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NHTSA recall 15V323000

A recall listed here may apply to a vehicle of this year, make and model. Only the manufacturer can say whether it applies to one vehicle: check the VIN with the official lookups.

Campaign
Published byNHTSA (United States)
Campaign number15V323000
Manufacturer's numberWQR-53
ManufacturerSubaru of America, Inc.
Reported2015-05-28
Owners notified2015-06-17
ComponentAIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Units potentially affected432016
Remedy progress the manufacturer reported
ReportQuarterly report 32, for 2023 quarter 1
Filed with NHTSA2023-04-28
Vehicles in the campaign432016
Reported remedied329703 (76%)
Reported unreachable0
Reported removed82262

These are the manufacturer's totals for the whole campaign at the end of 2023 quarter 1, as filed with NHTSA. They do not say whether one vehicle has been remedied: check the VIN with the official lookups. The reports are from data as of 2026-10-19.

What is wrong

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 vehicles manufactured February 18, 2003, to May 5, 2008, and 2005 Saab 9-2x vehicles manufactured February 11, 2004, to March 17, 2005. The affected vehicles are equipped with a passenger side frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture upon its deployment.

What can happen

In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.

The 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. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. The Saab recall began on July 27, 2015. Owners of Saab vehicles may call 1-800-955-9007. Subaru's number for this recall is WQR-53. Note: The recall completely supersedes recall 14V-399 (WQL-48) and partially supersedes recall 14V-763 (WQP-51) in that model year 2004 through 2005 Subaru Impreza and model year 2005 Saab 9-2x vehicles are now only part of this campaign. Note: On December 18, 2015 Subaru informed NHTSA of an expansion of this recall to include certain model year 2003-2004 Subaru Baja, 2003-2008 Subaru Legacy and 2003-2008 Subaru Outback vehicles.

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Vehicles this campaign lists
2005 SAAB 9-2XBuilt 2004-02-11 to 2005-03-17.
2003 SUBARU BAJABuilt 2003-01-22 to 2004-07-21.
2004 SUBARU BAJABuilt 2003-01-22 to 2004-07-21.
2004 SUBARU IMPREZABuilt 2003-01-28 to 2005-05-31.
2005 SUBARU IMPREZABuilt 2003-01-28 to 2005-05-31.
2003 SUBARU LEGACYBuilt 2003-01-22 to 2005-05-02.
2004 SUBARU LEGACYBuilt 2003-01-22 to 2005-05-02.
2005 SUBARU LEGACYBuilt 2003-01-22 to 2005-05-02.
2006 SUBARU LEGACYBuilt 2003-01-22 to 2005-05-02.
2007 SUBARU LEGACYBuilt 2003-01-22 to 2005-05-02.
2008 SUBARU LEGACYBuilt 2003-01-22 to 2005-05-02.
2003 SUBARU OUTBACKBuilt 2003-02-18 to 2008-05-05.
2004 SUBARU OUTBACKBuilt 2003-02-18 to 2008-05-05.
2005 SUBARU OUTBACKBuilt 2003-02-18 to 2008-05-05.
2006 SUBARU OUTBACKBuilt 2003-02-18 to 2008-05-05.
2007 SUBARU OUTBACKBuilt 2003-02-18 to 2008-05-05.
2008 SUBARU OUTBACKBuilt 2003-02-18 to 2008-05-05.

A vehicle with no link is not in this site's catalog, which covers cars, multipurpose vehicles and trucks by model year. The campaign is from data as of 2026-10-19.

Investigated as EA15001

This recall followed 1 NHTSA investigation. An investigation is NHTSA looking into a possible defect. It is not a finding that a defect exists, and it does not say that any one vehicle is affected.

NHTSA investigations that led to this recall
EA15001Engineering analysis, opened 2015-02-24. Air Bag Inflator Rupture. AIR BAGS:FRONTAL; AIR BAGS.

From NHTSA's investigation file, as of 2026-10-19. The JSON has NHTSA's summary of each.

Bulletins for the same vehicles and component

Bulletins for the same vehicles and component
14V4712023-05-08. Service bulletin. WQM?49 Front Passenger Air Bag Inflator Recall (NHTSA ID 14V?471)
WQR 53A 12018-06-11. Service bulletin. Owner Notification Subaru will begin mailing to affected vehicle owners on June 17, 2015. The first owners to receive notification will be owners identified based on registration data in areas of high absolute humidity (FL, HI, PR, GU, VI, AL, GA, MS, TX, LA). In addition to notification by postal mail, vehicle owners with a valid email address and MySubaru subscribers will be notified electronically. A copy of the owner notification letter will be added at the end of the WQR?53 campaign bulletin shortly. Retailer affected VIN Lists will be distributed by the Zone Offices. Retailers are requested to order parts to support scheduled customer service appointments.
WQR-53P2018-06-11. Service bulletin. WQR-53 Front Passenger Air Bag Inflator Parts Supply Update (Impreza, WRX, and STI models) We are pleased to announce that our parts supply for affected 2004-2005 model year Impreza, WRX, and STI vehicles has improved and we are preparing for the owner notification process.
WQR-53U2017-03-08. Service bulletin. SUBJECT: UPDATE: FRONT PASSENGER AIR BAG INFLATORS WQR-53 (2005-2008 LEGACY AND OUTBACK VEHICLES). THE WQR-53 RECALL IS BEING EXPANDED TO INCLUDE ALL 2005-2008 MODEL YEAR LEGACY AND OUTBACK VEHICLES. THIS IS AN EXPANSION FROM THE CURRENT WQP-51 LIMITED REGIONAL RECALL FOR CERTAIN 2005 MODEL YEAR LEGACY AND OUTBACK VEHICLES, TO A NATIONAL RECALL FOR ALL 2005-2008 MODEL YEAR LEGACY AND OUTBACK VEHICLES. THE AIR BAG INFLATORS IN THE FRONT PASSENGER AIR BAGS FOR THESE VEHICLES COULD BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO RUPTURE AND THE FRONT PASSENGER AIR BAG COULD DEPLOY ABNORMALLY IN A CRASH.
WQM-49R2016-09-23. Service bulletin. THE REVISEMENT OF THIS RECALL ADVISES (WQM-49) HAS BEEN SUPERSEDED TO THE WQP-51 REGIONAL FRONT PASSENGER TAKATA AIR BAG INFLATOR RECALL.
WQP-512016-09-23. Service bulletin. THIS BULLETIN ANNOUNCES SUBARU IS CONDUCTING THIS LIMITED REGIONAL RECALL TO REPLACE THE FRONT PASSENGER AIR BAG INFLATORS PRODUCED BY TK HOLDINGS, INC. (TAKATA) IN CERTAIN 2003-2005 MODEL YEAR LEGACY, OUTBACK, AND BAJA VEHICLES AND CERTAIN 2004-2005 MODEL YEAR IMPREZA (INCLUDING WRX/STI) VEHICLES CURRENTLY OR PREVIOUSLY REGISTERED IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS OF HIGH ABSOLUTE HUMIDITY.
WQP-51RA2016-09-23. Service bulletin. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT PROVIDES A GEOGRAPHIC EXPANSION OF THE CURRENT WQM]49 TAKATA AIRBAG LIMITED REGIONAL RECALL.
14V-3992016-06-02. Service bulletin. SUMMARY TO BE PROVIDED ON A FUTURE DATE.

A bulletin is the manufacturer's note to its dealers. It is not part of this recall.

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