Seat Belt Problems of Subaru Forester - part 1

There was a recall on this vehicle from 2022, and we did not own this vehicle at that time. Recall passenger side airbag contact under seat can cause fire or electrical issues. I contacted Subaru and they said the recall was satisfied in 2022. If that's the case, the repair piece must have been faulty as the issue has come back. The dealership I took the car to said they have seen about 4 of this same issue within the last two weeks. Subaru is unwilling to assist in this, and I cannot pay the 1800. 00 dollars the dealership wants to repair this vehicle. I've asked more questions of Subaru since their answer and have not received a response. I would like to know why their website says this was complete July 15, 2025, not 2022. It was not complete in 2025, or we would have had the repair done. Any help in getting someone to see if this is in fact another recall and how to tell if the recall was truly completed in 2022, possible faulty recall parts now. This is crazy if numerous folks have gone in with the same issue. We need Subaru to take a good look at this.

See all problems of the 2017 Subaru Forester 🔎.

No damage or water spill to the car whatsoever, but now the srs passenger airbag light is on. This is a recurrent issue with suabru, and there was even a recall for this part a few years ago, which was replaced in my vehicle during that period. Less than 5 years later, there is already an issue with it. This is not an oil change or a tire replacement; it is an airbag sensor!! I cannot find any definite information indicating that my own driver's airbag will go off while the srs light is on. To think that my airbag may not go off, from no fault of my own, due to an issue with the passenger airbag, is unacceptable. Subaru claims this is out of warranty, will not pay for it, and is charging me over $1000. This is no cosmetic issue; this is incredibly dangerous, and Subaru is aware of this. There needs to be some warranty in place for this part in particular, considering it is a model-wide issue among all Subaru vehicles. This is not something that the vehicle owner should need to pay for when it could end their lives. Some diagnostic codes claim the sensor got "wet" after their cars were just detailed! unacceptable! if the airbag sensor cannot withstand daily wear and tear, then it should not be allowed to be produced and purchased. Not only can the part be damaged way too easily, but it also impacts the safety of all passengers involved. I am so upset with this outcome, in all honesty. My car is unsafe to drive because the recall piece continues to have issues.

See all problems of the 2016 Subaru Forester 🔎.

The right passenger airbag sensor is malfunctioning. When a passenger rides in the front seat, the air bag turns off and the air bag warning goes on. I believe this could be related to the earlier Subaru recall for the seatbelt harness. I have been quoted $1,900 by Subaru for the repair. I've read on Subaru forums that this can be a problem for model years affected by the earlier recall. I have a video showing my husband is the passenger seat, the air bag warning light is on and the air bag is off. The problem happens intermittently.

While there were no reported incidents, it appears there may be manufacturing defects with this vehicle. The rear seat safety belts are reportedly quite difficult to fasten, as the receptacle is positioned deeply within the seats, sometimes making it impossible to secure the belt. This then triggers an alarm, which can be quite bothersome for the driver. Furthermore, there seems to be an issue with the fuel gauge, as it may display an inaccurate reading. For instance, upon filling the tank, the meter might show 470 ml, but while still at the gas station, it could indicate 330 ml. Additionally, the reading can fluctuate after a trip. Finally, the air conditioning vent on the driver's side does not seem to be functioning correctly. In one instance, despite a minor road hazard that was not immediately noticed, the left rear tire was completely damaged. Despite multiple attempts to address these issues at the showroom and contacting Subaru headquarters, the problems persist. Note the purchase of vehicle forced upon me ,in addition hallmark Subaru refuse to address the issues with vehicle. I have reported the matter to al state attorney general. Still no response made by state ag. Thank you.

See all problems of the 2025 Subaru Forester 🔎.

My drivers side seatbelt broke in a minor fender bender and was replaced.

See all problems of the 2018 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Passenger front seat. Airbag light is on when someone is sitting in the seat and seatbelt indicator dings when nothing is in the seat.

The airbag system has a sensor issue and I keep getting warnings from Subaru to get it fixed because it affects the seatbelts. The garage where I take my car says they are unable to get the part needed for the passenger sensor. And, Subaru says they need to replace the whole harness for $6000. Makes me wonder why a safety issue like this one seen in other Subaru’s have been recalled but not my model… also the start stop feature drains the battery excessively. I have had to replace the battery twice in less than a year. I push the button to stop this feature the minute I get into the car.

See all problems of the 2020 Subaru Forester 🔎.

While driving the seatbelt above the driver side shoulder came disconnected and fell into the driver lap. There was no warning, no alarms nothing. The casing and everything came off with it. I was able to screw the bolt back in, but thought Subaru needed to take a look because I’ve never had this happen nor did I think this was common. I thought they would want to loctite the bolt down as a permanent solution. They initially told me to bring the car down and they would take care of it right away. They said they’d secure it in place and fix it but when I arrived they did not fix it, instead they wanted me to pay for it. They will only warrantee the seatbelt material and nothing more. No one has inspected it. I had a friend tighten the bolt down and of course now I’m worried and I am checking the other seatbelts. I would never think it would rattle loose. Driving 55 miles an hour to have your seatbelt suddenly nonexistent is very scary and still makes me extremely paranoid to drive the vehicle.

See all problems of the 2014 Subaru Forester 🔎.

This year, an error message indicated that the srs system has ceased functioning on the passenger seat. According to the Subaru service center, a sensor within the seat has malfunctioned. This issue appears to be common, based on online research. The failed sensor poses a risk to the front passenger, as it may disable the srs system and potentially the airbag. Despite this, the dealer has informed us that the repair will not be covered under warranty due to the vehicle's 2015 model year. The dealer has recommended replacing the entire seat, which seems to be an unusually premature failure for a part expected to last the vehicle’s lifetime.

See all problems of the 2015 Subaru Forester 🔎.

The ods is not properly determining the status of the right front seat occupant. The airbag warning light is illuminated, and the front passenger airbag is deactivated even with a person sitting in the passenger seat. The ods is also unable to determine if someone is in the seat and triggers the seatbelt alert when anything (even a purse) is on the seat. This exact issue was part of a Subaru recall wum-98r, for 2015-2018 Subaru Foresters produced between January 20, 2015 – August 01, 2017. Subaru is claiming my vehicle doesn't qualify as it was not part of the recall even though I having the same issues as the recall and I own a 2018 Subaru Forester. Furthermore, as listed in the recall if a vehicle is part of the recall and is brought in for inspection "the part identification label affixed to the yellow sensor mat wiring harness is the focus of this inspection. If the date code is 18074 or before and has the supplier code 6578 (red box in photo) on it, the harness is ng must be replaced. Proceed to harness replacement procedure as outlined below. " the date code on my label is before 18074 and the supplier code is 6578. I am asking for your assistance in holding Subaru accountable to add my vehicle to the recall.

Airbag/seatbelt system failure August, 2024. Passenger occupant detection system (ods) failure. Detection system fails to correctly detect passenger in the seat. Sometimes it thinks there is no passenger, when there is one (will fail to deploy airbag in a crash); sometimes it thinks there is a passenger when there is none (requires seat belt to be buckled with no one in the seat). Recall (19v-701 -- ods harness replacement) repairs were done to this vehicle Feb. 2020. New solution is different than for the 19v-701 recall. For this issue, dealer recommends replacement of seat frame bottom (seat sensor). The seat sensor is failing. Repairs can not be made because replacement seat sensors are not available. Backordered. Subaru USA estimates July, 2025 first availability. This means critical safety issue for passengers in this vehicle will exist for nearly a year--even if parts become available in July.

The front passenger seat and the seat belt attached to that seat suddenly started making creaking noises as if the seatbelt or the seat itself are not properly secured whenever a passenger is sitting and seatbelt fastened while the vehicle is moving (no noise exists when the seat is empty). The noise is loudest and most prevalent when the weight of the passenger is lower, when outside temperature is cooler, when the vehicle is driven on roads that are not smooth, when the vehicle breaks and is going uphill. The vehicle has not been in any accidents and the noise appeared suddenly without any warning lights or any indications. The vehicle was bought brand new about a year ago and has just under 5000 miles. Since the noise first appeared it has been regularly occurring. The dealership has inspected the vehicle on three occasions but claims they cannot hear it or replicate it despite the fact that they agree that videos shown by the owner clearly point to this noise.

See all problems of the 2023 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Passenger air bag light on dash coming on, started off dinging even with no one sitting in the passenger seat. Now the air bag light stays on constantly. I was told by the Subaru dealership near me that they found a b1650 in the system for occupant detection malfunction. Tested the seat with a human and the scan tool and they found the sensor is not picking anything up. The mechanic told me the seat appeared to be wet, which it was not and has never had water damage. The vehicle is garage kept and has low mileage so minimal exposure. The dealership told me I would have to pay $160 for diagnostic and $1200 before tax to have the seat base replaced. I know there was a recall for the passenger air bag in the past which I did take into the same dealership who says the replaced the defective part. I feel the Subaru company should stand behind their product and correct this issue. I was told they would not guarantee the airbag would work, which is a huge safety issue.

There was a front-end collision into a stone wall. It appears the driver seatbelt failed and ripped upon impact. The driver died as a result of injuries sustained. There was a front passenger in the vehicle as well who was belted. The seatbelt for the front passenger worked correctly. That passenger had serious injuries but survived the collision. This fatal collision was investigated by hillsborough, NJ police, case # 2023-2329.

See all problems of the 2019 Subaru Forester 🔎.

The error message for air bag/seat belt warning comes on and off. It turns the passenger side air bag to off. It seems to be activated by weight on the seat.

The occupant detection system (ods) has failed in this 2017 Subaru Forester. The dealership tried replacing the wiring harness under a previous recall but it did not fix the problem. The ods does not correctly identify when a passenger is seated in the passenger seat and therefore will not properly activate the passenger airbag. I ordered a replacement seat assemby in October 2023 but to date the dealership has been unable to obtain the part, and has been unable to fix the ods malfunction in any other way.

Seatbelt locked with a passenger in the seat. Fire department was called and was forced to cut the locked and failed seatbelt.

See all problems of the 2022 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Passenger airbag light on seatbelt light on passenger front airbags inactive.

On 5/24/2023 while driving with a front passenger, the passenger seat belt warning light, chime and airbag warning came on for no reason. Stopped the car at a red traffic light and turned ignition off and then on to hopefully clear the warning. There was no power to any system. The ignition switch did not work and I could not get the transmission out of park to push the car off the road. Could not activated anything on the dash including the hazard warning. Being in a single lane road, traffic was traveling around us on both sides. We could have been rear ended. I opened the driver's door and all power to the dash came back. It took 4 attempts to start before the engine started. All settings and radio had to be reprogrammed. Stopped at the dealer and they ask if this was the first occurence. (it was) they said if it happened again to bring the car in. The car has been normal since.

See all problems of the 2010 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Not sure why my car is not being recalled for occupant detection harness. Subaru telling me it’s the VIN number, that’s not the problem it’s I have a defective harness according to Subaru product bulletin wud-98r harness with date prior to 18074 is defective and needs to be replaced free of charge. My harness has a date of 17293. My car has all the criteria of the recall. This started back in April 2020 with warning light on and off same with airbag indicator. Now the warning light is on constantly and airbag is off constantly.

We heard a new rattle, not uncommon in a Subaru. However, it bugged me to the point I looked into it. I determined it was a loose bolt that holds the female end of the seat belt buckle. I called Subaru of America on 5/4/23 at 3:17pm and was told I would receive a call back within two business days. As of this moment I have not heard from Subaru whatsoever. I checked every seat belt buckle in my other seven Subaru's (including my 1978 brat) and none or them were loose. I find it unacceptable that Subaru refuses to acknowledge this safety issue. Not to mention its the only vehicle my wife can drive (automatic) and we have a 5 day old child.

The contact's mother owns a 2018 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the front passenger's side seat belt warning light failed to illuminate and alert the passenger to fasten the seat belt. The air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the front passenger's side seat and sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that a credit towards the repair would be provided. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.

Passenger commented, asking why their seatbelt attachment point was not properly anchored and was hanging loose from front seat. Upon investigation, we noticed that the bolt holding the end of the lh portion of the passenger seatbelt had backed out. We were able to make a temporary field repair by tightening the bolt back in with our fingers, and later needed to use a 17mm wrench to further tighten the bolt to the point where it appeared to be reasonably tightened. When tightening the bolt, I did not notice any type of locking washer, or sense there was any type of chemical locking materials on the threaded portion of the bolt and wonder if it was improperly attached when the vehicle was built. In the case of an accident, I think it is reasonable to assume that the loose bolt would have failed and allowed the anchored end of the passenger seatbelt to come loose. The vehicle has approximately 27,000 miles, has never been in an accident, and has never had seats removed or repaired since we purchased it new.

Passenger seat when empty will at times indicate person is sitting in seat without buckling seat belt and sound alert.

The sensor in the seat has been intermittently working for years and finally quit. It costs close to $2000 to fix and there is no way to switch the air bag to stay on. It seems this is an issue with other 2018 Subaru Foresters and for some reason the recall did not apply to my VIN.

Similar to recall notice wum-98r (NHTSA 19v-701). Passenger seat occupancy sensor is intermittent indicating no passenger when one is present or, at times, indicating a passenger when none is present causing the seat belt warning and air bag system to malfunction. Currently, this occurs about 80% of the time. When I queried the internet about this issue, I found the referenced recall. Subaru claims that my vehicle is not included in the recall group. I have asked them to review this claim.

The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while reversing the rearview camera failed to display an image on the screen. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The contact also stated that after starting the vehicle or while driving at various speeds the front passenger’s seatbelt and air bag warning lights would illuminate while there was no occupant in the seat. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA campaign number: 19v701000 (air bags) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or a dealer. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in a recall. The approximate failure mileage was 72,500.

The contact owned a 2013 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving at 58 mph, another vehicle behind the contact rear-ended their vehicle which caused the vehicle to spun out of control and hit a concrete barrier between highways twice causing damages to the front and rear of the vehicle. The side air bags did deploy but the front driver side air bag did not deploy. The contact stated at the time of impact the contact was thrown backward in their seat which their seat belt did not hold the contact in place which caused the contact to move around in the vehicle in the midst of the crash. The contact sustain injuries such as a fractured right thumb, neck strain, lumps on the top and side of the head, bruises along their body where medical treatment was needed at a hospital via ambulance. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard where it was later deemed as a total loss. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximate 60,698.

See all problems of the 2013 Subaru Forester 🔎.

While returning home from a trip in our 2016 Subaru Forester the driver’s side airbag warning light remained on; additionally, a srs warning appeared briefly on the screen indicating that the airbag/seatbelt safety system could not be relied upon. This all occurred after restarting the Forester following a brief rest stop. Adhering to the Subaru owner’s manual guidance we went to our hendricks southpoint dealership. The dealership scheduled an appointment for one week later. The occurrence of this problem without a timely resolution by Subaru creates a unnecessary safety situation for owners.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving in the rain at 55 mph, the vehicle spun a couple of times, then crashed into the median wall. The median wall stopped the vehicle from moving. The contact's driver's side seatbelt did not lock the contact into her seat during impact, which caused injuries to the contact's right arm, wrist, and hand. No air bags deployed upon impact. The contact and passenger were transported by ambulance to the hospital. The passenger sustained injuries to her left foot and bruising to her chest from the passenger side seatbelt, locking her into her seat during impact. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and remained at the dealer, awaiting steering parts and body work repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and sent an inspector to investigate. The manufacturer informed the contact that the inspector found that the air bags and seatbelt were functioning properly. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.

While sitting in the front passenger seat, following the ods recall repair, the airbag light occasionally says on and occasionally says off. Sometimes the passenger seat belt light is lit. I am absolutely unsure when the airbag will be armed and deploy. Tried it with seat belt attached and unattached.

While taking groceries out of back seat, I found a 14mm shiny nut on back floor, left back side of front passenger seat. It fell off the bolt holding the front passenger safety belt retainer (part you click buckle into). After putting it back on, and torquing the heck out of it, I found that the two bolts holding front passenger seat down, were loose and standing about 0. 75" above bracket surface. I also torqued those down to avoid seat becoming loose. I then checked all other bolts for front seats and found no problem. We were very lucky to have had the seat belt nut fall where it did, or my wife could have been hurt.

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!.

My 2014 Subaru Forester has recently started having warnings about srs. Passenger seat sensor occasionally does not recognize a passenger is seated and therefore the airbag is �off� even if seat is occupied. Both front seats are heated and it looks like this is the same issue that lead to a recall for 2015 Subaru Foresters. Please extend the recall to include 2014 models. Very unsafe and costly ($900-$1,200 according to other complaints) to repair this sensor in order to have the passenger airbag operational. Passenger seatbelt warning also occasionally comes on even if there is no one sitting in seat.

When the vehicle is in motion, the passenger airbag does not accurately sense when a passenger is in the seat. It sometimes senses a passenger when the passenger is present and sometimes it does not. The airbag turns off randomly when it should be on. There is an active recall, wum-98, which outlines the exact issue and shows my vehicle description (2015 Subaru Forester with heated seats), however, my VIN does not show it being affected by wum-98. I believe this is a severe safety issue and it needs to be included in the recall. I have called two Subaru dealerships and Subaru. No help. In addition, the passenger seat belt randomly dings when no passenger is in the seat. Please let me know what I should do.