The defect
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 Legacy and Outback vehicles, and 2003-2005 Baja vehicles sold, or ever registered, in geographic locations associated with high absolute humidity. Specifically, vehicles sold, or ever registered, in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, Florida and adjacent counties in southern Georgia, as well as the coastal areas of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Upon deployment of the passenger side frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.
The risk
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passengers frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
Subaru will notify their owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on January 15, 2015. Owners may contact Subaru at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is WQP-51. Note: This recall supersedes recall 14V-471. This recall has been partially superseded by 15V-323. All 2005 model year Subaru Legacy and Outback vehicles will now be repaired under recall 15V-323.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by ODI
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Subaru Baja | 2003, 2004, 2005 |
| Subaru Legacy | 2003, 2004, 2005 |
| Subaru Outback | 2003, 2004, 2005 |
Components: AIR BAGS
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subaru Baja | 2003 | 38 | 10 |
| Subaru Baja | 2004 | 18 | 9 |
| Subaru Baja | 2005 | 37 | 10 |
| Subaru Legacy | 2003 | 60 | 14 |
| Subaru Legacy | 2004 | 49 | 10 |
| Subaru Legacy | 2005 | 184 | 9 |
| Subaru Outback | 2003 | 93 | 14 |
| Subaru Outback | 2004 | 90 | 10 |
| Subaru Outback | 2005 | 273 | 9 |
Other air bags recalls in 2014
38 of the 770 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2014 concerned the air bags; Subaru of America, Inc. filed 101 campaigns in all.
| 14V788000 15 Dec 2014 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 14V787000 12 Dec 2014 | Ford Motor Company |
| 14V770000 3 Dec 2014 | Chrysler Group LLC |
| 14V757000 26 Nov 2014 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 14V700000 4 Nov 2014 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 14V668000 24 Oct 2014 | Nissan North America, Inc. |
| 14V667000 24 Oct 2014 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 14V645000 9 Oct 2014 | General Motors LLC |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2014