2014 Subaru Forester

The passenger side seat airbag sensor has quit sensing when someone is seating in the seat and turns off the airbag. After taking it in to the dealership and them running diagnostics they said, “it isnt working.” They quoted me a repair of $1182 to replace the whole seat. I know Subaru has issued a recall on certain models, but my car was not one of them. It seems like the same problem though. There appears to be a lot of people having the same faulty sensor system and having to pay high repair costs that only the dealership can do.

I have a 2014 Subaru Forester and I am having the exact same problem described in the NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V701000. The dealership wants to charge $1250 dollars to replace the seat bottom for a part that is recalled for all Subaru Foresters from 2015-2018. An electrical connection in the front passenger seat for the Occupant Detection System (ODS) is causing the airbag sensor to remain in the OFF position even when there is a passenger in the car. This is unsafe! When I contacted corporate they were unwilling to pay for replacing the part. My only recourse is to hope that the recall is expanded to include the 2014 Subaru Foresters.

The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that he lowered the rear passenger’s seat to make some room in the vehicle to install the child safety seat. While attempting to raise the seatback up to lock it into place, the rear passenger seat would not latch in place securely. The seat had to remain in the lowered position. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000.

Last week I had an issue when no one was in the passenger seat but the seatbelt chiming continued to go off. This happened even after turning off and restarting the car. The issue seemed to be resolved until I noticed the passenger airbag was off when I was driving my mom. Then a warning, "SRS airbag system needs to be checked", came on and has not turned off. I see a recall for 2015-2018 Foresters, but none with my VIN number. Of course, I've searched online and it seems to be a problem with others. I know moisture could be an issue, but I don't remember spilling anything recently. I wanted to report this in case another recall should be made.

OCCUPANT DETECTION SYSTEM (ODS) MALFUNCTIONING. PASSENGER AIRBAG IS OFF WHEN AN ADULT IS SEATED IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT. SOMETIMES THE PASSENGER AIRBAG IS ON WHILE THERE IS NO ONE (AND NOTHING) ON THE SEAT, CAUSING THE SEAT BELT WARNING CHIME TO OCCUR UNTIL SEAT BELT IS BUCKLED. SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM (SRS) LIGHT APPEARS ON DASHBOARD AND SHUTS DOWN AIRBAG SYSTEM WHILE DRIVING. THESE THINGS OCCUR SOMEWHAT RANDOMLY WHEN STARTING THE CAR, CONTINUE WHILE DRIVING IN THE CITY AND HIGHWAY, AND DON'T GO AWAY UNTIL THE CAR IS TURNED OFF. SOMETIMES RESTARTING THE CAR WILL CORRECT THE PROBLEM. I BROUGHT MY FORESTER TO THE DEALERSHIP BACK IN 2017 AND THEY REPORTED THAT THE SENSORS OF THE ODS SYSTEM WERE NOT WORKING PROPERLY AND WILL NEED TO BE REPLACES. COST ESTIMATE IS ABOUT $1,100. THEY SAID THE LIKELY CAUSE IS MOISTURE OR THE SEAT GOT WET. I LIVE IN A DRY CLIMATE AREA AND HAVE NOT GOTTEN THE SEATS WET AT ALL RECENTLY (AND BARELY EVER IN THE PAST). THROUGH RESEARCH, I HAVE FOUND A VERY SIMILAR PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED IN THE 2015-2018 MODELS AND THERE IS A RECALL (WUM-98) FOR THOSE YEARS. MY FORESTER IS A 2014 AND IS OF THE SAME GENERATION BUT ISN'T INCLUDED IN THE RECALL FOR SOME REASON. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE 2014 MODEL SHOULD ALSO BE INCLUDED IF THE SAME PROBLEM IS HAPPENING? APPRECIATE ANY HELP AND INSIGHT YOU CAN OFFER!

OCCUPANT DETECTION SYSTEM (ODS) MALFUNCTIONING. PASSENGER AIRBAG IS OFF WHEN AN ADULT IS SEATED IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT. SOMETIMES THE PASSENGER AIRBAG IS ON WHILE THERE IS NO ONE (AND NOTHING) ON THE SEAT, CAUSING THE SEAT BELT WARNING CHIME TO OCCUR UNTIL SEAT BELT IS BUCKLED. SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM (SRS) LIGHT APPEARS ON DASHBOARD AND SHUTS DOWN AIRBAG SYSTEM WHILE DRIVING. THESE THINGS OCCUR SOMEWHAT RANDOMLY WHEN STARTING THE CAR, CONTINUE WHILE DRIVING IN THE CITY AND HIGHWAY, AND DON'T GO AWAY UNTIL THE CAR IS TURNED OFF. SOMETIMES RESTARTING THE CAR WILL CORRECT THE PROBLEM. I BROUGHT MY FORESTER TO THE DEALERSHIP TODAY (1/26/2021) AND THEY REPORTED THAT THE SENSORS OF THE ODS SYSTEM WERE NOT WORKING PROPERLY AND WILL NEED TO BE REPLACES. COST ESTIMATE IS ABOUT $1,100 AND I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE PART GETS SHIPPED IN. THEY SAID THE LIKELY CAUSE IS MOISTURE OR THE SEAT GOT WET. I LIVE IN A DRY CLIMATE AREA AND HAVE NOT GOTTEN THE SEATS WET AT ALL RECENTLY (AND BARELY EVER IN THE PAST). THROUGH RESEARCH, I HAVE FOUND A VERY SIMILAR PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED IN THE 2015-2018 MODELS AND THERE IS A RECALL (WUM-98) FOR THOSE YEARS. MY FORESTER IS A 2014 AND IS OF THE SAME GENERATION BUT ISN'T INCLUDED IN THE RECALL FOR SOME REASON. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE 2014 MODEL SHOULD ALSO BE INCLUDED IF THE SAME PROBLEM IS HAPPENING? APPRECIATE ANY HELP AND INSIGHT YOU CAN OFFER!

AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT IS LIT ON THE MAIN CLUSTER BEHIND THE STEERING WHEEL AND ALSO ON THE CENTER DISPLAY. I BELIEVE THE SYSTEM IS FAULTY AND I'M SEEING AN OVERWHELMING NUMBER OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS ONLINE. I'M WORRIED THE AIRBAGS WILL NOT DEPLOY IN AN ACCIDENT. MY CAR HAS NEVER BEEN IN AN ACCIDENT, I HAVE NEVER SPILLED FLUIDS ON THE SEATS WHICH SEEMS TO BE A COMMON PHRASE COMING FROM MECHANICS AT SUBARU SERVICE CENTERS. SUBARU SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR SAFETY SYSTEMS. THEY SHOULD DIAGNOSE AND FIX THIS SAFETY PROBLEM. THIS IS NOT A PART THAT THAT EXPERIENCES WEAR AND TEAR LIKE BRAKE PADS. IF IT WAS, I'D HAPPILY PAY OUT OF POCKET TO REPLACE. I DON'T WANT TO WAIT AND SEE IF AIRBAGS GO OFF IN AN ACCIDENT. SUBARU HAS ALREADY ISSUED A RECALL FOR 2015-2018 MODELS. THIS TELLS ME THEY HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THEIR AIRBAG SYSTEMS AND NEGLECTED TO ADDRESS ISSUES ON 2014 MODELS.

FRONT PASSENGER SEAT AIR BAG SENSOR, FRONT PASSENGER SEAT OCCUPANCY SENSOR, FRONT PASSENGER SEAT AIRBAG COMPUTER, RED AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT, YELLOW PASSENGER AIRBAG "ON/OFF" LIGHT, SEAT BELT WARNING AND CHIME. AIR BAG DISABLED WARNING INTERMITTENTLY COMES ON WHEN PASSENGER SEAT IS OCCUPIED, SEAT BELT FASTENED, CAR OUT OF GEAR, STATIONARY. SOMETIMES STOPPING ENGINE, KEY OFF AND REMOVED, THEN ENGINE RESTARTED WILL RESET THIS WARNING. OTHER TIMES DURING NORMAL DRIVING, PASSENGER SEAT OCCUPIED, SEAT BELT LATCHED, AIR BAG WARNING (RED) LIGHT WILL OCCURS AND YELLOW PASS AIRBAG ACTIVE LIGHT WILL INDICATE PASSENGER AIR BAG INACTIVE. WHEN FRONT PASS SEAT EMPTY OR WITH WEIGHT AS LIGHT AS 2 POUNDS ON THE SEAT, SEAT BELT WARNING LIGHT AND CHIME COMES ON WHEN SPEED EXCEEDS 5 MPH. SOMETIMES THIS ALARM CAN BE RESET BY SHARPLY STRIKING SEAT, SOMETIMES NOT, AND TRIP MUST BE COMPLETED WITH THE SEAT BELT BUCKLED. IN THIS CASE THE PASSENGER AIRBAG LIGHT USUALLY SHOWS INACTIVE. THE SEAT BELT ISSUE HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS, GETTING MORE FREQUENT. THE AIRBAG ISSUE HAS BEEN HAPPENING DURING THE LAST TWO MONTHS, STARTING JUST AFTER THE STOP LIGHT SWITCH RECALL MAINTENANCE WAS PERFORMED AT SUBARU DEALER IN LAS VEGAS, NV.