motormouth bob weber
Q: Recently a reader wrote in about their 2017 Subaru Forester and the battery dying. I work for a company that has dozens of these 2017 Foresters and we have had battery problems (and replaced them) on several of these vehicles. My guess is that there is a battery problem that Subaru isn't owning up to. For what it is worth, our vehicles experience high highway miles so the short trip factor isn't applicable.
N.L., Homer Glen, Ill.
A: You make a good point. Sometimes carmakers will install the least expensive (read smallest) battery necessary. Read on.
Q: I own two Subarus and have experienced the battery draining issue on the one with keyless ignition. After the battery draining problem happened two more times on two consecutive days, I did more research on the issue and found that Subaru and automotive stores sell an upgraded battery with a higher CCA rating.
Armed with this information, I had a frank discussion with the service manager at the dealership who finally agreed to install the upgraded battery at no charge. That solved the problem. It has been a year and a half with no battery draining issues.
W.R., Chicago
A: It never hurts to have a friendly chat with your service manager. Ask to speak with the service manager, not the service writers at the front desk.
Q: I just read your recent article about battery maintainers. I drive 3,500 miles a year. Longest trip is 5.5 miles. The car usually sits unused three days in a row each week. I had my Taurus for 12 years and I was able to hook up my battery charger once in a while to energize it. The battery was very accessible.