10/162017 - I was walking down the street to meet my wife for dinner after parking my car. As I watched her pull into the parking lot in front of me in the legacy I saw the windshield get blown out by the passenger airbag being deployed. She was stopped waiting for traffic on a city street to clear to pull in and was not moving very fast at all, approx 5 MPH. Luckily no one was in the passenger seat and my wife sustained minor injuries from flying glass. After inspecting the vehicle the following day our mechanic said he believed that the airbag recall # 96v315000 performed on 12/11/1998 apparently was not performed properly and he suspected that the poorly removed tow-hook was not cut off short enough (not to the recall spec) to prevent accidental inflation of the airbag. I believe that the remaining stub of the tow-hook may have impacted the driveway as she pulled in deploying the airbag, we contacted subaru and they basically said it was not their problem. See attached pictures from our mechanic and email correspondences from subaru.
1995 Subaru Legacy airbags problems
45 complaints (25% of all complaints for this car). 24 crashes reported.
- owner complaints
- 45
- of this car's complaints
- 25%
- crashes
- 24
- recalls
- 1
Which part fails
- Frontal35
- Side/window1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Subaru Legacy airbags problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 1995 Subaru Legacy airbags
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
Air bags
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. Inadvertent air bag deployment can occur after undercarriage contact of the tow hooks with curbs, dips, speedbumps, potholes, etc.
- Risk
- Unexpected air bag deployment could result in personal injury.
- Remedy
- Dealers will remove the front tow hooks.
Recall number 98V315000 · Recall details
Related investigations
Oversensitive air bag deployment
In its letter dated december 21, 1998, subaru stated that the vehicles identified above will be recalled.subaru dealers will remove the front towing/tie-down hooks.refer to the federal safety agency recall no. 98v‑315 for details.
EA97010
Oversensitive air bag deployment
Odi has reviewed 33 complaints of oversensitive' air bag deployment (I.e., any non-crash deployment) received by odi and subaru involving model year 1995 subaru impreza & legacy vehicles and all other impreza & legacy vehicles equipped with air bag systems identical or similar to those in the 1995 impreza & legacy; they are late 1994-1996 impreza and all1995 & 1996 legacy (33 complaints out of 165,385 vehicles).odi's analysis indicates that certain impreza & legacy vehicles - - late 1994 & early 1995 impreza and all 1995 & early 1996 legacy (29 complaints out of 95,678 vehicles) -- have much higher complaint rate than the remaining vehicles which are different in vehicle structure or equipped with different air bag sensing system.most of the complaints (26 of the 29) indicate that the vehicle's dual air bags deployed from an undercarriage impact with a curb, bump, dip, pothole, etc.in the remaining 3 complaints, the driver alleged that the air bags deployed inadvertently or without any impact.in 13 of the 29 cases, only the vehicle's front tow hooks reportedly were found damaged or showed evidence of impact, and in 6 other cases both tow hooks and other undercarriage components were reportedly damaged or impacted; no details were given in the 10 remaining cases.this pe has been upgraded to ea97-010
PE96075
What 1995 Subaru Legacy owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Tl* the contact owns a 1995 subaru legacy. The contact stated that the brake pedal froze and was resistant to engagement. The failure caused the contact to crash into the rear of another vehicle. The contact stated that the air bags did not deploy upon impact. The vehicle was towed to the contact place of residence and was not inspected for the failure or repaired. The failure and current mileage was 174,278.
The consumer would like permission to have the air bags removed or disconnected. *nlm
The vehicle was involved in a frontal collision, and the air bags deployed in the windshield.
While making a left hand turn consumer drove over a pot and both of the vehicles front airbags deployed. There was no front end damage. Please provide any further information. Ts
While driving at 5 MPH consumer crossed over a railroad track that was a normal route, and both side airbags deployed. Consumer had vehicle towed to place of business. *ak
Manufacturer's recall wx0-72; earlier deployment of airbags due to wheel/tow hook apparatus.. When hitting a pebble airbags would deploy on point of contact. *ak the consumer was against removing of the tow hook as a solution to air bag problem. Towing with out the tow hook would damage the entire front drive system according to the consumer.
Consumer came to a complete stop at a stop sign. She proceeded to move forward and was bumped by another vehicle from behind. Upon impact, dual airbags deployed. But passenger's airbag broke windshield. Glass was everywhere. Dealership was notified, and mechanic told her that there was a problem.
Vehicle was involved in an accident to right side in january 2000. Airbags did not employ. On may 12, 2000 while driving on a route #32 in the town of westminster, md., the air bag light came on and the bags deployed for no apparent reason. Lawrence subaru in hanover pa was notified and subaru sent an employee to hanover to inspect the car. At no time did subaru state that there had been a recall on this vehicle #98v315000. No notification of recall was ever received previous to deployment. On the day of the inspection, subaru did not say anything about this defect. They inspected the vehicle and pointed to the previous right side damage and damage under the vehicle and said the bags deployed because the car hit something. There is not now and was not at the time, any evidence of front impact damage. Subaru cust rel. Rick pozniak, judy york, peter bortner, and dan dalton never stated in any conversations there had been a recall. They never advised to remove the tow hooks, which were on the vehicle, and refused to repair the vehicle. We found the recall on the internet, and it was only then they admitted there was a problem, but stated this vehicle was in an accident. They admitted it took front end damage and/or tow hooks hitting an object to deploy, but refused to pay for any repairs or admit to liability. They have fought us from day one, withheld information, and were totally uncooperative. When asked specifically if this was a probem with other subarus, they said no until confronted with the recall information from the internet. They handling of this matter borders on fraud, and probably would be considered such under maryland law.
My car was stopped,second in line, at the end of the exit ramp of I-91 in northampton ,ma (very slight downhill grade). The first car began to pull out. I removed foot from brake, did not place foot on gas and eased out clutch to cause car to creep forward. I looked left, saw traffic coming fast and reflexively hit brake hard. Both airbags deployed, smashing windshield. I was not hit because the seat was fully back (I'm 6'1") and because there was no impact to throw me forward. First car was 3' in front of mine. Driver confirmed I did not hit her. Massachusetts state police trooper, robert plant, responded. He asked first car driver if she had been hit (response "no"), then left scene without filing accident report (there was no accident, only a breakdown). I reported incident to subaru. They inspected car, claim scratches on bumper (pre-existing) indicate impact occured and that airbags responded correctly. There was definitely no impact, not even contact!!!
Questions about the 1995 Subaru Legacy airbags
Does the 1995 Subaru Legacy have airbags problems?
Owners have filed 45 complaints about the airbags of the 1995 Subaru Legacy, 25% of all its complaints, more than any other problem.
At what mileage do 1995 Subaru Legacy airbags problems start?
Not enough complaints include the mileage to tell.
Was there a recall on the 1995 Subaru Legacy airbags?
Yes, 1 recall: 98V315000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
What year does the Subaru Legacy have bad airbags?
The Subaru Legacy model years with the most airbags complaints are 1995 (45 complaints), 2009 (31 complaints) and 2010 (28 complaints).
Other 1995 Subaru Legacy problems
Brakes 29Electrical 20Fuel system 18Engine 17Suspension 14Transmission 9Locks 7Seat belts 7Visibility 7Body 6Tires 6Steering 5Acceleration 3Lights 3Seats 3Wheels 3
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