The defect
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2005-2006 Baja, 2009 Forester, Legacy and Outback and 2006-2009 Impreza (including WRX and STI models) and Tribeca vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the front air bags, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
The risk
An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger front air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began March 6, 2017. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is TKB-17.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by ODI
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Subaru Baja | 2005, 2006 |
| Subaru Forester | 2009 |
| Subaru Impreza | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 |
| Subaru Legacy | 2009 |
| Subaru Outback | 2009 |
| Subaru Tribeca | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 |
Components: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
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 | 2005 | 37 | 10 |
| Subaru Baja | 2006 | 24 | 9 |
| Subaru Forester | 2009 | 178 | 17 |
| Subaru Impreza | 2006 | 56 | 10 |
| Subaru Impreza | 2007 | 68 | 9 |
| Subaru Impreza | 2008 | 176 | 14 |
| Subaru Impreza | 2009 | 104 | 14 |
| Subaru Legacy | 2009 | 65 | 13 |
| Subaru Outback | 2009 | 106 | 13 |
| Subaru Tribeca | 2006 | 9 | 8 |
| Subaru Tribeca | 2007 | 4 | 8 |
| Subaru Tribeca | 2008 | 14 | 9 |
| Subaru Tribeca | 2009 | 5 | 9 |
Other air bags recalls in 2017
90 of the 810 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2017 concerned the air bags; Subaru of America, Inc. filed 101 campaigns in all.
| 17V822000 20 Dec 2017 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 17V837000 20 Dec 2017 | Nissan North America, Inc. |
| 17V803000 18 Dec 2017 | Ford Motor Company |
| 17V818000 18 Dec 2017 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 17V813000 18 Dec 2017 | Bluecar SAS |
| 17V806000 14 Dec 2017 | Mazda North American Operations |
| 17V807000 14 Dec 2017 | Mazda North American Operations |
| 17V801000 13 Dec 2017 | Hyundai Motor America |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2017