Will a faulty air bag sensor prevent dealer replacement of air bag?

October 25, 2014 1:50 PM

My car has an air bag that is subject to the big air bag recall. Will a faulty passenger side air bag sensor cause my dealer not to replace my (presumably) faulty driver's side air bag?

My car has an existing problem that was diagnosed by my mechanic with the passenger side air bag sensor. It doesn't work, and the air bag light is illuminated on my dashboard. I don't typically carry passengers, so it's not worth the $400 to me to fix the faulty sensor. Can the dealer refuse to replace my (presumably) faulty driver's side air bag unless I get the faulty passenger side air bag sensor fixed first?

I know the easy answer would be to call the dealer and ask, but I wanted to research this first before I did.

posted by Rob Rockets to Travel & Transportation (1 answer total)

Best answer: Hmmmm. Possibly. It depends on the dealer and it depends on (possibly) the conditions around the warranty repair. It may be that the dealer has a liability issue if they fix an airbag system that is still not operational when it leaves, or it may not matter as long as the airbag control system allows them to validate the repair *they* did.If the system cannot be reliably tested for the new sensor without the other one working then they may refuse to do it. They may just refuse to do it because they don't like to send out a car with an airbag light on that they've worked on. It could easily go either way.

Nobody but the dealer can answer that accurately, so I think your research will just give you anecdotal evidence. It's not only the easy answer but honestly it's the only way you'll get an answer worth having.
posted by Brockles at 2:02 PM on October 25, 2014