We were in a fender bender on Jan 3, 2022. The driver side airbag was deployed. The car was taken to repair shop for a new seat belt part (the SRS Unit for a 2012 Honda Accord Special Edition). We were originally notified that the part was NOT available and would possibly ship Feb 8. We waited - no part. Next date was March 8. We waited - no part. Every month for 13 months now, we’ve been told by Honda, “MAYBE NEXT MONTH!” We have tried to CALL Honda - no success. We have written letters to Honda - we all know where those go. We have emailed - no success. We asked about salvage parts - won’t work. We asked about “generic” part that we can purchase on Amazon - won’t work. We’ve been told it will ONLY take the specific HONDA part FROM HONDA. Every other part option deploys the airbag when the part is installed.This was our ONLY vehicle for transportation to work every day. We rented a car for 1 month and ran out of money. We have borrowed cars from friends for 5 months. FINALLY had to purchase another vehicle. The Honda STILL sits in the repair shop!!! We need help. We need advice. Do we have the right to demand that our insurance company “total” the vehicle and pay us out? Is that the best thing to do at this point. We have NO HOPE that it will ever be repaired. ADVICE please.
You need to speak with an attorney.
As well-meaning as the members of this forum may try to be, you need legal advice, not automotive advice.
Many–perhaps most–attorneys will not charge you for the initial consultation, after which you can decide whether to pay them a retainer to take your case.
thank you for your advice
I suspect the shop won’t release the car to you because of potential liability issues. Meaning, if you have a wreck in the un-repaired car, in theory you could sue the shop.
Agree with consulting a lawyer. I’d also be asking my insurance company for some help/guidance. I don’t know about “demanding” they total the car…but surely they have seen this kind of scenario before.
You’re in a strange gray area, and I’m sorry for it. Good luck.
I am quite sure that you are correct.
Steve Lehto used to write car law columns, maybe some of these might help:
SteveLehto (jalopnik.com)
It has been my experience (not that that counts for much) that of all the car makers out there, Honda is among the best at manufacturing/providing safety-related parts like seat belts and airbags for their aging cars. Another car maker might look at a 10+ year old car and shrug their shoulders and say “Obsolete, no longer available.”
I have to assume the dealer is trying to fix your car but can’t because the part is not available. And Honda would certainly prefer to repair one of their vehicles than scrap it.
At this point I would take it up with your insurance company and not the dealer.
I won’t be any help but you own the car not the shop. I would simply get it out if there until the part comes in. Then they can install it and get paid for any work that was done. Whether a shop has the legal right to not release a car is an open question that has been discussed here. I believe they do not. A contract requires performance to be valid and they are in breach of it, regardless of who’s fault.
Driving a car with a belt that would not activate an air bag would not be a problem for me but would for others. If that is not acceptable then push to have it totaled out. My car was totaled because parts were not available, so that is certainly a possibility. I found my own parts though and fixed it anyway. So yeah I guess help from a lawyer or an insurance advocate. Gm replaced a seat belt once on our olds no problem so maybe this has more to do with the air bag issue.
The service manual states to never install used passive restraint parts and the body shop agreed with this. How can you be assured the used part didn’t come off a vehicle that was in a collision?
The SRS module must be initialized with the occupant classification module, used modules will likely fail the initialization procedure.
The vehicle has been out of service for more than a year, I would ask the insurance company to come to a resolution.
Sorry you are having this car difficulty. Not your fault, but you have to suffer anyway, seems unfair. . Presumably this is Covid-related. I know of no solution unfortunately beyond what you’ve already done. In the way of misery loves company, my own daily-driver Corolla has been Covid-sidelined since spring 2020. Poor Corolla off the road approaching 3 years now. My solution has been to occasionally idle Corolla in driveway to keep it lubed & working and meanwhile drive my 50 year old truck for daily errands. I guess we all have to accept some of life’s imperfections these days. .
This problem has even hit the Car Talk folks.
As far as what to do? Some ideas beyond starting a lawsuit (which is not something I’d recommend.)
- Write letter asking the CEO of your insurance company for help. They can’t magically obtain the part of course, but they could provide a loaner car, etc.
- Write letter asking your state’s insurance commissioner for help.
- Write letter to your state’s elected politicians for help, especially governor, and state senator and state assembly member representing your district.
- Write letter to your state’s attorney general.
Remind the folks above that this problem is not of your own doing, and it seems very unfair to be treated the way you are being treated.
My experience with the ag is that they will simply ask for a response to the complaint and will not intercede for a resolution ending up in more time at the shop. Seems to me the insurance adjuster is the easiest to convince them to simply total the car.
Thank you for all the thoughts and advice! It helps! Hopefully we can get a resolution soon.
This is true, but surely a used seat belt module is better than no seat belt? If the belt operates smoothly, surely it will offer some protection, even if the SRS light is on constantly, and the pretensioner won’t work?
This is more of a shop liability issue than a practical repair issue. If I was repairing my personal vehicle with a damaged or defective seat belt assy, a used one from a junkyard would be a-ok, especially if I could see that the car it was coming from wasn’t crashed.
Yes it is. If you crash your car and the used seatbelt does not protect you, the shop will get sued out of business, the shop owner will lose their house and the tech that installed it may go to jail for manslaughter. Pretty big risk just to get you on your way.
You’d sign a waiver maybe? Any lawyer would tear through that like a bullet through a wet Kleenex.
Uh, no, it would not be a-ok, for the same reason. The junkyard owner would be liable for selling you this part for the very same reasons.
A used airbag could be repacked so it appears ok? Unlikely. 1 yr wait? I’d try a used part. Car is driveable as is? Or not?
The “seat belt part” needed is not the seat belt,
That is the airbag control module. The SRS unit must be replaced after airbag deployment. Would you take a chance at connecting new airbags to a control module that has been triggered to fire the airbags?
VERY likely, I wish it weren’t true but…
Dealers in my experience do not use aftermarket or used parts. An independent body shop might have access to parts the dealer won’t use. Give a reputable one, possibly your auto insurance company has a recommendation and give them a call to see what they say.
If OP were willing to accept less than perfection, would they be able to drive their car without the air-bag function as safely as I drive my truck which also has no airbag function? Or would that configuration be less safe on OP’s car than driving my truck?