Got a recall notice from Suzuki, dated October 29, that NHTSA is having them issue a recall for the front passenger seat. I’m guessing some folks here have either already gotten this notice or will get theirs soon. I thought it might just be the first recall that was reissued as a reminder, but it is indeed its own separate recall. I compared the two last night to see how they differed, and I’ll try to explain them here. Sorry for the length here; I try to be thorough
. Skip to the third paragraph for info about the new recall, and to the second-from-last paragraph for a quick comparison summary. To recap, this seat was first recalled a couple years ago, for both the Kizashi and 2006-2013 Grand Vitaras (and I think I’m one of the few here to have gotten the procedure…maybe the only one lol). It was recalled because on these vehicles with leather, the upholstery could shrink with excessive heat or sunlight, and affect the OCS (occupant classification system) sensors. The affected OCS might think a child sitting in the front passenger seat was an adult, and thus apply the airbags in a crash. It could also think an empty seat was occupied by a child, and trigger the alert chime (sometimes consecutively). I experienced the latter and it was a pain at times. The recall replaced the leather seat cushion with a faux leather version, and for me the erroneous alert chimes stopped. I’ve never had an issue since. The OCS was not replaced.
In this recall, Suzuki is now saying the
OCS sensors are faulty, and may mistakenly think an adult sitting in the seat is a child, depending on their posture or seating position, and not deploy the airbag in a crash. This scenario is considerably more dangerous than the one in the first recall, as most of us probably have adults more often than kids as passengers in the front seat.
The first recall campaign didn’t apply to Kizashis (or Grand Vitaras) with fabric upholstery, but this new campaign is applicable to everyone, fabric or leather, and whether you underwent the first recall procedure or not. It doesn’t mention the Grand Vitara this time around, however. That might be a separate recall since this is through NHTSA now.
“Suzuki Motor Corp has decided that a defect…exists in all 2010-2013 Suzuki Kizashi vehicles.” If I’m interpreting this right, it would suggest that it’s slightly possible the models with shrunken leather upholstery can think that a child passenger is an adult (and deploy the airbag), or an adult passenger is a child (and not deploy the airbag). Oof… I really hope I’m wrong about that lol.
The new seat bottom will have a “different cover material on the seating surface plus new sensor components which allows the OCS to accurately determine the occupant status of the passenger seat.” The replacement procedure is available now and is supposed to require around two hours.
You can test your OCS by sitting in the front passenger seat and see if the “PASS AIR BAG OFF” light turns on right next to the hazard lights button. If it does , the notice says to “unfasten the seat belt, sit upright in the center of the seat with the seat back nearly vertical with your legs outstretched. Then refasten the seatbelt.”
To quickly summarize, the first recall replaced only the seat cushion on leather-equipped Kizashi models, with a faux leather cushion. This new recall replaces the OCS and also comes with a new seat cushion.
Something tells me most of you will probably skip this recall, too, but I thought I’d share it here anyway and explain how it’s different from the first passenger seat recall.
Does anyone here outside the US get these recalls, too?
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. Anyone ever have dreams involving their Kizashi? I think I’ve had some. 
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