The Lemon Index$171 middle bill · most between $152 and $192
Lower than the $317 middle bill owners of all 104 models reported.
Owners who gave their mileage: a middle of 24,000 miles (6 reports).
Subaru Outback owners reported paying a median of $171 for a car battery replacement, with the middle half of bills between $152 and $192. That's from 18 owner reports (18 complaints to NHTSA). Costs vary by shop and region.
What owners paid
- Under $50089%
- $500–$1,0006%
- $1,000–$2,5000%
- $2,500–$5,0006%
- $5,000 and up0%
Share of the 18 owner reports in each price band.
By model year
- 2011 Subaru Outback1too few for a middle
- 2015 Subaru Outback2too few for a middle
- 2016 Subaru Outback5$172 middle bill
- 2017 Subaru Outback4$154 middle bill
- 2018 Subaru Outback3$176 middle bill
- 2019 Subaru Outback2too few for a middle
- 2020 Subaru Outback1too few for a middle
Reports per model year, with the middle bill where there are 3 or more. YouTube amounts count for the generation the video covers.
How often owners report the failure
- 2017 Subaru Outback147 complaints name it16% of that year's complaints
- 2019 Subaru Outback127 complaints name it12% of that year's complaints
- 2016 Subaru Outback103 complaints name it16% of that year's complaints
- 2018 Subaru Outback66 complaints name it8% of that year's complaints
- 2020 Subaru Outback65 complaints name it7% of that year's complaints
- 2015 Subaru Outback35 complaints name it7% of that year's complaints
Owner complaints to NHTSA whose own words name a battery drain / dead battery. Raw counts: popular years get more complaints. A complaint is a report, not proof of a defect.
Engines in these years
Engines with a page of their own that this model was sold with in the years above. Owners don't always say which engine they had.
Keep going
- Subaru Outback reliability by year
- Car battery replacement cost on every car
- Car symptoms and what they can mean
Other repairs Subaru Outback owners reported
Torque converter replacement (25) · Transmission replacement (19) · Head gasket replacement (12) · Radio and infotainment screen repair (7) · Brake repair (6) · Wiring harness repair (6) · Clutch replacement (5)
The details
How we count
Every number here is a repair bill an owner reported, never a shop's price list. Two sources: the bills owners wrote in their own complaints to the U.S. government (NHTSA), and the dollar amounts owners said out loud in YouTube repair and ownership videos. A figure counts for a repair when that repair is the part named nearest to it. Left out: purchase prices, payments, rentals, towing, warranties and deductibles, amounts under $50 or over $15,000, parts-only prices ("the part was $80 on Amazon"), bills for two different repairs named together, and money someone else paid. One number per complaint (or video) and repair: the biggest, so it's the bill, not the diagnosis fee.
The range is the middle half of the bills (the 25th to the 75th percentile), so one wild number can't swing it. Owners who complain to the government often had expensive repairs, so a typical bill can be lower. Costs vary by shop and region, by dealer vs independent shop, by parts and by miles. This is what owners reported, not a quote for your car.
Check the bills yourself
NHTSA complaint numbers (search them at nhtsa.gov): 11489669, 11486192, 11486112, 11479647, 11469184, 11464636, 11464003, 11460749, 11448287, 11441761, 11439918, 11431610 and more.
Quick answers
How much does car battery replacement cost on a Subaru Outback?
Subaru Outback owners reported a median of $171, and the middle half paid $152 to $192, from 18 owner reports. Costs vary by shop and region.
Is a Subaru Outback car battery replacement more expensive than on other cars?
The Subaru Outback middle bill of $171 is lower than the $317 owners of all 104 models we have reports for paid.
Where do these Subaru Outback repair costs come from?
From 18 complaints to NHTSA: what owners themselves said they paid. They aren't verified bills or a shop's quote.
Which Subaru Outback years report this failure most?
In complaints to NHTSA, owners of the 2017 (147), 2019 (127), 2016 (103) Subaru Outback named it most. Raw counts, not a failure rate.
Sources: NHTSA owner complaints and YouTube videos (amounts said out loud), sorted by The Lemon Index. Owner reports, not a price quote. Costs vary by shop and region.