NHTSA recall 18V012000
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 | 18V012000 |
| Manufacturer's number | TKA-18 |
| Manufacturer | Subaru of America, Inc. |
| Reported | 2018-01-09 |
| Owners notified | 2018-02-09 |
| Component | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE |
| Units potentially affected | 64179 |
| Report | Quarterly report 22, for 2023 quarter 2 |
|---|---|
| Filed with NHTSA | 2023-07-24 |
| Vehicles in the campaign | 64179 |
| Reported remedied | 59344 (92%) |
| Reported unreachable | 0 |
| Reported removed | 2579 |
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 2009-2013 Legacy, Forester, Tribeca, WRX and Outback vehicles, and 2009-2011 Impreza vehicles sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
What can happen
An explosion of an inflator within the passenger frontal air bag module may result in sharp metal fragments striking the front seat passenger, driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on February 9, 2018. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is TKA-18.
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.
| 2012 SUBARU B9 TRIBECA | Built 2008-04-08 to 2013-07-03. |
|---|---|
| 2009 SUBARU FORESTER | Built 2008-01-09 to 2013-01-07. |
| 2010 SUBARU FORESTER | Built 2008-01-09 to 2013-01-07. |
| 2011 SUBARU FORESTER | Built 2008-01-09 to 2013-01-07. |
| 2012 SUBARU FORESTER | Built 2008-01-09 to 2013-01-07. |
| 2013 SUBARU FORESTER | Built 2008-01-09 to 2013-01-07. |
| 2009 SUBARU IMPREZA | Built 2008-07-16 to 2011-07-12. |
| 2010 SUBARU IMPREZA | Built 2008-07-16 to 2011-07-12. |
| 2011 SUBARU IMPREZA | Built 2008-07-16 to 2011-07-12. |
| 2009 SUBARU LEGACY | Built 2008-05-09 to 2013-05-21. |
| 2010 SUBARU LEGACY | Built 2008-05-09 to 2013-05-21. |
| 2011 SUBARU LEGACY | Built 2008-05-09 to 2013-05-21. |
| 2012 SUBARU LEGACY | Built 2008-05-09 to 2013-05-21. |
| 2013 SUBARU LEGACY | Built 2008-05-09 to 2013-05-21. |
| 2009 SUBARU OUTBACK | Built 2008-05-01 to 2013-05-21. |
| 2010 SUBARU OUTBACK | Built 2008-05-01 to 2013-05-21. |
| 2011 SUBARU OUTBACK | Built 2008-05-01 to 2013-05-21. |
| 2012 SUBARU OUTBACK | Built 2008-05-01 to 2013-05-21. |
| 2013 SUBARU OUTBACK | Built 2008-05-01 to 2013-05-21. |
| 2009 SUBARU TRIBECA | Built 2008-04-08 to 2013-07-03. |
| 2010 SUBARU TRIBECA | Built 2008-04-08 to 2013-07-03. |
| 2011 SUBARU TRIBECA | Built 2008-04-08 to 2013-07-03. |
| 2013 SUBARU TRIBECA | Built 2008-04-08 to 2013-07-03. |
| 2009 SUBARU WRX | Built 2008-08-01 to 2013-06-27. |
| 2010 SUBARU WRX | Built 2008-08-01 to 2013-06-27. |
| 2011 SUBARU WRX | Built 2008-08-01 to 2013-06-27. |
| 2012 SUBARU WRX | Built 2008-08-01 to 2013-06-27. |
| 2013 SUBARU WRX | Built 2008-08-01 to 2013-06-27. |
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.