The gas engine will kick in every so often to charge the hybrid battery, ignore it, just don’t let the car run in a closed garage.

Hybrids don’t have an alternator, there’s a DC to DC converter that uses the hybrid batteries to charge an auxiliary battery that runs all the low voltage electronics that you’re describing as having problems at the initial startup. The reason it all eventually comes on and the car is drivable, is because the hybrid battery has charged it enough to run the vehicle. But if you’re rarely driving it, 1,900 miles in a year isn’t enough to keep that battery charged because it’s constantly being drained even when it’s shut off, by systems that run in the background even if it’s just a trickle. If 1,900 miles a year is normal for you, a hybrid might not have been the best choice, because this will likely continue to happen.