Subaru Outback Has A New Fuel-Saving Feature But You Don’t Like it

Also know that the '20 Outback resets to Start/Stop on each time you turn on the engine.

If you are handy with a soldering iron, a simple switch can be added to disable it until you flip the switch or you could simply omit the switch and just have it permanently disabled.

Great overall car, but they should have used a simple dash button (Not a multiple-step touch screen "decision tree") IMO, deal breaker.

Agree. I’ve saved to buy my dream Subaru but have postponed purchase because of this start/stop feature. Kudos for car companies attempting to save fuel (would be faster if gas guzzlers were off the market or force only them to carry the start stop feature) but to add this feature and not give OWNER/DRIVER option to select to use this feature has deterred me. If it could be disabled until I decide to turn it back on would be acceptable but I definitely not going to disable this feature every time I start the car.

Car is ten years old! How long do you expect it to last? What kind of driving do you do? I'm on my eleventh Subaru since 1983 - much of the time have had two at a time. Have had very few problems and none very serious. Drove one sedan for almost 300k miles. Many long trips and country roads. Subaru has had some problems in 2015 - 2017 but has corrected them. hard to beat a Subaru.

My husband and I have owned five Subarus I Presley now own a 2016 Subaru outback I have been looking at the new ascent 2021 but I'm done with the Subaru also I will not buy another one bye-bye Subaru too..

True, it doesn't stay disabled.

I just bought a 2020 outback touring and have figured out how to disable the auto start stop feature; not permanently but my way is easier than going through the screens to turn it off. You only have to push a button after you start your car. First, go to your car settings and scroll down until you see the defogger. It will more than likely be set to 15 min intervals. Change the setting to run continuously. After you change the setting look to the right of the screen and there is an actual button that looks like 2 windows with arrows pointing to the center of these windows. It is the defroster/defogger button. It should be above the red arrow that controls your a/c. When you turn your car on, all you have to do is push the defroster/defogger button. You do not have to change the setting for the defroster since you already changed it. I spoke with the dealership and they said it would not damage the car. You don't even have to have the a/c on or the heater; it still works. If I had known about the auto start stop feature and that you could not disable it permanently, I would not have bought the Subaru. There should be a button to shut if off instead of going through several screens and then scrolling down each time you get in the car! Other than that, it is a great wagon!

At least you can disable it. I have a 2014 Malibu and you can not disable it! The second battery is over 200 dollars! So annoying.I could love with pushing a button lol

I had a '93 Legacy turbo wagon.It was a great car sold it at 220k never had the head done .The owners manual said to not let it idle for long periods so maybe autoshutoff might not be a bad idea although newer turbos might not have that problem

But would you love it if you had to make four touch screen selections every time you start your car to turn it on? Then two more to get to navigation screen. Then two more to change the orientation.
My XT saved 1/4 gallon in a full tank.

When the vehicle shuts off via this feature, so does the air conditioner. In hot temperature states such as Arizona, in traffic @ lights, this is not acceptable. THAT is a reason NOT to love it.