Occupant detection sustem on passenger side malfunction, does not always recognize passenger. Sometime S it stops working in middle of trip. Happens sporadically, but is becoming more frequent and does not always resolve with restarting car. Has to do with capacitance detection, but so far Subaru dealers I contact act like it's not an issue though earlier model apparently has recall for exact issue. And no the passenger isn't wet. Has been occurring for over a year and we have pulled over and restarted car, but on recent trip it was much worse. And shouldn't be happening anyway!

- Yuba City, CA, USA

There is a safety issue with the occupant detection system. When there is a passenger in the front right seat the airbag sign will say passenger airbag off. This will happen when the car is moving or stationary.

- Beaver, PA, USA

Passenger and driver's air bags will show disabled whenever an electronic device is present on the person in the seat. Occurs in all conditions. Does not enable after removing electronic device from person.

- Flint, MI, USA

My passenger side airbag warning light comes on, with an accompanying loud tone, at random times while driving, despite the fact that there is not a passenger in the car. Sometimes it senses something very light like my phone on the seat, sets off the warning, and stops when I remove the object. Other times, when there actually is a passenger in the seat, a different warning light will come on saying that the passenger side airbag has been turned off. This happens on its own, also randomly. I seldom have passengers, so it has been a problem I have ignored over the years. But when I had a car savvy passenger recently, he suggested I follow up on what could be a serious safety issue. It appears that there is a recall for this exact issue for my car's model year. However, when I called michael's Subaru in bellevue, where I have had my car serviced for several years, they informed me that my VIN is not part of the recall. It seems clear to me that my car is having the same problem that other cars in the recall had. Please advise.

- Seattle, WA, USA

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.

- Elizabethtown, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Subaru Impreza. While driving various speeds, the front passenger air bag indicator flashed on and off. The vehicle was taken to michael hohl Subaru (2910 S carson St, carson city, nv 89701, (775-885-0400) for diagnostic testing and the occupant system malfunction code 'B16 50" appeared. The dealer stated that there was nothing they could do to assist. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not recommend any immediate action, except to contact the dealer if the failure persisted. The failure mileage was unknown.

- Mammoth Lakes, CA, USA

We were broadsided (T-boned) in an intersection with traffic lights. We were eastbound going 25mph & had just left home. Two blocks from my home as I proceeded through the green light and bam she hit my driver side. Recessing my front tire 3 or more inches in towards my engine. She was traveling southbound on the intersecting road. She must have been traveling 25 mph or more because damage continued all the way down the driver side (both doors) finishing on my rear tire where it bent it inwards as if it was a steering tire making a turn. The rear tire has a large gash in the side wall. The following where my wife's injuries as she was driving: Acute cervical myofascial strain, cervical strain, closed head injury, dysarthria, elbow contusion, headache, muscle tension headache, post concussion syndrome, and shoulder contusion. She received all these injuries because the side impact airbags did not deploy which has to be a major manufacturing flaw of some type. Please explain to me why this happened. The insurance adjuster has totaled my wife's car. It is a 2012 Subaru Impreza premium. I have included some documents/photos.

- Princeton, WV, USA

An airbag malfunction indicator was displayed on the instrument display when I set my cellphone on the empty passenger seat. It also activated when my daughters were riding in the passenger seat. I purchased this vehicle from a local Subaru dealer on April 4, 2017.

- Rathdrum, ID, USA

I have 2012 Subaru Impreza, and having a problem with the airbag light. When someone sits on the front passenger seat, the passenger side airbag indicator turns on after a few minutes, and then driver side airbag light comes on. There is a factory recall for occupant detection system (ods), and the ods control unit was replaced by the dealer (4/18/2017); however, the problem continued. I took the car to the dealer again (11/6/2017), and was told that the problem was due to the sensor mat, which is not under recall. It is $1,300 to fix it. This car has only 29K mileage, and ods sensor mad went bad! why is sensor mat not covered by recall?

- Auburn, AL, USA

To whom it may concern: On two occasions in the past week, while I was driving at highway speed with the front passenger seat occupied, the airbag warning light turned on in the dashboard and the passenger airbag light switched to "off". in each instance, the airbag warning light turned off later that day and the passenger airbag returned to normal ("on" when the seat was occupied). A representative of Subaru of America claims that it is normal for this to occur if there is any moisture on the seat. Of the two times that this has happened, there was moisture on the seat in one case, but not in the second case. My local Subaru dealership claims that the problem cannot be diagnosed or fixed unless it is actively occurring. The airbag system is far too critical of a safety feature to be subject to such intermittent failures, and I hope that this problem will be resolved as soon as possible. Thank you for your time.

- New York, NY, USA

I was driving down the interstate with a passenger and the airbag light came on and the light for the passenger airbag said off. While driving, my passenger looked up some troubleshooting for this issue. Apparently there is a recall for other same year, same makes and models of my vehicle. My vehicle is not part of this recall based on what month it was made. After I stopped the car and restarted it, the light did not illuminate again until I was going at a high rate of speed again. This has happened more than once. Every time with a passenger and driving on an expressway.

- Homewood, IL, USA

I was driving down the interstate highway with my mother in the passenger seat when I suddenly noticed that the airbag light on the dashboard had come on. I then looked at the passenger airbag sensor light and noticed that it was in the "off" position. It concerned me that my passenger was not being detected by the airbag sensor, especially considering that I was driving at a speed of 65 mph. We continued to our destination and then shut off the car and restarted it to see if the airbag sensor would detect my passenger, which it did not. After this incident, I brought the car to my dealership service center and was told that the sensor in the seat was faulty and, as a result, the entire seat bottom needed to be replaced, at a cost of about $1000. They claimed that the sensor can be rendered ineffective by liquid spills, though I have no recollection of ever spilling anything liquid on the passenger seat of this car. I then looked online and discovered that this is a known problem with this make/model/year Subaru, and that Subaru actually issued a recall for 32,000 2012 Subaru Imprezas (blog.caranddriver.com/Subaru-recalls-32000-Imprezas-for-airbag-sensors/). unfortunately, as was explained by my dealer, my particular VIN was not included in that recall. The dealer's service reps explained that if I continue to drive with a passenger in my vehicle as is, the passenger airbag may not deploy in an accident, as the sensor may or may not be accurately detecting the presence of a passenger. I believe this is a huge safety concern, and one which I should not have to pay to fix, considering that there has already been a recall affecting the exact same make/model/year car that I drive. Since seeing the dealer, I have had this happen once more. I was driving city streets with a passenger, and the airbag light came on and the passenger airbag light was "off."

- Minneapolis, MN, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Subaru Impreza. The contact stated that the air bag warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was serviced per NHTSA campaign number: 15V419000 (air bags) at capitaland motors Subaru (47 saratoga rd, scotia, NY 12302 (518) 399-9999) or goldstein Subaru (1754 central ave, albany, NY 12205 (518) 869-1250), but the remedy failed to repair the vehicle. The contact mentioned that the air bag warning indicator illuminated several months after the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and offered no assistance since the vehicle was already serviced per the recall. The vehicle was not taken to an independent mechanic or dealer for diagnostic testing. The VIN was invalid. The failure mileage was approximately 53,000.

- Slingerlands, NY, USA

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.

- Wakefield, MA, USA

Passenger airbag occupant detection system (ods) turns airbag off with adult in the front passenger seat. Adult passenger had seat upright, everything dry. No devices plugged in. We had been driving for 5 hours when light came on saying passenger airbag off. Stopped for gas, turned car off and back to normal for only 5 minutes. Now light is on as if no passenger in seat when in fact there is an adult there.

- Rehoboth Beach, DE, USA

Passenger airbag deactivates while a passenger is in the seat. It happens intermittently. There are no electronics plugged into my car. The passenger airbag indicator light above my radio states that it is off when someone is sitting in the seat. My SRS airbag light is also on. This has been happening since I purchased the car in 2014. My car is still under warranty and there does not seem to be a resolution in sight/ my car is in the shop right now and they are telling me my car is working as designed.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

The airbag sensor recall was performed on my vehicle, but the indicator light continue to malfunction. The dealership where the car is currently being serviced says they have 3-4 other 2012 Subaru Imprezas with the same post-recall problem. The only fix they recommend is replacing the entire module under the seat which they quoted as an $800 fix. The problem with the airbag sensor is exactly what is listed on the initial recall where the light turns to "off" when a passenger is sitting in the seat and something is plugged into the power outlet or they move around in the seat. This is a serious safety issue as it could cause the airbag not to deploy if a crash were ever to happen.

- Pflugerville, TX, USA

Passenger airbag will sometimes deactivate while a passenger is seated in it. I feel very unsafe driving with a deactivated passenger airbag. This happens seemingly at random, but while driving. It has occurred many times. It can be resolved by pulling over and restarting the car usually.

- San Diego, CA, USA

While driving with occupant (adult woman) in passenger seat the seat belt system warning light illuminated and the display of pass airbag status went to off. Previous recall (service campaign: Wqt55|NHTSA campaign: 15V419000) was completed in Oct 2015, and think this is similar issue. Was not using any electronics/connections, but occupants were damp from snow skiing. Tried to stop car, remove key, and restart but issue remained for rest of trip (~ 2 hours).

- Boulder, CO, USA

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.

- Eugene, OR, USA