NHTSA Complaint #10734347 — 2008 SUBARU LEGACY

I BROUGHT MY CAR TO THE LOCAL REPAIR SHOP WHEN MY AIRBAG LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD WAS COMING ON INTERMITTENTLY. UNFORTUNATELY I HAD TO TAKE THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR THEM TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. WHEN I CALLED BERTERA SUBARU I MADE THE FIRST APPOINTMENT THEY HAD AVAILABLE, WHICH WAS TWO WEEKS FROM WHEN I WAS CALLING. I DROPPED MY CAR OFF ON MY SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT ON JULY 10TH AT 10:30 AM. BERTERA INFORMED ME THAT MY CAR SHOULD BE READY FOR THE END OF THE DAY. AT 4:00 PM BERTERA CALLED TO TELL ME THAT THEY WERE UNABLE TO TAKE A LOOK AT MY CAR AND WOULD NOT GET TO IT FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. DISAPPOINTED WITH THE CUSTOMER SERVICE, AND STILL WONDERING WHAT WAS WRONG WITH MY AIR BAG I HAD TO MAKE ANOTHER APPOINTMENT FOR MONDAY JULY 13TH. ON MONDAY BERTERA INFORMED ME THAT MY CAR WAS "CLEARED OF ALL RECALLS" YET MY AIRBAG SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED FOR $384 AND IF I DIDN'T REPLACE IT I WILL STILL HAVE TO PAY $120 FOR THE DIAGNOSIS AND THAT IT IS A SAFETY HAZARD TO CONTINUE DRIVING BECAUSE IF I GOT IN AN ACCIDENT THE AIRBAGS WOULD NOT DEPLOY. I INSTANTLY LOOKED ONLINE WHERE I SAW HUNDREDS OF COMPLAINTS FROM SUBARU OWNERS WITH AIRBAG PROBLEMS. WHEN I RECEIVED THE COPY OF MY SERVICE THE AIRBAG LIGHT ERROR WAS CODE 26. THERE WAS POWER AND GROUND ON INPUT SIDE, BUT THE INDICATOR "INTERNALLY SHORTED". SINCE THE AIRBAG DOES NOT WORK WHEN THE LIGHT ISN'T WORKING PROPERLY THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. I URGE THE NHTSA TO LET ALL POTENTIALLY AFFECTED OWNERS KNOW ABOUT IT. PLEASE CONSIDER THIS COMPLAINT TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE SUBARU AND ADD THIS TO THE EXISTING PROBLEM OF TAKATA DEFECTIVE INFLATER AND PROPELLANT DEVICES AIRBAG RECALLS. THIS "INTERNAL SHORTCUT" IS ALSO CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEFECT IN AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).? *JB