2012 Subaru Impreza

The Airbag warning light has been lit within the dashboard. The front passenger seat airbag is faulty and is not able to correctly sense when a passenger is within the seat or not, which disables the airbags. This can be deadly to the passenger if in an accident. The issue seems to be in the ODS passenger seat mat that determines when the airbag is active or not. If moisture is able to get within the mat, then it can short the circuit and cause airbags to not deploy. My car was "supposed" to already been fixed with the issue in 2015 on the recall #WQT55, NHTSA Campaign 15V419000, but I don't believe the underlying issue was fixed correctly or the same part has failed again. Looking further into recalls, the exact same issue is happening again with Subarus with #WRA-24 and NHTSA campaign 24V227. The dealer has asked me to pay over $1700 on to replace this part. Subaru America should fully cover the cost of any Passenger ODS issue especially when there have already been two recalls with the exact same issue.

WHEN DRIVING MY VEHICLE THE PASSENGER AIRBAG WARNING WOULD GO OFF WITH NO PASSENGER IN THE VEHICLE. WHEN I HAVE A PASSENGER IN MY VEHICLE, THE AIRBAG SENSOR CAN'T DETECT A PASSENGER WHICH IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. ALSO, FOR WHATEVER REASON THE DRIVERS SEAT ISNT DETECTING A DRIVER SO THE AIRBAG LIGHT IS ON. AFTER GOOGLING THIS ISSUE I SEE THAT MANY OTHER 2012 SUBARU IMPREZA OWNERS ARE HAVING THE SAME ISSUE WITH NO RESOLVE.

THE OCCUPANT DETECTION SENSOR (ODS) CANNOT DETECT A PERSON WHEN SEATED IN THE PASSENGER. I HAVE ATTEMPTED TO SIT IN THE PASSENGER SEAT WITH THE ENGINE ON AND OFF; WHILE IN MOTION AND ALSO WHEN THE CAR IS STATIONARY. THE PASSENGER AIR BAG LIGHT ON THE CENTER DASH REMAINS ILLUMINATED "OFF" ALSO, THE AIRBAG SYMBOL TURNS ON AT ALMOST RANDOM TIMES, INDICATING THAT THERE IS AN ERROR WITH THE AIRBAG SYSTEM. ABOUT 50% OF THE TIME I DRIVE, THE AIRBAG SYSTEM LIGHT WILL COME ON AND STAY ON DURING MY DRIVE, WHETHER I AM DRIVING ALONE OR WITH A PASSENGER IN THE FRONT SEAT. SOMETIMES IF I TURN OFF THE VEHICLE AND TURN IT BACK ON, THE AIRBAG LIGHT WILL TURN OFF - BUT THERE IS NO CONSISTENT PATTERN.

PASSENGER SEAT AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT SHOWS PASSENGER AIRBAG DISABLED WHILE A PASSENGER IS IN THE SEAT. THIS HAPPENS WHETHER THE CAR IS MOVING OR STOPPED. CAR IS A 2012 SUBARU IMPREZA 5-DOOR WAGON, BUILT 10/2011. I SEE 2012 IMPREZA SEDANS HAVE BEEN RECALLED, BUT I AM HAVING THE SAME ISSUE AS THOSE, BUT MY CAR IS A 5-DOOR WAGON AND ISN'T ON THE RECALL LIST. PLEASE EXPAND THE RECALL.

OCCUPANT DETECTION SUSTEM ON PASSENGER SIDE MALFUNCTION, DOES NOT ALWAYS RECOGNIZE PASSENGER. SOMETIME S IT STOPS WORKING IN MIDDLE OF TRIP. HAPPENS SPORADICALLY, BUT IS BECOMING MORE FREQUENT AND DOES NOT ALWAYS RESOLVE WITH RESTARTING CAR. HAS TO DO WITH CAPACITANCE DETECTION, BUT SO FAR SUBARU DEALERS I CONTACT ACT LIKE IT'S NOT AN ISSUE THOUGH EARLIER MODEL APPARENTLY HAS RECALL FOR EXACT ISSUE. AND NO THE PASSENGER ISN'T WET. HAS BEEN OCCURRING FOR OVER A YEAR AND WE HAVE PULLED OVER AND RESTARTED CAR, BUT ON RECENT TRIP IT WAS MUCH WORSE. AND SHOULDN'T BE HAPPENING ANYWAY!

I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE INTERSTATE WITH A PASSENGER AND THE AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON AND THE LIGHT FOR THE PASSENGER AIRBAG SAID OFF. WHILE DRIVING, MY PASSENGER LOOKED UP SOME TROUBLESHOOTING FOR THIS ISSUE. APPARENTLY THERE IS A RECALL FOR OTHER SAME YEAR, SAME MAKES AND MODELS OF MY VEHICLE. MY VEHICLE IS NOT PART OF THIS RECALL BASED ON WHAT MONTH IT WAS MADE. AFTER I STOPPED THE CAR AND RESTARTED IT, THE LIGHT DID NOT ILLUMINATE AGAIN UNTIL I WAS GOING AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED AGAIN. THIS HAS HAPPENED MORE THAN ONCE. EVERY TIME WITH A PASSENGER AND DRIVING ON AN EXPRESSWAY.

I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY WITH MY MOTHER IN THE PASSENGER SEAT WHEN I SUDDENLY NOTICED THAT THE AIRBAG LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD HAD COME ON. I THEN LOOKED AT THE PASSENGER AIRBAG SENSOR LIGHT AND NOTICED THAT IT WAS IN THE "OFF" POSITION. IT CONCERNED ME THAT MY PASSENGER WAS NOT BEING DETECTED BY THE AIRBAG SENSOR, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT I WAS DRIVING AT A SPEED OF 65 MPH. WE CONTINUED TO OUR DESTINATION AND THEN SHUT OFF THE CAR AND RESTARTED IT TO SEE IF THE AIRBAG SENSOR WOULD DETECT MY PASSENGER, WHICH IT DID NOT. AFTER THIS INCIDENT, I BROUGHT THE CAR TO MY DEALERSHIP SERVICE CENTER AND WAS TOLD THAT THE SENSOR IN THE SEAT WAS FAULTY AND, AS A RESULT, THE ENTIRE SEAT BOTTOM NEEDED TO BE REPLACED, AT A COST OF ABOUT $1000. THEY CLAIMED THAT THE SENSOR CAN BE RENDERED INEFFECTIVE BY LIQUID SPILLS, THOUGH I HAVE NO RECOLLECTION OF EVER SPILLING ANYTHING LIQUID ON THE PASSENGER SEAT OF THIS CAR. I THEN LOOKED ONLINE AND DISCOVERED THAT THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THIS MAKE/MODEL/YEAR SUBARU, AND THAT SUBARU ACTUALLY ISSUED A RECALL FOR 32,000 2012 SUBARU IMPREZAS (HTTP://BLOG.CARANDDRIVER.COM/SUBARU-RECALLS-32000-IMPREZAS-FOR-AIRBAG-SENSORS/). UNFORTUNATELY, AS WAS EXPLAINED BY MY DEALER, MY PARTICULAR VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THAT RECALL. THE DEALER'S SERVICE REPS EXPLAINED THAT IF I CONTINUE TO DRIVE WITH A PASSENGER IN MY VEHICLE AS IS, THE PASSENGER AIRBAG MAY NOT DEPLOY IN AN ACCIDENT, AS THE SENSOR MAY OR MAY NOT BE ACCURATELY DETECTING THE PRESENCE OF A PASSENGER. I BELIEVE THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY CONCERN, AND ONE WHICH I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY TO FIX, CONSIDERING THAT THERE HAS ALREADY BEEN A RECALL AFFECTING THE EXACT SAME MAKE/MODEL/YEAR CAR THAT I DRIVE. SINCE SEEING THE DEALER, I HAVE HAD THIS HAPPEN ONCE MORE. I WAS DRIVING CITY STREETS WITH A PASSENGER, AND THE AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON AND THE PASSENGER AIRBAG LIGHT WAS "OFF."

THE AIRBAG SENSOR IN THE PASSENGER SEAT HAS FAILED 3 TIMES WHILE THE CAR WAS UNDER WARRANTY AND NOW AGAIN OUT OF WARRANTY. WHEN A PASSENGER IS SITTING IN THE SEAT WHILE DRIVING, THE AIRBAG SENSOR DOESN'T RECOGNIZE THE PASSENGER'S WEIGHT, AND THE AIRBAG LIGHT WILL NOT TURN ON, PUTTING MY PASSENGER AT RISK. UNDER WARRANTY, CARR SUBARU IN BEAVERTON OREGON REPLACED THE SENSOR EACH TIME IT FAILED. THEY BRIEFLY EXPLAINED TO ME THAT THE SENSOR "FAILS ALL THE TIME" AND "ITS POORLY DESIGNED." IF I UNDERSTOOD THEM CORRECTLY, THESE TYPE OF SENSORS ARE NO LONGER USED IN NEWER MODELS OF MY CAR. I AM NOW HAVING THE AIRBAG ISSUE AGAIN AND I AM NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY, I FEEL THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE. SUBARU SHOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS FAULTY SYSTEM AND REPLACE IT COMPLETELY, RATHER THAT JUST REPLACING THE SENSOR THEY ALREADY KNOW IS FAULTY.