NHTSA Complaint #11455129 — 2018 SUBARU OUTBACK

During a photography trip of May 2021, in a very remote area, the Outback's rear gate was kept opened for my dog for a few hours. When it was time to leave, the battery wouldn't start. Luckily, I had a battery charger. There was nobody present to help in this area and no mobile phone service available. Later in the day, the battery died again, under the same circumstance. We were fortunate to have extra food, water, and blankets if needed to survive the night. I thought maybe the battery was old. I replaced the battery on May 24, 2021 with an Optima 25 battery. This is a better battery than what Subaru installs. This February 2022, we went camping in a remote area of Death Valley with no available services. The fairly new car battery wouldn't start. I used my emergency starter again. This time the rear door and side doors had been opened constantly due to camping activity. It was not possible to disable the lights so as not to drain the battery.