2019 Subaru Forester Airbags Problems

The contact owned a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving and merging onto the highway in the rain approximately 62 MPH, the contact’s vehicle was rear-ended by another vehicle that was driving erratically. Due to the impact, the vehicle spun out of control approximately 3-4 times and the vehicle bounced off the concrete highway sound barrier. The vehicle continued to spin out of control and struck the barrier wall on the passenger’s side before coming to a stop. The contact stated that the rear driver’s axle fractured and ended up on top of the wheel, and the wheel was flat on the ground. The contact stated that the air bags failed to deploy upon impact or during the crash. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact and his wife were transported to the hospital and were both treated for whiplash, body pain, and pain to the head and neck. The contact also had a throbbing headache from the crash. The contact and his wife both received CT scans that showed no signs of injuries. The other driver also spun out of control and struck the metal guardrail located in the middle of the highway. The contact stated that the other driver had not received medical attention at the scene. A Police Report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a collision yard where it remained. The insurance company had not inspected the vehicle; however, the contact expected that the vehicle would be deemed a total loss. The contact stated that the driver who caused the accident was cited by the Police for causing the crash. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 71,400.

NHTSA ID

11704694

Incident

Dec 10, 2025

Mileage

71,400 mi

I got in my vehicle after getting gas. I was on my way to Neosho, MO, hundreds of miles from home. Thes lights were all on and I couldn't get them to go off. I figured it was because my windshield was dirty. I turned my wipers on to find out one needed replaced. I paid $30 for 1 since I have an odd type of wipers and I had been to 3 auto stores to find it. The Eye Sight, brake, check engine, air bag, and lane assist lights never went off. Now they come on randomly and go off randomly. This causes all safety features to not work. No adaptive cruise control, nothing. I finally got them to go off somehow the day I came back home. I live nowhere near a Subaru dealer. It had no other effect on my vehicle as far as I could tell. Now when they come on. I pull over until they come back on or have to drive it home to sit.

NHTSA ID

11647079

Incident

Nov 10, 2024

The contact owned a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while parking the vehicle, the vehicle suddenly accelerated to approximately 80 MPH unintendedly. The contact stated that she depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle spun several times, causing her to lose control of the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle hit several power generator boxes while spinning. The vehicle then turned around and drove across the street unintendedly, and the front end of the vehicle crashed into a pine tree. The contact stated that the forward collision avoidance failed to engage. The air bags failed to deploy. The neighbors assisted the contact out of the vehicle. The contact stated that she was shocked and was assisted in a chair. The contact that she later felt pain all over the body and was taken to the hospital, where she was informed that she had sustained a broken sternum, bruises, and pain all over the body. The insurance company towed the vehicle to a tow lot, where it was totaled. The dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and sent a field engineer who retrieved the EDR from the vehicle. The manufacturer later informed the contact that the information retrieved from the EDR indicated that there was no vehicle malfunction and that the air bags had not deployed because the impact was not significant. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.

NHTSA ID

11585052

Incident

Mar 5, 2024

Mileage

34,000 mi

Starlink notification to the dealership that there was a problem with the airbag system. The “seat bottom” that contained the the passenger detector sensor was defective and the entire airbag system is disabled.

NHTSA ID

11561235

Incident

Dec 20, 2023

SRS warning light illuminates after honking of horn (horn activator on central steering wheel). After turning off the car and then restarting, the warning light is not visible, but then the warning light recurred after honking horn again during driving. Appointment for evaluation at dealer scheduled.

NHTSA ID

11519685

Incident

Apr 27, 2023

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving in the rain at 55 mph, the vehicle spun a couple of times, then crashed into the median wall. The median wall brought the vehicle to a complete stop. The contact's driver's side seatbelt did not lock the contact into her seat during impact, which caused injuries to the contact's right arm, wrist, and hand. No air bags deployed upon impact. The contact and passenger were transported by ambulance to the hospital. The passenger sustained injuries to her left foot and bruising to her chest from the passenger side seatbelt, locking her into her seat during impact. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and remained at the dealer, awaiting steering parts and cosmetic repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and sent an inspector to investigate. The manufacturer informed the contact that the inspector found that the air bags and seatbelt were functioning properly. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.

NHTSA ID

11438546

Incident

Jul 24, 2021

Mileage

20,000 mi

The contact owned a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while her mother was driving at 25 mph, the engine revved and the vehicle independently accelerated to 50 mph. The contact attempted to stop the vehicle by depressing the brake pedal but the vehicle continued to the accelerator. As a result, the driver went off the road, through a field, crashed into a few tree stumps, and a playground fence. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The contact sustained a sore neck and a couple of bruises but did not require medical attention. The vehicle was not drivable and was towed to a collision center. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 13,099.

NHTSA ID

11425150

Incident

Jul 2, 2021

Mileage

13,099 mi

2019 Subaru Forester was stopped with left directional signal on to make a left turn. Waiting for oncoming traffic to pass. Vehicle was hit multiple times from the front, back AND side. Airbags did NOT deploy. Driver of the vehicle which hit us said he was “distracted” when he hit us and that it was his fault.

NHTSA ID

11419216

Incident

Apr 6, 2021

TRAVELING FROM RI TO WESTERN NY. DEPARTED RI IN AM WITH MODERATE RAINFALL WHEN "EYESIGHT DISABLED" INDICATOR FLASHED SEVERAL TIMES OVER THE COURSE OF HALF HOUR. WHEN RAIN SUBSIDED, INDICATOR DISAPPEARED. SEVERAL HOURS LATER, WAS DRIVING 65-70MPH ON STRAIGHT SECTION OF MAJOR INTERSTATE WITH GOOD VISIBILITY, APPROACHING A HIGHWAY OVERPASS WHEN "OBSTACLE DETECTED" WARNING APPEARED DESPITE NO OBSTACLE IN ROAD, AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER CAR WENT INTO A SLOW SPIN (FELT AS IF FLOATING) TOWARDS LEFT, STRIKING A GUARDRAIL UNDERNEATH THE OVERPASS HEAD-ON AND CONTINUING TO SPIN 360 DEGREES AT WHICH POINT I WAS ABLE TO RECOVER CONTROL OF THE CAR. IT FELT AS IF BRAKES HAD ENGAGED (? CRASH IMMINENT BRAKING SYSTEM) ALTHOUGH I DID NOT HAVE FOOT ON BRAKE PEDAL AND I DID NOT ATTEMPT TO BRAKE WHILE IN THE SPIN AS I FEARED ROLLING THE VEHICLE. DESPITE EXTENSIVE FRONT END DAMAGE, AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. HAD TO LEAVE THE VEHICLE IN ALBANY, NY AND CURRENTLY AWAITING EVALUATION BY INSURANCE ADJUSTER. OF NOTE, 5 MONTHS EARLIER THE WINDSHIELD HAD CRACKED WHEN HIT WITH SMALL ROCK AND WAS REPLACED AT SUBARU DEALERSHIP WHERE THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED.

NHTSA ID

11308147

Incident

Feb 7, 2020

Mileage

30,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2019 SUBARU FORESTER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT ALL THE AUTOMATIC SAFETY FEATURES FAILED ON THE VEHICLE. WHILE DRIVING BETWEEN 50-55 MPH AND CHANGING LANES, THE LANE DEPARTURE WARNING FAILED. AS A RESULT, THE CONTACT REAR ENDED ANOTHER VEHICLE. THE AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. THE CONTACT SUSTAINED A FRACTURED STERNUM THAT REQUIRED MEDICAL ATTENTION. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO EXIT THE VEHICLE BEFORE IT CAUGHT FIRE AND BURNED TO THE GROUND. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT EXTINGUISHED THE FIRE. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A TOW YARD AND DEEMED DESTROYED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND DID NOT ASSIST. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 14,000. THE VIN WAS UNKNOWN.

NHTSA ID

11287979

Incident

Nov 26, 2019

Mileage

14,000 mi

WHEN CAR IS IN MOTION THE PASSENGER AIRBAG OFF LIGHT REMAINS ILLUMINATED. THIS STARTED INTERMITTENTLY YESTERDAY, ON MY 4TH DAY OF OWNING THE NEW CAR! THE SUBARU ALERT SYSTEM ALSO NOTIFIED ME THAT SOMETHING WASN'T WORKING AND THAT IT WOULD REQUIRE A SERVICE CALL.

NHTSA ID

11258398

Incident

Sep 26, 2019

Mileage

300 mi

2019 FORESTER WITH APPROXIMATELY 600 MILES HAS PASSENGER AIR BAG LIGHT CONSTANTLY ON. PASSENGER SAT IN SEAT, LIGHT DID NOT GO OUT. SUBARU SERVICE DID NOT ADDRESS THE PROBLEM - OR CORRECT THE PROBLEM. RESEARCHING THIS - IT HAS BEEN A PROBLEM FOR THE PAST 3 YEARS. IT'S ALSO A PROBLEM ON THE 2019 MODELS. INVESTIGATION NEEDS TO BE EXPANDED TO 2019 MODELS.

NHTSA ID

11256566

Incident

Aug 1, 2019

I WAS INVOLVED IN A 4 CAR ACCIDENT. I WAS REAR ENDED BY TWO VEHICLES BEHIND ME WHICH SENT ME INTO THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME. MY 2019 SUBARU FORESTER'S AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY AND MY SEAT BELT DID NOT RESTRAIN ME; THEREFORE, I WAS THROW INTO THE WINDSHIELD SUPPORT POST AND SUFFERED A HEAD INJURY. I AM VERY UNHAPPY WITH MY SUBARU AND PRAY FOR OTHERS OUT THERE WITH THIS VEHICLE! NEW BERN, NC

NHTSA ID

11255731

Incident

Sep 14, 2019

Mileage

12,000 mi

WE OWN A 2019 SUBARU FORESTER SPORT. THE FRONT PASSENGER AIRBAG CONTINUALLY FAILS TO REGISTER OUR DAUGHTER WHEN SHE IS SAT IN THE SEAT WITH THE SEAT BELT BUCKLED. SHE WEIGHS APPROXIMATELY 100 POUNDS, IS 5' TALL AND 13 YEARS OLD. THE AIRBAG DETECTS HER ABOUT 50% OF THE TIME. IF WE ADD ADDITIONAL WEIGHT TO HER, SUCH AS MY PURSE IT WILL SOMETIMES DETECT HER BUT NOT ALWAYS. WE HAVE BROUGHT IT INTO THE DEALERSHIP SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND THEY SAY IT IS FUNCTIONING AS DESIGNED BUT WILL NOT TELL US AT WHAT WEIGHT THE AIRBAG DETECTION SYSTEM SHOULD BE TRIGGERED. THE VEHICLE IS STATIONARY WHEN WE EXPERIENCE THIS PROBLEM.

NHTSA ID

11253180

Incident

Jun 1, 2019

Mileage

100 mi

IN AN ACCIDENT INVOLVING FRONT END TO OTHER CAR REAR END ON AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY, THE AIRBAG SYSTEM DIDN'T DEPLOY. THE ENGINE THEN CAUGHT FIRE IN THE RIGHT FRONT OF THE ENGINE. THE ENTIRE CAR BURNED. FORTUNATELY NO INJURY TO DRIVER OR PASSENGER.

NHTSA ID

11240861

Incident

Jul 28, 2019

Mileage

3,800 mi

I WAS DRIVING MY 2019 SUBARU FORESTER ON THE INTERSTATE WHEN A CAR STOPPED IN FRONT OF ME. I ATTEMPTED TO BRAKE, BUT DID END UP REAR ENDING THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME, WHICH PUSHED HER INTO THE CAR IN FRONT OF HER. THE IMPACT WAS AT LEAST 30-35 MPH AND THE CAR IS TOTALED. AIRBAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY.*JB

NHTSA ID

11192258

Incident

Mar 25, 2019

Mileage

3,700 mi