2018 Subaru Forester · symptom sheet
Airbag warning light or recall
- 97owner reports
- 20,000median miles
- $1,100median quote
- 2involved a crash
Newest report Sep 22, 2026 · checked Oct 2, 2026
97 of the 495 complaints on this car describe airbag. Only windshield is reported more often on this car.
Narrower sheets: Takata airbag inflator recall (56 reports) · Passenger airbag sensor problems (52 reports) · Airbag warning light stays on (36 reports)
Tick what matches of 97 reports
Airbag on other Forester years
Report counts are for each model year on its own, so a newer car has had less time to collect them. Model years with too few reports of it for a sheet: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026.
What this problem usually is
Airbag complaints split into a few kinds. The most common is an airbag warning light that won't go out. Others involve the passenger seat sensor switching the passenger bag off with an adult sitting there, an airbag that didn't deploy in a crash, or one that went off without a crash at all. A large share also come from owners waiting on a recall part.
What got replaced
Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the occupant sensor (46 reports).
Recalls and investigations
One recall on the airbags covers the 2018 model year. A recall on the same system isn't always the same failure, so read the defect text.
An electrical connection in the front passenger seat for the Occupant Detection System (ODS) may loosen.
All 3 recalls on the 2018 Subaru Forester, with the owner complaints on each recalled system
NHTSA investigations into the airbags on the Forester
Occupant detection system (ods) failure. Closed jan 22, 2020, led to recall 19V-701.
What owners paid
14 of the 97 reports quote a price. Each dot is one quote. The middle half runs $200 to $1,300.
When it happens
The middle half of failures fell between 8,300 and 40,000 miles, from the 29 reports that gave a mileage.
What owners wrote
“The SRS passenger warning light comes on intermittently. Sometimes with a passenger the indication is the air bag is "ON" and everything seems to be fine. Sometimes with a passenger we get the message that the "SRS SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE CHECKED". And sometimes we get that message even without a passenger. This started at around 80K miles.”
Filed Aug 11, 2023 · 80,000 miles
“Passenger air bag light displays intermittently on and off (mostly off) regardless of whether there is a passenger in the seat. It has not yet been inspected by any dealer, service center, manufacturer, police, insurance, or others.”
Filed Sep 12, 2022
“I have been getting an airbag warning light for the past few months. I took it into my local Subaru dealer and they confirmed that the issue was the passenger recognition system. The system will recognize a passenger and turn the airbags on sometimes, and sometimes it will not. This puts the passengerâs life at risk in the event of an accident and the airbags donât deploy.”
Filed Jul 26, 2022
“Passenger seat when empty will at times indicate person is sitting in seat without buckling seat belt and sound alert”
Filed Jul 22, 2022
Should you keep driving it?
This page can't tell you that. 2 of 97 reports involved a crash and 3 people were hurt. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.
File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation. How reports land on this sheet.
Guide Paid for this repair before a recall covered it? How recall reimbursement works
Other problems on this car
- Windshield cracks or distorts 153 reports
- Battery dies or the car will not start 44 reports
- Seat belt or seat problems 36 reports