Crazy subaru radio

Have a 2005 Subaru Legacy wagon with a radio/CD player that is combined with the climate control. After 3 years the unit started acting odd, volume increasing on its own, etc. Subaru replaced the unit under warranty. 2 years later, same thing started happening and then it just quit entirely. Since it’s a combined unit, had to replace it if I wanted HEAT. Got a 2nd unit 1 month ago and this weekend it quit again. Was working fine while out on errands; got back into car and couldn’t get it to turn on. Went home, turned car off but left accessory on - radio worked! Then turned car off and back on - radio worked. But for how long??? Subaru guys say it is just a badly designed unit but I’m not finding others complaining. Feels like a wiring issue…

Make sure that the power supply to the radio is ok and the ground connection for it. If those things are ok then it looks like there may be an intermittent internal problem with the radio.

Another possibility is that your alternator is dying.
Fluctuating current flow to electronic devices like your combined audio/hvac control unit can produce some very flukey situations.

Have the alternator’s output checked by your mechanic.

Its an unfortunate design combining the two.

I have the same radio/climate control and its been fine over 5yrs/110k. This radio has an extremely low failure rate. Subaru’s have incredible reliability in terms of the electrical.

I will state that if it acts up, try disconnecting a battery terminal as sort of hard reboot. Removing the fuse is not enough as the radio is still powered a bit to remmeber the radio settings.

Funny thing is my wife’s radio/climate control(2005 Legacy GT) did actually lock up once or twice a month before we got a dead battery. Shutting off the car completely via key and on seemed to reset it.

Once we replaced the battery it cleared the issue.