RAY MAGLIOZZI

Dear Car Talk: In January, my husband purchased a Subaru Crosstrek. Since I am not a car person, I did not go along for the car-buying experience. So it was a few days before I got my first ride in the car, and we noticed that the passenger seat airbag warning light was on — meaning my airbag was not working.

We conducted a test and found that if my husband sat in the passenger seat, the airbag worked. However, when I sat in the passenger seat, the indicator showed the airbag was off.

I am an adult, but apparently, Subaru does not consider me to be an adult because I weigh less than 100 pounds. After many conversations, the dealership claims that it is a safety function so that people will not attempt to sit a child in the passenger seat. When my husband asked them why this “safety feature” wasn’t disclosed during the buying process, the manager said that it would be uncomfortable for them to have to ask the customer how much his wife weighed! The only option that they gave us was that the underweight wife, that would be me, would have to ride in the back seat!

Subaru says the weight trigger is not adjustable … you either weigh enough, or you don’t, and no one is willing to tell us what weight is necessary to engage the function of the airbags.

I’m just under 100 pounds. And we’ve tried everything — from me sharing the passenger seat with a heavy purse to riding with weights on the seat with me. Even with a 15-pound weighted blanket on the seat with me, the bag was still saying “off.”

Do you have any suggestions as to how we might be able to solve this problem? — Joanne

Yeah, that salesman’s probably been slapped a few times for asking how much a customer weighed. He’s right, though, that it’s a safety mechanism. In the early days of airbags, smaller people would get hurt by the high-powered bags. So, manufacturers later went to two-stage airbags (with different force levels) and weight sensors to protect children and very small adults.

But I think there is something wrong with your Crosstrek. Manufacturers set their own exact weight limits, and according to our friends at Subaru, the weight trigger for the Crosstrek’s front-seat airbag is 78.9655 pounds.

If you’re, say, 85 or 95 pounds, that airbag ought to be on when you’re in the car. So, I’d go back to the dealer. Bring along your bathroom scale. Have them watch you demonstrate the problem, so they don’t suggest that you’re sitting too far back or forward in the seat, or suspending yourself by cables from the sun visor. Once they confirm that the airbag is not on for you, ask them to start by re-zeroing the sensor.

If resetting the sensor doesn’t fix it, they’re going to have to figure out whether the sensor is faulty and, if necessary, replace it for you. But it sounds like you’re well above the weight limit for the airbag. And if they’re not more helpful, you may want to remind them that they’re liable for any harm that comes to you from a non-functioning airbag. And that every one of your heirs is currently in law school. Good luck, Joanne.

Got a question about cars? Write to Ray in care of King Features, 300 W. 57th St., 41st Floor, New York, NY 10019, or email by visiting the Car Talk website at www.cartalk.com.