In March of 2021 I received an AirBag Recall letter. I took in my vehicle, letter in hand, very clear that the recall was why I was there. 40 minutes later, I was given a letter that said I had come in for "an airbag warranty extension and wanted it checked" and that I "might need a map light." I DO still have that letter. I asked "So, the airbag is actually alright?" and the Service Manager, Roy Valdivia said "yes." Since then I have driven my daughter and countless others, including work related clients in that passenger seat, having no idea that that airbag was essentially a pipe bomb. A Recall Specialist came to my door last week, [XXX], and told me I NEEDED to get this airbag replaced, it is "dangerous." I just came home from having that done. HOW MANY OTHER PEOPLE ARE STILL IN DANGER RIGHT NOW BECAUSE OF SUBARUS' CARLESSNESS? INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
2006 Subaru Outback airbags problems
40 complaints (14% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 118,000. 3 crashes reported.
- owner complaints
- 40
- of this car's complaints
- 14%
- typical mileage
- 118,000
- crashes
- 3
- recalls
- 4
Which part fails
- Frontal2
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Subaru Outback airbags problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2006 Subaru Outback airbags
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
Air bags: frontal: passenger side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester, 2003-2006 Baja, 2004-2011 Impreza, 2004-2014 WRX (STI included), 2003-2014 Legacy and Outback, and 2005-2006 Saab 9-2X vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands or "Zone A." These vehicles had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
- Risk
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Subaru will notify their owners. General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflators with alternate inflators, free of charge. The recall began January 7, 2020. Subaru Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1‑844‑373‑6614. Saab owners may contact the Saab Customer Assistance Center at 1‑800‑955‑9007. Subaru's number for this recall is TKA-20.
Recall number 20V001000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal: passenger side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester, 2003-2006 Baja, 2004-2011 Impreza, 2004-2014 WRX (including STI), 2003-2014 Legacy and Outback, and 2006 Saab 9-2X 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 or "Zone B." These vehicles had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
- Risk
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Subaru will notify their owners. General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflators, free of charge. The recall began January 7, 2020. Subaru owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1‑844‑373‑6614. Saab owners may contact the Saab Customer Assistance Center at 1‑800‑955‑9007. Subaru's number for this recall is TKB-20.
Recall number 20V002000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal: passenger side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester, 2003-2006 Baja, 2004-2011 Impreza, 2004-2014 WRX (including STI), 2003-2014 Legacy and Outback, and 2005-2006 Saab 9-2X vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming or "Zone C." These vehicles had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
- Risk
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Subaru will notify their owners. General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflators, free of charge. The recall began January 7, 2020. Subaru owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1‑844‑373‑6614. Saab owners may contact the Saab Customer Assistance Center at 1‑800‑955‑9007. Subaru's number for this recall is TKC-20.
Recall number 20V003000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal: passenger side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 Subaru Baja vehicles manufactured January 22, 2003, to July 21, 2004, 2004-2005 Impreza vehicles manufactured January 28, 2003, to May 31, 2005, 2003-2008 Subaru Legacy vehicles manufactured January 22, 2003, to May 2, 2008, 2003-2008 Subaru Outback vehicles manufactured February 18, 2003, to May 5, 2008, and 2005 Saab 9-2x vehicles manufactured February 11, 2004, to March 17, 2005. The affected vehicles are equipped with a passenger side frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture upon its deployment.
- Risk
- In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Subaru will notify their owners and General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The Subaru recall began on June 17, 2015. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1‑800‑782‑2783. The Saab recall began on July 27, 2015. Owners of Saab vehicles may call 1‑800‑955‑9007. Subaru's number for this recall is WQR-53. Note: The recall completely supersedes recall 14V‑399 (WQL-48) and partially supersedes recall 14V‑763 (WQP-51) in that model year 2004 through 2005 Subaru Impreza and model year 2005 Saab 9-2x vehicles are now only part of this campaign. Note: On December 18, 2015 Subaru informed the federal safety agency of an expansion of this recall to include certain model year 2003-2004 Subaru Baja, 2003-2008 Subaru Legacy and 2003-2008 Subaru Outback vehicles.
Recall number 15V323000 · Recall details
What 2006 Subaru Outback owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
2006 subaru outback head gaskets went bad at about 35,000 miles.had to replace those called subaru and they help me get those replaced. Thought all was well soon after, the electrical system including the air conditioner and the heater .then I was told that the airbags were defaulted and to bring it into replace them which I did. The final straw is that they called me again two weeks ago to bring the rigging to replace that same airbag again. I asked them why they gave me a car that wasn't safe. The wheel bearings also wore out very early around 50 miles. This car has been so expensive. And now they informed me that there was a second recall on the airbag. So I bring it in for the second time realizing that now in 2021 this car has not been safe the whole time I've been driving it with my family my daughter learned how to drive in this car and so did my son. As they were repairing the faulty airbag they cracked the dashboard and then informed me that it would be $300 to fix it because it had a tiny crack in it. Please note that they were the ones that took the dashboard off in the first place. Super rude! I called subaru of america and they decided to reimburse me for the dashboard. They were talking about gluing it back together last I heard I'm very much hoping this is not the case my daughter ensures me that it isn't but we'll see. Also he informed me that my head gaskets were leaking again. The mechanic said that this is common once you've had your gaskets replaced. This makes no sense to me. My car has about 160,000 miles on it and it seems like it's already played out and not safe. What a joke. I'll never buy a subaru again.this has been the worst car and apparently the most unsafe car I've ever owned. Note:this car was consistently unsafe while driving for the last 15 years. I bought it because it had a five star rating for safety what a joke!
Subaru dealership refused to discuss safety issue recalls selling vehicle with open safety recalls and other safety issues that could have been easily remedied. The vehicle had been in for service and problems were not addressed. Dealership claims "sold as is" and buyer beware, after we had leased a new 2019 vehicle and purchased a like new used vehicle that had gone through their extensive multipoint inspections. Issues for air bags, fuel system leaking, potential fire and explosion, faulty seat latches as safety recall. Dealership has violated trust and exhibited no concern for anyone's safety. We can not trust this dealership for repair or service of our vehicles.
The car's air bag light came on. It was recalled for an air bag issue one or two years ago so I took the car to the subaru dealership to fix the issue. But now this light came on about a month ago. It turns off at times, but it comes back on eventually.
I got a recall notice for fixing passenger sear air bag. But it does not appear on this the federal safety agency website. It still say 0 unrepaired recalls. How can anyone trust this website?
2006 subaru legacy outback ll bean. Consumer writes in regard to airbag recall notices being sent to them though they no longer own vehicle. *as
Air bag light stayed on after engine start. Research indicated that the solder joints on the circuit board located in the overhead console fail over time (the same board that contains the indicator lights for the passenger air bag status). Apparently the air bag system is disabled when the air bag light stays on - meaning that none of the air bags may work if the circuit board becomes defective. Replacement board, if found, is over $300. I repaired mine by re-soldering the various bad contact points on the board.
Car intermittently loses all power as you are driving and RPM gauge goes up as cruise control and check engine light go on. A very dangerous situation that subaru customers have complained about, but subaru ignores need for recalls. Money spent on troubleshooting is ridiculous! Car works fine after pulling over and restarting after a couple of minutes, only to happen suddenly weeks later. Gas pedal accelerator assembly and or throttlebody issues. Also subaru cars from 2006 and older all have head gasket leaks. They never recalled cars for that problem. That costs $1600. They used a different gasket material after 2007
Takata recall we have been on the waiting list for the replacement airbag since september 20, 2016. The dealer tells us we are still number 45 on the list and will not predict when they will be able to service the car.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 subaru outback. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 15v323000 (air bags); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The vehicle was taken to the morehart murphy dealer (30 parker ave, durango, co 81303) and the contact was informed that they only received ten parts per month. The manufacturer was contacted, but did not respond. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Questions about the 2006 Subaru Outback airbags
Does the 2006 Subaru Outback have airbags problems?
Owners have filed 40 complaints about the airbags of the 2006 Subaru Outback, 14% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2006 Subaru Outback airbags problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 118,000 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2006 Subaru Outback airbags?
Yes, 4 recalls: 20V001000, 20V002000, 20V003000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
What year does the Subaru Outback have bad airbags?
The Subaru Outback model years with the most airbags complaints are 2008 (104 complaints), 2011 (73 complaints) and 2007 (47 complaints).
Other 2006 Subaru Outback problems
Acceleration 98Engine 50Electrical 42Fuel system 40Suspension 37Brakes 19Transmission 17Steering 12Driver assistance 9Tires 6Wheels 6Visibility 5Lights 4Seats 3Body 2Seat belts 1
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