— After receiving 128 complaints about the 2006-2011 Suzuki Grand Vitara and 2007-2011 Suzuki SX4, the U.S. government has opened an investigation into alleged passenger seat and air bag problems.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the alleged problems are associated with the occupant classification system for the front passenger seat.
About half of the complaints report air bag warning lights coming on when they shouldn't. Other complaints report problems of a child being classified as an adult sitting in the seat.
One Hawaii owner of a 2007 Suzuki SX4 was upset because his dealer kept telling him there was no problem.
"So why do sensors keep turning on and off while someone is seated properly in seat? Must there be a tragic crash and the passenger dies before someone sees that it could be real problem?"
The government said the problem is apparently caused by a programming error related to detecting a change or shifting in load on the front passenger seat.
Suzuki issued two service bulletins in the past and it appears the remedy is to re-flash the occupant control module software.
Based on the results of the investigation, 205,000 vehicles could be recalled.
