I have a subaru legacy outback 1999. It just got done having some autobody work done to it, and while it was in the shop it “mysteriously broke down”. It was running fine before I dropped it off. They say the ignition coil went out. I made them push the car outside the fence so I could take a look at it over the weekend and then have it towed. When I first got in, the key was in the ignition. I turned it over just to test it. When I turned the key back towards me to turn it off, it wouldnt turn all the way. It basically stays in the position that allows electrical current to lights and power windows and what not. It will move forward from there but not back. Needless to say, now on top of everything else, the cars battery is dead. I’m having it towed tomorrow, but I’m curious if anyone knows why the key and ignition might be acting
like this?
Charge the battery. That’s all it needs.
It wouldnt turn before the battery died.
Although your battery might need to be recharged from the switch being left in the “on” position, you obviously have some other issues to be addressed. Sounds like you might have a bad ignition switch – as a result of either wear or something that someone at the body shop did to it. I had the same problem on my '99. A bad switch might not be able to turn all the way off (just as mine did), and it might also not allow power to all of the places it’s supposed to (like the ignition system/coil).