2008 Subaru Legacy air bags problems
25 complaints about air bags have been filed for the 2008 Subaru Legacy, which is 30% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.
At a glance
- Complaints
- 25 30% of this year's complaints
- Typical mileage
- 82,000 miles 19 complaints with mileage
- Crashes and fires
- 1 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 1 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
When air bags problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 3 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 4 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 8 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 19 air bags complaints that report mileage, the median is about 82,000 miles, and 21% were reported before 60,000 miles.
These complaints mention 1 crash, 1 injury.
What owners wrote
My airbag light had been turning on intermittently as is described by many 2008 subaru legacy and outback owners about a year prior to my accident. On october 15th, 2014, I lost consciousness while driving and went off the road and struck two trees. My vehicle was totaled with a cracked frame and it took two tow trucks and a winch to pull my car off of the trees. In this accident my airbags did not deploy and I suffered a fractured vertebra, a traumatic brain injury, knee injuries, and shoulder injuries.
Red airbag light in dashboard goes off intermittently, regardless of whether or not there is a occupant in the passenger front seat. According to the subaru dealership service (glendale, ca), passenger airbag censor in the passenger seat is most likely the culprit, and passenger side air bag may not go off during a collision. Others subaru owners have reported similar issue on legacygt.com, forums.nasioc.com, subaruoutback.org, and subaruforester.org.