Almost 100,000 Subaru models have been recalled in the United States because of an insufficient weld that could lead to water intrusion and trigger a number of safety concerns.
Subaru has revealed that the weld between the switch stator and the cover of the inhibitor switch is not as thick as it should be. This could allow for water to make its way into the inhibitor switch and may mean the reversing lights do not illuminate when the car is in reverse gear and may cause the rear-view camera to not function. Additionally, the transmission gear indicator in the instrument panel may not be displayed and there’s even a possibility that the engine won’t start.
Read: Subaru Recalls Forester, Impreza And More For Cracking Front Driveshaft
A total of 95,830 vehicles are impacted by the recall. These include Forester models built for the 2022 model year between July 26, 2021, and July 27, 2021, some 37,195 2021MY Crosstreks assembled from February 8, 2021, to July 30, 2021, 7,149 2021-2023MY Legacy models built from March 18, 2021, to August 25, 2022, and 51,470 2021-2023MY Subaru Outback models produced between March 17, 2021, and May 16, 2022.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) recall notice says that the insufficient weld was caused by a worn welding jig that was used by a supplier from February to June 2021.
Owners will be notified of the recall around January 8, 2024, and Subaru dealerships will replace the inhibitor switch with a new one at no cost.
The manufacturer was first alerted to a potential issue in June of 2021 when it received a technical report of a car in the U.S. not displaying ‘D’ or ‘R’ when in the Drive and Reverse gears. Over the following 12 months, Subaru started finding parts with signs of water intrusion. An increasing upward trend in claims related to water intrusion prompted the brand to conduct further analysis of the fault before it decided to issue a recall at the start of November.
Affected Subaru models