CarComplaints.com Notes: Is burning a quart of oil every 1,000 miles normal? Depends on who you ask. While Subaru says it's within "normal specifications," owners wonder why they need to top off their oil reservoir 4 times between every 5,000 mile oil change.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
52,812 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2014 Subaru Forester seat belts / air bags problems

seat belts / air bags problem

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2014 Subaru Forester Owner Comments

problem #8

Sep 202021

Forester

  • 72,500 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while reversing, the Back Over Prevention screen failed to display an image. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The contact also stated that after starting the vehicle or while driving at various speeds, the front passenger-€™s side seat belt and air bag warning lights would illuminate without an occupant seated in the seat. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V701000 (Air Bags) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in a recall. The approximate failure mileage was 72,500.v

- Roanoke, VA, USA

problem #7

Mar 012017

Forester

  • miles
Occupant detection system (ods) malfunctioning. Passenger airbag is off when an adult is seated in the front passenger seat. Sometimes the passenger airbag is on while there is no one (and nothing) on the seat, causing the seat belt warning chime to occur until seat belt is buckled. Supplemental restraint system (SRS) light appears on dashboard and shuts down airbag system while driving. These things occur somewhat randomly when starting the car, continue while driving in the city and highway, and don't go away until the car is turned off. Sometimes restarting the car will correct the problem. I brought my Forester to the dealership back in 2017 and they reported that the sensors of the ods system were not working properly and will need to be replaces. Cost estimate is about $1,100. They said the likely cause is moisture or the seat got wet. I live in a dry climate area and have not gotten the seats wet at all recently (and barely ever in the past). Through research, I have found a very similar problem has occurred in the 2015-2018 models and there is a recall (wum-98) for those years. My Forester is a 2014 and is of the same generation but isn't included in the recall for some reason. Is it possible that the 2014 model should also be included if the same problem is happening? appreciate any help and insight you can offer!

- Northbrook, IL, USA

problem #6

Jan 262021

Forester

  • 98,000 miles
Occupant detection system (ods) malfunctioning. Passenger airbag is off when an adult is seated in the front passenger seat. Sometimes the passenger airbag is on while there is no one (and nothing) on the seat, causing the seat belt warning chime to occur until seat belt is buckled. Supplemental restraint system (SRS) light appears on dashboard and shuts down airbag system while driving. These things occur somewhat randomly when starting the car, continue while driving in the city and highway, and don't go away until the car is turned off. Sometimes restarting the car will correct the problem. I brought my Forester to the dealership today (1/26/2021) and they reported that the sensors of the ods system were not working properly and will need to be replaces. Cost estimate is about $1,100 and I have to wait until the part gets shipped in. They said the likely cause is moisture or the seat got wet. I live in a dry climate area and have not gotten the seats wet at all recently (and barely ever in the past). Through research, I have found a very similar problem has occurred in the 2015-2018 models and there is a recall (wum-98) for those years. My Forester is a 2014 and is of the same generation but isn't included in the recall for some reason. Is it possible that the 2014 model should also be included if the same problem is happening? appreciate any help and insight you can offer!

- Wheat Ridge, CO, USA

problem #5

Oct 032020

Forester

  • 135,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My 2014 Subaru Forester has recently started having warnings about SRS. Passenger seat sensor occasionally does not recognize a passenger is seated and therefore the airbag is 'off' even if seat is occupied. Both front seats are heated and it looks like this is the same issue that lead to a recall for 2015 Subaru Foresters. Please extend the recall to include 2014 models. Very unsafe and costly ($900-$1,200 according to other complaints) to repair this sensor in order to have the passenger airbag operational. Passenger seatbelt warning also occasionally comes on even if there is no one sitting in seat.

- Flagstaff, AZ, USA

problem #4

Jun 262019

Forester

  • 65,000 miles
Front passenger seat air bag sensor, front passenger seat occupancy sensor, front passenger seat airbag computer, red air bag warning light, yellow passenger airbag "on/off" light, seat belt warning and chime. Air bag disabled warning intermittently comes on when passenger seat is occupied, seat belt fastened, car out of gear, stationary. Sometimes stopping engine, key off and removed, then engine restarted will reset this warning. Other times during normal driving, passenger seat occupied, seat belt latched, air bag warning (red) light will occurs and yellow pass airbag active light will indicate passenger air bag inactive. When front pass seat empty or with weight as light as 2 pounds on the seat, seat belt warning light and chime comes on when speed exceeds 5 mph. Sometimes this alarm can be reset by sharply striking seat, sometimes not, and trip must be completed with the seat belt buckled. In this case the passenger airbag light usually shows inactive. The seat belt issue has been happening for about 2 years, getting more frequent. The airbag issue has been happening during the last two months, starting just after the stop light switch recall maintenance was performed at Subaru dealer in las vegas, nv.

- Laughlin, NV, USA

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problem #3

Oct 012015

Forester

  • miles
2014 sabaru Forester. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle seat head rest, seat belt and rear view visibility issues. The consumer stated there was limited rear view visibility with two large blind spots due to a 64 square inch head rest. Also, the seat belt angled from the roof diagonally, therefore limiting rear view vision. The center head rest was only two inches high, rather than the lateral head rest being eight inches high.

- Champaign, IL, USA

problem #2

Apr 192015

Forester 4-cyl

  • 38,000 miles
While driving my car on the highway, (approximate 65 mph) I got a message on the console that indicated that SRS system had shut down and the red air bag light went on. I drove it home and then turned the car off. When I restarted it, the red air bag light went away. The next day while I was riding on the passenger side, the red airbag light went off and a note on the console said that the front passenger side airbag was not operational. I took the vehicle to the Subaru dealer who could not recreate the issue and turned the car back to us.

- Cary, NC, USA

problem #1

Jun 192014

Forester 4-cyl

  • 14,000 miles
I was turning left on an arrow and a car ran the red light resulting in a head on collision with me, I was driving about 3mph and he was driving 45mph. His car was totalled, airbags deployed and on fire. I had front end damage and my airbags did not deploy nor did the seat belt lock up. As a result I hit the steering wheel with my knee and my ankle got lacerated and blunt trauma from the brake/accelartation pedal.

- Columbus, OH, USA

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