Subaru warns Ascent owners to park outside due to fire risk
Enlarge / That's as close as you should park your Subaru Ascent to the garage for now, Subaru says. (credit: Subaru)
This week, Subaru announced a recall for more than 271,000 Ascent SUVs due to a potential fire risk. Although owners won't be formally notified until early February, Subaru says that model year 2019-2022 Ascent SUVs should not be parked in garages or car ports or under other structures. Subaru also says owners should not leave their Ascent running unattended, and if they notice or smell smoke coming from the dash or driver's footwell, they should immediately turn the car off and not attempt to restart it.
The problem is an improperly grounded terminal for the cars' positive temperature coefficient heater, a heat source for the climate system that does not rely on engine heat. In January 2020, Subaru changed part of the Ascent's assembly process, switching to air tools on the part of the production line that fastens the ground terminal.
If the bolt isn't properly fastened and the contact area is too small, resistance can build up to the point where the ground terminal gets hot enough to melt, along with anything in close proximity. That's obviously not something you want to happen while you're driving a car.