Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2004 Subaru Legacy owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Tl* the contact owned a 2004 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the driver passed out and crossed over to oncoming traffic. The vehicle crossed the street and crashed into a light pole. Neither of the frontal air bags deployed. The contact suffered a pulmonary concussion and elevated troponin. The contact had to be hospitalized for three days. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to the contact's residence. The police and fire departments were notified and a police report was filed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000.
I keep receiving safety recall letters about the airbag in this vehicle. This vehicle has been scrapped since July 2017. I could no longer get it to pass emissions. I have since then called the number on the letters several times to remove me from the notice list but I keep receiving them. I recently noticed that every recall notice has a different phone number on it and it appears calls are going to a different call center every time. I believe that the us dot and NHTSA is being ripped off by whomever is contracted to send out these letters. Every operator at the call centers states they will update their file and remove me from the list, but like clockwork I still receive the notices.
Tl contact owns a 2004 Subaru Legacy. While driving approximately 15 MPH during a snow storm, the contact drove over a patch of black ice. The vehicle began sliding, rolled over, and crashed. The air bags failed to deploy. There was no other vehicle involved in the crash. The passenger sustained minor injuries and was transported to the hospital the following day. The vehicle was destroyed. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified. The current and failure mileages were 42,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 Subaru Legacy. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 16V361000 (air bags); however, the part for the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The air bag indicator illuminated. The approximate failure mileage was 240,000. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Takata recall. It has been 7 months since the recall date of June 10, 2016. There has been no information or contact by Subaru since the original recall notice. My local Subaru dealership says they do not have the replacement airbags and have no information as to when they will. Please request Subaru expedite the recall process.
Takata recall: my car's been listed since last June. No contact whatsoever from Subaru even though that's what I was told to expect. This is unacceptable. Luckily no incident so far, but the fields in this complaint form require dates, etc. So I'll use today's date.
Takata recall: my car has been listed for the recall since June 2016, but I have never been once contacted by Subaru to come in for replacement. I have no incident, fortunately, but the field below requires a date, so I'll enter today's.
Subaru has indicated I should not let persons ride in my front passenger seat but has not offered a date when they will be willing to correct the problem. I was planning to sell the car but cannot do it until this situation is resolved.
Takata recall: several weeks ago I received a notice in the mail saying that there was a recall on the airbags in my Subaru. The notice said not to let anyone ride in my car in the front seat. It also said that replacement airbags would be installed at no cost and that I would be notified when the new airbags are available. My complaint: it has been several weeks. I cannot drive with anyone in my front seat and I am getting tired of waiting to find out when the new bags will be available. I've heard nothing else! The replacements need to be installed very soon! …
Takata inflators;the air bag warning light has been flashing on &off &now it's on all the time , the bag was supposed to have been changed by the dealership on jan. 19 2017 @ northpark Subaru here in san antonio tx.,how can I verify that the bag was indeed replaced & why did the airbag light started to flash after the bag was replaced a short time afterwards , not all the time , but every now & then & now it's on all the time ? Is it safe to drive & how can I confirm that the recall was indeed preformed ? When I picked up my car ,to me it looked like it had'nt been touched ,to be honest , but I did'nt question it @ the time , am I wrong to think that ? Any way I was not told which bags were replaced , driver side or pass side or both , I don't know , can you help ???
Related recalls
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
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,…
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.
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
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,…
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.
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
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,…
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.
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 Legacy, Outback, 2009-2011 Legacy, Outback, Forester, 2006-2011 Impreza, Tribeca, 2003-2006 Baja, and 2006 Saab 9-2x vehicles originally sold or that have ever been registered in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi,…
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 26, 2016.
Show 4 more recalls
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 Legacy, Outback, and Baja vehicles originally sold or that have ever been registered in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South…
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and 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.
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
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,…
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.
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
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…
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.
Air bags
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 Legacy and Outback vehicles, and 2003-2005 Baja vehicles sold, or ever registered, in geographic locations associated with high absolute humidity. Specifically, vehicles sold, or ever registered, in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the U.S.
Remedy: Subaru will notify their owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on January 15, 2015. Owners may contact Subaru at 1-800-782-2783.
NHTSA investigations
Air Bag Inflator Rupture
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag…
Air Bag Inflator Rupture
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag…
Airbag complaints in other Legacy years
Frequently asked questions
How common are airbag problems on the 2004 Subaru Legacy?
NHTSA has 26 complaints about the air bags of the 2004 Subaru Legacy, 53% of the model year's 49 complaints.
Is there a recall for 2004 Subaru Legacy airbag problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 20V-001 (inflator module, Jan 2, 2020); NHTSA recall 20V-003 (inflator module, Jan 2, 2020); NHTSA recall 20V-002 (inflator module, Jan 2, 2020). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 2004 Subaru Legacy airbag problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 129,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 2 crashes, 0 fires and 2 injuries to air bags problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.