2012 Subaru Impreza seats complaints

Filed Apr 27, 2015 · Airbags, Seats · WA

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.

Filed Jan 14, 2015 · Airbags, Electrical · 20,000 miles · CA

Driving down mountain after day of skiing. Roads were treacherous and icy. 20 minutes into the drive, driver and passenger airbag lights turned on, indicating that airbags would not deploy in the case of a collision. Several months later I was wearing a damp bathing suit while driving and the same situation occurred, indicating that the airbags would not deploy in the event of a collision. On another occasion, I was driving on a hot day with the windows down. I was sweating quite a bit and the airbag light on my subaru impreza turned on yet again. This issue was brought up with the dealership while the car was still under warranty. The dealer's service department simply reset the sensor, not solving the issue or comprehending the severity of this issue. The occupant detection sensor in the seat must have faulted and turned off the airbags when a small amount of snow/water/sweat on my rear caused a fault in the elecrostatic sensor. The occupant detection sensor is an electrostatic sensor that will fault when it senses an arbitrary amount of moisture. An internal memo in august 2012 from subaru to it's dealers in north america acknowledged, but not solved this problem with the airbags not engaging when the seat is wet. From subaru's internal memo: "when water or anything with high moisture content is spilled on the front passenger seat cushion, the airbag is designed to remain off until the seat cushion is dry".

Filed Oct 6, 2014 · Airbags, Seats · 40,000 miles · AZ

At any speed, while carrying a passenger, the passenger airbag on light will turn to the off position. Passenger airbag is disabled while passenger is in vehicle at any given speed randomly. Could potentially cause severe injury/death in an accident. I have owned multiple 2012+ imprezas with this exact issue.

Filed Jan 8, 2014 · Airbags, Seat belts · 13,000 miles · NM

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.

Filed Sep 3, 2012 · Airbags, Seats · 1,000 miles · NY

Passenger airbag sensor stated that it was disabled randomly (whether car was in motion or not), even though seat was occupied. Airbag light would illuminate on dashboard. To correct issue, vehicle had to be restarted multiple times, so that airbag would reactivate. This would need to be repeated, as issue recurred multiple times per day. In the case of an accident, airbag most likely would not have deployed due to faulty passenger sensor. Subaru stated airbag module required replacing, after inspection was made.