2015 Outback sat for a month- now extremely lethargic

So I left my Outback parked for a month, came back, and it drives very poorly.

The power steering in particular is very weak and requires me to use a lot of force to turn. Separately, the 9v outlet inside barely works to charge my phone now, and the rear power liftgate struggles and won’t stay open. The car also seems to lurch a bit when driving at low speeds.

The car does have over 200k miles on it.

Are these issues worth a trip to the mechanic, or can I expect them to resolve themselves as I drive more? I’ve driven it about 50 miles since getting it back.

Posted Aug 8, 2025, 4:57 PM UTC

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