I was just told yesterday that these new vehicles if the airbags are deployed from an impact of some sort the insurance companies will automatically total the vehicle. They don't want to insure a vehicle if the airbags have been replaced. Too much liability they say. Anyone else heard this or experienced this?
- Thread starter John B.
- Start date
Just wiped out my wife's car and when I called the insurance company and they asked about damage I told them I thought it was bad. The only question they asked me was 'did the airbags go off?'. I said yes and they said it sounded like a total (it later was confirmed as such).
The problem is the multiple parts that have to be replaced in new cars when they go off. The air bag module, seat belt pre-tensioners, and any and all deployed bags. Of which, there may be several. Some air bags are designed to cause collateral damage to aim them such as damaging the dash and busting the windshield. This is the unintended consequences of regulation. I wonder where car companies will be when nobody can afford a new car.
Allan in NE
Well-known Member
Vehicles are "collapsible" anymore to protect the occupants.
Therefore, it costs more to repair than replace. Has nothing to do with the silly airbags.
Allan
Therefore, it costs more to repair than replace. Has nothing to do with the silly airbags.
Allan
I doubt if that's true but on another airbag story I just thought of, the dealer I used to work for had about 8 bags missing out of the steering wheels one morning. I think all but one was big new caddys, Houdini couldn't of got into those cars any cleaner,no damage of any kind, just missing airbags, cops were baffled. Never heard any more about it but wondered if maybe somebody from OnStar was in on that and opened them up. All the cars were out front under the lights by the highway.
Last year I t-boned a red light runner with my clean, low-mileage 2009 F150. My air bag deployed, but I was oblivious to it; didn't hear or feel a thing, and didn't realized it had popped until I saw smoke coming from it. I was unhurt. There was no visible damage to the fenders or the hood, just the bumper. Truck was totaled---I was surprised. I got almost as much for it as I had paid for it.
Some think if an airbag goes off it just needs to be replaced. It's not that easy in some cases. I did a Dodge minivan where, according to service information, the steering column and the metal substructure of the dash had to be replaced. That said airbags can be very pricey.
Friends swmbo slid on their icy drive headon slowly into a tree with a '15 Frontier.
She had to call the house for him to come get her out.
Driver bag deployed AND both seat belt tensioners.
To release her belt, he had to go thru the pass. side and that belt you could play a tune on it.
Repairs north of 8K. 4K hood and bumper, etc, 4K INSIDE the truck. Bag, belts, etc.
She had to call the house for him to come get her out.
Driver bag deployed AND both seat belt tensioners.
To release her belt, he had to go thru the pass. side and that belt you could play a tune on it.
Repairs north of 8K. 4K hood and bumper, etc, 4K INSIDE the truck. Bag, belts, etc.
GeneMO
Well-known Member
- Location
- Pilot Grove, Mo.
Yeah, but you are not supposed to replace em with Hefty trash bags!!!
Gene
Goose
Well-known Member
Some years ago, our daughter hit a deer with an Olds 88. The bags deployed. The insurance company totaled the car because of the price of the bags, well over $2,000 at that time. Beyond that, the body damage wasn't prohibitive. The insurance paid off on the car, and let me keep it for $500. The engine alone was worth that, so I figured I'd part it out.
Then I got to playing around on ebay, and found a salvage yard in PA that had the entire system out of an identical vehicle, same color dash pad, etc. for $300. I decided to gamble $300 and replaced the whole system, both bags, sensors, control module (hidden under the front passenger seat), dash pad, etc. The system checked out by computer after I'd installed it, so I fixed the body damage and put the car back on the road.
I drove it myself for about 10,000 miles and sold it to a fellow who was looking for a work car for his wife. I told him the whole story and he had no problem with it. I still see it around occasionally.
Then I got to playing around on ebay, and found a salvage yard in PA that had the entire system out of an identical vehicle, same color dash pad, etc. for $300. I decided to gamble $300 and replaced the whole system, both bags, sensors, control module (hidden under the front passenger seat), dash pad, etc. The system checked out by computer after I'd installed it, so I fixed the body damage and put the car back on the road.
I drove it myself for about 10,000 miles and sold it to a fellow who was looking for a work car for his wife. I told him the whole story and he had no problem with it. I still see it around occasionally.
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