NHTSA Complaint #11208734 — 2017 SUBARU FORESTER

2017 FORESTER SRS AIRBAG SENSOR DEFECTIVE TWO YEARS AFTER PURCHASE, THE SRS AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT APPEARED. THIS LIGHT FLICKERS ON AND OFF, AT RANDOM, WHETHER OR NOT A PASSENGER IS IN THE SEAT. (NO PASSENGER WILL BE DRIVING WITH ME UNTIL THIS IS REPAIRED.) MY SUBARU DEALERSHIP SERVICE MANAGER TOLD ME THAT THERE WAS A RECALL (HE MISSPOKE, PERHAPS HE MEANT 'SHOULD BE') AND SAID THAT HE "SEES THIS ALL THE TIME". HE IMMEDIATELY KNEW (PRIOR TO TESTING IT) THAT THEY WOULD BE REPLACING THE PASSENGER SEAT BOTTOM, FOR A NEW SENSOR PAD. HE SAID THEY ARE USUALLY BACKORDERED. BACKORDERED INDICATES TO ME THAT THERE IS A HIGH DEMAND TO CORRECT THIS ERROR IN THIS CRITICAL SAFETY SYSTEM. AT THIS POINT, I HAVE SUBARU CORPORATE INVOLVED; I'VE EMAILED AND SPOKEN AT LENGTH WITH KRIS DRECHSEL, A SUPERVISOR IN CUSTOMER SERVICE, AND CHARLES HOSIER, A CUSTOMER SERVICE ADVOCATE. WHILE THEY BOTH WERE SUPERB IN THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH ME, I LEARNED NOTHING ABOUT WHAT SUBARU IS DOING OR INTENDS TO DO ABOUT THIS REPREHENSIBLE SITUATION, OTHER THAN PASS ALONG MY COMPLAINT. I WAS EMAILED THAT THEY ARE "NOT AWARE OF ANY TRENDING ISSUE WITH THE PASSENGER SIDE SEAT SENSOR". SUBARU IS CLEARLY AWARE THERE IS A PROBLEM AND IS NEGLECTFUL IN NOT BEING FULLY TRANSPARENT WITH OWNERS THAT THERE IS THE POTENTIAL THAT AN AIRBAG MAY NOT DEPLOY IN A COLLISION DUE TO THIS SENSOR DEFECT. SUBARU NOTED THAT THEY RELY ON CUSTOMER FEEDBACK AND THAT THE APPROPRIATE PROTOCOL WILL BE FOLLOWED FOR SUCH COMPLAINTS. CONSIDERING THE GRAVITY OF THIS ISSUE, I ASSUME, THEN, THAT I AM THE ONLY CUSTOMER WHO HAS PROVIDED THIS COMPLAINT AND THAT THEY ARE NOW GOING TO DISCOVER THE 'TREND' AND PROVIDE NOTICE OF THIS SRS AIRBAG DEFECT TO THE PUBLIC. THERE ARE 25 COMPLAINTS ON THIS SITE ALONE (OF HOW MANY THAT "MAY APPEAR"?), COUNTLESS ONLINE FORUMS, AND APPARENTLY LAW SUITS PENDING. IS A DEATH WHAT'S PREREQUISITE HERE?