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2017 Subaru Forester

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

More warning signs than most Forester years

Owner complaints for the 2017 Subaru Forester are substantially higher than the model-year median of 131.

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When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

321 reports with mileage · 265 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Air Bags. Review the 164 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 106 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Visibility/wiper. Review the 104 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

40 crash reports1 fire reports25 injury reports

Air Bags complaints

164 reports
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28,000 miles · Sep 18, 2019
Air BagsSeats

WHILE TRAVELING AT ANY SPEED, THE PASSENGER AIR BAG WILL SWITCH TO OFF. AN ERROR MESSAGE WILL APPEAR INDICATING THAT THE SRS AIRBAG SYSTEM NEEDS CHECKED. ISSUES APPEARS TO BE LOCATED WITH THE OCCUPANT DETECTION SYSTEM IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. *DT *AS

NHTSA ODI #11256303

52,000 miles · Sep 17, 2019
Air BagsElectrical SystemSeats

USUALLY WHILE DRIVING, THE PASSENGER AIRBAG SENSOR WILL TURN OFF AND PUT AN ERROR CODE OUT THAT SAYS NOT ON EVEN WITH AN ADULT IN THE SEAT. RESETTING THE CODE CAN GET IT TO GO OFF BUT IT RETURNS. HAS TURNED OFF ON ITS OWN BEFORE AND COME BACK. TURNING CAR OFF AND ON DOES NOT RESET IT. *DT *DT *AS

NHTSA ODI #11256078

35,020 miles · Sep 11, 2019
Air Bags

PASSENGER AIRBAG SENSOR INDICATED OFF, WHEN IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ON. THERE WAS AN ADULT IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. THE INDICATOR WAS ON AFTER STARTING THE CAR. I WAS ABLE TO RESET BY TURNING CAR OFF AND TURNING IGNITION BACK ON AND OFF. THE INDICATOR CAME BACK ON. IT TURNED OFF ON SUBSEQUENT STARTING OF AUTOMOBILE. I RECEIVED EMAIL FRO…

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PASSENGER AIRBAG SENSOR INDICATED OFF, WHEN IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ON. THERE WAS AN ADULT IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. THE INDICATOR WAS ON AFTER STARTING THE CAR. I WAS ABLE TO RESET BY TURNING CAR OFF AND TURNING IGNITION BACK ON AND OFF. THE INDICATOR CAME BACK ON. IT TURNED OFF ON SUBSEQUENT STARTING OF AUTOMOBILE. I RECEIVED EMAIL FROM SUBARU STARLINK THE NEXT DAY TOO.

NHTSA ODI #11254832

Mileage unknown · Sep 9, 2019
Air Bags

AIRBAG LIGHT STAYS ON STATING THAT THE AIRBAGS ARE NOT FUNCTIONING ON THE PASSENGER SIDE. WAS TOLD THAT THIS WAS MY FAULT DUE TO DAMAGE TO THE SENSOR? NOT SO. ONLY NORMAL USE, NO DAMAGE, RARELY ANYONE SITTING THERE. $850 PLUS LABOR TO REPLACE. SAID WARRANTY WOULD NOT COVER IT DUE TO A SMALL GREASE STAIN ON SEAT.

NHTSA ODI #11254293

98,000 miles · Sep 9, 2019
Air Bags

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 SUBARU FORESTER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG AND AIR BAG ON/OFF WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER OR INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING OR REPAIRS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THE AIR B…

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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 SUBARU FORESTER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG AND AIR BAG ON/OFF WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER OR INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING OR REPAIRS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THE AIR BAG SENSORS MIGHT NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 98,000.

NHTSA ODI #11254127

40,000 miles · Sep 6, 2019
Air Bags

PASSENGER AIRBAG TURNS OFF RANDOMLY.

NHTSA ODI #11253731

45,000 miles · Sep 6, 2019
Air Bags

WITHOUT WARNING, AND WITHOUT APPARENT CAUSE, THE AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT IS ILLUMINATING. VEHICLE TELEMATICS REPORT NOTHING WRONG WITH ANY SYSTEMS. VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY AND PARKED. THE LIGHT TURNED ON AFTER STARTING.

NHTSA ODI #11253585

39,800 miles · Aug 27, 2019
Air Bags

PASSENGER AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT CAME ON WHEN DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY AT 65 MILES PER HOUR WITH A PASSENGER SEATING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. HER WEIGHT, APPROX. 130 LBS AND THE SEAT WAS DRY. BROUGHT THE CAR TO SUBARU DEALER. TECH FOUND SRS LIGHT ON. TECH SCANNED CODES AND FOUND A OCCUPANT DETECTION SENSOR MAT SYSTEM FAULT. HAD TO REPL…

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PASSENGER AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT CAME ON WHEN DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY AT 65 MILES PER HOUR WITH A PASSENGER SEATING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. HER WEIGHT, APPROX. 130 LBS AND THE SEAT WAS DRY. BROUGHT THE CAR TO SUBARU DEALER. TECH FOUND SRS LIGHT ON. TECH SCANNED CODES AND FOUND A OCCUPANT DETECTION SENSOR MAT SYSTEM FAULT. HAD TO REPLACE PASSENGER FRONT SEAT BOTTOM. I FEEL THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE WITH THE AIR BAG SYSTEM AND SHOULD BE RECALLED WITHOUT THE OWNER HAVING TO PAY FOR THE REPLACEMENT BAD SENSOR.

NHTSA ODI #11246615

48,000 miles · Aug 23, 2019
Air Bags

PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAGS ARE INTERMITTENTLY BEING DISABLED WHEN A PASSENGER SITS IN THE SEAT IN A PROPER SEATING POSITION. INSTRUMENT CLUSTER DISPLAYS WARNING MESSAGE WHEN THIS HAPPENS AND AIRBAG OFF DISPLAY LIGHT COMES ON. RED SRS AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT IN THE DRIVER'S CONSOLE ALSO COMES ON. THIS SEEMS TO HAPPEN ONLY DURING LONGER …

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PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAGS ARE INTERMITTENTLY BEING DISABLED WHEN A PASSENGER SITS IN THE SEAT IN A PROPER SEATING POSITION. INSTRUMENT CLUSTER DISPLAYS WARNING MESSAGE WHEN THIS HAPPENS AND AIRBAG OFF DISPLAY LIGHT COMES ON. RED SRS AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT IN THE DRIVER'S CONSOLE ALSO COMES ON. THIS SEEMS TO HAPPEN ONLY DURING LONGER COMMUTES AS I'VE NOTICED THE WARNING LIGHTS DO NOT COME ON WHEN DRIVING SHORT DRIVING DISTANCES AND THE WARNING LIGHTS OFTEN DISAPPEAR WHEN CAR GETS TURNED OFF OR AFTER A DAY PASSES. THIS STARTED HAPPENING IN JUNE OF 2019. TOOK VEHICLE TO LOCAL SUBARU DEALER ON 06/12/2019. THEY CHECKED FOR STORED CODES AND IT CAME BACK WITH CODE B1760 WAS STORED IN OCCUPANT DETECTION SYSTEM AND CODE B1650 STORED IN AIRBAG CONTROL SYSTEM. THEY CHECKED FOR ANY DAMAGE/LOOSE CONNECTIONS/MOISTURE AS DEALER STATED THOSE THINGS MAY CAUSE THE LIGHTS TO COME ON BUT NO PROBLEMS WERE FOUND. THEY CLEARED THE CODES AND STATED THEY COULD NOT DETERMINE WHAT WAS WRONG AND THE LIGHT DID NOT COME ON WHILE THE CAR WAS AT THE DEALER BUT THEY DIDNT EVEN DRIVE THE CAR WHICH IS WHY THE PROBLEM COULD NOT BE REPLICATED. I WAS CHARGED $105.95 BY THE DEALER FOR THEIR TIME. I TOLD THEM THAT I RESEARCHED THE MATTER ONLINE AND THAT MANY SUBARU FORESTER OWNERS ARE EXPERIENCING THE SAME INTERMITTENT PROBLEM. I WAS TOLD BY THE DEALER THAT UNTIL SUBARU ISSUES A RECALL THEY CAN'T HELP ME AND WON'T REIMBURSE ME FOR MY CHARGES.

NHTSA ODI #11246104

19,123 miles · Aug 22, 2019
Air BagsSeats

THE PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAGS ARE INTERMITTENTLY BEING DISABLED WHEN A PASSENGER SITS IN THE SEAT. I AM ALERTED TO THIS BY MY INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. IT TYPICALLY HAPPENS WHEN WITHIN 30 SECONDS OF STARTING THE CAR AND IS USUALLY STILL STATIONARY.

NHTSA ODI #11245794

Official recalls

1

19V701000 · Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification

Oct 3, 2019

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2015-2018 Forester vehicles equipped with heated seats. An electrical connection in the front passenger seat for the Occupant Detection System (ODS) may loosen.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: If the connection loosens, the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.

Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, as necessary, replace the ODS sensor mat harness, free of charge. The recall began February 11, 2020. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WUM-98.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

1

PE19009 · Occupant Detection System (ods) Failure

Opened Aug 6, 2019 · Closed Jan 22, 2020

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Air Bags; Air Bags:frontal; Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module; Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE19-009 to investigate 51 complaints and additional Early Warning Report (EWR) data related to allegations of front passenger seat Occupant Detection System (ODS) malfunctions in model year (MY) 2016 through 2018 Subaru Forester vehicles. These vehicles use a capacitive type ODS, which is intended to classify the occupant of the passenger seat as either full-sized, small stature, a child seat or other object. The complaints reported the ODS failed to operate properly, the SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) warning light illuminated, and/or the ODS incorrectly suppressed (turned off) the front passenger air bag when the seat was occupied by a full-sized passenger. In a frontal crash that is sufficient to warrant deployment, a suppressed air bag may increase the risk of injury to the occupant of the seat.On August 14, 2019 ODI sent an Information Request (IR) to Subaru requesting information on the subject vehicles and MY 2014-2015 Subaru Forester vehicles.On October 3, 2019, Subaru submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR) to NHTSA describing a safety defect in the passenger-side front airbag Occupant Detection System (ODS) harness of 366,282 MY 2015-2018 Subaru Forester vehicles equipped with seat heaters.The DIR stated that over time, due to a decrease in contact pressure between the terminals in the ODS sensor mat harness, a temporarily unstable electrical connection may be possible. If the connection is temporarily unstable, the ODS may not properly determine the status of the right front seat occupant. If the ODS is unable to correctly determine the status of the front occupant, the airbag warning light may illuminate, and the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.Using vehicle production data and field occurrence frequency, Subaru determined the potentially affected vehicle production range to be between January 20, 2015 ?and August 1, 2017.In addition, Subaru indicated that over 99 percent of the related MY 2015-2018 field reports with vehicles in the production range involved vehicles with seat heaters.NHTSA's analysis of complaint and warranty claim data showed 1,440 of the complaints and 11,672 of the claims involve vehicles with seat heaters that were built within the production range covered by Subaru's recall.In addition, NHTSA's analysis showed a complaint rate of 393.1 per hundred thousand vehicles for the recalled population and 89.0 for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall. Analysis of warranty claim data found a claim rate of 3.2 percent for the recalled population and 0.3 percent for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall.Subaru will instruct owners with Subaru Forester vehicles produced in the affected vehicle production range, to bring their vehicles to a dealer to have the sensor mat harness, inspected and replaced with a new part, including the seat cushion assembly, if necessary.Based on ODI's analysis, the actions taken by Subaru mitigate any unreasonable risk to safety posed by ODS sensor mat failures in the subject vehicles. For subject and peer vehicles outside the recall population and those equipped without seat heaters, ODI's analysis indicates that there is currently no safety-related defect trend. Given these circumstances, further use of the agency resources in this matter does not appear to be warranted. Accordingly, this investigation is closed.

Additional source detail variants (4)

Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE19-009 to investigate 51 complaints and additional Early Warning Report (EWR) data related to allegations of front passenger seat Occupant Detection System (ODS) malfunctions in model year (MY) 2016 through 2018 Subaru Forester vehicles. These vehicles use a capacitive type ODS, which is intended to classify the occupant of the passenger seat as either full-sized, small stature, a child seat or other object. The complaints reported the ODS failed to operate properly, the SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) warning light illuminated, and/or the ODS incorrectly suppressed (turned off) the front passenger air bag when the seat was occupied by a full-sized passenger. In a frontal crash that is sufficient to warrant deployment, a suppressed air bag may increase the risk of injury to the occupant of the seat.On August 14, 2019 ODI sent an Information Request (IR) to Subaru requesting information on the subject vehicles and MY 2014-2015 Subaru Forester vehicles.On October 3, 2019, Subaru submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR) to NHTSA describing a safety defect in the passenger-side front airbag Occupant Detection System (ODS) harness of 366,282 MY 2015-2018 Subaru Forester vehicles equipped with seat heaters.The DIR stated that over time, due to a decrease in contact pressure between the terminals in the ODS sensor mat harness, a temporarily unstable electrical connection may be possible. If the connection is temporarily unstable, the ODS may not properly determine the status of the right front seat occupant. If the ODS is unable to correctly determine the status of the front occupant, the airbag warning light may illuminate, and the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.Using vehicle production data and field occurrence frequency, Subaru determined the potentially affected vehicle production range to be between January 20, 2015 ?and August 1, 2017.In addition, Subaru indicated that over 99 percent of the related MY 2015-2018 field reports with vehicles in the production range involved vehicles with seat heaters.NHTSA's analysis of complaint and warranty claim data showed 1,440 of the complaints and 11,672 of the claims involve vehicles with seat heaters that were built within the production range covered by Subaru's recall.In addition, NHTSA's analysis showed a complaint rate of 393.1 per hundred thousand vehicles for the recalled population and 89.0 for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall. Analysis of warranty claim data found a claim rate of 3.2 percent for the recalled population and 0.3 percent for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall.Subaru will instruct owners with Subaru Forester vehicles produced in the affected vehicle production range, to bring their vehicles to a dealer to have the sensor mat harness, inspected and replaced with a new part, including the seat cushion assembly, if necessary.Based on ODI's analysis, the actions taken by Subaru mitigate any unreasonable risk to safety posed by ODS sensor mat failures in the subject vehicles. For subject and peer vehicles outside the recall population and those equipped without seat heaters, ODI's analysis indicates that there is currently no safety-related defect trend. Given these circumstances, further use of the agency resources in this matter does not appear to be warranted. Accordingly, this investigation is closed.

Air Bags:frontal

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE19-009 to investigate 51 complaints and additional Early Warning Report (EWR) data related to allegations of front passenger seat Occupant Detection System (ODS) malfunctions in model year (MY) 2016 through 2018 Subaru Forester vehicles. These vehicles use a capacitive type ODS, which is intended to classify the occupant of the passenger seat as either full-sized, small stature, a child seat or other object. The complaints reported the ODS failed to operate properly, the SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) warning light illuminated, and/or the ODS incorrectly suppressed (turned off) the front passenger air bag when the seat was occupied by a full-sized passenger. In a frontal crash that is sufficient to warrant deployment, a suppressed air bag may increase the risk of injury to the occupant of the seat.On August 14, 2019 ODI sent an Information Request (IR) to Subaru requesting information on the subject vehicles and MY 2014-2015 Subaru Forester vehicles.On October 3, 2019, Subaru submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR) to NHTSA describing a safety defect in the passenger-side front airbag Occupant Detection System (ODS) harness of 366,282 MY 2015-2018 Subaru Forester vehicles equipped with seat heaters.The DIR stated that over time, due to a decrease in contact pressure between the terminals in the ODS sensor mat harness, a temporarily unstable electrical connection may be possible. If the connection is temporarily unstable, the ODS may not properly determine the status of the right front seat occupant. If the ODS is unable to correctly determine the status of the front occupant, the airbag warning light may illuminate, and the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.Using vehicle production data and field occurrence frequency, Subaru determined the potentially affected vehicle production range to be between January 20, 2015 ?and August 1, 2017.In addition, Subaru indicated that over 99 percent of the related MY 2015-2018 field reports with vehicles in the production range involved vehicles with seat heaters.NHTSA's analysis of complaint and warranty claim data showed 1,440 of the complaints and 11,672 of the claims involve vehicles with seat heaters that were built within the production range covered by Subaru's recall.In addition, NHTSA's analysis showed a complaint rate of 393.1 per hundred thousand vehicles for the recalled population and 89.0 for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall. Analysis of warranty claim data found a claim rate of 3.2 percent for the recalled population and 0.3 percent for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall.Subaru will instruct owners with Subaru Forester vehicles produced in the affected vehicle production range, to bring their vehicles to a dealer to have the sensor mat harness, inspected and replaced with a new part, including the seat cushion assembly, if necessary.Based on ODI's analysis, the actions taken by Subaru mitigate any unreasonable risk to safety posed by ODS sensor mat failures in the subject vehicles. For subject and peer vehicles outside the recall population and those equipped without seat heaters, ODI's analysis indicates that there is currently no safety-related defect trend. Given these circumstances, further use of the agency resources in this matter does not appear to be warranted. Accordingly, this investigation is closed.

Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE19-009 to investigate 51 complaints and additional Early Warning Report (EWR) data related to allegations of front passenger seat Occupant Detection System (ODS) malfunctions in model year (MY) 2016 through 2018 Subaru Forester vehicles. These vehicles use a capacitive type ODS, which is intended to classify the occupant of the passenger seat as either full-sized, small stature, a child seat or other object. The complaints reported the ODS failed to operate properly, the SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) warning light illuminated, and/or the ODS incorrectly suppressed (turned off) the front passenger air bag when the seat was occupied by a full-sized passenger. In a frontal crash that is sufficient to warrant deployment, a suppressed air bag may increase the risk of injury to the occupant of the seat.On August 14, 2019 ODI sent an Information Request (IR) to Subaru requesting information on the subject vehicles and MY 2014-2015 Subaru Forester vehicles.On October 3, 2019, Subaru submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR) to NHTSA describing a safety defect in the passenger-side front airbag Occupant Detection System (ODS) harness of 366,282 MY 2015-2018 Subaru Forester vehicles equipped with seat heaters.The DIR stated that over time, due to a decrease in contact pressure between the terminals in the ODS sensor mat harness, a temporarily unstable electrical connection may be possible. If the connection is temporarily unstable, the ODS may not properly determine the status of the right front seat occupant. If the ODS is unable to correctly determine the status of the front occupant, the airbag warning light may illuminate, and the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.Using vehicle production data and field occurrence frequency, Subaru determined the potentially affected vehicle production range to be between January 20, 2015 ?and August 1, 2017.In addition, Subaru indicated that over 99 percent of the related MY 2015-2018 field reports with vehicles in the production range involved vehicles with seat heaters.NHTSA's analysis of complaint and warranty claim data showed 1,440 of the complaints and 11,672 of the claims involve vehicles with seat heaters that were built within the production range covered by Subaru's recall.In addition, NHTSA's analysis showed a complaint rate of 393.1 per hundred thousand vehicles for the recalled population and 89.0 for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall. Analysis of warranty claim data found a claim rate of 3.2 percent for the recalled population and 0.3 percent for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall.Subaru will instruct owners with Subaru Forester vehicles produced in the affected vehicle production range, to bring their vehicles to a dealer to have the sensor mat harness, inspected and replaced with a new part, including the seat cushion assembly, if necessary.Based on ODI's analysis, the actions taken by Subaru mitigate any unreasonable risk to safety posed by ODS sensor mat failures in the subject vehicles. For subject and peer vehicles outside the recall population and those equipped without seat heaters, ODI's analysis indicates that there is currently no safety-related defect trend. Given these circumstances, further use of the agency resources in this matter does not appear to be warranted. Accordingly, this investigation is closed.

Air Bags

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE19-009 to investigate 51 complaints and additional Early Warning Report (EWR) data related to allegations of front passenger seat Occupant Detection System (ODS) malfunctions in model year (MY) 2016 through 2018 Subaru Forester vehicles. These vehicles use a capacitive type ODS, which is intended to classify the occupant of the passenger seat as either full-sized, small stature, a child seat or other object. The complaints reported the ODS failed to operate properly, the SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) warning light illuminated, and/or the ODS incorrectly suppressed (turned off) the front passenger air bag when the seat was occupied by a full-sized passenger. In a frontal crash that is sufficient to warrant deployment, a suppressed air bag may increase the risk of injury to the occupant of the seat.On August 14, 2019 ODI sent an Information Request (IR) to Subaru requesting information on the subject vehicles and MY 2014-2015 Subaru Forester vehicles.On October 3, 2019, Subaru submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR) to NHTSA describing a safety defect in the passenger-side front airbag Occupant Detection System (ODS) harness of 366,282 MY 2015-2018 Subaru Forester vehicles equipped with seat heaters.The DIR stated that over time, due to a decrease in contact pressure between the terminals in the ODS sensor mat harness, a temporarily unstable electrical connection may be possible. If the connection is temporarily unstable, the ODS may not properly determine the status of the right front seat occupant. If the ODS is unable to correctly determine the status of the front occupant, the airbag warning light may illuminate, and the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.Using vehicle production data and field occurrence frequency, Subaru determined the potentially affected vehicle production range to be between January 20, 2015 ?and August 1, 2017.In addition, Subaru indicated that over 99 percent of the related MY 2015-2018 field reports with vehicles in the production range involved vehicles with seat heaters.NHTSA's analysis of complaint and warranty claim data showed 1,440 of the complaints and 11,672 of the claims involve vehicles with seat heaters that were built within the production range covered by Subaru's recall.In addition, NHTSA's analysis showed a complaint rate of 393.1 per hundred thousand vehicles for the recalled population and 89.0 for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall. Analysis of warranty claim data found a claim rate of 3.2 percent for the recalled population and 0.3 percent for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall.Subaru will instruct owners with Subaru Forester vehicles produced in the affected vehicle production range, to bring their vehicles to a dealer to have the sensor mat harness, inspected and replaced with a new part, including the seat cushion assembly, if necessary.Based on ODI's analysis, the actions taken by Subaru mitigate any unreasonable risk to safety posed by ODS sensor mat failures in the subject vehicles. For subject and peer vehicles outside the recall population and those equipped without seat heaters, ODI's analysis indicates that there is currently no safety-related defect trend. Given these circumstances, further use of the agency resources in this matter does not appear to be warranted. Accordingly, this investigation is closed.

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