[hiker74]

Just an FYI
Some had posted regarding the fit and finish of where the plastic piece joins the headliner on the 2013 Outback. There is a gap on the pillar. I had my dealer take a look and this is a known observation by many 2013 owners. What the dealer is being told is that the piece has to be able to pop out as the side curtain airbag is attached to a tether at that pillar. It sounds like an odd explanation, but thought I would share

 

[GasGuzz]

Here’s the deployment (at 18secs)...

<O

 

[crabjoe]

What a crock! If that were the case, every other vehicle, ever produced, with A-Pillar air bags would do the same. You'll find even on the Outbacks, some will have this issue, and some will not, and the reason is because of bad fit/design.

I feel the reason the dealer doesn't want to try a fix is because Mother Subaru hasn't issued a TSB.

BTW, I think this gap is a result of Toyota and possibly using their design for cost cutting.. I could be completely wrong. I currently have a '07 Camry and it has the same problem. Over time, it got worse and the gap can get as large as a 1/2 centimeter, till I snap it back in. This is after they performed a TSB multiple times; and before Toyota has issued a TSB, the local dealer would say it was normal to have a small gap. My neighbor who also owns an '07 Camry that doesn't have this problem.... It's just a poor design that works at times and other times it doesn't.

 

[GasGuzz]

crab-j don’t you know they get the A-Pillar from 2 suppliers, Airhead Industries and Precision Trim. AI provides out of spec parts at 70% contract price, problem solved.<O</O
The video shows no action from the pillar (unless the FSM proves otherwise), just have the dealer… “It’s by engineering design”.

 

[hiker74]

Don't shoot the messenger

 

[iainb]

Our Jetta has a-pillar airbags and there is not gap in the trim there.

Obvious BS answer from Subaru is obvious.

I have always wondered how the airbag was supposed to explode out of the pillar covers without doing damage to the passenger.

 

[crabjoe]

Hiker.. Sorry if it came out like I was saying what I said to you. I was saying it to the dealer.

 

[hiker74]

I knew that. I just remembered that it was a hot subject about interior fit and finish. The body panel fit is awesome though-kinda unheard of for a car at this price point. The gaps are great. I had a lot a crazy interior fit and finish stuff on my 2013. Its at the dealer getting everything addressed today. I had a headliner issue near the C pillar and a drivers side seat adjustment housing cover flopping around

 

[ansyh80]

Hi,
I did the post regarding A-Pillar here. Just wanted to share what happened further, maybe some people find this interesting or even useful.
I sent an email about this issue to Subaru customer support on their web site, got the response that I should bring the vehicle to the dealer for inspection (which I was going to do anyway) and let them know the date and time of the appointment.
At the dealer, service guy checked the other new car they had on the lot and found the same problem. I asked if they could fix my car, they said they would try to do something. I left my car and went to work, then came back to pick it up 8 hrs later. They fixed it by stuffing something under the headliner so that it closed the gap. Not completely - there is still a very small gap, but it looks much better now (see photos). Also, the guy told me that Subaru customer support person contacted them, they took pictures and sent them and reported that they found the same issue on 7 other vehicles they inspected. So everybody agreed this was a manufacturing defect. They created some case #, etc. but I guess I should not expect any follow-up. Most likely, from the manufacturers point of view this is a minor cosmetic issue so they won't do anything, like issuing a replacement part or something, unless people start bothering them really hard about this.

P.S. I asked my friends who had 2011 Outback, they also found the gap, not as big as mine though. Looks like this problem has been around for a long time. No way manufacturer didn't know about this.

 

[bajanut]

This has been an 'issue' since 06. mine had this, but I fixed it by removing the a-piller and re-installing it. I have seen it (motly on the drivers side) on legacy based subaru's since MY2005. There must be some tolerances with the source of the A piller moldings that SOA or Subaru corporate have deamed acceptiable. I was at the dealer yesterday and saw this on just about every outback on the lot that I looked in and honistly, not a big issue, wouldn't keep me from buying one.

 

[Tom28]

Mine is doing this now too. At just slightly over a month old ... too.

 

[hallux]

My 2011's a-pillar fits just fine, but mine isn't the factory one. Those of you with the poorly-fitting trim, do you have any dealer-added items such as satellite radio or remote start? The driver-side pillar needs to come off for at least the remote start and possibly for XM (though that may only require the passenger side trim to be removed). I had remote start installed by my dealer when I bought my OB, they ended up replacing the trim as it kept falling.

 

[parkwayhero]

A pillar issue

Hi,
I did the post regarding A-Pillar here. Just wanted to share what happened further, maybe some people find this interesting or even useful.
I sent an email about this issue to Subaru customer support on their web site, got the response that I should bring the vehicle to the dealer for inspection (which I was going to do anyway) and let them know the date and time of the appointment.
At the dealer, service guy checked the other new car they had on the lot and found the same problem. I asked if they could fix my car, they said they would try to do something. I left my car and went to work, then came back to pick it up 8 hrs later. They fixed it by stuffing something under the headliner so that it closed the gap. Not completely - there is still a very small gap, but it looks much better now (see photos). Also, the guy told me that Subaru customer support person contacted them, they took pictures and sent them and reported that they found the same issue on 7 other vehicles they inspected. So everybody agreed this was a manufacturing defect. They created some case #, etc. but I guess I should not expect any follow-up. Most likely, from the manufacturers point of view this is a minor cosmetic issue so they won't do anything, like issuing a replacement part or something, unless people start bothering them really hard about this.

P.S. I asked my friends who had 2011 Outback, they also found the gap, not as big as mine though. Looks like this problem has been around for a long time. No way manufacturer didn't know about this.

i have the same issue. also, see the picture of the roof panel is not big enough to fit under the rubber seal so it looks frayed. see driver's side with gaps and pass. side no gaps. if i push the piece up it snaps in and then after about 2 miles it pops out. $34k car not happy about it.