Vehicle Data Hub

2016 Subaru Forester seats problems

Owners reported seats problems in 24 complaints for the 2016 Subaru Forester, 4% of the complaints on file.

At a glance

Complaints
24 4% of this year's complaints
Crashes and fires
0 and 0
Injuries and deaths
0 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

What the data shows

None of the seats complaints mention a crash, fire, injury or death.

What owners wrote

Subaru is knowingly building its cars with faulty passenger side air bag sensors which will randomly turn off the air bag while the passenger seat is occupied under normal life driving conditions. It is in the 2016 and 2017 owners manual that if there is a cell phone or electrical device in the front area of the car then the air bag sensors could malfunction. It also states that if your passenger is wearing a jacket or sweater this could cause the sensors to turn the life saving air bag off.

Reported at 40,000 miles, June 2018

In early may 2019, the vehicle started giving airbag warnings and disabling the front passenger airbag when the front passenger seat was occupied. I reported the problem to my subaru dealer's service department when I took it in for routine service a couple weeks later. It took a month to get an appointment to have the warning diagnosed. Finally they did the analysis and told me the passenger seat sensor had failed, and claimed it was because the seat got wet (it didn't).

Reported at 12,000 miles, May 2019

Other problems reported for the 2016 Subaru Forester

Seats problems in other years

  • 2026
  • 2025
  • 2024
  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2014
  • 2013
  • 2012
  • 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2007
  • 2006
  • 2005
  • 2004
  • 2003
  • 2002
  • 2001
  • 2000
  • 1999
  • 1998

Seats problems across all Subaru models