Symptom explainer · every vehicle on the site
Passenger airbag sensor problems
Most reported: 2017 Subaru Forester with 98 reports. Across the 67 model years on this site with at least five, owners filed 1,026.
- 1,026owner reports
- 67model years affected
- 32,500median miles
- 42involved a crash
- 0involved a fire
This is the narrower sheet inside airbag problems for the passenger seat sensor, the system that decides whether the front passenger airbag should be on or off. Owners here see a "passenger airbag off" light with an adult in the seat, or an airbag warning that comes on when someone sits down.
Part of Airbag Problems, which counts 16,092 reports.
Which cars report it most · By model · When it happens · What it is and what to do
The 25 vehicles with the most reports
Each row is one model year. The bar is its count of passenger airbag sensor faults reports; the share is how much of that car's complaint file this problem takes up. Bigger sellers draw more reports, so read the share alongside the count. Red dots mark crashes and fires in these reports; amber marks a recall on the same system.
- 12017 Subaru Forester2 crashesrecall9817% of its complaints28k mi
- 22018 Subaru Foresterrecall5211% of its complaints14k mi
- 32015 Nissan Altima1 crashrecall515% of its complaints20k mi
- 42015 Subaru Foresterrecall498% of its complaints72k mi
- 52016 Subaru Forester1 crashrecall4912% of its complaints44k mi
- 62014 Nissan Altima1 crashrecall464% of its complaints21k mi
- 7414% of its complaintsfew mileages
- 82014 Nissan Pathfinder2 crashesrecall357% of its complaints18k mi
- 9298% of its complaints98k mi
- 102015 Nissan Rogue2 crashesrecall285% of its complaints20k mi
- 112019 Volkswagen Atlas1 crashrecall276% of its complaintsfew mileages
- 122019 Tesla Model 31 crash264% of its complaintsfew mileages
- 132015 Nissan Muranorecall2412% of its complaints10k mi
- 142014 Nissan Rogue3 crashesrecall225% of its complaints19k mi
- 152015 Chrysler 2001 crashrecall201% of its complaints58k mi
- 162016 Nissan Altima2 crashesrecall204% of its complaints70k mi
- 172017 Nissan Roguerecall203% of its complaintsfew mileages
- 182015 Nissan Pathfinder1 crashrecall175% of its complaints15k mi
- 192014 Nissan Sentrarecall164% of its complaints40k mi
- 202016 Nissan Rogue3 crashesrecall153% of its complaintsfew mileages
- 212021 Toyota RAV42 crashesrecall154% of its complaintsfew mileages
- 22133% of its complaintsfew mileages
- 232018 Volkswagen Atlas1 crashrecall133% of its complaintsfew mileages
- 242015 Nissan Sentra2 crashesrecall113% of its complaintsfew mileages
- 252016 Nissan Murano1 crashrecall1110% of its complaintsfew mileages
Where it dominates the complaint file
Model years with at least 25 reports, ranked by the share of all their complaints that describe passenger airbag sensor faults. That takes most of the sales-volume effect out (small sellers still swing more).
- 12017 Subaru Forester2 crashesrecall9817% of its complaints28k mi
- 22016 Subaru Forester1 crashrecall4912% of its complaints44k mi
- 32018 Subaru Foresterrecall5211% of its complaints14k mi
- 42015 Subaru Foresterrecall498% of its complaints72k mi
- 5298% of its complaints98k mi
- 62014 Nissan Pathfinder2 crashesrecall357% of its complaints18k mi
- 72019 Volkswagen Atlas1 crashrecall276% of its complaintsfew mileages
- 82015 Nissan Altima1 crashrecall515% of its complaints20k mi
- 92015 Nissan Rogue2 crashesrecall285% of its complaints20k mi
- 102014 Nissan Altima1 crashrecall464% of its complaints21k mi
By model, every year together
The 12 models with the most reports. Each chip is a model year; the darker chip is its worst year.
When it happens
442 of the 1,026 reports state a mileage. The middle half fall between 14,000 and 59,900 miles; the median is 32,500. Each column is a 20,000-mile band.
Reports by model year
Every report of passenger airbag sensor faults, grouped by the model year of the car. 42 involved a crash and 0 a fire. 39 people were hurt.
What owners describe
Share of the 1,026 reports that use each phrase. One report can use several.
What got replaced
Reports that name the part, across every vehicle.
What it is and what to do
NHTSA explains why the sensor exists. Advanced frontal airbag systems can switch off the passenger airbag when they detect a small person, a child, a child seat or an empty seat. Some decide that largely from the pressure on the seat cushion, so anything that adds or takes away sensed weight can make the system misclassify the passenger. Failures run both ways. Nissan's 16V-244 covered some 2013 to 2017 models, including the Altima and Rogue, whose system could read an adult as a child or an empty seat and switch the airbag off. Honda's 24V-064 went the other way: a cracked seat weight sensor on some 2020 to 2022 models could fail to turn the airbag off when it should.
About 1,000 complaints on this site describe it, with a median mileage of about 30,000. The 2017 and 2018 Subaru Forester lead, and Subaru recalled them in 19V-701: on some 2015 to 2018 Foresters with heated seats, a connection for the occupant detection system could loosen and turn off the passenger airbag with someone sitting there. It followed NHTSA's investigation PE19-009 into 51 complaints.
The dealer will read the airbag system's codes and look at the seat sensor and its wiring. The Chrysler recall 16V-114 shows why seat repairs matter here: on some 2015 Chrysler 200s the sensor module and the seat foam had to be replaced as a matched, calibrated set, and replacing only one could throw it off.
If the indicator doesn't match who's in the seat, NHTSA's advice is to check the owner's manual for how to correct it. Until it's fixed, keep children in the back, where NHTSA says anyone under 13 belongs anyway. Check NHTSA's recall lookup first, since several of these sensors are under recall and the fix is free.
Sources
- Air bags (advanced frontal air bags and the passenger air bag off indicator), NHTSA
- NHTSA recall 16V-244, Nissan occupant classification system
- NHTSA recall 24V-064, Honda seat weight sensor
- NHTSA recall 19V-701, Subaru Forester occupant detection system
- NHTSA investigation PE19-009, occupant detection system failure, Subaru Forester (NHTSA investigation file)
- NHTSA recall 16V-114, Chrysler 200 occupant classification module
- Complaint counts, mileages and phrase shares: NHTSA complaint files as tallied on this site
Counts are unique NHTSA complaints on the 1,040 vehicle model years that have a page here, grouped by the word patterns described on the method page. A vehicle needs five matching reports to be counted in this ranking. Checked Sep 27, 2026. All problem explainers.