Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (front, side and curtain air bags, sensors and inflators).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2005 Subaru Legacy owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Veh. Was traveling at approx. 25mph up a low incline on slushy paved 2 lane surface. Veh. Broke traction spun sideways and travelled sideways into brush and striking a tree in the driver. Side front fender (side impact). Drivers head struck and broke drvrs. Door window. Drvr. Sustained several facial lacerations requiring plastic surgery and resulting in probable scarring. Front seat passenger sustained right leg injury resulting in severe bruising and swelling. Both were treated in an emergency room and released. Veh. Is equipped with side curtain airbags which did not deploy. If deployed, the drvr. Side airbag would have prevented the drvrs. Injuries.
I had owned the car for not even a year yet back in 2012, and the only accident I've ever been in happened on my way to school(college). The air bag did not come out of the steering wheel, but should have. Luckily I only experienced mild whip lash, and very large body shop bill. Also when they finally brought me in to get it replaced this past summer(2017) they pushed my car around the lot, and messed up my transmission amongst some other things. But when I asked the technicians about it, they got defensive, and denied any claim of wrong doing.
Tl* Takata recall. The contact owned a 2005 Subaru Legacy. While driving highway speeds, the contact swerved to the right to prevent a crash. As a result, the vehicle went down an embankment and crashed into a tree. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained injuries to the head, chest, back, and internal bruising. The contact received medical treatment. The vehicle was towed to a yard and deemed destroyed. The vehicle was not diagnosed to determine why the air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The contact later received notification for NHTSA campaign numbers: 14V311000 (service brakes, hydraulic) and 15V323000 (air bags). The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was not available. Parts distribution disconnect.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 Subaru Legacy outback. The contact stated that while driving 40 MPH, he attempted to avoid a crash and haphazardly traveled over an ice patch. The contact lost control of the vehicle and crashed into an embankment. The front and side curtain air bags failed to deploy. The front passenger sustained injuries to the back, hip and pelvis. The contact suffered injuries to the body as well. A police report was filed of the incident. The vehicle was towed to the contact's home and had not been inspected to determine the cause of the air bag failure. The approximate failure and current mileage was 100,000.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving the vehicle was hit on the front passenger side, near the bumper and wheel. The other vehicle impacted the vehicle at 40 MPH. The airbags did not deploy and the engine did not shut off. The manufacturer determined due to the angle of impact the airbags should not deploy. The contact was wearing a seatbelt, but sustained whiplash. There was a police report taken at the scene. The vehicle was towed to the dealership.
Takata recall,was talking to dealership,but lights still indicate airbag ,cruz control , check engine light came on.was taken to dealership for repair and reset.but I don't think it was done. Other recalls on break line coating's not done , I lost break lines while driving,at three different times.Subaru issued a second recall , with explicit attention to the area where the line connects to the break for rust.the dealer was to to replace any break lines showing damage in this area.this recall was taken in and again was not replaced . They coated maybe on top of the rust. I had the remaining break line replace asa percausetion measure ,all cost to me.seat belt not retracting , when released.,this was replaced twice .it still does it and the webbing I cought up in the door closesing. …
Takata recall: I'm writing to complain about Subaru's handling of the Takata inflators. I called my local dealer today to set up an appointment to remedy the passenger airbag problem and was told there would be a delay of 2-3 months before Subaru will have the fix available. The email I had received stated that I should not let anyone use the front passenger set during that time. That is unrealistic. Then when I went to this website to file a complaint about the delay, I noticed that as of a few days ago, the driver side airbag is also being recalled. If this means no one can drive the car for 2-3 months, this is even worse than the original problem. My suggestion would be that Subaru give me a car to use for 3 months, until they can fix both airbag problems. Thanks for any action you can take with these problems.
Subaru issued a recall on the 2005-2008 Legacy and outback due to an inflator in the front passenger air bag needing to be replaced. For free. Fine....there is a shortage of parts and we are expected, and I quote to "not allow passengers to ride in the front passenger seat" this is a safety hazard it says in all caps and "in the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the front passenger air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking vehicle occupants and potentially causing serious injury or death." my local dealership said it could be a year before we are in line to receive parts. Could cause death to sit in the front seat. Why are we not given loaner cars? How is there a shortage of an inflator? This is unacceptable and a potential for death to myself and riders?
Taka recall. Received recall notice in February. No further communication. Called local Subaru dealer. They have no idea when parts will be in. Called the phone number on the notice [phone]). No option at all to speak with anyone. Called auto safety hotline. The rep tried calling the same number and had the same results. The rep gave me the phone number of office of traffic safety, region 8, [phone]. Busy signal for hours. Someone needs to take responsibility for t his safety hazard. I'm surprised that Subaru is not communicating, and actually blocked communication about the issue. I'm getting nowhere, and in the meantime my car could be a death trap.
Takata recall I contacted not one, but all of my local Subaru dealers in the first week of January to find out which had the shortest wait time for the recall, which they told me was 2 weeks. When I called back 3 weeks later, they told me it was backordered and "don't call us, we'll call you." it is now 5 weeks after that, I've been told by Subaru that there's no date for when the parts will be in, and my car is unsafe to drive. I have a job; if I can't drive my car, then I need a rental provided to me in the mean time, free of charge. Leaving people for an indeterminate period of time with an unsafe vehicle and no alternative is unconscionable.
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 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.
Show 2 more recalls
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.
Air bags › Side/window
The left and right side curtain air bags in certain vehicles involved in this campaign May not fully deploy rapidly enough when activated in a side impact collision. During a side impact test conducted by the insurance institute for highway safety (iihs), the test results indicated that there was a difference between the iihs…
Remedy: Dealers will replace the left and right side curtain air bag modules. The recall began on June 11, 2004. Owners should 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 2005 Subaru Legacy?
NHTSA has 21 complaints about the air bags of the 2005 Subaru Legacy, 11% of the model year's 184 complaints. The component named most often is frontal › sensor/control module (2 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2005 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 2005 Subaru Legacy airbag problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 100,000 miles, and 17% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 5 crashes, 0 fires and 6 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.