The problem of malfunctioning airbag sensors in vehicles shows no signs of abating. An article on the automotive site www.carcomplaints.com says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is now looking into complaints about malfunctioning “passenger airbag off” warning lights in more than 554,000 Subaru Foresters from the 2016 through 2018 model years.
The NHTSA has received about least 51 complaints about malfunctioning Subaru Forester airbags. One complaint from a Forester owner said the airbag sensors in the front passenger seat would randomly go off, whether or not a front seat passenger was present. These vehicles use a capacitive-type occupant detection system to classify whether the front side passenger was present or occupied by large or small adults, child seats, or other objects.
Compounding the issue, according to the article on www.carcomplaints.com, is the long wait for repair parts at Subaru dealerships, which to some owners is indicative of a widespread problem causing backorders.
Takata Corporation is the manufacturer of the airbags used in Foresters, and they are no stranger to recalls. Earlier this year, a recall of driver and passenger side airbag inflators affecting millions of vehicles was announced.
Just last week, German automaker Audi reportedly recalled over 144,000 vehicles for malfunctioning passenger-side airbags.
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