Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture
EA21002
Still open engineering analysis · opened September 17, 2021 · the air bags
NHTSA safety record
Saab
Every complaint, recall and defect investigation on file for a Saab, model years 2010 to 2011.
2
Vehicles
60
Complaints
45
Recalls
0
Fires
0
Deaths
2Saab year and model combinations have enough on file to be worth a page here, and between them their owners have filed 60 safety complaints with NHTSA. More of those name the air bags than any other system: 47 of them. The single most complained-about is the 2010 9-3, with 30.
NHTSA holds 45 recall campaigns naming Saab vehicles, across every model year the agency records rather than only the ones shown here. 1 defect investigation into these vehicles is open and unresolved.
What goes wrong on a Saab
The systems named most often across every Saab complaint on file. One complaint can name more than one system, so these add up to more than the complaint total. "Unknown or other" is excluded: it is what the intake form records when an owner cannot place the failure.
- AIR BAGS 47
- SEAT BELTS 5
- ENGINE 3
- FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER 2
- ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1
Open investigations (1)
NHTSA has decided a pattern is worth examining and has not closed the file. A preliminary evaluation is often closed with no action; an engineering analysis is the stage that usually precedes a recall.
Most recent Saab recalls
The newest campaigns naming a Saab, by the date the manufacturer's defect report reached NHTSA. Each one covers a build range, which may be narrower than the model years listed.
SUSPENSION:REAR
21V473000 · June 24, 2021
A loose toe link can separate and cause a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.
General Motors, LLC · up to 380,498 vehicles
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
20V003000 · January 2, 2020
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Subaru of America, Inc. · up to 111,562 vehicles
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
20V002000 · January 2, 2020
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Subaru of America, Inc. · up to 127,547 vehicles
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
20V001000 · January 2, 2020
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Subaru of America, Inc. · up to 258,813 vehicles
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
17V016000 · January 10, 2017
An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Subaru of America, Inc. · up to 62,764 vehicles
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
16V359000 · May 25, 2016
An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Subaru of America, Inc. · up to 146,010 vehicles
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
16V358000 · May 25, 2016
An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Subaru of America, Inc. · up to 302,127 vehicles
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
16V063000 · February 3, 2016
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
General Motors LLC · up to 113,716 vehicles
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS
15V519000 · August 14, 2015
Headlamps that do not illuminate reduce the driver's ability to see the roadway and reduce the vehicle's visibility to oncoming vehicles, both of which increase the risk of a vehicle crash.
General Motors LLC · up to 429,170 vehicles
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
15V323000 · May 28, 2015
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Subaru of America, Inc. · up to 432,016 vehicles
Every manufacturer's latest recalls, or check a single car with the VIN lookup.
Every Saab page on this site
2 vehicles across 1 model, newest model year first.
Built from NHTSA's complaint file published August 20, 2026, its recall campaign API and its defect investigation file. A complaint is one owner's unverified account, not a finding of fault. How this is counted. · All makes
Compiled and maintained by guarledes
Independent developer and analyst