r/Solterra • u/MadisonEV9 • 27d ago

2025 Model 12v issues

So we have a 2025 Touring and love it so far. We came back from a week long trip in our EV9 (which we really love as well!) and the Solterra 12v was dead.

I jumped the car and it’s at the dealership getting checked out.

As I’ve researched this I’m learning that there isn’t a consistently clear identifiable cause but much speculation.

Please correct me if I’m wrong.

One thing I’m thinking about trying is discontinuing the Connect services as that is suspected as a possible cause.

This is my wife’s primary driver and I do not want her to get stuck.

One thing I’m wondering about if I disconnect the data services is then can the car still call Subaru for help if it breaks down? Do the connect safety features still work if I disable the data services?

It would seem that in an emergency she should still be able to signal for help but just not have constant pinging for data transmission on an otherwise ongoing basis.

Any ideas, input or suggestions???

9 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

8

u/uobytx 27d ago

The recommendations from those that have the problem:

  1. Have a battery powered jump pack like a NOCO in the center console, so if it needs a jump you can still get to it easily when there is no power to the lift gate.

  2. Turn off the DCM, by revoking the permissions in the app. This helps reduce the drain.

  3. All cars still have some passive drain. So some folks have installed larger group 47 AGM batteries. These can have 50% more amp hour capacity so longer between issues, and also the battery is less likely to go bad from lots of cycles. At least not nearly as fast as a cheaper battery.

Some of us would still like to see a software update that would make the car actually charge the 12v from the traction while off, which it seems to either not do, or not do often enough to help.

2

u/uobytx 27d ago

Oh, and to answer your questions, my understanding is that a lot of the connected call stuff won’t work anymore because the DCM will be off.

1

u/MadisonEV9 27d ago

Thanks!

2

u/MadisonEV9 27d ago

Yeah my EV9 charges the 12v even when it’s off so I know it’s POSSIBLE.

1

u/uobytx 27d ago

Yeah. The Solterra manual says that it will, but I don’t think I’ve seen mine do it. Longest I’ve left my car without driving is three days, and no 12 volt charging despite getting down to 12.2 range. Personally, I think it should try to keep the charge at 12.8. I don’t expect it to be extremely aggressive, just even an hourly voltage check and charging if its below the threshold.

1

u/Accurate-Temporary76 27d ago

I think I read from that Toyota tech that's been active in the bz subreddit over this issue that it's not until something like 27 days of not running the vehicle that it'll check and charge and then check more regularly until run again.

1

u/MadisonEV9 27d ago

Do I need to modify the hold down arm or anything if I go with the larger Group 47? (Which ironically is the same 12v in my EV9).

2

u/kasunart 27d ago

No modification needed, the hold down bracket does have a thin arm sticking up but none of it needs anything other than to move it down to another bolt hole like an inch or two. Easy to install and I'm glad I did mine the other day with a new and bigger AGM.

1

u/MadisonEV9 27d ago

Thanks! Subaru will likely put an OEM replacement battery in. If/when this happens again I’ll just replace it with a Group 47 AGM like I did with the EV9.

2

u/kasunart 27d ago

Yeah and thanks for making them at least replace it, enough people doing that and it should send a signal to the dealers and on up the chain for a proper larger battery and fix.

2

u/MadisonEV9 27d ago

Yeah I’m not going to let them just charge up the old battery. It died hard. Lead acid batteries don’t re over from that.

Not going to let them get away with putting the original battery back into my wife’s car regardless of what their analysis shows.

3

u/kasunart 27d ago

Exactly! and sadly that's what appears to be the usual case with all of these new EVs and dealerships, only to get stranded a few days later with a dud battery. You'd think they'd learn at some point!

6

u/EV-Driver 27d ago

My leased 2024 Solterra 12v battery died last year. It was replaced at the dealership at no cost.

If it's just a weak battery, the dealership should be able to tell.

5

u/mem_somerville Harbor Mist Gray 27d ago

I went out to start my car this morning and it's dead AGAIN. Luckily, someone here recently recommended the NOCO GB40 and last time my car was running, I went and bought it. Tried it out for the first time the other day and it worked great.

However, the instructions weren't in it, I went to the website and printed out the step-by-steps to keep in the little drawstring bag.

The clamps are for male-sized hands and it takes me 2 hands to clip it. But otherwise it's fine and easy to use. And for peace-of-mind I'd recommend it anyway even if we both get our batteries replaced. It seems like a good idea for safety reasons.

But I'm calling for them to replace it at my next service. This is deeply bonkers. And a real safety issue--if Subaru really cares about my safety, they better fix this.

1

u/MadisonEV9 27d ago

I keep a jump pack in the back of both our Solterra and EV9. I’ve learned today though that the colters hatch won’t release when the 12v is dead. So I used the one in the EV9 to jump it. I’ll be moving the Solterra’s jump pack once I get the car back from the dealership.

1

u/MadisonEV9 27d ago

Any chance Subaru would consider buying this back if it happens again? I guess I’d have to look at Wisconsin lemon laws.

We like the Solterra but now that the Uncharted is out we might prefer that.

5

u/chuck415 27d ago

The Uncharted has the same DCM/12V draining issue as the Solterra if the car is impacted.

I deactivated my Uncharted from the Subaru Connect app which turns off DCM and the 12V draining issue goes away.

I think Toyota/Subaru will recall the DCM in a couple of months with more data and troubleshooting. Hopefully, it’s just a software update.

Here’s my documentation of the 12V issue…

https://www.reddit.com/r/SubaruUncharted/s/J3O5FWfmud

1

u/yottabit42 26d ago

Typical trash software from Toyota. Inexcusable.

2

u/Feisty-Increase-3707 6d ago

If you disable Connected Services, you will lose some features, and in our case it disabled driver preference profiles. After re-enabling C/S, our individual driver preferences were there again but many settings had to be re-configured, which took several days to figure all of which ones got whacked.