Outback and Legacy owners might be driving a vehicle with defective airbags that won’t work in a crash
6 hours ago
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- Subaru is recalling almost 119,000 vehicles over potentially faulty airbags.
- The issue relates to a sensor that may not arm the passenger airbag properly.
- It’s the third recall stemming from the same parts manufacturer.
Subaru has issued a recall for 118,723 vehicles across both the Legacy and Outback model range. All share the same potential for a problem with their occupant detection system. In cases where the system fails to function properly, the passenger-side airbag might not deploy during a crash. Subaru expects only one percent of the recall population to have the actual safety issue.
That recall population includes Outback and Legacy cars from model years 2020 through 2022. All share an occupant detection system sensor assembly built by Aisin Electronics. That component includes four sensors to detect when a front passenger is present in the seat. When it functions properly it arms the airbag so that it can deploy when needed.
More: Subaru Recalls Forester, Impreza And More For Cracking Front Driveshaft
Subaru says that during production the ODS Sensor Circuit Board might have been “deformed, causing a crack to form in a capacitor, which can allow moisture to enter the capacitor over time and result in a short circuit.”
Notably, the automaker mentions that owners have two alerts to look out for in their cars. First, the SRS Airbag light should come on. Second, a light that denotes the passenger airbag being OFF should illuminate despite a passenger being present in the seat.
Between January 2021 and February of this year, Subaru received 23 technical reports about this problem. On February 15, 2024, the supplier sent a recall to the NHTSA and a month later Subaru decided to also conduct a recall due to the issue.
Interestingly, Subaru is aware of 253 warranty claims related to this malfunction but has no knowledge of any injuries associated with it. Subaru owners who want to determine if their car is affected can call their local dealer or search for their VIN on the NHTSA’s website
This is now the third separate recall involving Aisin occupant detection sensors. In February, Honda recalled 750,000 cars from 2020 through 2022 over sensors that might actually deploy when they’re not supposed to. Again, the issue comes down to a potentially damaged capacitor and was actually linked to a natural disaster during production.
Back in December 2023, Honda recalled 1.1 million cars over Aisin sensors that might misclassify the size of a front passenger seat occupant. In that case, the sensor uses data it collects to calibrate the airbag performance based on their size. Another potential short circuit in those components led to that recall.
