NHTSA Complaint #11711243 — 2017 LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER

I own a 2018 Land Rover Range Rover where the airbag warning light remains illuminated at all times on the dashboard, even when the front passenger seat is empty and no cargo is present on the seat. The warning light for airbag indicatesthat the air bag is not activated and will not work in a collision. The passenger air bag has been inoperable for over 2 years.This issue has persisted for several years, with documented dealer service records dating back to before my warranty expired. The dealer (Land Rover of Palm Beach) diagnosed it as resulting from the front passenger seat movement causing detachment or strain on the wiring harness/connector for the occupant classification system (OCS), which detects passenger presence and controls airbag deployment. The Passenger seat air bag sensor or wiring harness is defective and needs replacement for the passenger side air bag to function. They said that all 2018 Range Rover air bag harnesses are too short and are prone to being detached by seat movements / adjustments. They have repeatedly reset the light and reconnected the harness, but the warning recurs shortly after, indicating an unresolved design or manufacturing defect in the under-seat wiring that is prone to failure from normal seat adjustments. This prevents reliable operation of the passenger frontal airbag, posing a serious safety risk as it may fail to deploy (or deploy improperly) in a crash, endangering occupants. The dealer refuses to install a new larger harness or provide a permanent fix, despite this being a known recurring problem reported by other owners of similar L405 Range Rover models. They say that Land Rover corporate is not providing a newer replacement harness and is not paying for the repairs despite this being a serious safety issue. I request NHTSA investigation into this potential widespread defect to determine if a recall or safety action is warranted. This may be the same problem as reported in NHTSA Campaign # 11500093 & 11693335.