2009 Potiac Vibe Passenger Airbag Status

I had the airbag recall work done recently. Last week, the passenger airbag status light stayed on, even with the engine turned off, and the key removed. The word, “Passenger” is constantly illuminated. The dealer that did the recall work told me to go home, and read my manual. A week later, a Toyota dealership told me that this is normal. I can’t believe him, the word Passenger should not be lit when the car is off, and the key removed. When the passenger seat is occupied, Airbag On, or OFF works fine. It is just the word PASSENGER that is constantly lit.

The word “Passenger” is printed in ink, are saying there is a light on behind it? The display looks dark in the picture.

Yep, looks normal:

http://gtcarlot.com/data/Pontiac/Vibe/2009/534607/Dashboard-45287807.html

Thanks for the link insightful. I always thought it was darkened. After all of the Airbag hoopla, I became confused.

Perhaps it WAS off before… perhaps that was a byproduct of the problem that the recall was for.

Hmmm…, could be the same mountainbike–a very reasonable explanation.

Time to close this discussion, there are 2 very reasonable explanations, so this can be closed at this time. Many thanks to those who provided the explanations.

The airbag light stays on (when the ignition is on) in my 2006 Matrix.
Has since I bought it at 1 y.o.
If a passenger sits another light comes on so it says "AIRBAG ON"
IIRC the manual says it will blink if there’s a problem.