Subaru of America, Inc.: Air Bags › Frontal › Passenger Side › Inflator Module
Subaru of America, Inc. reported this defect to federal regulators on May 25, 2016 and put the number of vehicles at risk at 146,010. The repair is free for as long as the recall stands.
The defect
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 Legacy, Outback, 2006-2008 Impreza, Tribeca, 2006 Saab 9-2x, and 2003-2006 Baja vehicles originally sold or that have ever been registered in 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 may be equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the front air bags, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
The risk
An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
Subaru will notify their owners. General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began August 24, 2016. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-856-488-8500. Subaru's number for this recall is TKB-16. Note: This notice is only for vehicles that were not covered by 16V-358 for Zone A.
15 model years covered
Newest first| Vehicle | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Crashes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 Subaru Impreza | 176 | 15 | 4 | 9 |
| 2008 Subaru Tribeca | 14 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
| 2007 Subaru Impreza | 68 | 9 | 2 | 6 |
| 2007 Subaru Tribeca | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 Saab 9-2x | 10 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| 2006 Subaru Baja | 24 | 10 | 0 | 3 |
| 2006 Subaru Impreza | 56 | 10 | 0 | 3 |
| 2006 Subaru Tribeca | 9 | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| 2005 Subaru Baja | 37 | 11 | 0 | 2 |
| 2004 Subaru Baja | 18 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 Subaru Legacy | 49 | 11 | 0 | 5 |
| 2004 Subaru Outback | 90 | 11 | 4 | 9 |
| 2003 Subaru Baja | 38 | 10 | 3 | 5 |
| 2003 Subaru Legacy | 60 | 15 | 0 | 4 |
| 2003 Subaru Outback | 93 | 15 | 1 | 7 |
What this page is, and what to do next
A recall is not an opinion. It is a Part 573 report a manufacturer is required by federal law to file once it decides a defect poses an unreasonable risk to safety, and it commits them to repairing the vehicle at no cost to the owner. The three passages above are the manufacturer’s own wording as published by NHTSA.
This page describes the campaign. It cannot tell you whether one particular car has already been through the shop — that is tracked by VIN, and only the manufacturer knows it. Check yours at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a franchised dealer, quoting campaign number 16V359000.
Full record for the 2008 Subaru Impreza → · Recalls carrying a do-not-drive advisory → · Where this data comes from →