The passenger side seat registers that no one is sitting in the seat and it disables the airbag system. someone can be sitting in the seat buckled up and then it will randomly pop-up with a warning message that there is an airbag issue and that no one is sitting in the seat.
The passenger airbag seat sensor intermittently fails to detect the passenger causing the passenger airbag not to arm. this is also accompanied by the srs dash light to turn on as well.
When a passenger is sitting in the front passenger seat, the airbag will frequently fail to turn on. an airbag warning light will instead appear on the dash. when i brought the car to the dealership, they insisted (before even looking at the car) that something must have been spilled on the seat and that the seat would need to be replaced (for $895). nothing has ever been spilled on the front passenger seat, nor has it gotten wet. visual inspection of the seat shows that it's in pristine shape. sometimes the airbag alert will appear when the car is still stationary. other times, it has only appeared once the car was in motion.
In may 2019 the airbag sensor warning went on unexpectedly and for no apparent reason while driver and a front seat passenger were in it and the car was in motion going approximately 30-40 mph on a town road. adding extreme danger to this situation is the fact that the sensor turning on made the passenger 'airbag off' warning immediately light up even though a person was in the seat when it happened, the airbag had previously been on with them in the seat, and the car was moving. it was checked by the dealer who simply cleared a code and suggested a cell phone could, perhaps, have interfered and caused the sensor light to go on. dealer also alternatively suggested that if someone spilled something this could have caused it. (nobody spilled anything and dealer verified in writing that no stain was found on the seat to suggest otherwise.) over the course of the next month the airbag sensor randomly went on (dangerously causing the airbag to turn off again, often despite someone being in the seat!) in this same manner several times. sometimes the car is in motion when it happens, which is particularly dangerous and has caused us to stop allowing a human to be in the front seat because we cannot rely on the airbag at this point. other times, the car had been parked and when i turn it on the airbag sensor turns on. taking it back to the dealer 7/11/19 here is what they stated under 'cause' and 'correction' on our invoice: "...code b1760 stored in system inspected seat found no stains on seat inspected wiring found wiring to be good rec replacement of seat bottom" and "customer has been advised that due to no electronics being on the seat when the light and faults keep returning replacement of seat bottom (occupant detection sensor) is the next step..." they estimate $1032.45. the car is just under 90k miles and thus, according to subaru, out of warranty for this problem.
Passenger air bag turned off while passenger is in the seat while vehicle is in motion. in case of an accident the air bags will not deploy.
The passenger airbag warning light first came on as soon as i started my car one morning in mid-october 2018, in which i took my car to subaru of kennesaw, ga to have it looked at. they first asked if i had spilled anything on the front seat (in which i responded "no") and then advised me that the whole seat bottom would need to be replaced (about $989 parts and labor) and that the part was on back-order. i followed-up with them in december 2018 and never heard back. when i recently went there for an oil change february 18, 2019 they brought the issue up to me again, in which i responded that nobody ever returned my call. they checked again to see if they had the part but stated it is still on a nationwide back-order. we are now going on 5+ months of my passenger airbag warning light being on (it sometimes turns off intermittently, but in those instances the passenger seatbelt light will come on and ding repeatedly until the seatbelt is plugged in - even if there is no passenger). i have done quite a bit of research into this issue and it seems like a lot of other consumers are experiencing similar issues. subaru seems to have different explanations and seems very unwilling to fix their faulty passenger seat sensors. it is upsetting and discouraging to know that they have allowed me to drive around this long with a defective airbag/passenger seat sensor.
Passenger seat airbag sensors malfunctioned. this caused the airbag to be turned off. this happened while the vehicle was stationary. dealer indicated the seat has to be replaced. the part is on back order. this indicates to me there is a wide spread problem.
I purchased a certified preowned 2015 forester in november from northtown subaru in amherst, ny in november 2017. i was sold a basic model and assured that the remote car starter and heated seat that they could install at the dealership were as good as the ones included in more expensive forester models. safety issue: on wednesday 3/28/18 i was driving in the city of buffalo with my heated seat turned on. the back of my leg, right below my knee became intolerably hot. i turned the heated seat off immediately and reached down. the seat instantly burnt two of my finger tips. i shouted in pain and explained to my friend what happened. he said he smelled smoke and burning plastic. i got out of the car and looked at the front of the seat (near my calves) and the heated seat element had burned through the seat upholstery and was still burning inside the seat and smoking. i called northtown subaru as soon as they opened in the morning and explained the severity of the situation. i was passed to voicemail boxes that were full and put on hold for an extended period of time. i explained to everyone i spoke to the severity of the issue. i was told that i needed to speak to someone in the smart car department but their voicemail boxes were full. the service rep would leave a note on the smart car employee's desk and have him call me immediately. this was at 9:30 and by 2 i had not heard back. i called the sales person who sold me the car and he said he would have his manager call me immediately. i finally heard back at 3 and was told that i should drop off my car monday morning and they would 'make it right.' i felt that everyone at northtown was dismissive and not concerned with a product they installed that had severely malfunctioned and injured me.
The vehicle was driven several miles with the passenger sitting on a thin pillow. when arriving at the destination it was noticed that the passenger airbag off light was illuminated. the light is very difficult if even possible to see in the sunshine, so it is unknown how long it had been illuminated. there was no audible indication that was noticed. the vehicle's manual was later read where it was discovered that this is as the vehicle is built, that a passenger needing a pillow must use the back seat. without that knowledge beforehand and a non-noticeable light, a life was endangered. the secondary complaint is that the manual states to write to "contact the vehicle manufacturer concerning modifications for persons with disabilities that may affect the advanced airbag system." i propose that may have been put in the manual as a legal sidestep and that handicapped persons rights are abused with this design. i recommend writing to that address to see if there is a response. (100 mileage is estimate). *tr