NHTSA recall 16V361000
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.
| Published by | NHTSA (United States) |
|---|---|
| Campaign number | 16V361000 |
| Manufacturer's number | TKC-16 |
| Manufacturer | Subaru of America, Inc. |
| Reported | 2016-05-25 |
| Owners notified | 2016-08-24 |
| Component | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE |
| Units potentially affected | 62940 |
| Report | Quarterly report 28, for 2023 quarter 2 |
|---|---|
| Filed with NHTSA | 2023-07-24 |
| Vehicles in the campaign | 62940 |
| Reported remedied | 38036 (60%) |
| Reported unreachable | 0 |
| Reported removed | 20121 |
These are the manufacturer's totals for the whole campaign at the end of 2023 quarter 2, 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 Legacy, Outback, and Baja vehicles originally sold or that have ever been registered in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, or "Zone C.". These vehicles may be equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the front air bags, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
What can happen
An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began August 24, 2016. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-856-488-8500. Subaru's number for this recall is TKC-16. Note: This recall covers vehicles that were not previously covered in 16V-358 for Zone A or 16V-359 for Zone B.
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.
| 2003 SUBARU BAJA | Built 2002-05-16 to 2004-07-21. |
|---|---|
| 2004 SUBARU BAJA | Built 2002-05-16 to 2004-07-21. |
| 2003 SUBARU LEGACY | Built 2002-03-08 to 2004-03-03. |
| 2004 SUBARU LEGACY | Built 2002-03-08 to 2004-03-03. |
| 2003 SUBARU OUTBACK | Built 2002-02-14 to 2004-03-08. |
| 2004 SUBARU OUTBACK | Built 2002-02-14 to 2004-03-08. |
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.
| EA15001 | Engineering 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
| 14V471 | 2023-05-08. Service bulletin. WQM?49 Front Passenger Air Bag Inflator Recall (NHTSA ID 14V?471) |
|---|---|
| WQM-49R | 2016-09-23. 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-51 | 2016-09-23. 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-51RA | 2016-09-23. Service bulletin. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT PROVIDES A GEOGRAPHIC EXPANSION OF THE CURRENT WQM]49 TAKATA AIRBAG LIMITED REGIONAL RECALL. |
| 14V-399 | 2016-06-02. 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.