Airbag Nightmare :(

[Ben_G6]

With payday looming it's time to sort out my airbag problem :(

I bought my corolla G6 back in late february. I test drove the car, had a good look and all was sound. However, the airbag light was on. The rest of the car was lovely so I made an offer that was agree on the grounds of the aribag fault being rectified upon collection.

So I put down a deposit, and a few days later call the garage to let them know what day I'll be collecting the car, and over the phone they said that they had fixed the airbag light and that the "auto electrician came and cleared the fault"....

I pick up the car and low and behold the airbag light does not come on, even on start up! Being new to Toyotas and well newish to cars I guess - I wasnt certain when I picked the car up whether the airbag light should come up on startup or not and although I had my suspicions I though it might be okay.. so anyway I drove away.

Now of course I realise that the light should come on and extinguish after a few seconds on startup - first thoughts the B*stards have taken the bulb out :censor: Practically confirmed too by the fact I was cleaning the inside the other week and after looking closely a bit of trim around the dials wasnt quite clicked in properly...

I have called the garage and they dont want to know - just keep telling me to take it back to them and refuse to pay up for it to be done properly or even reimburse my travel costs even if I did go back to them - cowboys!

So obviously my airbags aren't going to work as it stands and it needs sorting proerply as its a big safety issue.

I guess my question to you guys is how much can I expect to pay to have this rectified? I only want to take it to Toyota tbh. I'm guessing about £80 an hour??!

By the sounds of things they'll need to replace the airbag bulb and then fix whatever is wrong with it the first place - any guesses on this?? I don't want this to escalate to god knows how many £££££

I'm thinking of going to Trading Standards with this cause I'm so angry! Who knows how far I'd get but its worth a try. In any case I'll need to have the work done first to prove what wasn't done properly in the first place :(

Why do people have to be sneaky useless :censor: !

[Norfolk n Chance]

With payday looming it's time to sort out my airbag problem :(

I bought my corolla G6 back in late february. I test drove the car, had a good look and all was sound. However, the airbag light was on. The rest of the car was lovely so I made an offer that was agree on the grounds of the aribag fault being rectified upon collection.

So I put down a deposit, and a few days later call the garage to let them know what day I'll be collecting the car, and over the phone they said that they had fixed the airbag light and that the "auto electrician came and cleared the fault"....

I pick up the car and low and behold the airbag light does not come on, even on start up! Being new to Toyotas and well newish to cars I guess - I wasnt certain when I picked the car up whether the airbag light should come up on startup or not and although I had my suspicions I though it might be okay.. so anyway I drove away.

Now of course I realise that the light should come on and extinguish after a few seconds on startup - first thoughts the B*stards have taken the bulb out :censor: Practically confirmed too by the fact I was cleaning the inside the other week and after looking closely a bit of trim around the dials wasnt quite clicked in properly...

I have called the garage and they dont want to know - just keep telling me to take it back to them and refuse to pay up for it to be done properly or even reimburse my travel costs even if I did go back to them - cowboys!

So obviously my airbags aren't going to work as it stands and it needs sorting proerply as its a big safety issue.

I guess my question to you guys is how much can I expect to pay to have this rectified? I only want to take it to Toyota tbh. I'm guessing about £80 an hour??!

By the sounds of things they'll need to replace the airbag bulb and then fix whatever is wrong with it the first place - any guesses on this?? I don't want this to escalate to god knows how many £££££

I'm thinking of going to Trading Standards with this cause I'm so angry! Who knows how far I'd get but its worth a try. In any case I'll need to have the work done first to prove what wasn't done properly in the first place :(

Why do people have to be sneaky useless :censor: !

If you can, find a local auto electrician to have a look for you (will be cheaper than Toyota) if they have disabled the lights get a report from the electrician and go back to the garage giving them the chance to fix it properly.

If they don't play ball go straight to Trading Standards

[Ben_G6]

If you can, find a local auto electrician to have a look for you (will be cheaper than Toyota) if they have disabled the lights get a report from the electrician and go back to the garage giving them the chance to fix it properly.

If they don't play ball go straight to Trading Standards

The garage is over 100 miles away - I don't see why I should have to go back at my expense to sort out something that was supposed to be sorted as an agreement of the sale. I 99% sure they have removed the bulb and I really do not trust them to do it properly anyway.

:(

[Parts-King]

A few things spring to mind with this

How long ago did you buy it?

Do you have anything in writing saying there was an airbag fault at time of purchase?

The fact that the air bag was not fixed before you took delivery means that the problem was inherrantly faulty on delivery. You need to get this done ASAP and you need to give the garage who sold it you the opportunity to put it right. The fact that you decided to buy from a garage 100 miles away is not their fault. This is what you should do

Write to the garage detailing the fault, what was said prior to delivery, what the problem is now, what you expect them to do about it, and give them a timeline to fix it, say 28 days. It would do no harm to mention a part of the sale of goods act, particularly

Wherever goods are bought they must "conform to contract". This means they must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality (i.e. not inherently faulty at the time of sale).

Send it off recorded delivery

If they agree to repairs, fine, you could also ask them to refund your fuel costs OR they could collect at their expense. They dont have to offer you anything, but the law does say you should not be out of pocket, but you bought it from someone 100 miles away and you must expect that faults do occur on used cars and factor this in when buying from someone a long way away

If they dont agree then you need to check out the SALE OF GOODS ACT and seek further advice. A few well chosen quotes from the sale of goods act usually does the trick. If it was longer than six months ago when you bought the car then it is a little more difficult and you will have to prove that there was a fault at time of purchase, if under six months, you dont have to prove anything, its up to them

Good luck

Kingo

[CorollaD4D]

OK airbags save lives but when my airbags popped when i had an accident they did more damage to my boy-ish good looks than good :P i would always argue wearing seatbelt is much more important than airbags. i agree airbags for side of your head, knees etc may be good but then one that blows up in your face is lethal.

having said that you obviously want your airbags working and what i would do is firstly confirm the fault on the airbags - i.e. have they actually taken the bulb out (because i think that's not possible) and connect the car up to the diagnostic machine and see if there are any codes present or not. if the code is present find out what it corresponds to. then i would take kingo's advice and speak to them. try avoiding phone contact as it cannot be proven (unless you record obviously) sending letter by recorded delivery is most secure. of course if you have to speak over the phone then write down the date/time of the call, take the name of the person you speak to and make notes throughout the call so you can recall the conversation later if needed. i'm not sure but i think you have to inform the other person you are taking notes - if this is the case then do so.

as Kingo said, a few well selected quotes can make some cack in their trousers, especially if they haven't read or don't know the details of the act you're quoting.

[Ben_G6]

Okay - so my car went into Toyota today and I can confirm that the airbag warning light bulb and bulb holder were removed!!

They replaced this and the light was on. The diagnostic test brought up Code 31 - they said this was a malfunction of the Airbag System Assembly, or basically the Airbag ECU.

Total cost of repait will be £522.11

I haven't paid for this yet - but I have had the bulb etc refitted and of course it is just on constantly now.

Does anyway have any knowledge on this? Is there anything to try that might clear Code 31 without replacing the SRS ECU??

I have emailed the garage I bought the car from and am demanding 50% of the repair cost or will go through to Trading Standards etc and report their actions to Autotrader and PistonHeads on which they advertise.

SO ANNOYED!!!!

[b1gpkr001]

Why just 50%?

[Ben_G6]

I can just tell from the attitude of these guys that they will not pay out the full amount if anything without s fight.

I'm offering a more than generous settlement of 50% in an attempt to resolve this quickly. Say if they had looked into the issue properly before hand and realised it would cost £500 to repair I'm sure they would of instead reduce the cost of the car some so my offer is in line with this although I see no reason to be fair after what they have done :-/

If they still don't play ball I will seriously attempt to claim back the full amount that's for sure!

[b1gpkr001]

It's been sold to you with part of the safety system not operative. Surly in a court of law it would be un fit for purpose and dangerous as they just removed the bulb. If I were you I would pay 150 quid see a solicitor and get them to write a letter saying you will take the to the small claims court claiming for the costs incurred, and the risk put to your self with the air bags being defective and finally cost of repair. Will cost you money but you could see £ 5000 from it. Believe this is the max in a small claims court.

[Ben_G6]

To be honest I do feel like !Removed! these guys over, but all I want is just for my car to be perfect!

Like I said I'll see what they respond with to my offer, I've given them a week to reply as this isn't the first time I've raised this.

I'd they still mess me about I will do what I can to take them down!!

You really think I could claim £1000's + ??

[b1gpkr001]

Depend if it was a safety issue if they purposely removed the bulb and holder to make you buy the car then can't see why not. I would at least say that they are in breach of consumer rights eg. Car was sold not fit for purpose regards the safety systems. If you were to of crashed and the air bag could of helped prevent serious injury and it didn't deploy because they removed the warning light and you could prove it then it could be a world of hurt for them. On the other hand they could argue you knew there was a fault if it's not in writing!

Personally I would take them to the cleaners as I have my family in my car and I would class it as they are putting my family in danger. Therefore I would want compensation due to the risk to family and the costs for the court case and for them to pay for the repairs to be carried out else where.

The only way you can find out is talk to a solicitor (will cost any where from 100 to 300 an hour could also claim the costs from the garage at court) or citizens advise should be able to help. Gather as much info as possible before you jump in feet first.