Problems · by component

2005 Subaru Outback air bags problems

38 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2005 Subaru Outback cite air bags, 14% of all 273 complaints for this model year. NHTSA also lists 6 recalls on this component.

Complaints
38
14% of all complaints
Crashes
3
Reported by owners
Fires
1
Reported by owners
Injuries
7
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the air bags

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“The contact had received several recall notifications of an air bag recall for a 2005 Subaru Outback. The contact never owned the vehicle and requested to be removed from the recall distribution list. The manufacturer was contacted and advised the contact that the removal request could not be processed without the complete VIN. The contact had provided a partial VIN.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jan 16, 2026Air bagsODI 11711440
“2005 SUBARU OUTBACK, CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO AIRBAG SAFETY RECALL. *LD THE CONSUMER STATED THE AIRBAG RECALL WAS PERFORMED ON THE VEHICLE, BUT CONTINUED TO RECEIVE LETTERS CONCERNING THE RECALL. THE CONSUMER BELIEVED THE LETTERS TO BE A SCAM. *JS”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 1, 2020Air bagsODI 11361831
“TL* TAKATA RECALL. THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBERS: 15V323000 (AIR BAGS) AND 14V311000 (SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC); HOWEVER, THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIRS WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIRS. THE DEALER (SERRA SUBARU OF TRAVERSE CITY, 1747 S GARFIELD AVE, TRAVERSE CITY, MI) WAS CONTACTED AND CONFIRMED THAT THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE RECALL REMEDIES. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED AND WAS NOT ABLE TO CONFIRM WHEN THE PARTS WERE TO BECOME AVAILABLE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Apr 24, 2018Air bags, Service brakesODI 11089817
“2005 SUBARU. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO AIRBAG SAFETY RECALL. *LD THE CONSUMER STATED THE DEALER ADVISED THE AIRBAG COULD NOT BE REPLACED DUE TO THE VEHICLE HAVING AN INTOXALYSER. THE CONSUMER STATED THE PROCESS TO HAVING THE INTOXALYSER REMOVED AND THE RECALL COMPLETED WAS DIFFICULT. *JS”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 2, 2018Air bagsODI 11065191
“TL* TAKATA RECALL. THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 15V323000 (AIR BAGS); HOWEVER, THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE DEALER (COLE SUBARU, RT 460 GREEN VALLEY SUITE 4, BLUEFIELD, WV 24701 (304) 305-4090) WAS CONTACTED AND CONFIRMED THAT THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE RECALL REMEDY. TWO MONTHS AGO, THE DEALER STATED THAT THEY WOULD ORDER THE PARTS AND CONTACT HER ONCE THE PARTS ARRIVED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE CONTACT RECEIVED A POSTCARD FROM TK HOLDINGS, ALERTING HER THAT THEY FAILED FOR BANKRUPTCY. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Nov 24, 2017Air bagsODI 11048238
“TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 15V323000 (AIR BAGS). THE PART TO DO THE REPAIR WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE VIN WAS INVALID. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled May 19, 2017Air bagsODI 10990630

Showing 6 of 38 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 6, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
02 —Related recalls

6 recalls on this component

Air bags: inflator module

Free remedy

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester, 2003-2006 Baja, 2004-2011 Impreza, 2004-2014 WRX (including STI), 2003-2014 Legacy and Outback, and 2006 Saab 9-2X vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia or "Zone B." These vehicles had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.

Air bagsReported Jan 2, 2020NHTSA 20V002000

Air bags: inflator module

Free remedy

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester, 2003-2006 Baja, 2004-2011 Impreza, 2004-2014 WRX (including STI), 2003-2014 Legacy and Outback, and 2005-2006 Saab 9-2X vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of 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 had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.

Air bagsReported Jan 2, 2020NHTSA 20V003000

Air bags: inflator module

Free remedy

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester, 2003-2006 Baja, 2004-2011 Impreza, 2004-2014 WRX (STI included), 2003-2014 Legacy and Outback, and 2005-2006 Saab 9-2X vehicles originally 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 or "Zone A." These vehicles had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.

Air bagsReported Jan 2, 2020NHTSA 20V001000

Air bags: inflator module

Free remedy

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.

Air bagsReported May 28, 2015NHTSA 15V323000

Air bags

Free remedy

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 Legacy and Outback vehicles, and 2003-2005 Baja vehicles sold, or ever registered, in geographic locations associated with high absolute humidity. Specifically, vehicles sold, or ever registered, in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, Florida and adjacent counties in southern Georgia, as well as the coastal areas of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Upon deployment of the passenger side frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.

Air bagsReported Dec 1, 2014NHTSA 14V763000

Air bags: side

Free remedy

THE LEFT AND RIGHT SIDE CURTAIN AIR BAGS IN CERTAIN VEHICLES INVOLVED IN THIS CAMPAIGN MAY NOT FULLY DEPLOY RAPIDLY ENOUGH WHEN ACTIVATED IN A SIDE IMPACT COLLISION. DURING A SIDE IMPACT TEST CONDUCTED BY THE INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY (IIHS), THE TEST RESULTS INDICATED THAT THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE IIHS TEST RESULTS AND THE RESULT OF SIDE IMPACT TESTS CONDUCTED BY FHI.

Air bagsReported Jun 9, 2004NHTSA 04V274000
Data from NHTSA Recalls API · synced Nov 6, 2026

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.