Front Air Bag Sensor Control Problems of Subaru Impreza - part 1

Periodically the "passenger air bag off" sign illuminates even though someone is in the passenger seat. I bought the car from enterprise rental several years ago and brought to their attention. Somehow their mechanic got light to go off. Problem has persisted but didn't pay much attention until now. My daughter will be driving the car. Do not trust the airbag or seat sensor. On passenger side.

See all problems of the 2013 Subaru Impreza 🔎.

My passenger airbag sensor never turns on. Even if I have a passenger in the seat, the light still remains off. I know that the 2012 models used the same occupancy sensor as the 2013 Impreza but the 2013 models haven't been recalled. This doesn't make any sense because they're the same exact models so they should also be recalled so they can be fixed. The seat has never been wet and I haven't been in any accidents, so this is a faulty occupancy sensor. I don't know why I shoul dhave to pay $1500 for a faulty sensor.

The passenger seat occupancy sensor continually malfunctions and turns off the airbag while a front passenger is in place. This is the same issue for which a NHTSA recall was placed on 2013 Subaru Imprezas, so the problem is not limited to only that one model year. In fact, this appears to be common across all Subarus' electrostatic capacitance sensor. This recall must be expanded for the protection of passengers in these cars.

See all problems of the 2014 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.

See all problems of the 2012 Subaru Impreza 🔎.

The front airbag passenger sensor malfunctions. It turns the airbag off while a passenger is sitting in the seat. This happens while the car is in motion, both on city streets and on the highway. Restarting the car and repositioning the seat does not reliably turn the seatbelt back on. This happens even when the seat is dry.

Sometimes while I'm driving and when a person is in the passenger seat the air bag randomly turns off. Also twice the seat belt alarm has sounded while I'm driving and non one is in the passenger seat. I had the issue checked out at the dealer today and the sensor is faulty and needs to be replaced at a $800 plus cost to me. I understand this is the same sensor that was recalled on the 2012 models.

Complaint regarding: Subaru passenger-airbag occupant detection system (ods). Passenger airbag signal turns on and off unexpectedly during the following circumstances: passenger in the seat and the car is stationary, no passenger in the seat and the car is stationary, passenger in the seat when car is in motion in the street, passenger in the seat when car is in motion on the highway, no passenger is in the seat and car is in motion in the street and highway. Passenger seat was not wet at any time. Laptop and cell phone was on the seat (backpack or passenger lap), or in close proximity in most incidents. Any passenger occupant has always been an adult meeting the state and federal safety regulations. Resource to explain concern in greater detail. . Read more...

The passenger seat sensor has been going off when nothing is in the seat. Because the sensor thinks something is in the seat the airbag for the passenger side is turned on. After going to the dealership, quirk Subaru, in bangor maine, they told me my cell phone was setting off the sensor. Their resolution to this problem, "don't bring your cell phone into the car. " the car can be moving or stationary and will randomly turn on. It's gotten worse over the last year happening about 4 times since August of 2018. I have contacted Subaru of America and they told me to go to another dealership to handle the matter. It is my opinion that this poses a risk to occupants inside the vehicle which may led to an unwanted airbag deployment.

See all problems of the 2016 Subaru Impreza 🔎.

My front seat passenger airbag turns off sometimes even when I have passengers sitting there. I took the car to carmax, where I purchased it and they said the seat sensor was malfunctioning due to a wet seat. The seat was not wet to my touch and no liquid had soaked it. Since then, the airbag has continued to turn off with a passenger in the seat when driving. This has happened more than 5 times in a 6 months timespan. I have a video documenting one of the times this has happened.

Passenger air bag does not register as �on� when a passenger is present. Even a 15 pound backpack will cause the vehicle to show that the passenger airbag is off. It never comes on. It's gotten to the point where I will not allow people to ride in the front of my car with me, because I am worried they may be seriously injured in case of an accident. Why have such a spacious vehicle if its occupants aren't safe? also, the recalled sensor in the 2012 Impreza cars is the same technology in the 2013 models. Why has this not been taken care of?.

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.

Takata recall. Having cell phone on seat will activate the airbag on and will set off seat belt light and sound. After getting the seat wet, airbag would not go on with someone sitting in it and light would be on the dash. I had to let the seat dry and that seemed to make it work again after getting wet. This is passanger seat. I see that there's a recall for that on the 2012 model. The 2013 model is equipped with the same sensors as the 2012. Would like to see this get updated and moved to a recall just like the 2012 models.

Seat occupancy sensor does not register adult human male, gets tripped if cell phon e is in proximity to the passenger in the front passenger seat. Front airbag is therefore off and will not go off in case of accident. This occurs if the front passenger has a laptop or cellphone. Upon inspection by dealership I was told that the sensor is broken but due to water damage which has not happened - if a damp user is enough to cause damage to sensor I believe Subaru is purposefully releasing poorly designed and engineered parts. This issues first appeared in 2017 and was intermittent and is not occurring every time a passenger rides with me.

The passenger air bag sensor fails to properly identify a human in the passenger seat. More than half the time someone is sitting in the front passenger seat, the passenger air bag is not activated. This happens both when the vehicle is in motion, stationary, and on in street types or street conditions. The air bag also frequently activates when no one is sitting in the seat. The passenger air bag sensor is dangerously badly designed. It uses a capacitance sensor to determine if an object with a similar capacitance to a human is in the seat. However, the capacitance of a human changes dramatically depending on the composition of that person's body, the clothes that person is wearing, if they are holding an electronic device, or touching some part of the vehicle that would ground them. The traditional weight sensors used in almost all other vehicles are a time-tested and robust design.

See all problems of the 2015 Subaru Impreza 🔎.

Passenger airbag sensor deactivates with passenger in seat. Has occurred during in-town and highway driving. Does not always correct when vehicle has been stopped, restarted, etc. Dealership suggested telling passengers to refrain from cellphone/tech use in the passenger seat, as if that is a solution.

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.

The first problem I had, related to the airbag system, was when the temperature began to heat up in the summer. The was parked outside in the sun all day and when I was going to leave work, I turned on the car and it gave me an error code related to the airbag system, and the airbag error light turned on. I called the dealer (this was 2 months after buying he car - may 2017) they told me to bring it in. I took the car to the dealer, they were not able to find the problem, they asked me to leave the car a couple days. After 4 they call and they stated they were not able to reproduce the problem (the temperature had cooled down those day), so I took the car home. A month later in June when it started to get really hot, one day coming back from lunch the error pops up. Without shutting the car down I took it to the dealer and they were able to read the error code - but they had no clue why it was coming up. Computer did not show any issues. So I left the car there again, and after a week they call that the found the problem, a bad sensor in the airbag system - the bad news is that the part would take a couple weeks to arrive. They ended up having the car for about 23 days before they were able to fix it. After they replaced that sensor I have not seen the problem again. The second problem happened 2 days ago (September) - while running on the highway, 90 degree day, about 45 mph, I had the air conditioner on sunroof closed but the shade open. All of a sudden I hear this loud bang and shattered glass starts to fall on me and I see even more through the rear view mirror. The sunroof exploded outwards. There was nothing inside the car, and the glass shattered outwards. I took the car to the dealer, they stated they had never seen this but they were going to try to take care of it given this should not happen. They are still working on it.

See all problems of the 2017 Subaru Impreza 🔎.

Takata airbag. Took the vehicle to the Subaru of richmond located at 9177 west broad street 23294, where tried to get the airbag replaced. The airbag sensor was flashing and they said they wouldn't replace the airbag with the sensor blinking, saying that the airbag sensor and the airbag recall had no correlation. They then proceeded to try and charge $1700 for the sensor to get fixed.

See all problems of the 2008 Subaru Impreza 🔎.

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.

We have noticed that the airbag sensor light will come on at random times while we are driving. We noticed this issue soon after our lease began, in early 2014. We have been unable to establish if there is a pattern or reason that the light goes on. Once the light comes on, it does not go off until the engine is turned off. Initially, this happened maybe once a week or so, but we have noticed that lately it happens more frequently. We have discussed this problem with our local Subaru dealer (wayne NJ Subaru). Although we brought the problem to their attention, they never advised us that there had been a recall for this exact issue with previous year Imprezas. It was only when we researched this problem on-line that we discovered that there was in fact a recall for this exact same issue, with earlier year Imprezas. The dealer has told us that it would cost approximately $1,000. 00 to have the problem fixed, as it involves replacing the seat. This car is a lease. We do not feel that we should have to pay for a repair of something that is a widespread problem among Subaru Imprezas. We feel that our car should be repaired under this recall. Needless to say, this problem is alarming, as we are concerned about whether the air bag would function properly if the car was involved in an accident. Please advise how we can resolve this issue.

When passenger ( adult over 130 lbs) sits in front passenger seat the airbag sensor enables. While driving with the passenger the airbag sensor will disengage thus rendering the airbag useless. Also happens if seat is slightly wet. This was a recall to the 2012 Subaru Impreza's and the 2013 models use the same airbag sensor.

The passenger occupancy sensor is faulty and it causes the passenger air bag to be disabled when a person is sitting in the seat. Often, if the person is sweating or if any part of their clothing is moist the air bag will be disabled. I had it fixed under warranty and it never really did much. The problem persists. Sometimes the person can be totally dry and it will still be disabled. There was a recall of this exact problem in previous years and models, and it is plain to see that the same issue exists for the 2014 Impreza. Just have a look at the number of complaints. It is criminal (literally) that a recall has not been issued.

The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Impreza. While driving, the passenger presence sensor malfunctioned constantly. The passenger air bag off light illuminated while a passenger was present. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 19,000.

I am presently traveling 60mph on the freeway. I am sitting in the passenger seat. The passenger airbag off light is on. I can only assume this has to do with my bottom being slightly damp after snow sports. I assume this because the previous times that this happened and I took it to the dealership in aurora colorado I was told "the sensor will turn the airbag off if there is any moisture on the seat or if electronics are set on or near the seat. I was told not to do those things. I cannot see how this can be considered safe.

Sensor for the air bags isn't working right. It turns the passenger air bag off when people much heavier than 80 pounds are in the front seat. When no one is in the seat, sometimes the passenger air bag comes on. This happens both in park and when I am driving.

When the passenger seat is unoccupied and no electronic devices or personal belongings are in the seat, the seatbelt alarm comes on and the airbag goes from the off position to on, this is same thing that was happening in with the 2012 passenger-airbag occupancy sensor, recall.

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.

Our Subaru Impreza air bag & seat belt censor malfunctions regularly when the car is in motion. When no passenger is in the front passenger seat, the sensor buzzes to indicate the presence of a passenger. The sensor malfunctions when my purse is on the seat. It malfunctions and buzzes when I simply touch the seat with slight pressure. Once it seemed to go off because of condensation from a cold beverage bottle resting on the seat (that is it buzzed after the bottle was no longer on the seat, but it was damp to the touch). Conversely -- and less frequently -- the sensor malfunctions when a passenger is in the front passenger seat. While the car is in motion, the sensor will change its status, suggesting that there is no occupant in the seat. This seems to imply that the air bag will not go off in the event of an emergency. This seems like a malfunction with potential to be life-threatening.

Passenger airbag not engaged when the passenger is in the seat with the belt on/off. Continues even after the vehicle is turned off and started on again. Occurs most often if the humidity is high, seat is moist, or raining. Brought to the attention of Subaru dealership while having service performed. Was told this is normal. Recall only issued for 2012 Impreza even though the same sensor and airbag is installed in this model year.

In regard to the recent recall for the 2012 Subaru Impreza passenger-airbag occupancy sensor you should know that exactly the same problem is happening in my 2013 Subaru Impreza.

I had to replace the passenger seat airbag because of a sensor malfunction. This is the very issue that the NHTSA is investigating for the Subaru Impreza 2012, yet I own a Subaru Impreza 2013. It is less than two years old and I should not need to replace something that is a known defect.

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.