Subaru To Replace Recalled Ascent SUVs With Brand New Rides

The Subaru Ascent is the new 3-row SUV from the automaker known for safety. Pricing on that ride was announced earlier this year and it is built in the US. Subaru has had a significant issue with about 293 of its 2019 Ascent SUVs that means all the number might be missing spot welds on the B-Pillar. That area holds the second-row door hinges according to the NHTSA.

This issue affects less than 1% of all Ascent vehicles that Subaru has built and was the result of bad software for the welding robots according to Subaru. Since these welds can't be added back to the affected vehicles, Subaru isn't even trying and will instead simply replace all affected Ascents with new vehicles.

This isn't as costly as you might think for Subaru, at least on the replacement cost front. Only nine of those 293 affected vehicles had been sold to owners. The others were either sitting on lots or in transit and were picked up before making it to a buyer. Subaru discovered the issue during a routine inspection of a new Ascent and then narrowed down the build dates involved according to the NHTSA.

There have been no reports of injuries or crashes involving the nine affected vehicles that did make it into consumer's hands. All affected versions were built between July 13 and July 21 of 2018.

However, not all Ascents built during that period are missing the welds. Dealers have the VIN numbers of all affected vehicles. There is no way to tell if the key welds are missing for drivers. Owners can check if their VIN is in the recall here.