Salvage vehicles & airbags
09-05-2022, 05:04 PM
#1
Salvage vehicles & airbags
May take a bit to see how this relates to this forum, but please bear with me.
I'm helping a friend look for a used a used car. I saw a 2017 LX listed on Craigslist and it had a Rebuilt/Salvage title. There are a bunch of "one-man dealers" who buy totaled vehicles at insurance auctions, repair/restore, and resell. If I ever consider a salvage vehicle, I always first get a VIN and then head over to:
https://en.bidfax.info/
so I can see pics of the damage from the insurance auction.
OK, so I see this listing and get the VIN from the seller. I notice that the steering wheel airbag had deployed. When I texted the seller and asked if he had receipts for the repairs, he replied that he did all the work himself except for paint. When I further probed about the airbag, he informed me the steering wheel now has NO airbag. He didn't disclose this in the listing. It appears he just sold the vehicle because the listing has been deleted, but it got me thinking: is this legal and what would he have had to do to suppress/disable an airbag light on the console? I have to believe the system would alert if there was a non-working or non-existent airbag, right?
In my state, at least, it is perfectly legal to sell a vehicle where an airbag has been removed or disabled. However, the seller is legally required to disclose this to the buyer. Not doing so is potentially fraudulent and I can't imagine the legal liability the seller could be exposed to if a buyer was in an accident and that's when they learned they had no airbag.
So I actually picked up a really nice looking 2008 MRP 5AT a few months ago. It had a salvage title, but it was clear from the auction photos that the damage had been minimal. However, the accident did deploy the driver's side curtain airbag. I'm pretty certain that I asked the seller if he'd had it replaced, but I didn't think to ask him for documentation. Again, my naivete/ignorance led me to believe there's no way the SRS system wouldn't alert about a missing or malfunctioning airbag.
So, getting back to my specific question: how can I best evaluate a salvage vehicle (or any used vehicle) to know if the seller tampered with or disabled an airbag? I assume my scan tool would tell me, but is there anything else to check or place to inspect? I'd like to check my recently purchased MRP.
I know the risks of buying salvage vehicles, but I'd never contemplated that a shady seller could potentially do this without there being some sort of obvious alert.
I'm helping a friend look for a used a used car. I saw a 2017 LX listed on Craigslist and it had a Rebuilt/Salvage title. There are a bunch of "one-man dealers" who buy totaled vehicles at insurance auctions, repair/restore, and resell. If I ever consider a salvage vehicle, I always first get a VIN and then head over to:
https://en.bidfax.info/
so I can see pics of the damage from the insurance auction.
OK, so I see this listing and get the VIN from the seller. I notice that the steering wheel airbag had deployed. When I texted the seller and asked if he had receipts for the repairs, he replied that he did all the work himself except for paint. When I further probed about the airbag, he informed me the steering wheel now has NO airbag. He didn't disclose this in the listing. It appears he just sold the vehicle because the listing has been deleted, but it got me thinking: is this legal and what would he have had to do to suppress/disable an airbag light on the console? I have to believe the system would alert if there was a non-working or non-existent airbag, right?
In my state, at least, it is perfectly legal to sell a vehicle where an airbag has been removed or disabled. However, the seller is legally required to disclose this to the buyer. Not doing so is potentially fraudulent and I can't imagine the legal liability the seller could be exposed to if a buyer was in an accident and that's when they learned they had no airbag.
So I actually picked up a really nice looking 2008 MRP 5AT a few months ago. It had a salvage title, but it was clear from the auction photos that the damage had been minimal. However, the accident did deploy the driver's side curtain airbag. I'm pretty certain that I asked the seller if he'd had it replaced, but I didn't think to ask him for documentation. Again, my naivete/ignorance led me to believe there's no way the SRS system wouldn't alert about a missing or malfunctioning airbag.
So, getting back to my specific question: how can I best evaluate a salvage vehicle (or any used vehicle) to know if the seller tampered with or disabled an airbag? I assume my scan tool would tell me, but is there anything else to check or place to inspect? I'd like to check my recently purchased MRP.
I know the risks of buying salvage vehicles, but I'd never contemplated that a shady seller could potentially do this without there being some sort of obvious alert.
Last edited by spamcop01; 09-05-2022 at 05:11 PM.
09-05-2022, 07:55 PM
#2
May take a bit to see how this relates to this forum, but please bear with me.
I'm helping a friend look for a used a used car. I saw a 2017 LX listed on Craigslist and it had a Rebuilt/Salvage title. There are a bunch of "one-man dealers" who buy totaled vehicles at insurance auctions, repair/restore, and resell. If I ever consider a salvage vehicle, I always first get a VIN and then head over to:
https://en.bidfax.info/
so I can see pics of the damage from the insurance auction.
OK, so I see this listing and get the VIN from the seller. I notice that the steering wheel airbag had deployed. When I texted the seller and asked if he had receipts for the repairs, he replied that he did all the work himself except for paint. When I further probed about the airbag, he informed me the steering wheel now has NO airbag. He didn't disclose this in the listing. It appears he just sold the vehicle because the listing has been deleted, but it got me thinking: is this legal and what would he have had to do to suppress/disable an airbag light on the console? I have to believe the system would alert if there was a non-working or non-existent airbag, right?
In my state, at least, it is perfectly legal to sell a vehicle where an airbag has been removed or disabled. However, the seller is legally required to disclose this to the buyer. Not doing so is potentially fraudulent and I can't imagine the legal liability the seller could be exposed to if a buyer was in an accident and that's when they learned they had no airbag.
So I actually picked up a really nice looking 2008 MRP 5AT a few months ago. It had a salvage title, but it was clear from the auction photos that the damage had been minimal. However, the accident did deploy the driver's side curtain airbag. I'm pretty certain that I asked the seller if he'd had it replaced, but I didn't think to ask him for documentation. Again, my naivete/ignorance led me to believe there's no way the SRS system wouldn't alert about a missing or malfunctioning airbag.
So, getting back to my specific question: how can I best evaluate a salvage vehicle (or any used vehicle) to know if the seller tampered with or disabled an airbag? I assume my scan tool would tell me, but is there anything else to check or place to inspect? I'd like to check my recently purchased MRP.
I know the risks of buying salvage vehicles, but I'd never contemplated that a shady seller could potentially do this without there being some sort of obvious alert.
I'm helping a friend look for a used a used car. I saw a 2017 LX listed on Craigslist and it had a Rebuilt/Salvage title. There are a bunch of "one-man dealers" who buy totaled vehicles at insurance auctions, repair/restore, and resell. If I ever consider a salvage vehicle, I always first get a VIN and then head over to:
https://en.bidfax.info/
so I can see pics of the damage from the insurance auction.
OK, so I see this listing and get the VIN from the seller. I notice that the steering wheel airbag had deployed. When I texted the seller and asked if he had receipts for the repairs, he replied that he did all the work himself except for paint. When I further probed about the airbag, he informed me the steering wheel now has NO airbag. He didn't disclose this in the listing. It appears he just sold the vehicle because the listing has been deleted, but it got me thinking: is this legal and what would he have had to do to suppress/disable an airbag light on the console? I have to believe the system would alert if there was a non-working or non-existent airbag, right?
In my state, at least, it is perfectly legal to sell a vehicle where an airbag has been removed or disabled. However, the seller is legally required to disclose this to the buyer. Not doing so is potentially fraudulent and I can't imagine the legal liability the seller could be exposed to if a buyer was in an accident and that's when they learned they had no airbag.
So I actually picked up a really nice looking 2008 MRP 5AT a few months ago. It had a salvage title, but it was clear from the auction photos that the damage had been minimal. However, the accident did deploy the driver's side curtain airbag. I'm pretty certain that I asked the seller if he'd had it replaced, but I didn't think to ask him for documentation. Again, my naivete/ignorance led me to believe there's no way the SRS system wouldn't alert about a missing or malfunctioning airbag.
So, getting back to my specific question: how can I best evaluate a salvage vehicle (or any used vehicle) to know if the seller tampered with or disabled an airbag? I assume my scan tool would tell me, but is there anything else to check or place to inspect? I'd like to check my recently purchased MRP.
I know the risks of buying salvage vehicles, but I'd never contemplated that a shady seller could potentially do this without there being some sort of obvious alert.
09-06-2022, 04:04 AM
#3
You can fool the SRS system by installing a resistor in place of a missing airbag. I am pretty sure you will not see a code with your fancy scanner because the SRS module will not detect it so no code, no light.
You're going to have to physically go in there and look to see the airbags are there. 🧐
09-06-2022, 07:33 PM
#4
Senior Moderator
May take a bit to see how this relates to this forum, but please bear with me.
I'm helping a friend look for a used a used car. I saw a 2017 LX listed on Craigslist and it had a Rebuilt/Salvage title. There are a bunch of "one-man dealers" who buy totaled vehicles at insurance auctions, repair/restore, and resell. If I ever consider a salvage vehicle, I always first get a VIN and then head over to:
https://en.bidfax.info/
so I can see pics of the damage from the insurance auction.
OK, so I see this listing and get the VIN from the seller. I notice that the steering wheel airbag had deployed. When I texted the seller and asked if he had receipts for the repairs, he replied that he did all the work himself except for paint. When I further probed about the airbag, he informed me the steering wheel now has NO airbag. He didn't disclose this in the listing. It appears he just sold the vehicle because the listing has been deleted, but it got me thinking: is this legal and what would he have had to do to suppress/disable an airbag light on the console? I have to believe the system would alert if there was a non-working or non-existent airbag, right?
In my state, at least, it is perfectly legal to sell a vehicle where an airbag has been removed or disabled. However, the seller is legally required to disclose this to the buyer. Not doing so is potentially fraudulent and I can't imagine the legal liability the seller could be exposed to if a buyer was in an accident and that's when they learned they had no airbag.
So I actually picked up a really nice looking 2008 MRP 5AT a few months ago. It had a salvage title, but it was clear from the auction photos that the damage had been minimal. However, the accident did deploy the driver's side curtain airbag. I'm pretty certain that I asked the seller if he'd had it replaced, but I didn't think to ask him for documentation. Again, my naivete/ignorance led me to believe there's no way the SRS system wouldn't alert about a missing or malfunctioning airbag.
So, getting back to my specific question: how can I best evaluate a salvage vehicle (or any used vehicle) to know if the seller tampered with or disabled an airbag? I assume my scan tool would tell me, but is there anything else to check or place to inspect? I'd like to check my recently purchased MRP.
I know the risks of buying salvage vehicles, but I'd never contemplated that a shady seller could potentially do this without there being some sort of obvious alert.
I'm helping a friend look for a used a used car. I saw a 2017 LX listed on Craigslist and it had a Rebuilt/Salvage title. There are a bunch of "one-man dealers" who buy totaled vehicles at insurance auctions, repair/restore, and resell. If I ever consider a salvage vehicle, I always first get a VIN and then head over to:
https://en.bidfax.info/
so I can see pics of the damage from the insurance auction.
OK, so I see this listing and get the VIN from the seller. I notice that the steering wheel airbag had deployed. When I texted the seller and asked if he had receipts for the repairs, he replied that he did all the work himself except for paint. When I further probed about the airbag, he informed me the steering wheel now has NO airbag. He didn't disclose this in the listing. It appears he just sold the vehicle because the listing has been deleted, but it got me thinking: is this legal and what would he have had to do to suppress/disable an airbag light on the console? I have to believe the system would alert if there was a non-working or non-existent airbag, right?
In my state, at least, it is perfectly legal to sell a vehicle where an airbag has been removed or disabled. However, the seller is legally required to disclose this to the buyer. Not doing so is potentially fraudulent and I can't imagine the legal liability the seller could be exposed to if a buyer was in an accident and that's when they learned they had no airbag.
So I actually picked up a really nice looking 2008 MRP 5AT a few months ago. It had a salvage title, but it was clear from the auction photos that the damage had been minimal. However, the accident did deploy the driver's side curtain airbag. I'm pretty certain that I asked the seller if he'd had it replaced, but I didn't think to ask him for documentation. Again, my naivete/ignorance led me to believe there's no way the SRS system wouldn't alert about a missing or malfunctioning airbag.
So, getting back to my specific question: how can I best evaluate a salvage vehicle (or any used vehicle) to know if the seller tampered with or disabled an airbag? I assume my scan tool would tell me, but is there anything else to check or place to inspect? I'd like to check my recently purchased MRP.
I know the risks of buying salvage vehicles, but I'd never contemplated that a shady seller could potentially do this without there being some sort of obvious alert.
All you can do is physically examine parts and ensure they are all correct. Remove the A and C pillar covers and take a look at the airbags.
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