2011 Subaru Outback Airbag Problems

Which parts fail

• Frontal
  8
• Frontal › Sensor/control module
  1

Components named in complaints (front, side and curtain air bags, sensors and inflators).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  1552%
• 25k–50k
  621%
• 50k–75k
  27%
• 75k–100k
  310%
• 100k–150k
  13%
• 150k+
  27%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2011 Subaru Outback owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

The contact owns a 2011 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the passenger's side seat near the hip area between the passenger and the door had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The dealer referred the contact to the manufacturer. The manufacturer confirmed that due to the mileage on the vehicle, the manufacturer was not obligated to assist with the repair. The failure mileage was 230,000.

Loss of steering wheel electronic functions including paddle shifters radio volume and Airbag light illuminated. Looked up faults and found NHTSA campaign ID 10V283000 which describes cable damage from Subaru manufacturing. According to Subaru and NHTSA, our vehicle was manufactured 2 months after "Affected" vehicles. Subaru unwilling to work on problem as it is not listed in affect vehicles, yet clearly the problems found are exact match to campaign list. I will seek outside confirmation of failure and then request NHTSA to update the affect vehicles list so Subaru can fix a safety issue for all affected vehicles.

The contact owned a 2011 Subaru Outback. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V001000 (Air Bags) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. The local dealer and manufacturer were not contacted.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while his wife was attempting to parallel park the vehicle suddenly accelerated colliding with the vehicle in front. The contact stated that his wife shifted to drive, the engine revved and she lost control the vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an auto body repair facility. There were no injuries sustained. The vehicle was then taken to rafferty Subaru (4700 west chester pike, newtown square, pa 19073 phone: [phone]) who stated they were unable to find a cause for the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered apologetic gestures regarding the matter, however, a case was not opened. The contact stated they found that there was a class action lawsuit in his state of residency regarding the same failure his wife had experienced. …

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 Subaru Outback. While attempting to park, the contact forgot to shift the lever into the park position but was able to turn the vehicle off. As a result, the vehicle rolled away and crashed into a gate. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer was notified of the issue and stated that the vehicle was designed to perform in that manner. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 78,547.

I took my vehicle to the Subaru in missoula, mt in October of 2019 to fix the Takata air bag recall. In July of 2019 I received a recall for the exact same problem. I called the number on the recall notice [phone]. I was informed that Subaru had put in the same non-working, unsafe parts that were in the airbag prior to the 2019 recall. Subaru did this to buy time to get the parts needed to actually fix the problem in stock. Takata told me this. For nearly a year I have been driving around thinking that my passenger side airbag was safe. Subaru will not address this but they do want to inconvenience their customers a second time. Subaru customers should have been informed. Instead, Subaru was deceitful and now intend to steal more time from the customers to fix this problem that they said was 'life threatening.'

Takata recall. A Subaru dealership replaced the airbag (according to their service records). However, Subaru corporate continued to send me recall notices. Not sure what happened. 1) they replaced my airbag and forgot to tell Subaru. OK outcome 2) they replaced my airbag, and updated a different car with Subaru (which won't get recall notices anymore). Passengers in that car at at lethal risk now. 3) they didn't replace my airbag, and actually put that airbag into a different car. My passengers are at lethal risk now. I asked the service person to investigate, but he just said "it's done, don't worry" airbag replacement was November 2016. The last service was this week.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving 55 MPH, the side curtain air bags deployed without impact which disabled the front driver's and the front passenger's seat belts. The contact called the ganley Subaru of bedford located at 123 broadway ave, bedford, oh 44146, and the technician declined to look at the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and provided the contact a case number. The contact was not given a callback. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 113,000.

I accepted a recall to replace the passenger air bag by the dealer evenston Subaru, 3340 oakton str, skokie, ill, 60076; after this recall replacement was performed, my car had problems like the passenger window did not opperate from the commend button of the same door and the power outlet from the middle console did not have power. The dealer that produced these troubles refuse to support the cost of repair.

The airbag warning lite on the passenger side came on and stayed on for several minutes. After several trips the lite came on again and has stayed on. The result is that the bag is not able to deploy if there is any type of accident that involves the front end. This is very concerning to my family , I try to avoid anyone from riding in the front passenger seat.

Related recalls

Airbag complaints in other Outback years