Front Air Bag Sensor Control problems of the 2012 Subaru Impreza

The airbag sensor under the passenger seat turns of at random times when the seat is occupied by a full-sized adult. It typically occurs on a long drive, which is incredibly dangerous. It has also occurred during city driving. It always occurs when the seat is occupied. The problem closely matches the description of the 2015 recall on the occupant detection system, even though the Subaru records show that the required repair in accordance with the recall was made on my vehicle at that time. The dealership claims the current problems may be caused by a water spill, but I have no recollection of this occurring, and a safety system in a car than could not withstand a small spill is incredibly unsafe and poorly designed.

The passenger size occupancy sensor is faulty, when you have a cellphone in your hand or touch the metal door it turns the airbag off and then does not turn it back on until a key cycle.

Intermittent problem with the occupant weight sensor in the passenger seat. When the passenger is damp (coming back from the beach) and with unknown origin. There is a recall for other 2012 Imprezas for this exact problem, but for some reason our car is not covered by the recall.

Front passenger seat airbag sensor gradually stopped working. This seat sensor had allegedly been checked and fixed in 2015 as part of Subaru voluntary recall subsequent to the NHTSA investigation. At that time, the sensor was working properly; the nature of Subaru's fix is unclear. Since the voluntary recall, the front passenger seat has not been modified. There has been no water spill. The issue with the front passenger airbag sensor started shortly after an iphone charger was installed, I. E. Plugged in the front 12v cigarette lighter receptacle. The degradation of the seat airbag sensor's performance was gradual. First, it stopped registering my daughter's weight, then my wife's then mine -- this gradual degradation in performance, from first incidence to complete non-performance took about 3 to 4 weeks.

The airbag sensor on the front passenger seat does not detect a person sitting in the seat. The sensor will turn off the airbag, while a passenger is occupying the seat. Most of the time between 30-45 minutes after the car has been in motion.

The contact leases a 2012 Subaru Impreza. While driving approximately 35 mph, the front passenger air bag warning lamp illuminated even though there was an occupant in the front seat. The dealer stated that the jumper cables under the passenger seated resulted in the sensor not operating properly. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.

The sensor that determines whether the passenger seat is occupied or not isn't working properly. When there is a passenger the air bags sometimes won't turn on. I have taken my car into the Subaru dealership, where they replaced the sensor and it continues to have the same problems.

With a passenger in the front seat the airbag dash light came on and the passenger airbag sensor light illuminated the off signal.

While driving at highway speeds, with a passenger in the passenger seat, the 'passenger air bag off' light become illuminated and remained illuminated, indicating the passenger air bag was off. After pulling over and restarting the vehicle several times, the sensor behaves normally. Incident has occurred 3-4 times since, with no apparent pattern related to vehicle speed/driving conditions. Subaru dealership service has claimed it may be related to passenger weight or shifting in the seat, or cellular phone chargers nearby. Incident has occurred with or without said chargers present in the car, with passengers weighing 130 lbs and 190 lbs. Also, the relevant sensor (occupant detection system, or ods) in the 2012 Subaru Impreza is not based on weight at all, but on electrostatic capacitance. Seemingly random malfunction of the ods resulting in deactivation of the passenger air bag with an adult seated in the passenger seat constitutes dangerous failure of the airbag system.

Dashboard light would occasionally indicate that the passenger airbag was disabled while I had a passenger in the front seat. Issue would resolve upon turning the car off and back on, but it recurred frequently. The issue was determined to be caused by a faulty occupancy sensor, which used a new capacitive technology rather than the older style weight sensors. Occupancy sensor was replaced under warranty in September 2012. Following the repair, the new occupancy sensor detects a passenger and activates the passenger airbags if I place a small electronic device such as a cell phone on the seat, or even just rest my hand on it. I am not sure if this new issue is a significant safety concern or not.

The contact owns a 2012 Subaru Impreza. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the front passenger air bag warning lamp illuminated even though there was an occupant in the front seat. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who stated that the occupancy seat sensor detected wetness from the passenger's clothing which resulted to the sensor not operating properly. The manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 12,800. Updated 08/29/lj.

2012 Impreza. . . Bought new, nothing but headaches. All problems listed below occurred before I had even owned the car 2 years. 1. At 8-10k miles - while driving car would randomly turn off passenger airbags and illuminate no passenger seatbelt on the dash. Took car to dealer 3 times. Dealer refused to fix as the "error was not stored in the computer. " suggested cell phone was the problem even though cell phones were not near the seat during each of the multiple incidents. I had to complain to corporate who told the dealer to replace the sensor in the seat. No problems since. 2. At 15k miles - multiple times car would turn on check engine light and traction control light simultaneously. First incident dealer said "dirty camshaft sensor. " second incident I had to refuse to take the car back until they actually fixed a part. Dealer kept car a whole week and made calls to corporate engineers. Tests revealed it was a "failed oil pressure valve. " replaced the part and no more problems. 3. At 25k miles - bad battery. Had to replace when car was only 1 year and 10 months old.