Subaru will replace both front headlights in all 2016 models to 2019 Impreza sedan and hatchback, a total of nearly 190,000 vehicles. That’s 380,000 new headlights, at a time when supply chains for various components – including lighting systems – are not working optimally correctly.
This story goes back to the summer of 2019, when an NHTSA investigation determined the compact’s front left halogen lamp assembly was inefficient, not illuminating the road properly and causing glare. oncoming drivers.
Subaru solved this problem by replacing the mold inserts for the left low beam reflectors. A few months later, NHTSA discovered that the lateral reflectors of both assemblies were also defective when manufactured and that caused the low beam reflectors to fail as well. From the department Safety recall report:
During the manufacturing process, a one-sided reflector is stuck in the mold, resulting in damage to the mold. Some lateral reflectors produced after mold damage can degrade reflector performance. Subsequently, the mold used in the manufacture of low-beam halogen reflectors has become so worn that manufactured parts may no longer meet certain data point performance requirements.
As a result of all this, Subaru is now starting to disassemble and replace the assemblies on 188,397 halogen-equipped Imprezas over the course of the four model years. (Vehicles equipped with LEDs are not affected.) However, the NHTSA report states that Subaru initially tried to avoid this, submitting the department with a Petition for Determination of Noncompliance. Unnecessary – the company basically doesn’t consider the problem serious enough to warrant a recall. Obviously, we now know how successful that was.
Ironically, General Motors recently tried to avoid the all-terrain headlamp recall in a similar way, with a “No Consequences” petition. NHTSA wasn’t happy with that either and denied GM’s request, like it rejected Subaru. That campaign was significantly worse for the American automaker, as it covered about 727,000 vehicles between 2010 and 2019.
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Good headlights are important — both so drivers can see where they’re headed, and so the rest of us aren’t blinded when we pass them in the opposite direction. Carmakers really shouldn’t try to dismiss lighting complaints! Thankfully the NHTSA didn’t let this one skate by. Subaru plans to notify relevant owners before mid-October, but if you’d like to check your car’s status now, you can do so using the VIN Lookup Tool by NHTSA.
